Archive of articles published in the 2013 issue.
The Education Committee of the Computing Research Association (CRA-E) has launched its website: http://www.cra.org/crae. CRA-E’s mission is to address society’s need for a continuous supply of talented and well-educated computing researchers by providing resources to inform, assist, and guide the computing community.
We asked 161 college graduates who had earned a B.S. in computing to think about activities they wished they had participated in during their undergraduate career, but had not. Then, we asked “what prevented you from participating in those activities?” As seen from the graphic above, the most prominent hindrance to participating in activities was Time. This finding highlights the time-constraining nature of the undergraduate experience, particularly among computing students.
Startup non-profit Code.org is working to make inroads into one of the most gaping holes in education. Out of all students taking advanced math and science courses at the K-12 level, only two percent are studying computer science, despite the fact that over half of all STEM jobs are in computing. Code.org founders, tech entrepreneurs Ali and Hadi Partovi, saw something wrong with this picture. The organization’s first project, a short film on the importance of learning computer programming, went viral. Now, Code.org is advancing with long-term policy and education initiatives to bring computer science to all K-12 schools — and a campaign this December to get 10 million students to try it out.
On September 18, more than 30 researchers from across the country flew to Washington, DC to meet with members of their state’s congressional delegations, talk about work going on in their institutions, and help make the case for the federal investment in research.
Recently, ScienceCareers named “Three Can’t Miss Science Careers,” and Ph.D. computer scientist was on the list along with geoscientist, and physician scientist. The article identified these fields in which a degree “virtually guarantees solid career prospects” and explored recent hiring and salary trends.
Microsoft Research Connections Computer Science—in conjunction with the Research in Software Engineering Group, the Sensing and Energy Research Group, and Global Foundation Services—is pleased to invite applications for Microsoft Research Awards from the Software Engineering Innovation Foundation for 2014 (SEIF 2014). SEIF 2014 follows four successful years of SEIF Awards involving 32 successful principal investigators.
On September 19, 2013, the computer science research community lost a stellar and vibrant, researcher and leader, Mary Jean Harrold, Professor in the School of Computer Science at Georgia Institute of Technology, age 66, from cancer. Mary Jean was particularly effective and energetic as CRA-W Co-Chair and Board member. She was a role model, leader, and initiator of programs to increase the number of women participating and succeeding in computer science research careers. She was CRA-W Co-Chair (2003 to 2006) and led the Distributed Research Experiences for Undergraduates (DREU) program for several years. Mary Jean was an inspiring speaker and mentor every year at CRA-W, CRA, and ICSE mentoring events, influencing hundreds of students and young researchers. “She was a great researcher – one of the most highly cited in software engineering – and a wonderful person – she had the ability to light up any room she entered.” “Not only was she an outstanding researcher, she was an inspiring person.”
Last month, Google announced the recipients of its Summer 2013 Research Awards, and two former Computing Innovation Fellows (CIFellows) were among the winners: Mohit Tiwari and Katrina Ligget. These awards are made to researchers in computer science which cover tuition for graduate students and provide the opportunity to work with Google scientists and engineers. Tiwari was a 2011 – 2013 CIFellow at the University of California, Berkeley. He is now an Assistant Professor at University of Texas at Austin. He discusses his path as a CIFellow and his Google Research Award below.
Congratulations to CRA Board Member Christopher Johnson for being named the recipient of the 2013 IEEE Computer Society Sidney Fernbach Award for his work in scientific visualization and computing. Johnson is the founding director of the University of Utah’s Scientific Computing and Imaging (SCI) Institute. Established in 1992 in memory of high-performance computing pioneer Sidney Fernbach, the Fernbach Award recognizes outstanding contributions in the application of high-performance computers using innovative approaches.
After seven years as CRA’s Policy Analyst, Melissa Norr will be leaving CRA to begin a new career in library science. Melissa — who worked closely with Peter Harsha, CRA’s Director of Government Affairs, helping shape CRA’s policy mission — will be pursuing her passion for books with a position with the DC Public Library while she finishes a Masters in Library Science at Clarion University.
The Computing Research Association invites nominations for the CRA Distinguished Service Award and the A. Nico Habermann Award for 2014. See “Guidelines for Nominators”. Distinguished Service Award CRA makes an award, usually annually, to a person who has made an outstanding service contribution to the computing research community. A. Nico Habermann Award CRA makes an award, usually annually, to a person who has made outstanding contributions aimed at increasing the numbers and/or successes of underrepresented groups in the computing research community. Nominations are due December 13.
