The Leaky Pipeline

I shared a cup of tea last week with friend and fellow climber Dr. Fran Bagenal, Professor of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences at the University of Colorado. Fran is the editor of STATUS; the newsletter of the Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy and has been particularly active in encouraging young women to enter the fields of astronomy and physics. Statistics show that the ratio of men to women entering the field of physics their freshmen year is 1:1 but that the number of women switching to different fields is higher than the number of men over the course of their education; the pipeline of women students is "leakier" than the one for men. The reasons are numerous; lack of female instructors, lack of role models, want a more exciting career, male dominated institutions, etc. But the proportion of women in physics has been increasing steadily for the past couple decades and a "tipping-point" may soon be reached where the environments and institutions will become more female and family friendly. However, we are currently experiencing an overall decline in interest from undergraduates in the fields of science and engineering, a decline which has been sited as detrimental to any claim the U.S. still has as a leader in technology.

CTEK Angels Live

I attended the first open session of the CTEK Angels last Wednesday. For those of you who may not be familiar with CTEK (Capital, Technology Transfer, Entrepreneurship, Knowledge), it is an independent Colorado, non-profit group that assists entrepreneurs with the expertise, resources and capital sources they need to grow their companies to the next level. CTEK Angels are the investors associated with CTEK; a loosely associated group of independent investors that meet once a month to give entrepreneurs an opportunity to make a pitch and combine their experience to evaluate the pitches. Although the Angels evaluate the presentations made by the entrepreneurs, investment decisions are left up to the individual investors.

CTEK provides a very effective way for entrepreneurs to approach angel investors, a very elusive group for the most part, but nevertheless instrumental in funding a major portion of small businesses in this country. Although the CTEK Angels meet once a month, this was the very first time the meeting was opened to the public. And despite the first snow of the season and the difficult parking situation at the University of Denver (no valet parking for the angels!) the event was a sell out. I guess everyone wanted to see the entrepreneurs thrown to the lions.

Chatting with some people in the audience I met both would-be entrepreneurs and investors; the entrepreneurs were curious about the process and the investors... looking for deals the Angels pass on? This event went a long way to expose the process and perhaps reduce the intimidation and confusion factor. CTEK may be seeing an increase in the number of applications for their funding program as a result.

The presentations by the entrepreneurs were well done and demonstrated the coaching they received by CTEK advisors in preparation. We heard from Ashif Dhanani from X Inc., Michael Sitarzewski of Hypersites and Magic Home. All of these companies are selling products and generating revenues and are looking for revenue for marketing and business development to get them to that next level. We'll be watching for them in the coming year.

ISCB Rocky '06

If you enjoy talking bioinformatics with some of the most creative minds in the field, AND streaking down some of the best slopes on earth, then don't miss the 4th Annual Rocky Mountain Bioinformatics Conference in Aspen from Dec. 1-3. Dr. Susan Trapp of the University of Colorado Computational Bioscience Program co-chairs the conference which brings together computational biologists in a relaxed setting conducive for sharing ideas and building the nascent bioinformatics community. This regional meeting is an official conference of the International Society of Computational Biology. Don't forget the October 10th abstract submission deadline!