ACM MemberNet - November 19, 2015

Welcome to the November 2015 edition of ACM MemberNet, bringing you the world of ACM and beyond. Explore the many facets of ACM with our newsletter of member activities and events. Read current and past issues of MemberNet online at http://membernet.acm.org. Is there a person, event, or issue you'd like to see covered? Please email mn-editor at acm.org.

November 19, 2015

TOP STORIES

New at CSEdWeek, December 7-13: Hour of Code Star Wars Game and Volunteer Opps for Software Engineers

Preparations for the Hour of Code are kicking into high gear, with more than 70,000 organizers signing up to plan activities to get students (and others willing to learn) excited about programming.

Central to the Hour of Code events are one-hour tutorials, which are fun ways of showing students—via games, apps, stories, animations, and more—how code works. An exciting new offering this year is the Star Wars tutorial, which enables users to learn basic concepts of programming using "blocks" of code while building their own Star Wars game. The game is available in several languages. More new tutorials are in the pipeline.

If you're a software engineer, volunteer to spend an hour or two in a classroom and spark imaginations—this is a great opportunity to engage young minds in the technologies of the future!

Teachers, learn more about how to teach an Hour of Code and host an Hour of Code in your community.

Since 2009, ACM has partnered with Code.org, a nonprofit coalition dedicated to expanding computer science education. Computer Science Education Week is held annually the second week in December in recognition of the birthday of computing pioneer Admiral Grace Murray Hopper.

ACM's Distinguished Members Cited for Advances in Computing that Will Yield Real World Impact

From the hottest new features on our mobile devices, to efforts to prevent a cyber war from damaging critical infrastructure systems, and even the ways in which advances in database management improve our next visit to the doctor, achievements in computing tangibly impact our daily lives. In selecting 49 computing leaders as 2015 ACM Distinguished Members, ACM, the world's leading association of computing professionals, is highlighting how the work of these innovators is changing the world. This special recognition grade from ACM honors members working in the areas of education, engineering and science.

"Whenever we use an app on our phone to get driving directions, securely pay bills online, or conduct an internet search, we are benefiting from the research and efforts of computing professionals," explained ACM President Alexander L. Wolf. "By honoring the 2015 ACM Distinguished Members, we hope to reinforce this idea."

Learn more about the nomination process.
Read the ACM news release.

Pioneer Gene Amdahl Remembered for Creating Modern Mainframe Architectures

Gene Myron Amdahl, a pioneer in the mainframe computer era, passed away on November 10, at the age of 93. He is chiefly known for his work on mainframes at IBM; in the 1960s he became chief architect of System/360. He later started his own companies, most notably Amdahl Corporation. He formulated Amdahl's law, which states a fundamental limitation of parallel computing. An ACM Senior Member, Amdahl lectured at and contributed papers to many ACM conferences. He was named an IBM Fellow in 1965, and became a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 1967. In 2007, Amdahl was recognized with the SIGDA Pioneering Achievement Award.
Wikipedia article
More in-depth article on Amdahl's contributions, with photos

SIG 2016 Elections

In accordance with ACM Bylaw 6, the following ACM Special Interest Groups will hold elections in 2016: SIGAI, SIGCSE, SIGDOC, ACM SIGGRAPH, SIGHPC, SIGIR, SIGLOG, and SIGSIM.

AWARDS

Call for ACM Award Nominations

Each year, ACM recognizes technical and professional achievements within the computing and information technology community through its celebrated Awards Program. And annually, ACM's award committees evaluate the contributions of candidates for various awards that span a spectrum of professional and technological accomplishments. You and your colleagues are invited to nominate candidates for ACM awards, including:
Awards with November 30 nomination deadlines:

  • A.M. Turing Award
  • ACM-Infosys Foundation Award in the Computing Sciences
  • ACM/AAAI Allen Newell Award
  • Software System Award
  • Grace Murray Hopper Award
  • Paris Kanellakis Theory and Practice Award
  • Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award
  • ACM Policy Award—new
  • Distinguished Service Award
  • Outstanding Contribution to ACM Award

Please take a moment to consider those individuals in your community who may be suitable for nomination. Refer to http://awards.acm.org/award_nominations.cfm for nomination guidelines and the complete listing of Award Subcommittee Chairs and Members.

MEMBER RECOGNITION

Call for ACM Senior Member Nominations

The Senior Member advanced grade of membership recognizes ACM members with at least 10 years of professional experience and 5 years of continuous ACM Professional membership who have demonstrated performance and accomplishment that set them apart from their peers. Nominations are accepted on a quarterly basis. The deadline for nominations is December 3. Please read Advice to Those Seeking ACM Senior Members by former Senior Member Committee Chair Susan Rodger on how to submit a strong nomination package.

SIG AWARDS

ACM SIG Awards Recognize Achievements in Diverse Fields

ACM's Special Interest Groups (SIGs) regularly cite outstanding individuals for their contributions in more than 35 distinct technological fields. Some awards presented (or to be presented) at recent conferences:

CONFERENCES AND EVENTS

ACM to Celebrate Bicentennials of Ada Lovelace and George Boole

ACM is joining with the University of Oxford and the Computer History Museum to celebrate the 200th birthdays of Ada Lovelace (1815–1852) and George Boole (1815–1864). The bicentennial events will feature exhibits, lectures and a symposium on their lives and fundamental contributions to computing and computer programming.

The exhibit "Ada Lovelace: Computer Pioneer" will be on view at Weston Library in Oxford, UK from October 13 to December 20. The exhibit is based on collections held in the Bodleian Library and the Oxford Museum of the History of Science. The Ada Lovelace 200 Symposium: Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Ada Lovelace will take place December 9 to 10, with ACM President Alexander Wolf, ACM Vice President Vicki Hanson, Communications of the ACM Editor-in-Chief Moshe Vardi and ACM-W Chair Valerie Barr participating. Please register for the symposium before November 23. A special interdisciplinary workshop for graduates and early-career researchers will take place December 8. Check the events calendar for more lectures and other events.

ACM will fund live streaming of the Lovelace symposium on December 9 from 6:00 AM to 11:30 AM EST.

The Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California will open its exhibit Thinking Big: Ada, Countess of Lovelace to the public on December 12. On December 13, the Museum will host Adafest, a community day focused on Ada Lovelace that includes opportunities to meet local artisans, uncover the sights and styles of Victorian England, and explore Ada's life through storytelling, live demonstrations, and tours. A special ACM weekend (January 23-24, 2016) will offer ACM members, their families and guests free admission to the Museum. In addition, ACM members can receive a 10% discount on admission to the Computer History Museum, as well as on Museum membership.

Watch Video of November 4 "Internet of Things" Lecture with ACM Past President Vint Cerf

Vint Cerf's lecture, "The Coming Age of the Internet of Things," outlined many issues touching on internet security and privacy. The lecture was followed by a lively discussion with panelists Cerf, Deborah Estrin (the first ACM-W Athena Lecturer Award recipient), and Beth Simone Noveck (director of The Governance Lab). Watch the video now.

WSC 2015, December 6 to 9, Huntington Beach, California

The Winter Simulation Conference provides the central meeting place for simulation practitioners, researchers, and vendors working in all disciplines in industry, service, government, military and academic sectors. Keynote speakers include Joshua Epstein, Professor of Emergency Medicine at Johns Hopkins University; Timothy H. Chung, an Assistant Professor of Systems Engineering at the Naval Postgraduate School; and John Fowler, the Motorola Professor and Chair of the Supply Chain Management Department at Arizona State University. Conference tracks include Big Data, Gaming, Healthcare Applications, Hybrid Simulation, and more. WSC incorporates MASM, the conference on Modeling and Analysis for Semiconductor Manufacturing.

SIGCSE 2016, March 2 to 5, Memphis, Tennessee

The SIGCSE Technical Symposium addresses problems common among educators working to develop, implement and/or evaluate computing programs, curricula, and courses. SIGCSE provides a forum for sharing new ideas for syllabi, laboratories, and other elements of teaching and pedagogy, at all levels of instruction. Scheduled keynote speakers are John Sweller, Professor Emeritus in the School of Education at the University of New South Wales, and Karen Lee Ashcraft, University of Colorado Boulder. Sweller is an educational psychologist who is best known for formulating an influential theory of cognitive load. Ashcraft is a professor as well as the director of the Communication & Society Residential Program, a living-learning community for early college students broadly interested in communication, media, journalism and related themes.

SXSW 2016 Interactive, March 11 to 15, Austin, Texas

The SXSW Interactive Festival is a dynamic blend of cutting-edge technologies and digital creativity, featuring compelling presentations and panels from the brightest minds in emerging technology, networking events hosted by industry leaders, and the best new websites, video games and startup ideas the community has to offer. This year ACM makes its debut with three sessions that were selected in part by public voting:

Early registration rates are available now.

L@S 2016, April 25 to 26, 2016, Edinburgh, UK

The third annual ACM Conference on Learning at Scale is at the intersection of computer science and the learning sciences, seeking to improve practice and theories of learning at scale. Strong submissions typically build on relevant research and frameworks beyond a single home discipline. Co-located with the 6th International Learning Analytics and Knowledge Conference (LAK 2016), this year's conference is seeking submissions reporting on rigorous research on methodologies, studies, analyses, tools, or technologies for learning at scale. Learning at Scale includes MOOCs, games (including massively multiplayer online games), citizen science communities, and other types of learning environments which provide learning experiences to large number of learners, and/or produce detailed, high-volume data about the learning process. See the Calls page for submission deadlines and details.

PUBLIC POLICY

USACM Submits Comments on US Participation in International Cybersecurity Standardization

The ACM US Public Policy Council (USACM), in collaboration with four other ACM entities, submitted comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on a draft interagency report advocating US participation in international cybersecurity standardization. Because the cybersecurity infrastructure crosses international borders, cybersecurity policy must recognize and promote international cooperative action to build a more secure and trustworthy global digital ecosystem.

MEMBER PROGRAMS

Become an Ambassador for ACM—You Could Be a Grand Prize Winner!

The Ambassadors for ACM program rewards ACM members like you for encouraging new members to join. Your first-hand experience with ACM's valuable career development and continuous learning programs makes you a perfect envoy to share your ACM experiences with prospective members. The 2015–2016 Ambassadors for ACM program offers opportunities for you to earn new prizes, rewards and bonus gifts with each referral.

Submit the ACM Referral Form, and your referrals can join ACM at a special discount rate. Our members are our greatest asset. Your support of ACM is critical to our continuing efforts to advance computing as a science and a profession. Please consider becoming an Ambassador for ACM.

Featured Member Benefit: Discounts on HP Home Products
HP has teamed up with ACM to offer our members the benefit of purchasing high-quality HP home products at a discounted price. HP offers a broad line of consumer products, from configure-to-order notebooks and desktops to printers, handhelds, calculators and more! Access the hottest consumer products, including customized PC options, student bundles, and third-party accessories. Enjoy free shipping and a 30-day return policy (no restocking fees); supplies and loyalty programs; and expert sales agents to assist with purchases via phone, chat, and email support. Purchase online at www.hpdirect.com/employee/c_acm or call our sales center at 866-433-2018 and mention your EPP code ACM2001.

LEARNING CENTER

Register to Watch November 24 Talk with SIGKDD Innovation Award Winner Pedro Domingos

Register to watch the next free ACM webinar, The Five Tribes of Machine Learning (And What You Can Learn from Each), to be presented on Tuesday, November 24 at 12 pm ET (11 am CT/10 am MT/9 am PT/5 pm GMT) by Pedro Domingos, Professor of Computer Science at the University of Washington in Seattle and winner of the SIGKDD Innovation. Gregory Piatetsky-Shapiro, President of KDnuggets, founder of the KDD Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining, and co-founder of ACM SIGKDD, moderates.

ACM Learning Webinars are free with registration, available for streaming on all major mobile devices, and are recorded for on-demand viewing.

New Skillsoft Learning Collections Offer More Books and Courses, Mobile Platform

ACM's recently updated offering, Skillsoft Learning Collections, is hosted in our newly upgraded Learning Management System, Skillport 8, and features more than 1,000 online courses, with integrated virtual labs, TestPrep exams, expert mentoring, and other resources; over 3,000+ eBooks from leading academic/professional IT publishers such as Apress, Cambridge University Press, For Dummies, McGraw-Hill, Oracle Press, Packt, Sybex, Wiley, and Wrox; thousands of short "on-the-job" task-based videos covering the latest IT, business, and desktop skills/software; and AnalystPerspectivesTM, comprehensive reports from leading analyst firms from around the world on cutting-edge topics such as cybersecurity, big data, cloud computing, IoT, mobile computing, and more.

The new Collections focus deeper than ever on software development, and expand coverage of cybersecurity, Big Data and databases, networking, and project management knowledge areas. Automatic content updates ensure that ACM members stay current with the latest technologies, standards, and frameworks. The new platform, Skillport 8, integrates all assets (books, courses, videos, etc.) inside a single learning environment, with enhanced search, navigation, and usability. This new platform offers "anywhere access" to books and short videos for mobile devices, and access to a standalone Skillsoft app for Android and iOS users. It is also Java-free (with the exception of offline downloads via Skillsoft Course Manager). Content updates pushed automatically to our collections ensure that members have access to the latest technologies, standards, and frameworks.

To start exploring the new Skillsoft Learning Collections, visit the ACM Learning Center, log in with your member credentials, and click on "Skillsoft Learning." To jump directly to particular subject areas, visit the Books, Courses, and Videos page. For more information and frequently asked questions, check out the Skillsoft FAQ.

New Skillsoft IT and Desktop Videos

Did you know that ACM members have access to thousands of IT and productivity videos from Skillsoft? Covering a variety of today's hottest topics, these videos offer "on-the-job" support and solutions for busy practitioners.

Recently, Skillsoft added significant video content in the following knowledge areas: Adobe Dreamweaver CC 2015, Android for .NET Developers, CLDFND, Creating Web Applications with Sinatra, Defensive Programming in Java, F# Fundamentals, Generic Design and Modeling Databases, Hadoop Operations, Juniper Networks Junos Essentials, Microsoft SQL Server 2016 First Look, Microsoft Windows 10 End User, NopCommerce, Oracle Database 12c, Ruby on Rails 4.2, and Windows 10. See Skillsoft Learning Collections page for more information.

Member Discount on EMC Courseware

ACM has partnered with EMC to bring members a 15% discount on practical training in some of today's most vital IT knowledge areas, such as Big Data, Cloud Computing, Information Storage and Management, Virtualization, and more. These EMC courses focus on technology, not products, to teach technology topics applicable to any vendor environment. Training is available in various modalities, including eLearning, instructor-led (ILT), online ILT, video ILT, and video ILT-stream. For the list of eligible courses and the discount code, visit the EMC courses page.

CAREER & JOB CENTER

Import Your LinkedIn Profile in ACM's Career & Job Center

Be sure to visit ACM's Career & Job Center to update your résumé or create a new one in the Résumé Bank. ACM members' résumés include an ACM logo on their entry, highlighting their ACM membership to employers.

Now available when posting a résumé in the Résumé Bank: import your LinkedIn profile. You will be required to sign in to your LinkedIn account. Please note that LinkedIn does not have exactly the same fields as ACM, so you will have to review the imported information and update where necessary. Once you have a résumé created and saved in our system, you can publish it to the Résumé Bank so that employers find you! Or keep it private and use it when applying online for jobs. Log in to ACM's Job Board and post your résumé today. You can also upgrade to a Preferred Résumé to keep it at the top of the Résumé Bank, highlighted with a star next to it for increased visibility ($25 for 90 days).

In addition, ACM offers CareerNews, which provides summaries of articles on career-related topics of interest to students and professionals in the computing field, in a bi-weekly email alert to ACM members. ACM members can subscribe to the CareerNews email alert service.

For more information about the Career & Job Center please contact Jennifer Ruzicka.

CSTA JOB BOARD

Computer Science Teachers Association Job Board Matches Job Seekers, Employers

The Computer Science Teachers Association's CSTA Job Board is the career hub for K-12 Computer Science teachers. The career center provides access to 100% computer science K-12 teaching-related job postings.

The CSTA Job Board will allow you to manage your career:

  • Search and apply to K-12 computer science related jobs
  • Upload your anonymous résumé and allow employers to contact you
  • Set up job alerts specifying your skills, interests, and location to receive email notifications when a job is posted that matches your criteria

or recruit for open positions:

  • put job openings in front of the most qualified group of K-12 computer science-focused professionals
  • Simply create an employer account on the CSTA Job Board and choose from three levels of online job postings options: Basic 30-Day Online Job Posting ($190); Enhanced 30-Day Online Posting ($250); or Premium 30-Day Online Posting ($310).

CSTA Members: be sure to visit the CSTA Job Board directly (or click the Job Board link from the CSTA homepage) to create and upload your résumé to the Résumé Bank so that employers find you, or keep it private and use it when applying online for jobs. Log in and post your résumé today!

EDUCATION

Jeffrey Forbes Named Chair of ACM Education Policy Committee

ACM has named Jeffrey R.N. Forbes, an Associate Professor of the Practice of Computer Science at Duke University, as Chair of the ACM Education Policy Committee. Created in 2007, the Committee is a high-level committee of acclaimed computer scientists and educators dedicated to improving opportunities for quality education in computer science and computing education around the world. Forbes succeeds founding chair Robert B. (Bobby) Schnabel, who assumed a new role as ACM CEO on November 1. In leading the committee, Forbes will play a major role in developing initiatives aimed at shaping education policies that impact the computing field.
Read the ACM news release.

STUDENT NEWS

Young Researchers: Apply Now for Next Heidelberg Laureate Forum, September 18 to 23, 2016

ACM encourages young computer scientists and mathematicians from all over the world to apply for one of the 200 coveted spots to participate in the Heidelberg Laureate Forum (HLF), an annual event. The HLF offers all accepted young researchers the great opportunity to personally meet the winners of the most prestigious prizes in their fields.

For one week, the recipients of the ACM A.M. Turing Award (Computer Science), the Abel Prize (Mathematics), the Fields Medal (Mathematics), and the Nevanlinna Prize (Mathematical Aspects of Information Science) will engage in a cross-generational scientific dialogue with young researchers in Heidelberg, Germany.

The fourth HLF will take place September 18 to 23, 2016. This high-profile event combines scientific, social and outreach activities in an informal atmosphere, and is fueled by comprehensive exchange and scientific inspiration.

Applications must be submitted online at application.heidelberg-laureate-forum.org by February 3, 2016. Read more about how to apply in the FAQ. You can also nominate a candidate (on the registration form, you will need to enter ACM's organization number; please email [email protected] to request this number). Successful candidates will be selected by an international committee of experts to ensure that only the most qualified candidates are invited. Those who are accepted will be notified in April.

US High School Students Encouraged to Apply for New ACM/CSTA Cutler-Bell Prize

The ACM/CSTA Cutler-Bell Prize in High School Computing recognizes talented high school students in computer science. The intent of the program is to promote and encourage the field of computer science, as well as to empower young and aspiring learners to pursue computing challenges outside of the traditional classroom environment.

The application process involves a Challenge that focuses on having the student develop an artifact that engages modern computing technology and computer science. Judges will be looking for submissions that demonstrate ingenuity, complexity, relevancy, originality, and a desire to further computer science as a discipline. The application period closes January 1, 2016.

Four winners will be selected annually and each will be awarded a $10,000 prize and cost of travel to the annual ACM/CSTA Cutler-Bell Prize in High School Computing Reception, where students will demonstrate their programs and discuss their work. The prizes will be funded by a $1 million endowment established by David Cutler and Gordon Bell. The inaugural awards will be announced in February 2016.

Upcoming ACM Student Research Competitions: Submission Deadlines

ACM Student Research Competitions (SRCs), sponsored by Microsoft Research, offer a unique forum for undergraduate and graduate students to present their original research at well-known ACM sponsored and co-sponsored conferences before a panel of judges and attendees. The most recent SRC winners presented at ICCAD 2015.
The next conferences accepting submissions are:

Learn about more competitions on the SRC submissions page.

ACM-W Student Scholarships for Attendance at Research Conferences

The ACM Women's Council (ACM-W) provides support for women undergraduate or graduate students in computer science and related programs who wish to attend research conferences. This exposure to the computer science research world can encourage a student to continue on to the next level (Undergraduate to Graduate, Masters to Ph.D., Ph.D. to an industry or academic position). The student does not have to present a paper at the conference she attends. Students can apply an unlimited number of times; however, once a student receives an award, she is no longer eligible for future ACM-W scholarships.

The ACM-W scholarships are divided between scholarships of up to $600 for intra-continental conference travel, and scholarships of up to $1200 for intercontinental conference travel. Scholarship applications are evaluated in six groups each year, in order to distribute awards across a range of conferences.

ACM-W encourages the student's home department to match the scholarship award and recognize the student's achievement locally within their department. In addition, if the award is for attendance at one of several ACM Special Interest Group conferences (SIGACCESS, SIGACT, SIGARCH, SIGCOMM, SIGCHI, SIGCSE, SIGDA, SIGECOM, SIGEVO, SIGGRAPH, SIGHPC, SIGIR, SIGITE, SIGMM, SIGMOBILE, SIGOPS, SIGPLAN, and SIGSOFT), the SIG will provide complimentary conference registration and a mentor during the conference. The number of free registrations available varies from SIG to SIG. The 2015-2016 scholarships are made possible by generous support from Google, Microsoft Research, and Oracle.

For application form, notification dates and more information, please visit the scholarships page.

Graduating Students Eligible for Special Transition Rate

ACM offers a special ACM Professional Membership for $49 USD (regularly $99) to help graduating students make the transition to professional careers, and take advantage of continuous learning opportunities, including free online books and courses and access to ACM's Career & Job Center. This one-year-only transition rate includes all the benefits of Professional Membership plus the option of purchasing a Digital Library subscription for $50. Recent graduates can access this special transition offer through ACM's convenient online renewal form, or by following the instructions on the paper renewal form. For more information, visit the Reasons to Transition to Professional Membership page.

DISTINGUISHED SPEAKERS PROGRAM

The Distinguished Speakers Program (DSP) is one of ACM's most valued outreach programs, providing universities, corporations, event and conference planners, and local ACM chapters with direct access to top technology leaders and innovators from nearly every sector of the computing industry.

This month's featured speaker is Brian Barsky. Brian is Professor of Computer Science and Vision Science, and Affiliate Professor of Optometry, at the University of California, Berkeley. He is an Affiliate Member of the Graduate Group in Bioengineering, an interdisciplinary and inter-campus program, between UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco. He has been a visiting professor or researcher at institutions in Singapore, Czech Republic, Finland, Hong Kong, New Zealand, France, Canada, and Norway. He holds a DCS and a BSc from McGill University, an MS from Cornell University, and a PhD from the University of Utah.

His research interests include computational aesthetics, computational photography, methods for the design and fabrication of contact lenses, computer methods for optometry and ophthalmology, image synthesis, spline curve/surface representations, computer aided geometric design and modeling, CAD/CAM/CIM, interactive and realistic three-dimensional computer graphics, visualization in scientific computing, computer-aided cornea modeling and visualization, videokeratography techniques, corneal topographic mapping, medical imaging, virtual environments for surgical simulation, and display technology. Brian was the Technical Program Committee Chair for the ACM SIGGRAPH 1985 conference. He has published a book on Computer Graphics and Geometric Modeling Using Beta-splines and 160 technical articles, and has been a speaker at many international conferences.

For more information on Brian, please visit his DSP speaker information page.
Brian Barsky's Digital Library author page.

ACM, IEEE Computer Society Join to Share Distinguished Speakers Programs

IEEE-CS and ACM have joined to share their invited speaker programs, to further the dissemination of technical knowledge of computing fields that greatly benefit both memberships. IEEE-CS chapter volunteers can host a speaker from ACM's Distinguished Speakers Program (DSP), with access to top technology leaders and innovators from nearly every sector of the computing industry, by following the instructions on the DSP site. Make sure you identify yourself as an IEEE Computer Society Chapter.

IEEE-CS provides a popular offering of first-quality speakers serving its professional and student chapters. The Distinguished Visitors Program (DVP) owes its success to the many volunteers and staff members of the Computer Society who generously contribute their time and talent. Organizers of an ACM chapter, conference, or event can host a speaker from IEEE-CS's DVP by following the instructions on the DVP site. Make sure you identify yourself as an ACM chapter or event.

CHAPTERS NEWS

Applications for Upsilon Pi Epsilon Student Chapter Scholarship Award Due January 15, 2016

In the search for excellence and professional commitment to the computing and information technology fields, ACM and the Executive Council of Upsilon Pi Epsilon (UPE), the Honor Society for Computing Sciences, announce the UPE ACM Student Chapter Scholarship Award. Up to 4 students will be chosen; each will receive $1,000 and a certificate of commendation.

All graduate and undergraduate students who are ACM members and members of the ACM Student Chapter at their academic institution are eligible. Applicants will be judged primarily on their academic records and recommendations from their professors or academic mentors.

Please submit these materials as a pdf file by January 15, 2016 to [email protected].

  1. The Scholarship Award Application Form, as it appears on our website
  2. Two letters of recommendation (one letter indicating class rank from Department Chair or Advisor)
  3. A certified copy of at least the most recent two years (minimum) official academic transcripts
  4. A statement of your participation in the ACM Student Chapter at your academic institution

You also have the option to submit hard copies of the application materials to the UPE address:
Upsilon Pi Epsilon
158 Wetlands Edge Road
American Canyon, CA 94503

If you have any questions, please contact UPE at [email protected].

ACM Chapter De-charter Notice

ACM is de-chartering the following chapters due to inactivity: http://www.acm.org/chapters/acm-chapter-de-charter-notice. Members interested in revitalizing their chapters should contact the ACM Local Activities Department at [email protected]. Those interested in remaining active should complete their 2015 Annual Report.

ACM Chapter Probation Notice

ACM is placing these chapters on probation due to inactivity: http://www.acm.org/chapters/acm-chapter-probation-notice. Members interested in activating their chapters should complete their 2015 Annual Report. If you have any questions, contact the ACM Local Activities Department at [email protected].

Welcome New ACM Chapters

Chapters are the "local neighborhoods" of ACM. The regional ACM Professional, Student, ACM-W, and Special Interest Group (SIG) chapters around the globe involve members locally in competitions, seminars, lectures, workshops, and networking opportunities. ACM welcomes these new chapters that were chartered October 14 to November 11, 2015:

ACM Student Chapters:

  • Boston College ACM Student Chapter, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
  • California Polytechnic State University ACM-W Student Chapter, San Luis Obispo
  • Curry College ACM Student Chapter, Milton, Massachusetts
  • ITT Technical Institute Denver ACM Student Chapter, Westminster, Colorado
  • LaGuardia Community College ACM Student Chapter, Long Island City, New York
  • Louisiana Tech University ACM Student Chapter, Ruston
  • MAIT ACM Student Chapter, Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology, New Delhi, India
  • Mansoura University ACM Student Chapter, Mansoura, Egypt
  • Minia University ACM Student Chapter, Minia, Egypt
  • National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur ACM Student Chapter, Hamirpur, India
  • Queens College ACM Student Chapter, Flushing, New York
  • Saintgits College of Engineering ACM Student Chapter, Kottayam, India
  • Tidewater Community College ACM Student Chapter, Chesapeake, Virginia
  • University of Puerto Rico Arecibo ACM-W Student Chapter, Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  • University of the Valley of Guatemala ACM Student Chapter, Guatemala City, Guatemala
  • University of Central Punjab ACM Student Chapter, Lahore, Pakistan
  • University of Louisiana Lafayette ACM-W Student Chapter
  • University of North Carolina at Greensboro ACM Student Chapter
  • UWI Mona ACM Student Chapter, University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica
  • Villanova University ACM-W Student Chapter, Villanova, Pennsylvania

ACM-W NEWS

NICWiC 2015 Celebration Supports Tech Women in Northern India

The inaugural ACM-W Regional Celebration of Women in Computing, East and North-East (NICWiC 2015) was organized and hosted by the Department of CSE at Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IITG) on November 2 and 3. This event provided a forum for female researchers and faculty members in the region to showcase their work in the form of posters and to get exposure to recent trends in industry and academia. Eminent female academics, researchers and industry leaders delivered talks. Participants were able to interact with them and to learn what is happening in academia and how research outcomes can be converted to industry deliverables.

Delegates from IIT Guwahati were Gautam Biswas, Director; Ravi Mokashi Punekar, Dean, Alumni Affairs and External Relations; and Diganta Goswami, Head, Department of CSE. Event organizers Hemangee K. Kapoor and Sukumar Nandi gave an overview of the conference, and ACM-W India Chair Sheila Anand (Rajalakshmi Engineering College, Chennai) welcomed the guests and delegates.

Kumud Srinivasan (President of Intel India) spoke about the "Accelerating Transformation in Today's Digital World," and compared industry trends in India and abroad. She motivated the participants by advising them to ask the question "Why?" first, and that the "How" and "What" will follow. Valentina Salapura of IBM T.J. Watson Research Center gave an excellent talk on various cloud computing methodologies and virtualization techniques.

Susmita Sur-Kolay (Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata) gave a talk on the challenges in synthesizing quantum computers. Other talks addressed authenticated encryption, Big Text and Big Data, the use of thermography to detect breast cancer, biocomputing, and the data and cloud setup at the Indian Institute of Science's Supercomputer Education and Research Centre (IISc SERC). Rowena Robinson, Professor of Sociology at IIT Bombay, gave an energetic talk on "Girls Who Play with Fire: Women in Computing and on the Internet in India." There was good interaction from the participants and heated discussions on social and family restrictions faced by women in technology.

A panel on "Choosing Career Path: Academics, IT, Research and Entrepreneurship" with panellists J. Lakshmi (Principal Research Scientist at IISc Bangalore), Valentina Salapura, Arati Dixit (University of Pune) (moderator), Susmita Sur-Kolay, and Dipanwita Roy Choudhuri (IIT Kharagpur) focused on the panelists' careers, how they achieved their goals, and the challenges they faced in their respective fields.

The popular poster session included 25 posters which were evaluated by faculty from the department of CSE, IITG. The three best posters were recognized with a certificate and cash prize. Free ACM membership was offered to all registered students.

Of the 77 registered participants, there were 57 women from around 12 universities in the North-East. The organizers are very thankful to the generous support from sponsors Google, Xerox Research India, and Tata Consultancy Services.

ACM-W Celebrations are local events that showcase female role models, encourage mentoring and networking, supply accurate information about computing careers, and create opportunities for women to present their research, often for the first time in their careers. Many of the ACM-W Celebration events include poster competitions for undergraduate and graduate students to present their research and project work. You can find information on starting new Celebrations and conference planning resources on the ACM-W Celebrations site. Please contact Wendy Powley for any additional assistance.

Join ACM-W's Membership Email List

Did you know that ACM-W offers a general email distribution list for its members? This ACMW-public list is a communication channel for disseminating general information about ACM-W, bulletins and upcoming events. To join the list: http://signup.acm.org/listserv_index.cfm?ln=ACM-W-PUBLIC.

Also read the ACM-W Connections newsletter for updates on ACM-W programs: local celebrations, scholarships and awards, chapters, and more.

PUBLICATIONS NEWS

New Title from ACM Books Covers Life of Ada Lovelace

ACM is celebrating the 200th birthday of Ada Lovelace (1815–1852) with a new book. Ada's Legacy: Cultures of Computing from the Victorian to the Digital Age is a collection of papers inspired by the life and contributions of Ada Lovelace, often described as the "first computer programmer." Ada's collaboration with Charles Babbage, her position in the Victorian and Steampunk literary genres, her representation in contemporary art and comics, and her continued relevance in discussions around gender and technology in the digital age, are all explored.

ACM Books is a new series of high-quality, advanced-level books for the computer science community, published by ACM in collaboration with Morgan & Claypool Publishers. Affordable, current and comprehensive in scope, the series covers a wide range of topics in computer science. Collection I, consisting of 25 books, includes volumes on computing pioneers, wireless systems, and social responsibility, with forthcoming titles on bioinformatics, empirical software engineering, text mining, human-centered design for virtual reality, and more. The books are widely distributed in both print and digital formats through booksellers and to libraries (and library consortia) and individual ACM members via the ACM Digital Library platform.

ACM Transactions on Interactive Intelligent Systems Seeks New EIC

ACM Transactions on Interactive Intelligent Systems (TIIS) is seeking a new Editor-in-Chief. Nominations are due November 30.

acmqueue Presents: "Fail at Scale: Reliability in the Face of Rapid Change"

In Fail at Scale, Ben Maurer at Facebook explains, "To keep Facebook reliable in the face of rapid change we study common patterns in failures and build abstractions to address them. These abstractions ensure that best practices are applied across our entire infrastructure. To guide our work in building reliability abstractions we must understand our failures. We do this by building tools to diagnose issues and by creating a culture of reviewing incidents in a way that pushes us to make improvements that prevent future failures."

ACM Transactions on Modeling and Performance Evaluation of Computing Systems and ACM Transactions on Cyber-Physical Systems Accepting Submissions

The new ACM journal ACM Transactions on Modeling and Performance Evaluation of Computing Systems (TOMPECS) is now accepting submissions. Visit the submissions site for more information.

The new ACM journal ACM Transactions on Cyber-Physical Systems (TCPS) is now accepting submissions. Visit the submissions site for more information.

Information Systems Category Editor Needed for Computing Reviews

Computing Reviews, the post-publication review and comment journal of ACM, is seeking a volunteer interested in serving as a category editor for a segment of the information systems area. Please see the Information Systems Category Editor search page for more information.

Subscribe to Communications of the ACM

Subscribe to Communications of the ACM, the computing industry's most trusted source for news, analysis and insights! Non-members can use our online form and receive a new ACM membership with your 12-month subscription, or request a sample issue using our online free trial issue form.

ACM in the News

"Latest Graph500 Ranking of Fastest Supercomputers Released by Leading Universities at SC15"

HPC Wire, November 17, 2015
The 11th Graph500 list of the world's fastest supercomputers was unveiled at ACM's Supercomputing 2015 conference, with Japan's K-Computer holding the lead position for the second time in a row.

"Japan Chases Title of World's Fastest Computer With New System"

Computerworld, November 16, 2015
Japan says it is developing a new supercomputer with the aim to deliver 100 times more application performance than its current K supercomputer. It shared details about the new supercomputer at ACM's SC15 conference.

"Get Ready for Your Digital Model"

The Wall Street Journal, November 12, 2015
Within 10 years, people will entrust their data to machine-learning algorithms that build personal digital models of them, writes University of Washington professor and ACM SIGKDD Innovation Award winner Pedro Domingos.

"Bringing iPhone-Style Medical Research to the Android World"

The New York Times, November 12, 2015
Apple's introduction of ResearchKit software for its iPhone platform prompted Weill Cornell Medical College professor inaugural ACM-W Athena Lecturer Award recipient Deborah Estrin to launch an effort to embed similar capability within Google's Android platform.

"Star Wars Characters Will Now Teach Your Kids to Code"

Wired, November 9, 2015
In an effort to bring coding to an ever-larger group of kids and students, Code.org partnered with Lucasfilm as part of its annual Hour of Code event, and recently launched a free online tutorial featuring characters from the upcoming film "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." (ACM is a parter of Code.org.)

"System Recognizes Objects Touched by User, Enabling Context-Aware Smartwatch Apps"

Carnegie Mellon News, November 9, 2015
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and Disney Research presented EM-Sense—technology designed to enable smartwatches to automatically recognize what kind of objects users interact with and touch—at the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST 2015).

"Cities First to Benefit from Internet of Things, if We Can Write Better Software"

TechRepublic, November 5, 2015
A panel led by Google Chief Internet Evangelist and ACM Past President Vint Cerf at a New York University event discussed how city dwellers could be the initial benefactors of the Internet of Things.

"Nomadic Computing Speeds Up Big Data Analytics"

National Science Foundation, November 4, 2015
University of Texas at Austin professor Inderjit Dhillon, a 2014 ACM Fellow, concentrates on expediting big data analytics by using machine learning to reduce data to its most insightful parameters.

"IBM's Brain-Like Chip and the Quest for a 'Cognitive Planet'"

TechRepublic, October 29, 2015
IBM's Dharmendra Modha, recipient of the 2009 ACM Gordon Bell Prize, says one of his goals through projects such as the TrueNorth chip is to embed intelligence in network-edge sensors.

"How Wireless 'X-ray Vision' Could Power Virtual Reality, Smart Homes, and Hollywood"

MIT News, October 28, 2015
MIT professor (and 2012 ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award co-recipient) Dina Katabi says potential smart-home applications of the new RF Capture technology could include automatic 911 alerts when a resident has fallen unconscious, or intelligent in-home systems operation.

News from ACM SIGGRAPH Asia 2015, November 2-5, Kobe, Japan

"Streamlining Mobile Image Processing"
MIT News, November 13, 2015
Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, and Adobe Systems unveiled a system that streamlines mobile image processing.

"Disney Software Makes It Easy to Design and Print Custom Walking Robots"

IEEE Spectrum, November 9, 2015
A joint project between ETH Zurich, Carnegie Mellon University, and Disney Research has yielded an interactive design system that enables hobbyists to create custom walking robots that can be printed in three dimensions.

"Amplifying—or Removing—Visual Variation"

MIT News, November 5, 2015
MIT researchers present studies detailing methods for either amplifying or removing digital image defects.

"Puzzle Lamps Attain New Dimensions With Disney Research Computer Design Tool"

EurekAlert, October 30, 2015
Disney researchers have developed an interactive design tool they say makes it easier to create more intricate decorations.

Copyright © 2016, ACM, Inc.