ACM MemberNet - September 26, 2017

Welcome to the September 2017 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 past issues of MemberNet online at http://www.acm.org/membership/acm-membernet-archive and older issues at http://membernet.acm.org.

Read coverage of ACM in the news media.

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September 26, 2017

TOP STORIES

AWARDS

MEMBER RECOGNITION

SIG AWARDS

CONFERENCES AND EVENTS

PUBLIC POLICY

MEMBER PROGRAMS

LEARNING CENTER

ACM CAREER & JOB CENTER

EDUCATION

STUDENT NEWS

DISTINGUISHED SPEAKERS PROGRAM

CHAPTERS NEWS

ACM-W NEWS

PUBLICATIONS NEWS

ACM FYI

TOP STORIES

ACM Europe Council Names Chris Hankin as New Chair

The ACM Europe Council has named Chris Hankin as its new Chair. Hankin, Director of the Institute for Security Science and Technology and a Professor of Computing Science at Imperial College London, will serve a two-year term through June 30, 2019.

Also elected to two-year terms were Vice Chair Judith Gal-Ezer, Professor Emerita in the Mathematics and Computer Science Department at The Open University of Israel; Secretary Joaquim Jorge, Professor in the Informatics Engineering Department at the University of Lisbon, Portugal; and Treasurer Panagiota Fatourou, Associate Professor in the Computer Science Department at the University of Crete.

Natasa Milic-Frayling, Professor and Chair in Data Science, Faculty of Science at the University of Nottingham, UK, was appointed Chair of the ACM-W Europe Executive Committee (ACM-WE) for the two-year term.

Notice of 2018 ACM SIG Elections

In accordance with ACM Bylaw 6, the following SIGs will hold elections in 2018: SIGACCESS, SIGACT, SIGCHI, SIGDA, SIGITE, SIGPLAN, SIGSIM, and SIGSOFT.

SIG elections are generally scheduled to take place in odd-numbered years, with the elected officers holding office for a set number of years as set forth in the SIG's bylaws. There is a provision for the SIG's Executive Committee to make a onetime request to extend its term of office. This provision was introduced so that SIGs did not have to hold an expensive election when officers would be rerunning for office, since incumbents were usually reelected.

In accordance with ACM's Constitution and Bylaws, the following SIGs have requested, and the SIG Governing Board EC has granted, an extension of terms as follows:

  • SIGBio (for a three-year term)
  • SIGDOC (for a one-year term)

If you are a voting member of SIGBio or SIGDOC, you may petition the ACM to request an election. A petition with the names/signatures of at least 1% of the SIG's members must be submitted to ACM HQs by 23 October 2017. To initiate the petition process, please contact Pat Ryan, ACM's Chief Operating Officer. If the petition is successful, the SIG will be asked to form a nominating committee and begin the electoral process.

AWARDS

ACM Award Nomination Submission Procedures

Each year, ACM recognizes technical and professional achievements within the computing and information technology community through its celebrated Awards Program. ACM welcomes nominations for candidates whose work exemplifies the best and most influential contributions to our community, and society at large. ACM's award committees evaluate the contributions of candidates for various awards that span a spectrum of professional and technological accomplishments. For awards presented at the annual June banquet, the deadline for nominations has been changed from November 30, 2017 to January 15, 2018, with the exceptions of the Doctoral Dissertation Award nominations, which are due October 31, 2017 and the ACM - IEEE CS George Michael Memorial Fellowship nominations, which are due May 1, 2018.

Please take a moment to consider those individuals in your community who may be suitable for nomination. Refer to the award nominations page 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. Nominations are accepted on a quarterly basis. The deadline for nominations is December 3.

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

GHC 2017, October 4 to 6, Orlando, Florida

The Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing is the world's largest gathering of women technologists. Scheduled keynote speakers are Melinda Gates, Co-chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Ayanna Howard, Professor and Chair at the Georgia Institute of Technology; Fei-Fei Li, Associate Professor at Stanford University and Chief Scientist, Google Cloud; and Mary Spio, CEO and President, CEEK VR.

MobiCom 2017, October 16 to 20, Snowbird, Utah

The International Conference on Mobile Computing and Networking is dedicated to addressing the challenges in mobile computing and wireless and mobile networking, including networks, systems, algorithms, and applications that support mobile computers and wireless networks. Workshops, posters, demos and exhibits, an app contest, a student career event, and more will engage attendees.

UIST 2017, October 22 to 25, Quebec City, Canada

The ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology is the premier forum for innovations in human-computer interfaces. Scheduled keynote speakers are Gabriella Coleman, Wolfe Chair in Scientific and Technological Literacy at McGill University; and Niki Kittur, Associate Professor and Cooper-Siegel Chair in the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.

SPLASH 2017, October 22 to 27, Vancouver, Canada

The ACM SIGPLAN conference on Systems, Programming, Languages and Applications: Software for Humanity embraces all aspects of software construction and delivery to make it the premier conference at the intersection of programming, languages, and software engineering. University of California, Irvine's Crista Lopes; Kodowa co-founder and CEO Chris Granger; and UCSD's Lera Boroditsky are scheduled keynote speakers.

ACMMM 2017, October 23 to 27, Mountain View, California

Celebrate the 25th ACM Multimedia Conference at the Computer History Museum! Program will cover art, entertainment and culture, privacy implications, storytelling and social media, deep learning, perception, and many other aspects of multimedia. Keynote speakers include Nvidia USA Senior VP Bill Dally, Google VP Scott Silver, and Starkey CTO and SVP Achin Bhowmik.

ASSETS 2017, October 30 to November 1, Baltimore, Maryland

The ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility explores the design, evaluation, and use of computing and information technologies to benefit people with disabilities and older adults. Karen Peltz Strauss of the Federal Communications Commission is the keynote speaker.

SC17, November 12 to 17, Denver, Colorado

The International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis will gather the HPC community with a program of invited talks, panels, research papers, tutorials, workshops, posters, and birds-of-a-feather sessions, as well as student programs to engage and foster the next generation of HPC professionals. Philip Diamond, Director General of the international Square Kilometer Array (SKA) project, will be the keynote speaker.

SIGGRAPH Asia 2017, December 5 to 8, Macao

The 10th edition of SIGGRAPH Asia will showcase some of the world’s top professionals, academics and creative minds who are at the forefront of digital imaging, research, science, art, animation, gaming, interactivity, education and emerging technologies. Keynote speakers are Albert Yu-Min Lin, an award-winning National Geographic Explorer, and Michael Cohen, Director of Facebook's Computational Photography Group.

Videos from ACM Europe Conference Now Available

Highlights of the inaugural ACM Europe Conference held in September are now available on video. Watch sessions from the High Performance Computing and Cybersecurity tracks, including panel discussions, a Turing Lecture by Silvio Micali and an HPC keynote talk by ACM Athena Lecturer Katherine Yelick. An album of photos from the event is also available.

5th HLF 2017 to Be Live Streamed

The 5th Heidelberg Laureate Forum, taking place September 24-29, featured 26 laureates of the ACM A.M. Turing Award, Abel Prize, ACM Prize in Computing, Fields Medal and Nevanlinna Prize exchanging ideas and discussing research with 200 of the most talented young researchers in these disciplines from around the world. All lectures and panel discussions will be available via the video archive or on the HLF YouTube channel following the 5th HLF.

PUBLIC POLICY

USACM Holds Panel on Algorithmic Transparency and Accountability

USACM hosted a panel on Algorithmic Transparency and Accountability at the National Press Club in Washington on September 14. The event provided a forum for a discussion between stakeholders and leading computer scientists about the growing impact of algorithmic decision-making on our society and the technical underpinnings of algorithmic models.

Panelists discussed the importance of the Statement on Algorithmic Transparency and Accountability and the opportunities for cooperation between academia, government and industry around these principles. The ACM Europe Policy Committee (EUACM) endorsed this statement in May. A video of the event is now available.

Panel participants were:

  • Simson L. Garfinkel (Moderator), Co-chair of USACM's Working Group on Algorithmic Transparency and Accountability. His current research interests include privacy in Big Data, cybersecurity and usability.
  • Geoff A. Cohen, a Vice President at Stroz Friedberg, an Aon company, specializing in computer science and intellectual property litigation, including patent, trade secret, and copyright cases.
  • Nicholas Diakopoulos, Assistant Professor of Communication at Northwestern University, Tow Fellow at Columbia University School of Journalism, and Associate Professor II at the University of Bergen Department of Information Science and Media Studies.
  • Ansgar Koene, Senior Research Fellow at Horizon Digital Economy Research institute, University of Nottingham and Chair of the IEEE P7003 Standard for Algorithm Bias Considerations Working Group.
  • Jeanna Neefe Matthews, Associate Professor of Computer Science at Clarkson University. She is a Co-chair of USACM's Working Group on Algorithmic Transparency and Accountability and a Fellow at Data and Society.
  • Dan Rubins, Co-founder and CEO of Legal Robot, a company that uses machine learning to understand contracts.

USACM Releases Statement on Accessibility, Usability, and Digital Inclusiveness

USACM has reaffirmed its long-standing commitment to accessibility by releasing a statement and set of principles on accessibility, usability, and digital inclusiveness. Promoting digital inclusiveness for people with disabilities, as well as policies, regulations, and guidelines that ensure fair access to the opportunities that arise from digital innovations, has been an ongoing priority for USACM.
Read the news release.

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 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.

The Computer History Museum (CHM) invites ACM members, their families and friends to enjoy a day of fun and learning at the Museum. Discover the spectacular history of computing in "Revolution: The First 2000 Years of Computing," a comprehensive, media-rich exhibition with 19 galleries and over 1,000 unique computing artifacts. Fly through World of Warcraft's fantastic world of Azeroth, learn Photoshop from the pros, and speed-text your way to victory in our newest, interactive exhibition, "Make Software: Change the World." Unwind at CHM's café, stroll through the gift shop, and enjoy free parking. Visit CHM's website for more information. Show proof of ACM membership and receive a 50% discount on admission, for your entire group, as well as 50% off membership.

ACM and SocialCoder Team Up for Positive Impact through Computing

You can use your technical skills for social good and offer volunteer support on software development projects to organizations who could not otherwise afford it. SocialCoder connects volunteer programmers/software developers with registered charities and helps match them to suitable projects based on their skills, experience, and the causes they care about. Learn more about ACM's partnership with SocialCoder, and how you can get involved.

LEARNING CENTER

Watch September 21 Talk with Fei-Fei Li on Computer Vision

Register to watch the free ACM webinar, ImageNet: Where Have We Been? Where Are We Going?, presented on September 21 by Fei-Fei Li, Chief Scientist of AI/ML at Google Cloud, Director of the Stanford AI Lab, and a panelist at ACM's 50 Years of the Turing Award Celebration. The Q&A session was moderated by SIGAI Treasurer Rosemary Paradis. ACM Learning Webinars are free with registration, available for streaming on all major mobile devices, and are recorded for on-demand viewing.

ACM CAREER & JOB CENTER

Introducing the New ACM Career & Job Center

Connecting with the right employers in computing can be a daunting task. Thankfully, the world's leading companies, colleges and universities come to the ACM Career & Job Center to find the best candidates. The new ACM Career and Job Center makes it easier than ever to find the right opportunities for you. New features include:

  • Access to the best companies, colleges and universities through our cutting-edge recruitment technologies, including automated job matching
  • Easy job alerts that notify you via email when your perfect job is posted
  • A new, quicker and more user-friendly candidate application process

Please note: all existing job board profiles, resumés and cover letters have been transferred to the new job site. We do require you to reset your password in order to access your account. Simply click on http://jobs.acm.org/jobs/user/forgotPassword, enter your email address and you will be provided with a link to reset your password and log in to your account. For any assistance, please contact ACM's Advertising Sales Manager, Ilia Rodriguez.

EDUCATION

ACM Issues Guidelines to Strengthen Transition between Community College and Four-Year Degree Computer Science Programs

ACM's Committee for Computing Education in Community Colleges (CCECC) has issued a new set of curricular guidelines aimed at ensuring that the computer science education that students receive in community colleges will effectively prepare them to earn Bachelor's degrees at four-year institutions. The new publication, Computer Science Curricular Guidance for Associate-Degree Transfer Programs with Infused Cybersecurity, was developed over a two-year period and included input from more than 70 community college and university educators, as well as industry-based practitioners.
Read the ACM news release.

2016-2017 NDC Study Released

ACM has released its fifth national survey of non-doctoral granting four-year institutions in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Systems, Information Technology, and Software Engineering. The survey is adapted from the annual Taulbee Survey of Ph.D.-granting institutions conducted by the Computing Research Association (CRA) as well as SIGCSE-sponsored TauRUs surveys. The 2016-2017 edition of the study tracks trends in student enrollment, degree production, faculty demographics, and salaries at these institutions.

STUDENT NEWS

Volunteer with XRDS Magazine

Student volunteers are needed for XRDS, ACM’s quarterly student publication that examines cutting-edge research in computer science and presents viewpoints on technology’s impact in the world today. You can apply for Web Editor; Digital Content Editor; Department Editor—Hello World; Department Editor—Careers; and Department Editor—Labz. For detailed information on how to apply and job description and eligibility requirements for each position please visit http://xrds.acm.org/volunteer.cfm.

Apply for 2017 Cutler-Bell Prize for Excellence in High School Computing

Every year, 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 5, 2018. If you need inspiration, check out last year's winners and their projects!

Up to four winners will be selected and each will be awarded a $10,000 prize and a trip to the annual ACM/CSTA Cutler-Bell Prize in High School Computing Reception. The prizes are funded by a $1 million endowment established by David Cutler and Gordon Bell.

Detailed information, including the link to the online application, is available on the ACM/CSTA Cutler-Bell Prize in High School Computing website. Winners of the 2017-2018 Cutler-Bell Prize will be notified via email in February 2018.

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 PACT 2017. The next conferences accepting submissions are:

Learn more about competitions on the SRC submissions page and SRC guidelines for students.

ACM Scholarships for Women Computing Students to Attend 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). 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

About the ACM Distinguished Speakers Program

Book the speaker for your next event through the ACM Distinguished Speakers Program (DSP) and deliver compelling and insightful content to your audience. ACM will cover the cost of transportation for the speaker to travel to your event. Our program features renowned thought leaders in academia, industry and government speaking about the most important topics in the computing and IT world today. Our booking process is simple and convenient.

This month's featured speaker is Keith Cheverst. Keith is a Reader in HCI at Lancaster University, and has been a visiting scientist at Newcastle University’s Culture Lab, at Microsoft Research, Cambridge (working with the Socio-Digital Systems Group), and at the University of Melbourne (Department of Computing and Information Systems). Keith’s primary research focus is in exploring the obdurate problems associated with the user-centred design of interactive systems in complex or semi-wild settings to gain insights into issues of user adoption and appropriation. He is particularly interested in interactive systems that facilitate sense of community and that comprise context-aware mobile and/or ubiquitous computing technologies. A member and Past Chair of the steering committee for the ACM MobileHCI conference series, Keith currently serves as its liaison to ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI). A member of ACM SIGCHI, Keith has served as an Associate Chair for the ACM CHI conference, and has held senior program committee roles for the ACM DIS, EICS and IUI conferences.

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

ACM, IEEE Computer Society Share Distinguished Speakers Programs

IEEE-CS and ACM are sharing 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

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 new chapters that were chartered August 15 to September 12, 2017:

ACM Student Chapters:

  • Abilene Christian University ACM SIGCHI Student Chapter, Abilene, Texas
  • Andrews University ACM Student Chapter, Berrien Springs, Michigan
  • DYPIEMR ACM Student Chapter, Dr. DY Patil Institute of Engineering, Management and Research, Pune, India
  • KHIT ACM Student Chapter, Kallam Haranadhareddy Institute of Technology, Guntur, India
  • Kristu Jayanti College ACM-W Student Chapter, Bangalore, India
  • Mar Baselios College of Engineering ACM Student Chapter, Thiruvananthapuram, India
  • Merrimack College ACM Student Chapter, North Andover, Massachusetts
  • Universidad del Norte ACM Student Chapter, Barranquilla, Colombia
  • University of Toledo ACM-W Student Chapter, Toledo, Ohio

ACM Professional Chapters:

  • Kansas City ACM Chapter, Platte City, Missouri
  • Lahore ACM SIGCHI Chapter, Lahore, Pakistan

ACM-W NEWS

Upcoming ACM Celebrations 2017-2018

By Wendy Powley, ACM Celebrations Committee Chair

After a break for the summer, Celebration season is upon us once again! We have more than 30 Celebrations in the works for the coming year with organizers around the world planning gatherings that celebrate and advocate for diversity in technology. Celebrations were off to an early start with womenENcourage taking place in Barcelona, Spain September 6-8 and AICWiC held in Chennai, India September 11-13.

An ACM Celebration typically involves keynote speakers, workshops, panels, student presentations and posters, and a career fair. Attendees have a chance to network, learn and share. ACM-W supports these events with funding (in partnership with Microsoft), website hosting, handling of finances and guidance based on years of practice.

If you have never been to an ACM Celebration, make this the year to try it! Costs are low, and benefits are great!

Upcoming Celebrations in the fall include:

If you would like more information on any of these events or would like to organize an event in your area, please contact Wendy Powley, Chair of the Celebrations Committee. We can help you get started!

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

ACM Transactions on Social Computing and ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction Accepting Submissions

The new ACM journal ACM Transactions on Social Computing (TSC) is accepting submissions on work that covers the full spectrum of social computing including theoretical, empirical, systems, and design research contributions.

ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction (THRI) (previously the Journal of Human-Robot Interaction) is accepting submissions on human-robot interaction, including robotics, computer science, engineering, design, and the behavioral and social sciences. THRI is also accepting submissions for the inaugural special issue.

ACM Queue Presents: "Bitcoin's Academic Pedigree"

In Bitcoin's Academic Pedigree, Arvind Narayanan and Jeremy Clark explain how the concept of cryptocurrencies is built from forgotten ideas in research literature. Ideas in the research literature can be forgotten or lie unappreciated, especially if they are ahead of their time, even in popular areas of research. Both practitioners and academics would do well to revisit old ideas to glean insights for present systems. Bitcoin was unusual and successful not because it was on the cutting edge of research on any of its components, but because it combined old ideas from many previously unrelated fields.

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 FYI

What Are ACM Learning Webinars?

ACM Learning Webinars are webcasts presented by leading innovators, researchers and entrepreneurs in the computing field. Registration is free and they are followed by lively Q&A sessions. Previous topics covered included Agile Methods, Apache Spark, Big Data, Blockchain, Clojure, Hadoop, HPC, JavaScript, Kubernetes, Machine Learning, Microservices, Parallel Programming, Python, Site Reliability Engineering, and TensorFlow. The webinars generally occur on a monthly basis.

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