November 22, 2019 Topcoder Celebrates Women in Tech at Topcoder Open / TCO19

Competition at the Topcoder Open in Houston was fierce, fun, and totally inspiring. One of the most inspiring aspects of this year’s event was seeing the rise in female competitors and content focused on women in technology. The Topcoder community includes more and more women every year. Among the competition finalists there were more women stepping up to challenge their peers. Six women representing six different countries made it to the finals.

This year’s Topcoder Open also featured a special event focused on bridging gaps for girls in technology—the She Will Connect event. We are thrilled to see women rising to the top of their ranks and hope that in the future we’ll see even more.

Topcoder Women Finalists and Trip Winners

In the Design competition, we watched finalist Viktória Pere (PereViki) compete. She placed second and we were super impressed. “I enjoy working on anything that makes me learn a new slice of the world,” she told us before the Topcoder Open. (Read more of her interview here.)

Hailing from Ukraine, Julia Ischenko (a three-time winner in previous Topcoder challenges) represented in the first-ever QA finals. “It’s very exciting to compete!” she told us. “This is my first time being a TCO finalist. The QA track challenges are fast, intense, and emotional. Testing requires that testers are careful, attentive to detail, and quick to make decisions.” 

She Will Connect

The STEM event She Will Connect, sponsored by Intel and RS Energy Group, gathered more than 45 girls from local schools who are interested in STEM to talk about career options and participate in their own competition. Students watched the live programming and design tournament, voted on the She Will Connect STEM poster design contest, participated in an Intel coding competition, and listened to a panel of female professionals currently in STEM fields to learn and ask questions.

The winner of the poster design contest was Vera Riyani (restoe_boemi) from Indonesia who won for her outstanding design.

It’s fun and inspiring to witness Topcoder community members as they support each other, share why they are passionate about coding and do what they love to do best—solve crazy hard problems that make a difference in the world. To read more about our finalists—women and men—check out the interviews here.