Women of substance get a helping hand from Wipro

BANGALORE, INDIA: Global software major Wipro Technologies has tied up with the US-based Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) to fund women students attending research conferences the world over, the IT bellwether said on Tuesday.

"The funds will help ACM to encourage women students majoring in computer science to attend conferences on the computing field for five years from 2011," the company said in a statement here.

The scholarships are aimed at fostering opportunities for women to contribute towards innovation and advanced learning.

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ACM will select 20 students each year for individual funds from $600-1,200 depending on distance to conference venues.

"We are funding the ACM scholarship programme to bring more women into science and technology and create better solutions to complex issues that make a difference in improving living standards the world over," Wipro chief technology officer I. Vijayakumar said in the statement.

Lauding Wipro's fund offer, ACM president Dame Wendy Hall said the initiative would enable the organization to attract the best minds to the computing field.

"Exposure to computing research encourages women students to continue their studies," Hall said.