2009 Archives - Page 2 of 4

Archive of articles published in the 2009 issue.

Science Funding Faring Well in Budget Process But Appropriations Still a Long Way from Complete

By: Peter HarshaIn: September 2009, Vol. 21/No.4 /

As Members of Congress returned to their districts for the month-long August Congressional Recess, they left an appropriations process on pace to deliver federal science agencies significant budget increases in FY 2010. While the process is far from complete—and much could potentially happen to derail it—the milestones reached so far suggest that Congress intends to hold true to their oft-stated pledge of doubling the budgets for some key federal science agencies over the next several years.

GovAffairs

Grimson Approved as New CRA Board Chair

By: CRAIn: September 2009, Vol. 21/No.4 /

The Computing Research Association’s Board of Directors in August approved the appointment of MIT’s Eric Grimson as the organization’s 21st board chair. He replaces Peter Lee of CMU, who stepped down earlier that month after accepting an appointment to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

CRA

The Computing Innovation Fellows Project: Strengthening the Field in Difficult Times

By: Peter Lee, Ed Lazowska, and Anita JonesIn: September 2009, Vol. 21/No.4 /

In this difficult economic time many Ph.D. graduates would be lost to the research and education track if—due to severely reduced hiring by universities and research labs—they accepted positions that would not permit them to pursue their independent scholarly interests. Doing this would diminish dramatically the possibility of a future research career.

CCC

Computing Research that Changed the World

By: CCC StaffIn: May 2009, Vol. 21/No.3 /

On March 25, federal policy-makers and computing researchers came together for the CCC-organized symposium “Computing Research that Changed the World: Reflections and Perspectives” (http://www.cra.org/ccc/locsymposium) to examine the game-changing computing research advances of the past two decades and to extract lessons for structuring future programs to sustain that remarkable track record. Through the kind auspices of Congressman Bart Gordon (D-TN), Chair of the House Science Committee, the symposium was held in the Members Room of the Library of Congress, a spectacular venue.

CCC

CRA-Deans Committee Formed

By: Robert L. Constable, Cornell University, and Debra J. Richardson, UC–IrvineIn: May 2009, Vol. 21/No.3 /

The CRA-Deans Committee has a perspective on computing research that it believes can help advance the work of the Computing Research Association. Formerly known as the IT-Deans Group, the colleges and schools we represent approach the field from two perspectives, one as college-level units that emerged from computer science, say C-schools, and the other as schools that emerged from information schools, say I-schools, some of which were originally library schools.

CRA

Opportunities for Researchers at Government Labs

By: Cecilia Aragon and Linda Vu, Lawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryIn: May 2009, Vol. 21/No.3 /

Graduate students planning a research career in computer science are often asked, “Do you want to go into academia or industry after your Ph.D.?” However, there is a stealth third option for a researcher: a career at a government lab. This column sheds some light on this “hidden” career. There are many government labs in the United States conducting computer science research (for a partial list, see: http://cra-w.org/govindresearch). Although some of these institutions focus on classified or weapons research, most include unclassified or basic research in their missions, and a substantial minority work only on unclassified research.

CRA-WPGuest Article, Expanding the Pipeline

CRA Elects Officers to Two-Year Terms

By: CRAIn: May 2009, Vol. 21/No.3 /

At its February 2009 meeting, the CRA board elected officers who will serve two-year terms. Peter Lee (Carnegie Mellon University) was elected Chair; Laura Haas (IBM Almaden Research Center) will serve as Vice Chair; and Susanne Hambrusch (Purdue University) was elected Secretary. Phil Bernstein (Microsoft Research) was re-elected CRA’s Treasurer.

CRA

Extraordinary Times, Extraordinary Challenges, Extraordinary Opportunities

By: Dan Reed, CRA Board ChairIn: May 2009, Vol. 21/No.3 /

The Danish philosopher, Søren Kierkegaard,1 once remarked, “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” So it is with economic and social crises; they can be understood retrospectively, but must be experienced in the moment. Without doubt, these are extraordinary times, with global socioeconomic transformations most of us have heretofore experienced only via historical accounts and the stories of our elders.

CRAMusings from the Chair

CRA Elects New Board Members

By: CRAIn: May 2009, Vol. 21/No.3 /

CRA has recently elected five new members to its board of directors. They will begin three-year terms on June 17, 2009, the first day of the summer board meeting.

CRA

CCC Update

By: CCC StaffIn: March 2009, Vol. 21/No.2 /

The Computing Community Consortium was established by the National Science Foundation (NSF) two years ago to identify new visions and opportunities, build and expand communities, and increase support for computing research. The CCC has been busy and productive in the first two years of its existence.

CCC

Persons With Disabilities: Broadening Participation and Accessibility Research

By: Richard LadnerIn: March 2009, Vol. 21/No.2 /

It is startling to learn that approximately 16% of the US population of working age have disabilities. Some of these individuals are so cognitively or emotionally disabled that they cannot work, but most are capable of working and contributing to society. Within information technology (IT) fields the numbers compiled by the National Science Foundation (NSF) from various sources are interesting:

CRA-WPGuest Article, Expanding the Pipeline

Computing Research News