Nominations for the 2024 CRA-WP Early Career Awards Due January 31

By Lauren Lashlee, Program Associate, CRA-WP

Nominations for the 2024 CRA-WP Early Career Awards are due by January 31, 2024 at 11:59PM ET. The two honorary awards under the Early Career Award umbrella are The Borg Early Career Award (BECA) and The Skip Ellis Early Career Award (SEECA). If you know of an eligible, outstanding computing science researcher who is working to make a difference in the world, nominate them today!

To find out more about the Nomination process and eligibility, please visit the CRA-WP Early Career Awards webpage. 

Last year, Robin Brewer, University of Michigan, won the 2023 BECA for her outstanding accomplishments in Robotics and Social computing to enhance the lives of the elderly and those with disabilities. Robin is dedicated to service; she has volunteered for and co-organized mentoring programs for women and people of color, including the CHI Mentoring Program (CHIMe) at the ACM CHI conference and a virtual writing group for Black women in computing fields. Robin received her award at the 2023 ASSETS conference this past October in New York, NY. The award was presented by CRA-WP board member Ramón Cáceres.

Here are some highlights from Robin’s supporters:

“One characteristic that sets Robin apart from her peers is her commitment to mentorship and diversity in computing. She mentors many graduate and undergraduate students at the University of Michigan and other universities. Robin spends much of her time mentoring underrepresented students in computing.”

“… I am simply a big fan of Dr. Brewer. It has been such a pleasure to watch her career progress and to see her engage with the BPC community. I have no doubt that she will continue to thrive as a researcher and from that platform, impact many young diverse researchers to come after her. I look forward to watching it all unfold.”

“… providing my full-throated support of Dr. Brewer for this award. She embodies and practices what (to my understanding) the award is intended to support, and I am confident that any support will only have amplifying effects on our broader community.”

Additionally, Michael Carbin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, won the 2023 SEECA for his outstanding accomplishments in advancing the computer science fields from challenging assumptions of compiler capabilities to training neural networks. Michael has shown dedication to mentoring and advising those in his vicinity and doing so with unpresuming tact and consideration.

Here are some highlights from Michael’s supporters:

“Dr. Carbin is now a proven researcher approaching the prime of his career. He has already demonstrated a remarkable ability to operate across very different fields (consider that, rooted in programming languages, he was able to make a foundational contribution in machine learning, one of the most active and competitive fields in all of computing).“

“I have observed a commitment to changing the culture of our community through how he mentors peers and prospective students. A person from an under-represented group is not a role model if they adopt the problematic methods and values of an oppressive system. I believe Michael is an exemplary role model whose leadership is evident in the compassion and support he has shown over the years to those with less power.”

“I have seen first hand Mike’s insight and drive to uncover the truth. I’ve also watched him mentor several of his students, which he does with wisdom, patience, and support.“

“Michael has a tremendous vision of the future of computer science, with interests spanning important core areas from the fundamentals of computing (programming languages, compilers, architectures) to the latest advances in machine learning. Besides being able to identify the most important problems in the field, he is creative, super capable, hardworking, and has great research leadership in nurturing young talents.”

“Michael is a superstar who has already made significant impact across many important fields in computer science.  I cannot think of anybody more deserving of this…”

 

To find out more about the Nomination process and eligibility, please visit the CRA-WP Early Career Awards webpage.