ACM MemberNet - January 25, 2018

Welcome to the January 2018 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.

Read coverage of ACM in the news media.

Is there a person, event, or issue you'd like to see covered? Please email [email protected].

January 25, 2018

TOP STORIES

AWARDS

MEMBER RECOGNITION

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 2018 General Election Candidate Slate

ACM has assembled its slate of candidates for President, Vice President, and Secretary/Treasurer (for the 1 July 2018 — 30 June 2020 term), and Members at Large (for the 1 July 2018 — 30 June 2022 term). Statements and biographical sketches of all candidates will appear in the May 2018 issue of Communications of the ACM. Visit the ACM Elections page for more information and to view the slate.

ACM 2018 SIG Elections Candidate Slate

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

ACM Policy and Procedures require that those SIGs holding elections notify their membership of candidates for elected offices. To see the slate of candidates, please visit the 2018 ACM SIG Elections site.

In accordance with the ACM SIG Bylaws, additional candidates may be placed on the ballot by petition. All candidates must be ACM Professional Members, as well as members of the SIG. Anyone interested in petitioning must inform ACM Headquarters, Pat Ryan and the Secretary of the SIG of their intent to petition by 15 March 2018. Petitions must be submitted to ACM Headquarters for verification by 31 March 2018.

* ACM SIGGRAPH’s election will commence on 15 August 2018.

Feedback Requested on Proposed Updates to ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct

ACM is calling on our members to provide your opinions on the proposed Draft 3 updates to the ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. Response is via a survey, during which you will be asked to review the proposed Preamble, Principles, and associated guidance, and to indicate whether you agree or disagree with each. You will have the opportunity to provide feedback on how the Principles and guidance text might be improved, and to make any general comments on this proposed draft of The Code. Comments will be accepted until February 10. To start the survey, please click here. Read the January 2018 Communications of the ACM article, ACM Code of Ethics: A Guide for Positive Action, about Draft 3 of the proposed changes to the Code. Review a side-by-side comparison of the current ACM Code of Ethics with the proposed changes. Thank you in advance for helping ACM define professionalism in the computing field.

ACM's FY 2017 Annual Report

The past fiscal year included many forward-looking initiatives for ACM. The Future of Computing Academy was launched, providing a platform for the next generation of computing professionals to address pressing challenges faced by the industry. The Professional Ethics Committee began a two-year project to update its landmark Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. And ACM celebrated the 50th anniversary of the A.M. Turing Award with many inspiring international events. Learn about ACM's publications, conferences, public policy efforts, education initiatives, and more in the Annual Report.

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. The nominations deadline for general ACM awards has passed. The remaining award nominations deadlines are: the ACM-IEEE CS Eckert-Mauchly Award (March 30), ACM-IEEE CS George Michael Memorial Fellowship (May 1) ACM–IEEE-CS Ken Kennedy Award (July 1), SIAM/ACM Prize in Computational Science and Engineering (July 31), and Doctoral Dissertation Award (October 31).

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 March 3.

CONFERENCES AND EVENTS

ISEC 2018, February 9-11, Hyderabad, India

The Innovations in Software Engineering Conference (Formerly known as India Software Engineering Conference) is the annual conference of iSOFT, the Indian chapter of ACM SIGSOFT. Tao Xie, Computer Science Professor and Willett Faculty Scholar at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will keynote. Invited talks will cover agile software development; optimizing module-level regression testing; and code review for industrial quality assurance.

SIGCSE 2018, February 21 to 24, Baltimore, Maryland

The SIGCSE Technical Symposium is the largest computing education conference worldwide organized by ACM SIGCSE, attracting researchers, educators, and others interested in improving computing education in K-12 and higher education. The theme of the 2018 conference is "CS for All," with workshops, forums, panels and more focusing on diversity and creating a welcoming environment for learning. Anita Borg President and CEO Brenda Wilkerson will deliver the opening keynote, and Ruthe Farmer, Chief Evangelist, CSforAll Consortium will deliver the closing keynote.

DATE 2018, March 19-23, Dresden, Germany

The Design, Automation and Test in Europe conference is an international venue for system-level hardware and software implementation down to integrated circuit design. Topics covered will include Emerging Technologies for Computing, Industrial IoT, Computer Vision for Automated Driving in MATLAB, and much more. Scheduled keynote speakers are Amnon Shashua, CEO/CTO of Mobileye; and Christopher Voigt, Professor of Biological Engineering at MIT.

Learning@Scale 2018, June 26 to 28, London, UK (Call for Papers)

The Fifth Annual ACM Conference on Learning at Scale is seeking paper submissions reporting on rigorous research on methodologies, studies, analyses, tools, or technologies for learning at scale. Work-in-progress and demo papers are due March 24.

DocEng 2018, August 28 to 31, Halifax, Canada (Call for Papers)

The 18th ACM Symposium on Document Engineering seeks original research papers that focus on the design, implementation, development, management, use and evaluation of advanced systems where document and document collections play a key role. In particular, DocEng 2018 seeks works involving large-scale document engineering applications of industrial relevance. Full paper abstracts are due February 1; short papers are due March 22.

PUBLIC POLICY

ACM Names New Policy Director

ACM has named Adam Eisgrau as its new Director of Global Policy and Public Affairs, effective January 3. Eisgrau will coordinate and support ACM's engagement with public technology policy issues involving information technology, globally and particularly in the US and Europe. Prior to joining ACM, Eisgrau directed the government relations office of the American Library Association.
Read the ACM news release.

MEMBER PROGRAMS

ACM Academic Department Membership

The ACM Academic Department Membership option allows universities and colleges to provide ACM Professional Membership to their faculty at a greatly reduced collective cost. ACM offers a membership for academic department faculty at the cost of $49 per person, more than half off the standard ACM professional membership fee of $99 per year. Through this program, each faculty member will receive all the benefits of individual professional ACM membership, including Communications of the ACM, member rates to ACM Special Interest Group conferences, member subscription rates to ACM journals, and much more. To learn more, visit the ACM Academic Department Membership page or contact Cindy Ryan.

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.

Like most professionals, you want to know two things about LTC insurance: What does LTC insurance cost? and, What does LTC insurance cover? Long-Term Care Resources has developed an interactive website for ACM members with the tools and information needed to answer these questions and determine if LTC insurance is right for you. These include:

  • Instant rate calculator
  • Sample plan designs
  • Quotes from the industry's top-rated carriers
  • Bonus: LTC financial calculator

To learn more, call 800-616-8759 or visit http://educationcenter.ltcr.com/?id=acm.

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 February 21 Talk with Robin Murphy: "Computing for Disasters"

Register now for the free ACM Learning Webinar, Computing for Disasters, to be presented on Wednesday, February 21 at 12 PM ET by Robin Murphy, Raytheon Professor at Texas A&M University and Director of the Humanitarian Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Murphy received the 2014 ACM Eugene L. Lawler Award for Humanitarian Contributions. A moderated Q&A session will follow the talk.

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

ACM Learning Webinar Series on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Check out our ACM AI/ML Webinar Series with three distinguished AI/ML researchers. Fei-Fei Li, Director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab (SAIL) and Chief Scientist of AI/ML at Google Cloud, presents the key ideas and cutting edge advances in the quest for visual intelligence in computers, focusing on work done to develop ImageNet over the years. Tom Mitchell, E. Fredkin University Professor and former Chair of the Machine Learning Department at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), discusses his machine learning approach to studying how the human brain uses neural activity to create and represent meanings of words, phrases, sentences, and stories. And ACM Fellow Eric Horvitz, Technical Fellow and Director of Microsoft Research Labs, shares reflections on promising directions with fielding AI solutions in the open world, where systems need to grapple with uncertainty and incompleteness and to work effectively with people.

ACM members are eligible for 25% off registration to popular O'Reilly conferences. This special member discount is available through your Safari member benefit, and is currently offered on the following conferences:

  • Artificial Intelligence Conference: April 10-11, 2018 (Beijing, China) and April 30-May 2 (New York, New York)
  • O'Reilly Fluent Conference (Web Programming and Performance): June 12-14, 2018 (San Jose, California)
  • O'Reilly Open Source Convention (OSCON): July 16-19, 2018 (Portland, Oregon)
  • O'Reilly Software Architecture Conference: February 26-28, 2018 (New York, New York)
  • O'Reilly Velocity Conference (System Engineering, DevOps, WebOps): June 12-14, 2018 (San Jose, California)
  • Strata Data Conference (including Apache Hadoop): March 6-8, 2018 (San Jose, California) and May 21-22, 2018 (London, UK)

To take advantage of this special member discount, log into Safari Learning Platform from the ACM Learning Center, click Offers & Deals from the left navigation, and select Conferences.

ACM CAREER & JOB CENTER

ACM Career & Job Center Connects You with Career Opportunities

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

Computer Science Teachers Association Names New Executive Director

The Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) has named Jake Baskin as its Executive Director, effective February 5, 2018. Baskin is the Director of State Government Affairs at Code.org. He is a longtime CSTA member and champion for computer science education. As a high school computer science teacher in the Chicago public school system, Baskin focused on increasing access to computing for underrepresented groups and more than doubled female enrollment in introductory CS classes.
Read the ACM news release.

ACM Issues Curriculum Guidelines for IT Baccalaureate Degrees

A task group formed by ACM and the IEEE Computer Society (IEEE-CS) has issued a report outlining competencies that information technology (IT) majors earning baccalaureate degrees should possess. The new publication, Information Technology Curricula 2017, also known as the IT2017 report, is an update to the original IT curricular guidelines which were issued in 2008, and reflects the transformative advances in IT technologies over the past 10 years, as well as the ways in which the teaching of computing has improved. The report was developed in close consultation with industry-based practitioners to ensure that graduates are workforce-ready.
Read the ACM news release.

Infosys Foundation USA to Host Free Computer Science Training for Teachers

Infosys Foundation USA will host Pathfinders Summer Institute 2018, an intensive week of professional development for K-12 public school teachers to learn about Computer Science and Maker technologies, at Indiana University Bloomington, July 15 to 20, 2018. All K-12 teachers and counselors are encouraged to apply; visit the website to receive updates. ACM and CSTA are supporters of this program.

STUDENT NEWS

Applications for HLF 2018 Due February 9

Young researchers in computer science and mathematics from all over the world can apply for one of 200 coveted spots to participate in the Heidelberg Laureate Forum (HLF), an annual networking event. The HLF offers all accepted young researchers the great opportunity to personally interact with the laureates of the most prestigious prizes in the fields of mathematics and computer science. For one week, the recipients of the Abel Prize, the ACM A.M. Turing Award, the ACM Prize for Computing, the Fields Medal, and the Nevanlinna Prize engage in a cross-generational scientific dialogue with young researchers in Heidelberg, Germany.

The 6th HLF will take place from September 23 to 28, 2018. The application period runs until February 9; young researchers at all phases of their careers (undergraduate, graduate PhD or postdoc) are encouraged to complete and submit their applications by that date.

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.

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 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 Seiji Isotani. Seiji is an Associate Professor in Computer Science and Vice President of the International Relations Office at the Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science of the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. His research career has been devoted to imagining, designing, developing, testing and deploying intelligent and collaborative educational systems using ontologies and other semantic technologies. He has been an ACM Senior Member since 2015.

For more information on Seiji, please visit his DSP speaker information page.
Seiji Isotani'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 December 14, 2017 to January 12, 2018:

ACM Student Chapters:

  • College of the Canyons ACM Student Chapter, Santa Clarita, California
  • IIIT-Allahabad ACM Student Chapter, Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad, India
  • KARE ACM Student Chapter, Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education, Virudhunagar, India
  • SNU ACM-W Student Chapter, Shiv Nadar University, Dadri, India
  • SSN ACM-W Student Chapter, Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar College of Engineering, Kalavakkam, India
  • Texas A&M University ACM SIGCHI Student Chapter, College Station
  • University of Guelph ACM-W Student Chapter, Guelph, Canada
  • Vidya ACM Student Chapter, Vidya Academy of Science and Technology, Thrissur, India

ACM Professional Chapter:

  • Guatemala City ACM SIGCHI Chapter, Guatemala

ACM-W NEWS

Canadian Celebration Features Career Fair with More than 30 Companies

The Canadian Celebration of Women in Computing (CAN-CWiC) took place on November 3-4 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The event was chaired by Naouel Moha from the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM). The event saw attendance by nearly 600 from across Canada as well as from New York. The event featured a programming competition and a video welcome from newly-appointed Governor General Julie Payette. Keynotes were given by Margaret-Ann Armour from the University of Alberta and Joëlle Pineau from McGill University. A poster session, graduate presentations, tech talks and numerous other panels and workshops rounded out the event. A Career Fair with over 30 companies present was a huge hit and hopefully resulted in many job offers.

Although this was only the second Canada-wide Celebration, this Celebration is in its seventh year. For five years, the Celebration was an Ontario-centric event and was run at five different universities across Ontario. CAN-CWIC 2018 will be held in Halifax on November 2-3, 2018, to coincide with Dalhousie University's 200th birthday as well as their initiative to double the number of women in their Computer Science program in the next year.

If you would like more information on Celebrations or would like to organize an event in your area, please contact Wendy Powley, Chair of the Celebrations Committee. International Celebrations are encouraged and welcomed!

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

Ubiquity's Communication Corner Helps Improve Writing Skills

Have you always wondered how you can improve your writing and communicate more effectively? Ubiquity, ACM's online magazine of critical analysis and in-depth commentary, offers Communication Corner, a monthy feature by Philip Yaffe, retired Wall Street Journal reporter and Ubiquity editorial board member. Each installment includes an essay on a fundamental aspect of effective writing or speaking; an exercise to help you practice writing on the topic being discussed; and an invitation to submit your exercise for possible critique.

ACM Transactions on Spatial Algorithms and Systems Seeking New Editor-in-Chief

ACM Transactions on Spatial Algorithms and Systems (TSAS) is seeking a new Editor-in-Chief. Nominations are due March 1. For more information please visit the TSAS nominations page.

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: "Monitoring in a DevOps World"

In Monitoring in a DevOps World, Theo Schlossnagle, leader of Circonus, describes the importance of monitoring in a rapidly-changing environment. DevOps enables highly iterative improvement within organizations, and one of the primary drivers for adopting DevOps is speed—particularly the reduction of risk at speed. Today, with architectures dynamically shifting in size and design, we need to remember that monitoring is about understanding the behavior of systems. A business is a complex system itself, including decoupled but connected subsystems of sales, marketing, engineering, finance, etc. Monitoring can be applied to all of these systems to measure important indicators and detect changes in overall systems behavior.

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

Where Can I Find Good Career Advice?

ACM CareerNews is a twice-monthly digest of career-related topics of interest from trusted sources that monitor the current tech job market. Browse articles on topics like job hunting, advancing your career, coveted job skills, acing interview questions, and more.

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