CRA-I Blog

The CRA-I Blog frequently shares news, timely information about the computing research industry community, and items of interest to the general community. Subscribe to blog emails here to stay connected.

CRA-I Announces New Council Members

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Jofish Kaye, Nita Patel, Jennifer Rexford, and Mark Segal

CRA-Industry (CRA-I) is happy to announce four new Council members charged with propelling the committee forward. This growing list of Council members, led by CRA-I Council Chair Divesh Srivastava (AT&T), will continue to work closely with the Steering Committee to identify future committee directions, connect with the community, and achieve the goals of CRA-I. 

CRA-I welcomes the following four Council members, nominated by colleagues in the computing research community:

Jofish Kaye
Wells Fargo

Jofish Kaye is Principal Research Scientist at Wells Fargo in Strategic Design and Innovation, and has previously worked at Anthem.ai, Mozilla, Yahoo and Nokia. His work involves applying AI, behavioral science, and human-centered design to new product and development, and he has an extensive track record of publishing in human-computer interaction (HCI) and computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW). He has served on the ACM Diversity & Inclusion Council, the SIGCHI Executive Board, and co-chaired CHI ’16. He holds a Ph.D. in Information Science from Cornell University and BS and MS degrees from MIT.

Nita Patel
Otis

Nita Patel is Senior Director at Otis’s lead design center in Farmington, where she is leading global engineering development and providing new capabilities in connected, smart, IoT-based platforms. Nita is 2023 President of the IEEE Computer Society.  Nita received her MS Computer Engineering, BS Electrical Engineering and BS Mathematics from Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Jennifer Rexford
Princeton University

Jennifer Rexford is the Gordon Y.S. Wu Professor of Engineering, and Chair of the Computer Science Department. Before joining Princeton in 2005, she worked for eight years at AT&T Labs—Research. She received her BSE in electrical engineering from Princeton in 1991, and her Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of Michigan in 1996. She served as the chair of ACM SIGCOMM from 2003 to 2007. Professor Rexford was the 2004 winner of ACM’s Grace Murray Hopper Award for outstanding young computer professional. She is an ACM Fellow (2008) and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2013) and the National Academy of Engineering (2014).

Mark Segal
National Security Agency

Mark E. Segal is Deputy Director of the Research Directorate of the National Security Agency (NSA). In this role, Mark provides scientific and administrative oversight to an organization that conducts mission-focused research across a wide variety of scientific disciplines, and applies successful research results to NSA’s signals intelligence and cybersecurity missions. Many operational systems at NSA have key components in them derived from Research breakthroughs. Prior to joining NSA, Mark worked at Telcordia Technologies (formerly Bellcore) as a research manager and researcher for 18 years. He served as Executive Director of Software Technology Research at Telcordia, and conducted research in distributed computing, multimedia systems, dependable systems, and cyber security. Mark holds BS, MS, and PhD degrees in Computer and Communications Sciences from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Please help the industry research community by continuing to nominate outstanding colleagues for the CRA-I Council. Read more here and send nominations to industryinfo@cra.org. 

Newly Expanded CRA Career Mentoring Workshops Now Accepting Industry Applications!

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The Computing Research Association (CRA) is now accepting applications for its biennial CRA Career Mentoring Workshops (CMWs). The workshops provide valuable career advice and mentoring activities to people just beginning or in the early stages of their computing research careers. Building on the success of more than two decades of workshops for starting a tenure-track position in academia, this year’s program is expanded to include a workshop on teaching and a track on launching a computing research career in industry.

Taking place in Washington, D.C., participants have the option to join one or both workshops.

CMW: Teaching will be held February 20-21, offering participants the opportunity to hear from seasoned computing educators about the nuts and bolts of teaching large upper-division classes and graduate student seminars. The goal of this highly-interactive and engaging workshop is to help reduce the time you spend on teaching, reduce your frustration with teaching, and improve your teaching evaluations. Specifically, attendees will gain insight into how to write and edit course syllabi, be introduced to high-quality materials and master teacher models, go through a bootcamp on evidence-based practices such as active learning, and gain guidance on how to manage TAs and other administrative tasks.

CMW: Research will be held February 22-23, with two track options:

  • The Academic Track will provide advice and mentoring activities for those starting academic computing research careers. Session topics will include planning your research career, networking strategies, mentoring and managing students, preparing a tenure dossier, time management and work-life balance, among others.
  • The Industry Track will offer attendees advice and mentoring for launching a computing research career in industry. It will be led by experienced industry professionals and be focused on providing practical, actionable career advice, such as sessions on preparing a promotion application. Participants of the Industry Track will join the Academic Track as it makes sense, for session topics such as networking strategies and work-life balance.

The workshops, consisting of a series of panels, are interspersed with opportunities to network with senior researchers and representatives from government agencies.

Apply by December 11, 2023

Please submit your application no later than December 11, 2023. You will receive an email notification no later than December 20, 2023 on the status of your application and, if selected, next steps.

DoD Data Economy Study Request for Information Due 11/3

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The Defense Innovation Board (DIB) is seeking to gather diverse perspectives for improving the collection, availability, analysis, and use of data within the Department of Defense (DoD). The DIB welcomes insights and best practices from industry, academia, uniformed personnel, and other interested parties. Expertise and feedback will help shape the DIB’s research and recommendations to the Secretary of Defense and other DoD leaders.  This survey will close on Friday, November 3, 2023, at 11:59 pm Eastern Time (ET).  It should take approximately 15 minutes to complete. 

Respondents are urged to contribute real-world examples, case studies, and practical insights to enhance the understanding and adoption of industry best practices for data within the DoD on the following topics:

  1. DATA GOVERNANCE: Best practices for data governance, including data security and compliance. Strategies for effective data management and protection. Examples of successful data governance frameworks and their outcomes.
  2. DATA SHARING: Strategies for fostering data sharing within and between organizations. Examples of successful data sharing initiatives and their impact on your data economy. Recommendations for overcoming barriers to data sharing.
  3. DATA ANALYTICS AND INSIGHTS: Approaches for deriving valuable insights from data. Successful data analytics use cases and their impact on decision-making. Tools and techniques for effective data analytics.
  4. DATA ARCHITECTURE: Best practices for data architecture, including data processing and integration. Recommendations for a well-designed data architecture wherein data is organized, accessible, and usable.
  5. DATA TALENT MANAGEMENT: Strategies for identifying and attracting data scientists, analysts, engineers, and other data professionals. Recommendations for addressing current data workforce gaps and anticipating future needs.
  6. DATA PARTNERSHIPS AND COLLABORATION: Strategies for forming data sharing agreements with trusted international partners. Insights into fostering trust and collaboration among data sharing partners.
  7. DATA ETHICS AND RESPONSIBLE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI): Views on ethical and other considerations in data collection, processing, and use. Practices for ensuring responsible AI development and deployment in your organization. Real-world examples of organizations that have prioritized data ethics.
  8. DATA INNOVATION AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES: Trends in data-related technologies (e.g., AI, Blockchain, Internet of Things, Quantum Computing) and their impact on the data economy. Innovative applications of data-driven technologies in different industries. Insights into fostering a culture of data-driven innovation.

Please fill out the survey here by Friday, November 3, 2023, at 11:59 pm Eastern Time (ET).