Published: April 2017, Issue: Vol. 29/No.4, Download as PDF

Archive of articles published in the April 2017, Vol. 29/No.4 issue.

Richard WatersRichard Waters

Inside MERL: Making Innovation Happen


Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs (MERL) is the North American subsidiary of the corporate research and development organization of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation. MERL conducts application-motivated basic research and advanced development in areas important to Mitsubishi Electric. With 63 researchers, MERL is small enough to be flexible and agile, while gaining leverage from our global parent Mitsubishi Electric.

Sarita AdveSarita Adve

Research Highlight: CRA Board Member Sarita Adve


As we approach the end of Moore’s law, the hardware-software interface is evolving with profound implications for how easily we can use our systems and how well they perform. My research is at this interface. Although my “home” community is computer architecture, my work necessarily spans the system stack, and has included hardware design, programming language semantics, parallel algorithms for emerging applications, cross-layer system energy and resiliency management, and approximate computing.

CERP TeamCERP Team

Expanding the Pipeline: The Social Science Side of CERP


The CRA’s Center for Evaluating the Research Pipeline (CERP) turns four years old this month. During the past four years, CERP has been working steadily toward its goal of building diversity in computing through evaluation and social science research. CERP is staffed by Director Jane Stout, Research Scientist Burcin Tamer, and Research Associate Heather Wright. As seen on CERP’s About page, CERP staff are an eclectic mix of social scientists with expertise in quantitative and qualitative methods and a passion for diversity research.

CERP infographicCERP infographic

Cognitive Disorders are the Most Common Disability Reported by Undergraduate Students in Computing


CERP’s 2016 Data Buddies survey collected data on students’ disability status from 6,447 undergraduate students in computing. Eight percent of these students reported having at least one type of disability. This chart illustrates that the most common disabilities are not visible. These data serve as a reminder that some computing students may be faced with an additional set of challenges in and outside of the classroom due to their disability or disabilities.

BoomaBooma

CRA-E Selects New Graduate Student Fellow


CRA’s Education Committee (CRA-E) is pleased to welcome its new 2017 CRA-E Graduate Student Fellow – Booma Sowkarthiga Balasubramani. The Graduate Fellows Program was established in 2015 to give graduate students the opportunity to contribute to CRA-E projects, engage in advocacy for mentoring undergraduate students, and promote computer science research and undergraduate education at the national level.

CCC CouncilCCC Council

CCC @ AAAS 2017- The Technology of the Future


Recently, we have been highlighting CCC’s role at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advance of Science (AAAS) and have posted blogs about Health in Your Pocket: Diagnosing and Treating Disease with Smartphones and What Happens When Everyday Objects Become Internet Devices: A Science Policy Agenda. The focus of this post is on the Technology of the Future flash talks that CCC Council members Maja Matarić and Shwetak Patel presented.

NITRD-2NITRD-2

Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Response to NITRD “Smart Cities and Communities Federal Strategic Plan: Exploring Innovation Together”


The Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) program, an interagency Federal-coordinating group, recently posted a draft Smart Cities and Communities Federal Strategic Plan for public comment. The Computing Community Consortium (CCC) responded to the request and submitted a response to the draft strategic plan.

Beth MynattBeth Mynatt

CCC @ AAAS 2017- What Happens When Everyday Objects Become Internet Devices: A Science Policy Agenda


Recently we posted a blog about Health in Your Pocket: Diagnosing and Treating Disease with Smartphones, a press briefing that CCC members, Elizabeth (Beth) Mynatt, Shwetak Patel, and Gregory Hager presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advance of Science (AAAS) in early February. The focus of this post is on the Internet of Things (IoT). CCC Chair Beth Mynatt, CCC Executive Council Member Ben Zorn, and CCC Council Member Shwetak Patel were on a panel moderated by CCC Director Ann Drobnis on What Happens When Everyday Objects Become Internet Devices: A Science Policy Agenda.

Announcements aprilAnnouncements april

Announcements


CRA Board and Committee Members Honored
CRA Board Member Greg Hager Inducted to American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering College of Fellows.
CCC’s Cynthia Dwork Co-winner of 2017 Gödel Prize.

Former CRA Board Member Accomplishments
Valerie Taylor Named Argonne National Laboratory Division Director.
Laura M. Haas Named Dean of the College of Information and Computer Sciences at UMass Amherst.

NCWIT AA Accepting Award Nominations & Proposals & Winners Announced
The NCWIT Academic Alliance is pleased to announce the call for nominations and proposals for the latest round of awards.