ACM MemberNet - December 23, 2021

Welcome to the December 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.

December 23, 2021

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

2022 ACM General Election Candidate Slate

In accordance with the Constitution and Bylaws of the ACM, the Nominating Committee has submitted the slate of nominees for ACM's officers for 2022. In addition to the officers of the ACM, two Members at Large will be elected to ACM Council. In addition to considering previous leadership roles both within and outside ACM, the Committee made an effort to ensure that a diversity of perspectives will be represented.

The Constitution and Bylaws provide that candidates for elected offices of the ACM may also be nominated by petition of one percent of the Members who as of 1 November 2021 are eligible to vote for the nominee. Such petitions must be accompanied by a written declaration that the nominee is willing to stand for election. The number of Member signatures required for the offices of President, Vice President, Secretary/Treasurer and Members at Large, is 745.

The Bylaws provide that such petitions must reach the Elections Committee before 31 January 2022. Original petitions for ACM offices are to be submitted to the ACM Elections Committee, c/o Pat Ryan, COO, ACM Headquarters, 1601 Broadway, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10019, USA, by 31 January 2022. Statements and biographical sketches of all candidates will appear in the May 2022 issue of Communications of the ACM.

Tracy Camp Named Executive Director of Computing Research Association

ACM Fellow and ACM-W member Tracy Camp has been named Executive Director of the Computing Research Association, effective July 1, 2022. "We at ACM are delighted that Tracy Camp will be joining CRA as Executive Director," said ACM CEO and Executive Director Vicki Hanson. "Through the years, Tracy has shown her commitment to the research community, serving in leadership roles for many of the leading conferences and journals in her field. She has also worked tirelessly to broaden the participation of women in computing through her involvement with CRA-W, ACM-W and NCWIT. Tracy’s appointment is certainly in keeping with the tenor of the times, and we look forward to working with her in her new role."
Read the CRA news release.

AWARDS

ACM Names 2021 Distinguished Members

ACM has named 63 Distinguished Members for outstanding contributions to the field. All 2021 inductees are longstanding ACM members and were selected by their peers for a range of accomplishments that advance computing as a science and a profession.

"Each year we are excited to recognize a new class of ACM Distinguished Members for their professional achievements, as well as their longstanding membership with ACM," explains ACM President Gabriele Kotsis. "The Distinguished Members program is a way both to celebrate the trailblazing work of our members, and to underscore how participation with a professional society enhances one's career growth. This award category also emphasizes how ACM's worldwide membership is the foundation of our organization."

The 2021 ACM Distinguished Members work at leading universities, corporations and research institutions in Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Chile, China, Germany, India, New Zealand, Norway, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. ACM Distinguished Members are selected for their contributions in three separate categories: educational, engineering and scientific. The new class of Distinguished Members made advancements in areas including bioinformatics, computer architecture, computer graphics, data science, human-computer interaction, networking and distributed systems, semantic web research, security, and software engineering, among many other areas.

The ACM Distinguished Member program recognizes up to 10 percent of ACM worldwide membership based on professional experience and significant achievements in the computing field. To be nominated, a candidate must have at least 15 years of professional experience in the computing field, five years of professional ACM membership in the last 10 years, and have achieved a significant level of accomplishment, or made a significant impact in the field of computing, computer science or information technology. A Distinguished Member is expected to have served as a mentor and role model by guiding technical career development and contributing to the field beyond the norm.

Read the ACM news release.

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, 2022.

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

POPL 2022, January 16 to 22 (hybrid)

The 49th ACM SIGPLAN Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages will be held in person in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with some virtual events including author talks and a workshop. Co-located conferences are the Conference on Verification, Model Checking, and Abstract Interpretation (VMCAI) and Certified Programs and Proofs (CPP). Workshops will cover Coq, Partial Evaluation and Program Manipulation, Secure Compilation and more.

ASPDAC 2022, January 17 to 20 (online)

The Asia and South Pacific Design Automation Conference will feature many virtual sessions on various aspects of design automation. Tutorials will cover subjects such as Low-bit Neural Network Computing; Variational Quantum Algorithms; and Side Channel Analysis. Keynote addresses will be delivered by Shankar Krishnamoorthy (Synopsys), Jerry M. Chow (IBM) and Ken Wang (TSMC).

MobiCom 2021, January 31 to February 4, 2022, New Orleans (hybrid)

Postponed from October 2021, the International Conference on Mobile Computing and Networking will be held in person, with a hybrid option. Keynotes will be delivered by Edward Knightly (Rice University), Mary Baker (Additive, HP), Ness Shroff (The Ohio State University) and 2021 SIGMOBILE Rockstar Award recipient Aruna Balasubramanian (Stony Brook University). MobiCom 2022 is being planned for its normal time in Fall 2022.

PUBLIC POLICY

ACM Europe Tech Policy Committee Comments on EC's "Path to the Digital Decade" Decision

ACM Europe Technology Policy Committee's contributions to the European Commission's intermediate-range plans for a productive digital future included encouraging universal digital literacy, advancing neuromorphic computing, and realistically assessing the pros and cons of technologies intended to mitigate climate change. Read ACM Europe TPC's comments.

Connect with ACM's Tech Policy Groups!

To learn more about upcoming programs and the work of ACM's Technology Policy groups, follow @ACMpolicy, @USTPC, and @EuropeTPC on Twitter. If you're interested in contributing to the work of ACM's Europe or US Technology Policy Committees, please 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.

ACM's Discounts and Special Offers Program is our way of saying "Thanks!" to our members by providing you with discounts on the goods and services you need, want and use. Save on insurance, software/hardware, careers and conferences, magazines, books and journals, travel, financial products, and general consumer products.

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

Elsevier ScienceDirect Access Ends January 7

As of January 7, 2022, ACM will no longer be able to offer Elsevier's ScienceDirect platform as a member benefit. If you are currently reading any books or articles from ScienceDirect, be sure to finish your reading and/or download any other PDFs you are interested in by this date.

ACM members will continue to have access to thousands of online books, courses, and videos through other licensing arrangements. And many of the book titles from ScienceDirect can be found among the resources available to members through their ACM memberships.

Please visit the ACM Learning Center to explore these wide-ranging collections and other ACM Learning programs such as our TechTalk webinar and ByteCast podcast series. And we encourage you to explore the many membership benefits that ACM members enjoy.

Watch ACM TechTalk with Johnny Boursiquot

Watch ACM TechTalk, The Art of Concurrency in Go, to be presented on Tuesday, January 11 at 12:00 PM EST/9:00 AM PT by Johnny Boursiquot, Platform Observability Engineer at Salesforce's Heroku.

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

US High School Students Encouraged to Apply for 2021-2022 ACM/CSTA Cutler-Bell Prize

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 10, 2022.

Up to four winners will be selected and each will be awarded a $10,000 prize, which will be administered through the financial aid department at the university the student will attend. 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.

Young Researchers: Apply for 9th Heidelberg Laureate Forum, September 18-23, 2022

Young researchers are invited to apply for one of the 200 coveted spots to participate in the Heidelberg Laureate Forum (HLF), an annual event. The HLF offers all accepted young researchers the great opportunity to personally meet the winners of the most prestigious prizes in their fields.

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

The ninth HLF will take place September 18 to 23, 2022. This prominent and versatile event combines scientific, social and outreach activities in a unique atmosphere, and is fueled by comprehensive exchange and scientific inspiration. If meeting in person is not safely possible, a digital alternative will be developed that creates spaces for effective, sustainable interaction.

Applications must be submitted online by February 11, 2022 via the registration form. You can also nominate a candidate (on the registration form, click on the "Register as a Nominator" button at the top; you will need to enter ACM’s organization code; please email [email protected] to request this number). Successful candidates will be selected by an international committee of experts to ensure that only the most qualified candidates are invited. Those who are accepted will be notified in April.

Upcoming ACM Student Research Competitions: Submission Deadlines

ACM Student Research Competitions (SRCs) 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 ASE 2021. The next conferences accepting submissions are:

  • ICSE 2022, May 21-29, deadline December 31
  • CHI 2022, April 3-May 5, deadline January 13

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.

Joanna Isabelle Olszewska is an Assistant Professor (Lecturer) at University of the West of Scotland, and leads research in algorithms and software for Intelligent Vision Systems. She is an IEEE Senior Member, a member of the IEEE Global Initiative for Ethical Considerations in Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems, and a BCS Fellow. She has been a TPC member for over 80 international conferences such as IJCAI and chaired over 60 conference/workshop sessions.

For more information on Joanna, please visit her 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

ACM Thanks Student Chapters for Participating in Hour of Code

The Hour of Code is a global movement designed to generate excitement in young people about programming and technology. Games, tutorials, and other events were organized during Computer Science Education Week around the world. ACM would like to congratulate all of the ACM Student Chapters that took part this year:

  • FISAT ACM Student Chapter, Federal Institute of Science and Technology, India
  • PCCOE&R ACM Student Chapter, Pimpri Chinchwad College of Engineering and Research, India
  • RAIT ACM Student Chapter, Ramrao Adik Institute of Technology, India
  • Lander College for Women ACM Student Chapter, US
  • VVIT Guntur ACM Student Chapter, Vasireddy Venkatadri Institute of Technology, India
  • CCET ACM Student Chapter, Chandigarh College of Engineering and Technology, India
  • USICT ACM Student Chapter, University School of Information and Communication Technology, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, India
  • NIT Surat ACM Student Chapter, Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, India
  • IIT Jodhpur ACM Student Chapter, Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur
  • University of Moratuwa ACM Student Chapter, Sri Lanka
  • NSU ACM Student Chapter, North South University, Bangladesh
  • Chitkara ACM Student Chapter, Chitkara University, India
  • MPSTME ACM Student Chapter, Mukesh Patel School of Technology Management and Engineering, India

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 November 11 to December 6, 2021:

ACM Student Chapters:

  • Franklin University ACM Student Chapter, Columbus, Ohio
  • Galgotias University ACM Student Chapter, Greater Noida, India
  • Karnavati University ACM Student Chapter, Gandhinagar, India
  • UDC ACM-W Student Chapter, University of the District of Columbia, Washington, DC

ACM Professional Chapters:

  • Brisbane ACM SIGCHI Chapter, Brisbane, Australia
  • Colombo ACM Chapter, Sri Lanka

ACM-W NEWS

ACM-W's Webinar Series Celebrates Women in Computing

By highlighting successful technical women who are leading diverse careers in the technology industry, ACM-W’s webinar series, “Celebrating Technology Leaders,” aims to inform students and early-career professionals about the multitude of career options open to them. Episodes have featured machine learning careers, tech returnships, tech entrepreneurship, UI/UX, data science, robotics, and cybersecurity. To watch the recorded webinars, visit the YouTube playlist.

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

Call for Proposals for Computing and Ethics Journal

ACM is seeking ideas for a new broad-scope research journal to address Computing and Ethics. We believe the perennial and growing importance of this topic indicates the need for a dedicated and comprehensive publication. In particular, we recognize the essential role of interdisciplinary discourse in this complex domain of research and practice. At this time, we welcome expressions of interest from ACM community members to consider proposing a new journal in this area.

If you are interested in creating a proposal for a new publication on the topic of Computing and Ethics, we encourage you to do one of the following:

  • If you are interested but have questions about the process, please contact us at [email protected].
  • If you have an idea for what to propose but uncertain about its suitability, please send a brief letter of interest describing your idea to [email protected].
  • If you are prepared to start a proposal, please follow the process outlined on the ACM new publications proposal site. At the same time, please let us know of your intention by contacting us at [email protected].

Sincerely,
ACM New Publications Committee

Submission Sites Now Open for Distributed Ledger Technologies: Research and Practice and Formal Aspects of Computing

The new ACM journal Distributed Ledger Technologies: Research and Practice (DLT) seeks to publish high quality, interdisciplinary research on the research and development, real-world deployment, and/or evaluation of distributed ledger technologies, e.g., blockchain, cryptocurrency, and smart contract. DLT will offer original research work and innovative practice-driven advancements by DLT experts and researchers from academia and public- and private-sector organizations. For more information see the Call for Papers and visit the submission site.

ACM and BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT will co-publish the journal Formal Aspects of Computing starting in 2022. Currently published by Springer Nature for BCS, the journal's scope includes fundamental computational concepts, fault-tolerant design, theorem-proving support, state-exploration tools, formal underpinning of widely-used notations and methods, history of formal methods, and more. With the new agreement, the journal will transition to Gold Open Access status. For more information visit the journal home page and the FAC submissions site.

ACM Transactions on Multimedia Computing, Communications, and Applications Welcomes Abdulmotaleb El Saddik as New Editor-in-Chief

ACM Transactions on Multimedia Computing, Communications, and Applications (TOMM) welcomes Abdulmotaleb El Saddik as its new Editor-in-Chief. The appointment is from February 1, 2022 to January 31, 2025. Abdulmotaleb is a professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Ottawa.

ACM Queue Presents: "Lamboozling Attackers: A New Generation of Deception"

In their article for ACM Queue, Kelly Shortridge of Fastly and Ryan Petrich of Capsule8 explain how software engineering teams can exploit attackers' human nature by building deception environments. The authors demonstrate why engineering teams are now poised to become significantly more successful owners of deception systems by examining the inadequacy and stagnancy of historical deception efforts by the information security community.

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