Ada Lovelace Day 2024
This year, Warwick's Ada Lovelace Day celebration took place on Wednesday 16 October 2024 (Week 3 of Term 1) in MS.02 (Zeeman building).
Schedule for the event (see further below for more information about the speakers):
| 2 pm | Lucy McArthur (XVA Pricing and Trading at JP Morgan) |
| 2.30 pm | Helena Verrill (Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Warwick) |
| 3 pm | Coffee & tea break |
| 3.30 pm | Yiru Xiong (Pricing Manager at Hastings Direct) |
| 4 pm | Mahshid Mehr (Research Fellow at WMG) |
| 4.30 pm | Panel discussion and socializing |
What is Ada Lovelace Day?
Ada Lovelace Day is an annual celebration of women's achievements in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM). Each year, the relevant Warwick student societies hold their own Ada Lovelace Day celebration to showcase the lives and work of female scientists.
The event is open to all, irrespective of gender, so please do come along!
Who was Ada Lovelace?
Ada Lovelace (1815 – 1852) is regarded by many as the first computer programmer.
Through her tutor Mary Somerville, she met and became friends with Charles Babbage, who was working on the Analytical Engine, the first computer.
She was commissioned to produce a translation of a lecture he gave from Italian, and augmented this translation significantly with her own notes; these contained the first algorithm for implementation on a computer ever published.
More about this year's speakers:
Yiru Xiong says: "I grew up in a small town in Jiangxi, China, in a STEM-focused family, which inspired my early interest in technology and data. After starting a 2+2 program in Computer Science in China, I moved to the UK at 20 to complete my degree at the University of Nottingham. The transition to a new culture and language was challenging, but it strengthened my resilience and adaptability.
Following my BSc, I pursued an MSc in Business Analytics at Warwick University, blending my love for data, customer behaviour, and commercial strategy. This led to various roles as a pricing analyst, data scientist, and now Pricing Manager at Hastings Direct, where I shape data-driven pricing strategies.
A highlight of my career has been leading "Women in Data" projects and organising learning opportunities for over 400 people across pricing, data, and analytics community. I’m passionate about supporting women in STEM and creating opportunities for growth and collaboration.
From navigating cultural and language barriers to finding my path in the data industry, my journey has been about resilience, curiosity, and continual learning. I’m excited to share my story at this year’s Ada Lovelace Day event."
Mahshid Mehr is a Cyber Systems Engineering Research Fellow at WMG, University of Warwick, within the Secure Cyber Systems Research (SCSR) group. Driven by a passion for solving real-world problems in system security, she completed her PhD in Computer Science from the University of Warwick, specializing in the security of contactless payment systems. Dr. Mehr also holds an MSc in Software Engineering, where she focused on IoT systems, and a BSc in Software Engineering, where she worked on securing CAPTCHAs. Her current research applies machine learning and artificial intelligence to enhance the security of IoT systems, with a particular focus on autonomous vehicles.
Helena Verrill is an assistant professor of mathematics at the University of Warwick, with a focus on teaching and outreach.