Archive of articles published in the 2015 issue.

NSF Co-leads the National Strategic Computing Initiative (NSCI)


President Obama issued an executive order on July 30, 2015 creating a National Strategic Computing Initiative (NSCI) to ensure that the United States continues its leadership in high-performance computing over the coming decades. NSF is proud to serve as one of the three lead agencies for the NSCI, working alongside the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Defense (DOD).

Jim KuroseJim Kurose

Update from CISE: Highlighting CISE’s Commitment to Early-Career Faculty


Update from the Assistant Director, National Science Foundation, Computer & Information Science & Engineering highlighting a few activities that CISE supports to help nurture early career faculty: the CAREER program, the CISE Research Initiation Initiative, and meetings and workshops specifically for early-career faculty.

The 2015 CAHSI Summit: Preparing a diverse and Innovative Computing Workforce


The Computing Alliance of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (CAHSI) announces the launch of the CAHSI Summit to be held in San Juan, Puerto Rico on September 10-13, 2015. The CAHSI Summit is an extension of the CAHSI annual meeting that has provided professional development to students and faculty and served as a forum to disseminate undergraduate and graduate research efforts, CAHSI effective practices, and emerging practices that target recruitment, retention, and advancement.

STARS Computing Corps is a community of practice for student-led regional engagement as a means to broaden participation in computing.STARS Computing Corps is a community of practice for student-led regional engagement as a means to broaden participation in computing.

10 Years of RESPECT for Diversity: 10th anniversary of the STARS Celebration and the first annual RESPECT Conference


There is an increasingly urgent need to engage people in computing, not only to satisfy growing workforce demands, but also to empower people to create and control the devices we use in our day-to-day lives. In computing, broadening the participation of persons from underrepresented groups is a matter of equity. Globally, underrepresentation differs regionally and culturally by gender, race, ethnicity, socio-economic advantage, physical or mental impairment, and LGBT status.

Computing Researchers Get ‘Schooled’ on Science Policy at LiSPI 2015


As part of its mission to develop a next generation of leaders in the computing research community, the Computing Research Association’s Computing Community Consortium recently held its third Leadership in Science Policy Institute (LiSPI) on April 27-28 in Washington, D.C. This one-and-a-half day workshop intended to educate a cadre of computing researchers on how science policy in the U.S. is formulated and how our government works. Participants heard candid and “off the record” views from people who do it or have done it. Thirty-six computer scientists and engineers from 30 different universities and research organizations attended.

NSF-Funded Robotic System Excites Capitol Hill Attendees at the 2015 CNSF Exhibition


On April 29th, the Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF), an alliance of more than 140 professional organizations, universities, and businesses, held their 21st Annual Capitol Hill Exhibition. CNSF supports the goal of increasing the federal investment in the National Science Foundation’s research and education programs, and the exhibition itself is a great way to show members of Congress and their staff what research the American people have funded.

CCC Community Report for a National Privacy Research Strategy


In April, the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) commissioned members of the privacy research community to generate a short report to help guide strategic thinking in this space. The effort aimed to complement and synthesize other recent documents, including the White HouseBIG DATA: Seizing Opportunities, Preserving Values Report and the Report to the President on Big Data and Privacy: A Technological Perspective.

Burçin TamerBurçin Tamer

CRA and CERP Welcome New Staff Member


In May, CRA welcomed a new staff member to the Center for Evaluating the Research Pipeline, Burçin Tamer, Ph.D. At CERP, she will use her quantitative expertise to help evaluate programs aimed at promoting diversity in computing fields.

CS in DC: Randy Bryant, Assistant Director, IT R&D, OSTP


Randy Bryant is currently the Assistant Director, Information Technology Research and Development at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). While at OSTP, Bryant is on sabbatical from Carnegie Mellon University, where he is a University Professor in the Computer Science Department (with a courtesy appointment in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department). He served as dean of the School of Computer Science from 2004 to 2014.

Terminal M.S. Students Who Participate in the CRA-W’s Grad Cohort Show Increased Interest in Pursuing a Ph.D.


During the spring of 2015, 63 Terminal Masters students who had participated in the CRA-W’s annual Grad Cohort mentoring event for women graduate students responded to the following: How interested are you in ultimately pursuing a PhD in a computing field? Respondents answer this question two weeks prior to and two weeks after Grad Cohort using the following scale: Not at all, A little, Somewhat, Quite a bit, Extremely.