Keynote speaker: Mariel Evelyn Markussen Ellingsen

From Master in Computer Science to Welfare Technology Start-up

Bio: Mariel Evelyn Markussen Ellingsen has a master’s in Computer Science from UiT – The Arctic University of Norway. Before graduation, she worked part-time in DIPS as a software engineer, worked as a teaching assistant for UiT, and student consultant for the BBI project. Ellingsen also participated as a volunteer on the board of Tromsøstudentenes Dataforening, organized UiTHack for four years, and taught children how to code as an instructor in Kodeklubben and Girl Tech Fest. Now she is the founder and CEO of her start-up Woid, which is creating an application for people using hearing aids. 

Abstract: During her last year of studies at UiT, Ellingsen chose a project close to her heart as her thesis. She wanted to create an accessible solution for her family members who used hearing aids, where this solution would assist them in hearing better in social settings when the hearing aids weren’t sufficient. 

Through a series of fortunate events and the meeting of some excellent people, they created a start-up called Woid, acquired a year’s worth of funding, and realized that the application Ellingsen wanted to make for her family could be helpful to many more. 

This talk will tell how a newly graduated computer scientist from the north of Norway chose a bit differently and became an entrepreneur (and doesn’t regret it for the most part).