Rini Banerjee

My role within Women in Computing:

HeForShe & Web/Social Media coordinator

About me:

I’m a third-year Joint Maths & Computing (JMC) student and was born in the UK but moved between the UK, India and the US when I was younger. For the past 10 years I’ve lived in Wiltshire, a very quiet part of the south of England that is probably most famous for Stonehenge. Moving to a big city for university was definitely a lot to get used to, but (cheesy as it sounds) there really is no place like London. In my free time, I like catching up with friends and family, doing music (I like to sing and play the piano as well as practise Indian classical music), baking, reading, (trying to) pick up new languages… there really is too much to do and too little time!

What I love about Computing:

As a JMC student, I really enjoy exploring the intersection between mathematics and computer science concepts, and how they can be combined to solve real-world problems. I also love how dynamic the field is, and I’m kind of in awe of how many novel solutions are being developed on a day-to-day basis using technology.

What being part of the Women in Computing Network means to me and why I joined:

As soon as Women in Computing opened up to undergraduates, I knew I wanted to be part of it. Before I came to university, the underrepresentation of women in STEM was only a theoretical concept to me, since everyone around me had always encouraged me to pursue my interests. When I joined Imperial and noticed that only about a quarter of the Computing, JMC and Maths cohorts were female, I realised that there were probably a huge number of women who didn’t think they were “cut out” for STEM, and that just doesn’t seem right to me. I’m grateful and excited to be part of the WiC committee this year, surrounded by fellow students who are just as passionate about closing the gender gap in STEM as I am.

Who inspires me:

The women in my family inspire me a lot (especially my mother), as well as the female academics and older students I have met at Imperial. Representation is so important! 

Something people might not know about me is:

I once played the piano at a concert for about 500 people having never had piano lessons before. Perhaps foolish but my lessons started soon after that! :D