Ever wonder what Google is really like? 

Five outstanding women from Speed School's Computer Engineering and Computer Science Department got the opportunity to find out first hand through Google's Workshop for Women Engineers. These women, selected for their academic excellence, career aspirations, community and campus contributions, and leadership abilities, were (from left to right) Esin Saka, Tulay Muezzinoglu, Nevine Eltonsy, Elizabeth Cha, and Christy Bogard. 

Held January 20 - 22 at Google's Headquarters in Mountain View, California, these women got behind - the - scenes look from the Google Engineers at the outstanding people and technology that makes Google tick. The workshop, designed to promote and identify technical aptitude in women, to encourage the increase in female participation in science and engineering, and to embrace the potential of women in shaping the future in engineering and science, attracted the finest engineering women students from the nation in the fields of Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction, Engineering Psychology, Human Factors, and Cognitive Science. 

Selected students received an all-expense paid trip to Mountain View, California, a tour of the Googleplex, the opportunity to interact with the Google Engineers about the driving technology and potential future career opportunities, and tours of the beautify bay area.

The Workshop opened with Marissa Mayer (VP Search Products and User Experience), the first female engineer at Google, introducing participants to the Google Company and atmosphere. Then, Anna Patterson discussed the start and growth of the Google Search Engine in Behind Google Search. Each woman then participated in a close - up examination of one of the following four Google's Technologies: Gmail, Google Earth, Blogger, and Ads. After lunch with the women engineers, participants dived further into the technology in a breakout session about The Future of Open Source, The Best of Java, The World of Platforms, Leading in Usability, or Google Software Infrastructure. Then, a Panel Discussion about the Career Paths in Computer Science with Google was led by five of Google's female engineers - Gaby Aguilera, Goranka Bjedov, Lilly Irani, Angela Lai, and Stacey Kapadia.