Three ISU students have created Bit to Byte, a cryptocurrency funded project to provide learning resources for financially challenged and underrepresented youth. August Domanchuk and Xander Apponi, computer engineering freshmen, and technical communications freshman Jacob Hemmerich want to create student-led communities in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).

University of Iowa students are learning astrophysics by using a sandbox to create a terrain, then monitoring what happens when something travels across it. This is backed by part of a $405,011 National Science Foundation grant. The augmented-reality sandbox called “Gravbox” is a new take on similar systems used for geology and engineering, but designed for the astrophysics world.

Nominations for the Prometheus Awards presented by LWBJ and organized by Technology Association of Iowa end Friday. The awards honor leaders and companies in the $11 billion technology industry, which accounts for 8.8 percent of the state’s gross domestic product and employs over 76,000 workers. There are a bunch of categories. You can see them here and make a nomination.

ShieldX Networks has named Iowa State University a finalist in the 2018 SC Award for Best Cybersecurity Higher Education Program in the Professional Award category for its innovative use of the ShieldX APEIRO cloud security platform. The SC Awards are a high-profile contest among cybersecurity professionals. Winners will be honored April 17 in San Francisco. See all finalists.

Each week we ask a community leader from various industries to have a little fun, peer into their crystal ball and look out 10 years in an effort to predict the future. THIS WEEK: Tiffany O’Donnell, executive director of Iowa Women Lead Change In 10 years … Currently, Iowa women hold 25 percent of top leadership roles in private, for-profit companies. It’s even less, 22 percent, in publicly traded companies.

An Iowa Department of Education task force has begun meeting to formulate computer science standards for Iowa’s schools. The Computer Science Standards Review Team, established as part of Senate File 274 enacted last year, met Tuesday for the first time. “Computer science is a basic skill in today’s economy, and the goal behind this new law is that every Iowa student will have had computer science before they graduate from

The Iowa Restaurant Association reports that many of us, especially millennials, often choose restaurants based on their online menus. But when we get to the place, we want to be able to discuss our order with a human rather than an iPad. The National Restaurant Association found that for 60 percent of patrons looking for restaurants, the availability of an online menu was the difference-maker. Among millennials, that figure rose to

About three-quarters of women who work in computer programming and other computer-related jobs say they’ve experienced discrimination on the job, according to a new report released by the Pew Research Center and reported by Recode.By comparison, 16 percent of men reported discrimination.Respondents to a poll reported sexual harassment, pay disparity and other discrimination.The results come as part of a broader analysis of technology and science jobs known as STEM, or science,

As the Global Insurance Accelerator begins its fourth class this month in Des Moines, New York-based MetLife has announced the launch of its own insurtech accelerator. The company will host the MetLife Digital Accelerator on its technology campus in Cary, N.C., Digital Insurance reported. The 13-week program, created in partnership with global entrepreneurial network Techstars, follows the life insurer’s earlier efforts to bring an accelerator to Singapore in November 2016. MetLife