FCRC Provides CS Females Forum

The CRA Committee on the Status of Women in Computing Research (CRA-W) held a very successful "Workshop on Research Careers for Women in Computer Science and Engineering" in conjunction with the Federated Computing Research Conference April 30 - May 1 in Atlanta, Georgia. The goal of the workshop was to provide computer science undergraduate and graduate students, professors, and researchers from industry and the national laboratories-especially females-an opportunity to share information critical for achieving success in computer science. A summary of events and talks at the workshop can be found at http://www.cra.org/Activities/craw.

CRA-W is participating on the Access and Inclusion team of the Education, Outreach, and Training Partnership for Advanced Computational Infrastructure (EOT-PACI), a joint organization formed to implement the EOT goals of NPACI and the National Computational Science Alliance. CRA-W is dedicated to improving the representation of women in computer science and other computing technology fields. Summaries of CRA-W sponsored or affiliated events are intended to broaden exposure to the content of such workshops, and especially to help young women in the field get valuable information about their chosen profession.

This year's conference was organized as a series of parallel groups, enabling participants to attend panels most pertinent to their current career status and future goals. The panels were targeted to students and pre-tenure faculty, researchers in industry and the national labs, and post-tenure faculty. The pre-tenure group attended panels on topics such as "Getting a Job" and "The Tenure Process." Industry and national lab researchers attended panels such as "Models of Industrial and National Lab Research," "Industry and National Lab Career Options," and "Strategies for Success in Industry and the National Labs." Post-tenure faculty concentrated on topics including "Career Options Beyond Research," "From Associate to Full-Going up the Ladder After You've Reached the First Rung," and "Reinventing Your Research Career." All three groups participated in joint sessions pertinent to all career paths, including "Research as a Career," "Networking and Professional Social Interactions," and "Time Management, Family, and Quality of Life Issues." Panel question-and-answer sessions were held at the end of each discussion.

Apart from panel discussions, participants also attended social events that enabled them and the speakers to exchange information, make professional contacts, and help create an informal professional network that is critical to success. The seating arrangement for the lunch on May 1 was designed to allow participants with common research interests to interact. Friday night attendees participated in a "Networking Practicum" specifically designed to enable young researchers to interact with senior researchers in their specific fields.

Also at this workshop, CRA presented its annual awards for Outstanding Undergraduates. This is a program that recognizes undergraduate students who have shown outstanding research potential. This year's awards went to April Rasala and Marsette Vena, both of Dartmouth College. The runner-up was Pedro Felzenszwalb of Cornell University. A full list of the recipients and honorable mentions can be found on the CRA website.

One of the weekend highlights occurred when Ruzena Bajcsy, assistant director of the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering at the National Science Foundation, gave the keynote address. Bajcsy focused in part on the potential additional congressional funding that will come in response to the President's Information Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC) Report to the President, which supports basic research. Her message encouraged the academic community to pro-actively support the recommendations in their interactions with their congressional leaders.

Serving as chair of this year's workshop was University of California at San Diego (UCSD) Professor of Computer Science and Engineering Francine Berman. She is also an SDSC senior fellow and NPACI partner. The workshop's vice chairs were Nancy Leveson of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Anne Condon of the University of Washington, and Joann Ordille of Bell Laboratories.

Congratulations go to the following for making the workshop a success: Francine Berman, UCSD [Conference Chair]
Kim Peaks, CRA [Conference Coordinator]
Nancy Leveson, MIT; Anne Condon, the University of Washington; and Joann Ordille, Bell Laboratories [Program Vice-Chairs]
Bill Aspray [CRA]
NSF and SIG Governing Board [Travel support]
Jan Cuny and Leah Jamieson [Co-chairs of CRA-W]
Ann Redelfs, SDSC/NPACI [Publicity and Web support]
Donna Baglio and David Johnson [FCRC]
Ruzena Bajcsy, NSF [Keynote speaker]
All of the Moderators and Panelists

This article appeared in (c) 1999 Online: News about the NPACI and SDSC Community. http://www.npaci.edu/online/, as CRA-W is a partner of NPACI's. z