ACM MemberNet - October 29, 2020

Welcome to the October 2020 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 https://www.acm.org/membership/acm-membernet-archive.

Read coverage of ACM in the news media.

October 29, 2020

TOP STORIES

AWARDS

MEMBER RECOGNITION

SIG AWARDS

CONFERENCES AND EVENTS

PUBLIC POLICY

MEMBER PROGRAMS

LEARNING CENTER

ACM CAREER & JOB CENTER

STUDENT NEWS

DISTINGUISHED SPEAKERS PROGRAM

CHAPTERS NEWS

ACM-W NEWS

PUBLICATIONS NEWS

TOP STORIES

IFIP Bases New Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct on ACM's Code

At its virtual General Assembly held in September, the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) adopted a new IFIP Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. The code was adapted from ACM's Code of Ethics, which itself had been through many years of consultation and development with members of IFIP, IEEE and other national and international bodies and companies. ACM CEO Vicki Hanson said, "As an international member of IFIP, ACM endorses the proposed IFIP Code of Ethics as a common international standard for computing and the profession."
Read the IFIP news release.

Discover the latest "ACM Selects," Shortlists of Learning Resources Curated by Experts

ACM Selects are themed shortlists curated by subject matter experts for both serious and emerging computing professionals, with the goal of providing new ways to discover relevant resources, either through ACM or authenticated by ACM-affiliated specialists. The latest Selects cover Getting Started with Software Engineering Best Practices; Understanding Machine Learning; and People in Computing #1.

ACM SIGARCH Extending Terms

In accordance with ACM's Constitution and Bylaws, ACM's Special Interest Group on Computer Architecture (SIGARCH) has requested, and the SIG Governing Board EC has granted, an extension of terms. Voting members of ACM SIGARCH may petition the ACM to request an election. A petition with the names/signatures of at least 1% of the ACM SIGARCH membership must be submitted to ACM HQ by 27 November 2020. To initiate the petition process, please contact Pat Ryan, ACM's Chief Operating Officer, at [email protected]. If the petition is successful, ACM SIGARCH will be asked to form a nominating committee and begin the electoral process.

AWARDS

Vivek Sarkar Named 2020 ACM-IEEE CS Ken Kennedy Award Recipient

ACM and the IEEE Computer Society (IEEE-CS) have named Vivek Sarkar as the recipient of the 2020 ACM-IEEE CS Ken Kennedy Award. Sarkar was recognized for foundational technical contributions to the area of programmability and productivity in parallel computing, as well as leadership contributions to professional service, mentoring, and teaching. The award will be presented to Sarkar at the International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis (SC20) virtual awards plenary session on November 16.

A Fellow of ACM and IEEE, Sarkar is Chair of the School of Computer Science and the Stephen Fleming Chair in the College of Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology. ACM and the IEEE Computer Society co-sponsor the Kennedy Award, which was established in 2009 to recognize substantial contributions to programmability and productivity in computing and significant community service or mentoring contributions. It was named for the late Ken Kennedy, founder of Rice University’s computer science program and a world expert on high performance computing. The Kennedy Award carries a US $5,000 honorarium endowed by IEEE-CS and ACM.
Read the ACM news release.

ACM Announces 2020 ACM-IEEE CS George Michael Memorial Fellowship Recipients

Kazem Cheshmi of the University of Toronto, Madhurima Vardhan of Duke University, and Keren Zhou of Rice University are the recipients of the 2020 ACM-IEEE-CS George Michael Memorial HPC Fellowships. Cheshmi is recognized for his work building a Sympiler that automatically generates efficient parallel code for sparse scientific applications on supercomputers. Vardhan is recognized for her work developing a memory-light massively parallel computational fluid dynamic algorithm using routine clinical data to enable high-fidelity simulations at ultrahigh resolutions. Zhou is recognized for his work developing performance tools for GPU-accelerated applications. The Fellowships are jointly presented by ACM and the IEEE Computer Society; they will be formally presented at the virtual SC20 in November.
Read the ACM news release.

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.

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. And read ACM President and former ACM Awards Committee Chair Cherri Pancake's article in Communications of the ACM, "Dispelling Common Myths about ACM Awards and Honors."

Deadline for nominations for the main awards for next year is January 15, 2021.

MEMBER RECOGNITION

Call for ACM Senior Member Nominations

The Senior Member advanced grade of membership recognizes ACM members with at least 5 years of Professional ACM membership in the last 10 years. 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 conferences:

CONFERENCES AND EVENTS

CCS 2020, November 9 to 13 (online)

The ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security brings together information security researchers, practitioners, developers, and users to explore cutting-edge ideas and results. Keynotes will be delivered by Wenke Lee (Georgia Tech) on "Machine Learning and Security: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly," and Alex Stamos (Stanford University) on "Realistic Threats and Realistic Users: Lessons from the Election."

SPLASH 2020, November 15 to 20 (online)

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. Jonathan Bell, Jan Vitek (both of Northeastern University), Sriram Rajamani (Microsoft Research India); Mary Lou Soffa (University of Virginia), and Vikram S. Adve (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) will keynote.

SC 2020, November 16 to 19 (online)

At the International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis, panels will address Task-based Algorithms and Applications; HPC Agility in the Age of Uncertainty; Lossy Compression for Scientific Data; and more. A special plenary session will highlight the efforts of the community in fighting COVID-19. Bjorn Stevens (Max Planck Institute for Meteorology) will deliver the keynote.

SIGGRAPH Asia, December 4 to 13 (online)

The theme for this year’s SIGGRAPH Asia is "Driving Diversity," where a diverse group of worldwide technical and artistic contributors will connect with and inspire new communities through tracks including Frontiers workshops, courses, emerging technologies, art gallery, games, Computer Animation Festival and much more. Academy Award-winning animator Glen Keane will keynote.

ACM/IFIP Middleware 2020, December 7 to 11 (online)

The annual ACM/IFIP Middleware Conference is a major forum for the discussion of innovations and recent scientific advances of middleware systems with a focus on the design, implementation, deployment, and evaluation of distributed systems, platforms and architectures for computing, storage, and communication. Highlights will include a technical program, invited speakers, an industrial track, panel discussions involving academic and industry leaders, poster and demonstration presentations, a doctoral symposium, tutorials and workshops.

PUBLIC POLICY

Global Leaders Forum on Digital Governance Features ACM Tech Policy Council Speakers

Two leaders from the ACM Technology Policy Council (TPC)—TPC Chair Lorraine Kisselburgh and former ACM President and ACM A. M. Turing Award recipient Vint Cerf—were prominently featured in an international policy workshop convened by the Boston Global Forum and World Leadership Alliance-Club de Madrid, whose members include nearly 100 former heads of state from over 70 countries. The multi-stakeholder dialogue on Transatlantic Approaches on Digital Governance in the Age of Artificial Intelligence was organized to discuss actionable policy solutions to global challenges in governing artificial intelligence technologies.

In her remarks to the AI Policy Frameworks session, TPC Chair Kisselburgh reviewed ACM's significant history of engagement in technology policy and discussed three statements produced by the US and Europe Technology Policy Committees: the 2017 Statement on Algorithmic Transparency and Accountability, and the Statement on COVID-19 Contact Tracing Apps and Statement on Facial Recognition Technologies, both released this year.

She also addressed emerging policy challenges in a post-pandemic world that will feature recovery, rebuilding, and new challenges to technological development and governance. These will include, she noted, the critical importance of secure, reliable, and equitable access for work, education, and healthcare; the role of technology in disinformation campaigns which threaten democratic governance and institutional trust; nationalistic trends that challenge transnational dataflows; and technologists' own responsibilities for the materials they source, energy they consume, and waste they produce.

To learn more about the work of ACM's Technology Policy Council and how you can contribute to the work of its Europe and US Technology Policy Committees, email [email protected].

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.

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ACM Academic Membership Option

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.

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

ACM ByteCast Interviews Robin Murphy

ACM ByteCast is ACM's series of podcast interviews with researchers, practitioners, and innovators who are at the intersection of computing research and practice. In each monthly episode, guests share their experiences, the lessons they've learned, and their own visions for the future of computing. The latest episode features Robin Murphy, ACM Fellow and recipient of the ACM Eugene L. Lawler Award for Humanitarian Contributions. The podcast is available in the ACM Learning Center.

Watch October 14 TechTalk with CACM Senior Editor Moshe Vardi on Lessons Learned from COVID-19 Response

Watch the ACM TechTalk, Lessons from COVID-19: Efficiency vs Resilience, presented on October 14 by Moshe Vardi, Professor at Rice University and Senior Editor of Communications of the ACM. Learn more about this topic on ACM's Discourse page.

Visit the TechTalks Archive for our full archive of past TechTalks.

Watch November 2 TechTalk with fast.ai Co-Founder Jeremy Howard on Applying Software Engineering Practices to Deep Learning

Watch the ACM TechTalk, It's Time Deep Learning Learned from Software Engineering, to be presented on Monday November 2 by Jeremy Howard, Founding Researcher at fast.ai and Distinguished Research Scientist at the University of San Francisco. Learn more about this topic on ACM's Discourse page.

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. By creating an account on the ACM Career and Job Center, you'll gain access to a wide range of tools to help you find the perfect job:

  • Finding a Job - Use the job search tools to find a job that matches your search criteria.
  • Create and Manage Email Alerts - Stay on top of the latest job openings. Receive an email when new jobs match your search criteria.
  • Create/Post Resumes - Get noticed by employers. Create or upload a resume with our easy-to-use tools so employer can get in touch with you.
  • View Saved Jobs - Save jobs that interest you, add notes, share with friends, and track your applies to keep on top of your job search.

For any assistance with the ACM Career and Job Center, please contact ACM's Advertising Sales Manager, Ilia Rodriguez.

STUDENT NEWS

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 2020. The next conferences accepting submissions are:

  • ICSE 2021, May 23-29, deadline January 4, 2021
  • CHI 2021, May 8-13, deadline January 11, 2021

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 Community of Support for Women in Computing (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.
See ACM Distinguished Speakers in action on our flickr page.

Elad Yom-Tov is a Senior Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research and a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. His primary research interests are in applying large-scale Machine Learning and Information Retrieval methods to improve medicine. Elad studied at Tel-Aviv University and the Technion. He is a member of the World Health Organization's Roster of Experts in Digital Health, the Advisory Board of the Roybal Center for Therapeutic Optimization Using Behavioral Science (Harvard University), the Advisory Committee of the Jockey Club Online Youth Emotional Support "Open Up" (Hong Kong), and is an advisor to two startup companies. Elad has published four books and more than 150 academic papers, and was awarded more than 20 patents.

For more information on Elad, please visit his DSP speaker information 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 September 16 to October 16, 2020:

ACM Student Chapters:

  • CSUMB ACM-W Student Chapter, California State University, Monterey Bay, Seaside, California
  • UNC Chapel Hill ACM Student Chapter, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
  • University of New Orleans ACM-W Student Chapter, New Orleans, Louisiana

ACM Professional Chapters:

  • Algorithms for Astronomy ACM Chapter, Oakwood, Ohio
  • Kollam ACM Chapter, Kollam, India
  • SAWIS ACM Chapter, Scientific Association for Water Information, Rabat, Morocco

ACM-W NEWS

Celebrating Technology Leaders, Episode 2: Women Tech Entrepreneurs and Founders

In this second episode of ACM-W’s webinar series, “Celebrating Technology Leaders,” host Bushra Anjum will revisit panelists' "aha" moments when they realize they have an idea worth pursuing. How did they gauge customer needs and secured funding? How have their journeys been since the launch of their company? What does it take to be an entrepreneur in the technology sector, what are the unique challenges and rewards of this career choice, and how have the panelists' backgrounds in CS and engineering helped them along the way? Register here to view on demand.

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, visit: 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 Publications Seeking New Editors-in-Chief

ACM Transactions on Cyber-Physical Systems (TCPS): Nominations due October 30

ACM Transactions on the Web (TWEB): Nominations due December 1

New ACM Journal: ACM Transactions on Quantum Computing

ACM Transactions on Quantum Computing (TQC), launched this month, publishes papers and select surveys on topics in quantum computing and quantum information science. The journal targets the quantum computer science community with a focus on the theory and practice of quantum computing. Scope includes: models of quantum computing; quantum algorithms and complexity; quantum computing architecture; principles and methods of fault-tolerant quantum computation; design automation for quantum computing; and more.

ACM Queue Presents: "Security Analysis of SMS as a Second Factor of Authentication"

In his article for ACM Queue, Roger Piqueras Jover, Senior Security Architect at Bloomberg, discusses the the challenges of multifactor authentication based on SMS, including cellular security deficiencies, SS7 exploits, and SIM swapping. Despite their popularity and ease of use, SMS-based authentication tokens are arguably one of the least secure forms of two-factor authentication. Yet, with two-factor authentication, using SMS can be valid method for securing an online account.

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