Xilinx : Unveils Women in Technology Grant Program with Leading Universities

We are excited to launch a new Women in Technology (WIT) grant program with six leading universities across the globe. The WIT grant will fund programs designed to attract, develop, and engage more women to pursue professional careers in technology-focused roles.

The WIT grant program is a collaboration between the Office of the CTO's University Program and Human Resources. It includes both monetary funds and in-kind gifts of Xilinx PYNQ development boardsfor designing embedded systems using Xilinx devices.

University grant recipients include:

• California State University, Los Angeles
• Colorado School of Mines
• Santa Clara University
• The University of Texas at San Antonio
• Simon Fraser University (Canada)
• AfriTech Hub (Cameroon)

These universities were selected from more than 50 worldwide applicants based on their vital existing WIT programs and how they plan to use the grant to continue cultivating technology careers for women. This includes competitions for scholarships, hackathons and research projects that will be spun into learning modules as well as women-focused community-building programs within the universities. Overall, the impact of the grant program is expected to reach more than 3,000 students.

AfriTech Hub, in collaboration with the University of Buea in Cameroon, seeks to encourage women to take up STEM-related careers in an area where women account for less than 15 percent of the tech sector. Their plan will motivate students, promote diversity, and showcase the technological benefits of the 21^st century. At Santa Clara University, students will take on year-long design projects, working with real clients with technical needs. The WIT programs at Simon Fraser University will work with youth beginning in kindergarten through high school to foster the talent pipeline, including creating apps to teach the youngest participants. This is just a small example of the work that will be done, and we are excited to share more details as additional programs and projects are implemented.

Xilinx is committed to furthering technology careers for women and we're proud to kick-off this new WIT grant program in collaboration with these leading universities.