Mentor For PING Girls & Science Clubhouse Enjoys 'Breaking Barriers,' Wants To Get Girls Excited About Cybersecurity

(CBS4) - Girls, don't be afraid to chase your engineering dreams. That's the message from Remy Lyle, a technical director at a software company in Denver called Ping Identity. Ping is one of the presenters at this year's virtual Girls & Science event being hosted this month by the Denver Museum of Nature & Science and CBS4. Lyle is one of the mentors, and she's proud to be among the women who are working in a field that's generally thought of as being dominated by male workers.

"I remember being as young as 11 years old and having to take a computer programming class and everybody around me, from my teachers to my parents to my siblings -- they didn't shut the dream down, they didn't say 'Oh, that's so silly of you for a young girl to think about a career in cybersecurity," Lyle said.

Lyle says she's proud to have broken barriers in her career. She leads an active life as a mother with kids and says she doesn't fit at all with the stereotype of a man programming in his basement.

SECTION: Girls & Science

Coming up with Ping's virtual clubhouse and online activity this year required some "outside of the box" thinking, according to Lyle. It's designed around identity verification. Lyle said she'll be giving a taste to clubhouse participants of what a day in her life at work is like. She's hoping to get kids excited about the concepts of digital identity.

"As we live in these times where face-to-face interactions are limited, how do we prove that somebody is really who they say they are?" she said, referring to the clubhouse's theme.

Ping designed at-home activities for kids that help them understand when it's important to question someone's digital presence. The concept is a little bit advanced for the kids, she admits, but she says Ping has come up with a way to make it relatable.

Learn more about Lyle's upcoming presentation at www.dmns.org/girls-science/.