Success for Bath at 2010 BCSWomen Undergraduate Colloquium

The University of Bath has had its greatest success ever at the 2010 BCSWomen Undergraduate Lovelace Colloquium, held at the University of Cardiff on Thursday 8 April. The University of Bath's Department of Computer Science provided the winners of the top two prizes awarded at the colloquium, those going to Ivelina Stoyanova and Dung "Alex" Hoang Tran. It also had more students invited to present posters than did any other UK University.

Professor Jane Millar, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research), said "I met the students concerned at the opening of the Lovelace Laboratory, and am delighted that they have gone on to win these prizes. The award to Ivelina confirms that undergraduate students can, and do, make valuable contributions to research."

The Lovelace Colloquium is an annual UK-wide event for female computer science undergraduate students enrolled in UK universities. It is named after Ada Lovelace, a computing pioneer (and the daughter of the poet Lord Byron). The University of Bath's Lovelace Laboratory is also named in her honour.

The aims of the colloquium are to provide a forum for undergraduate women to share their ideas and network, to provide a stimulating series of talks from women in computing, and to provide advice to undergraduate women about careers in computing from a female perspective. Invitations to the colloquium are competitive, based upon submitted abstracts.

Of the 38 female computer science students invited to present posters at this year's colloquium, a total of ten study at the University of Bath. That is the highest number of students invited from any UK University, and it is the second successive year in which the University of Bath has achieved that.

Ivelina Stoyanova, a final year undergraduate student in Computer Science with Mathematics at the University of Bath won first prize for best original poster at the colloquium, and second year undergraduate student Dung "Alex" Hoang Tran, also in the Department of Computer Science, won first prize for best general interest poster.

_{(Pictured above: Lovelace Colloquium winners Ivelina Stoyanova and Dung Hoang Tran
Pictured right:: Lovelace Colloquium computer science undergraduates and Dr John Power, who has done much to encourage the University's entries over the years.)}