ACM MemberNet - January 28, 2021

Welcome to the January 2021 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.

January 28, 2021

TOP STORIES

AWARDS

MEMBER RECOGNITION

SIG NEWS AND AWARDS

ONLINE 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

ACM Names 2020 Fellows

ACM has named 95 members ACM Fellows for contributions in areas including artificial intelligence, cloud computing, computer graphics, computational biology, data science, human-computer interaction, software engineering, theoretical computer science, and virtual reality, among other areas. The accomplishments of the 2020 ACM Fellows have driven innovations that ushered in significant improvements across many areas of technology, industry, and personal life. The ACM Fellows program recognizes the top 1% of ACM Members for their outstanding accomplishments in computing and information technology and/or outstanding service to ACM and the larger computing community.

"This year our task in selecting the 2020 Fellows was a little more challenging, as we had a record number of nominations from around the world,” explained ACM President Gabriele Kotsis. “The 2020 ACM Fellows have demonstrated excellence across many disciplines of computing. These men and women have made pivotal contributions to technologies that are transforming whole industries, as well as our personal lives. We fully expect that these new ACM Fellows will continue in the vanguard in their respective fields."

Underscoring ACM’s global reach, the 2020 Fellows represent universities, corporations and research centers in Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Germany, Israel, Japan, The Netherlands, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The contributions of the 2020 Fellows run the gamut of the computing field?including algorithms, networks, computer architecture, robotics, distributed systems, software development, wireless systems, and web science.

Additional information about the 2020 ACM Fellows, as well as previously named ACM Fellows, is available through the ACM Fellows site.
Read the ACM news release.

In Memoriam: Edmund M. Clarke

Edmund Melson Clarke, recipient of the 2007 ACM A.M. Turing Award, died of COVID-19 on December 22. He was 75. Clarke received the A.M. Turing Award together with E. Allen Emerson and Joseph Sifakis for their role in developing Model-Checking into a highly effective verification technology that is widely adopted in the hardware and software industries. Clarke was the FORE Systems Professor of Computer Science Emeritus at Carnegie Mellon University. He was a Fellow of ACM and of IEEE and was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Among his many honors, Clarke received the 1998 ACM Paris Kanellakis Theory and Practice Award and the 2004 IEEE Computer Society Harry H. Goode Memorial Award.

2021 SIG Election Candidate Slate

In accordance with ACM Bylaw 6, the following SIGs will hold elections in April 2021: SIGACCESS, SIGACT, SIGAda, SIGBED, SIGBio, SIGCHI, SIGCOMM, SIGDA, ACM SIGGRAPH*, SIGEVO, SIGITE, SIGKDD, SIGMIS, SIGMOBILE, SIGMOD, SIGMM, SIGPLAN, SIGSAC, SIGSAM, and SIGSOFT.

ACM's Policy and Procedure on SIG Elections requires that those SIGs holding elections notify their membership of candidates for elected offices. To see the slate of candidates, please visit the 2021 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 16 March 2021. Petitions must be submitted to ACM Headquarters for verification by 2 April 2021.

*ACM SIGGRAPH's election will commence on 15 June 2021.

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 Distributed Computing and People of Computing #3: Computer Vision.

AWARDS

Munmun De Choudhury Receives ACM-W Rising Star Award

ACM-W has announced Munmun De Choudhury, an Associate Professor at the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology, as the winner of the 2021 ACM-W Rising Star Award. The award recognizes a woman whose early-career research has had a significant impact on the computing discipline. De Choudhury's research develops novel computational techniques, and technologies powered by them, to responsibly and ethically employ social media in quantifying, understanding, and improving personal and societal health and well-being.

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

The deadline for nominations for the main awards has passed. Other deadlines: ACM-IEEE CS Eckert-Mauchly Award, March 30; Gordon Bell Prize, April 15; ACM-IEEE CS George Michael Memorial HPC Fellowship, May 1; ACM-IEEE CS Ken Kennedy Award, June 15.

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 March 3.

SIG NEWS & AWARDS

New ACM SIG: SIGEnergy

In November, ACM established the Special Interest Group on Energy Systems and Informatics. SIGEnergy is a professional forum for scientists, engineers, educators, and professionals for discussing energy systems and energy informatics. It brings together an interdisciplinary group of computer scientists with diverse backgrounds in sensing, modelling, optimization, control, network and systems design, and experimentation to discuss and address key challenges in future energy systems, and their impact on society. ACM now has 38 Special Interest Groups.

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:

ONLINE CONFERENCES AND EVENTS

ENIAC Day, February 15

February 15, 2021 marks the 75th Anniversary of the launch of ENIAC, the world's first all-electronic, programmable computer. Bearing the official name "Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer," the ENIAC was launched in 1946. An annual event since 2011, ENIAC Day aims to create awareness and drive digital literacy while improving the teaching of information technology and celebrating the impact this modern marvel has had on society. Event organizers are encouraged to download promotional materials from the website including press releases for local media, tweetables, flyers and online banners.

TEI 2021, February 14 to 19

The Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interactions addresses issues of human-computer interaction, novel tools and technologies, interactive art, and user experience. This year's conference will focus on "The Art of Interaction," inviting all participants (especially artists) to speculate on a vision of how art impacts, inspires and shapes research practice.

ACM FAccT 2021, March 3 to 10

The fourth ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability and Transparency (formerly ACM-FAT) brings together researchers and practitioners interested in fairness, accountability and transparency in socio-technical systems. Papers will address measurement and fairness, design, machine learning, AI, censorship, crime reporting, algorithmic decision making and much more.

HRI 2021, March 8 to 11

The ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human Robot Interaction attracts researchers from around the world to present and exchange ideas about the latest theories, technology, data, and videos furthering the state of the art in human-robot interaction. This year's theme is “Bolder Human-Robot Interaction," encouraging broad participation from communities in the areas of robotics, artificial intelligence, human-computer interaction, human factors, design, and social and behavioral sciences.

WSDM 2021, March 8 to 12

The ACM International Conference on Web Search and Data Mining is one of the premier conferences on web-inspired research involving search and data mining. The program includes workshops on Integrity in Social Networks and Media, Machine Reasoning in Web Search and Data Mining, and more. Keynote speakers are ACM Athena Lecturer Susan Dumais, Eran Segal of Weizmann Institute of Science, and Yoav Shoham, Professor Emeritus at Stanford University.

SIGCSE 2021, March 13 to 20

The SIGCSE Technical Symposium provides a forum for educators to discuss issues related to the development, implementation, and/or evaluation of computing programs, curricula, and courses, as well as syllabi, laboratories, and other elements of teaching and pedagogy. Sessions will cover technical aspects of teaching and learning as well as diversity/inclusion and ethics.

PEARC 2021, July 18 to 22: Call for Participation

The Practice & Experience in Advanced Research Computing Conference invites technical content proposals, especially in the areas of three technical tracks: Workforce Development, Training, Diversity, and Education; Applications and Software; and Systems and System Software. Full paper submissions are due March 9. Tutorials and Workshops are due February 9. For more deadlines and information, please visit the PEARC submissions page.

PUBLIC POLICY

USTPC Answers Call to Educate Utah State Legislators on Dangers of Online Voting

By Adam Eisgrau, ACM Director of Global Policy and Public Affairs
ACM's US Technology Policy Committee (USTPC)'s policy work in 2020 ended as it began: alerting State officials to the dangers of online voting. Last April, the Committee joined with the American Academy for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in a letter sent to US Governors and other state election officials expressing concerns about the dangers inherent in online voting equipment. Last month, USTPC again shared its expertise with members of the Utah State Legislature.

State Representative Suzanne Harrison requested an experts' letter after a Committee of the Utah Legislature approved expansion of a pilot mobile voting program. USTPC and AAAS answered that call with a letter to Rep. Harrison and to her fellow legislators in the Utah House of Representatives, also signed individually by five ACM members on the faculty of the University of Utah's School of Computing. At this writing, Utah's legislature remains in session. No vote on the mobile voting legislation has yet been scheduled.

To contribute to the work of ACM's policy committees, simply email [email protected].

Hold the Date: Webinar on Election Security, February 11

While Election 2020 is now history, election security promises to remain an intense focus of Congress and the Executive Branch for the foreseeable future. Please plan to join USTPC Chair Jim Hendler and an expert panel for the next USTPC "HotTopics" webinar—"Technology & Trust: Voting in the Electronic Age"—on February 11 at 5 PM EST for a wide-ranging, audience-interactive discussion of this critical set of issues. Look for program and registration details soon on Twitter @ACMpolicy and @TheOfficialACM.

Future of Computing Academy Team Surveys Impact of COVID-19 on Early-career Professionals

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced computing professionals to work remotely, and many companies have announced they will continue remote work practices after the pandemic ends. While computing careers can be amenable to remote work, early-career workers face unique challenges in aspects such as networking and balancing home and work life.

To understand these challenges and the implications for policy development, members of ACM's Future of Computing Academy (Jessica Hair, Jaelle Scheuerman, Gürkan Solmaz, and Pamela Wisniewski) worked with the ACM Technology Policy Council this summer to survey over 250 early-career computing professionals around the globe about their experiences relating to productivity, well-being, usability, inclusivity, privacy and security.

The initial findings of this survey are being presented in a 10-part blog series with recommendations drawn from the responses of survey participants. Posts on work-life balance, health and well-being, personal lives, and organizational support are available now. Additional posts will discuss inclusivity and policy needs to enhance support for remote early-career computing professionals. The group will synthesize the results and discuss more comprehensive policy recommendations with the Technology Policy Council this spring.

Apply for Science and Technology Policy Fellowship by February 28

US citizens who have a PhD in Statistics, Data Science, Mathematics or closely related field are encouraged to apply for the ASA/ACM/AMS/IMS/MAA/SIAM 2021-2022 Science and Technology Policy Fellowship. Focusing on data science in areas such as machine learning, data visualization and causal inference, the Fellowship offers an opportunity to learn about executive and legislative processes while lending statistical and scientific expertise to public policy issues. Fellows serve one year on the staff of a senator, representative, or congressional committee beginning September 2021. Apply by February 28.

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.

ACM and Mercer are now offering ACM members the ability to compare rates in as little as five minutes. Don't overpay for auto/home, renters' and umbrella insurance. See rates now—you don't have to wait until your current policy renews. Get free quotes online at mercercompare.com/acm or call 1-800-503-9230.

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 Vint Cerf

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 Vint Cerf, former ACM President and Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist at Google.

Watch ACM TechTalks with ACM Athena Lecturer Sarit Kraus and ACM Taskforce on Reproducibility Member Grigori Fursin

Watch the ACM TechTalk, Agent-Human Collaboration and Learning for Improving Human Satisfaction, presented by Sarit Kraus, Professor at Bar-Ilan University and 2020-2021 ACM Athena Lecturer. Learn more about this topic on ACM's Discourse Page.

Watch the ACM TechTalk, Reproducing 150 Research Papers and Testing Them in the Real World: Challenges and Solutions, to be presented on February 11 by Grigori Fursin, President of the cTuning Foundation, Founder of cKnowledge.io and member of the ACM Taskforce on Reproducibility. Learn more about this topic on ACM's Discourse Page.

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

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 POPL 2021. 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 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.

Stefan Bruckner is a professor in Visualization at the Department of Informatics of the University of Bergen, Norway. His research interests include data visualization, with a particular focus on interactive techniques for the exploration and analysis of spatial data. He has made significant contributions to areas such as illustrative visualization, volume rendering, smart visual interfaces, biomedical data visualization, and visual parameter space exploration, and holds six patents. He has received many awards in graphics and visualzation, and is a member of ACM SIGGRAPH, Eurographics, and the IEEE Computer Society.

For more information on Stefan, 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 December 15, 2020 to January 13, 2021:

ACM Student Chapters:

  • BITS Pilani Hyderabad ACM Student Chapter, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Hyderabad, India
  • Hamdard University ACM Student Chapter, Karachi, Pakistan
  • UNC Asheville ACM Student Chapter, University of North Carolina

ACM Professional Chapter:

  • Bengaluru ACM SIGGRAPH Chapter, Bangalore, India

ACM-W NEWS

Celebrating Technology Leaders, Episode 4: Women in Data

In this fourth episode of ACM-W’s webinar series, “Celebrating Technology Leaders,” host Bushra Anjum will highlight the stories of women in computing who are successfully leading a diverse set of careers in the data field. With panellists from Microsoft, Doximity, and Eurostar International, Bushra will discuss the most in-demand data careers, the top skills required, how one can break into the field of data science, how the data landscape will evolve in the next decade (especially fueled by the COVID era), and more. The webinar takes place on Wednesday, February 3 at 12 PM PST/3 PM EST. Register here.

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

New Open Access Journal: Collective Intelligence

Collective Intelligence is a transdisciplinary open access journal devoted to advancing the theoretical and empirical understanding of group performance in diverse systems, from adaptive matter to cellular and neural systems to animal societies to all types of human organizations to hybrid AI-human teams and nanobot swarms. Visit https://colint.acm.org for more information or to submit your manuscript. Collective Intelligence is co-published with SAGE, and in collaboration with Nesta. Nesta is sponsoring the Article Processing Charges (APCs) for the journal in its launch year. As a result, the APCs are currently waived for the first year of publication.

ACM Transactions on Applied Perception Seeking New Editor-in-Chief

ACM Transactions on Applied Perception (TAP) is seeking a new Editor-in-Chief. Nominations are due March 15. For more information please visit the TAP nominations page.

ACM Transactions on the Web Welcomes New Editor-in-Chief

ACM Transactions on the Web (TWEB) has named Ryen White as Editor-in-Chief, for the term February 1, 2021 to January 31, 2024. Ryen is a Partner Researcher and Research Manager at Microsoft Research AI.

ACM Queue Presents: "Always-on Time-series Database: Keeping Up Where There's No Way to Catch Up"

In their case study for ACM Queue, Theo Schlossnagle, Justin Sheehy, and Chris McCubbin answer questions about TSDBs: What if you found you needed to provide for the capture of data from disconnected operations, such that updates might be made by different parties at the same time without conflicts? And what if your service called for you to receive massive volumes of data almost continuously throughout the day, such that you couldn't really afford to interrupt data ingest at any point for fear of finding yourself so far behind present state that there would be almost no way to catch up?

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