Currently, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is hosting a three-day forum:  Wait, What? A Future Technology Forum, focusing on new technologies and how they can change the future, in particular with respect to national security. Three early-career engineers and scientists, chosen from a pool of 54 candidates, were selected to share their ideas to the Forum Participants.  They are: Alexander Bataller, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California Los Angeles …who studies dense microplasmas, a recently discovered form of matter… Anupama Lakshmanan, a graduate student in biology and biological engineering at the California Institute of Technology…focuses on adapting immune cells to provide non-invasive diagnosis, continuous monitoring and real-time treatment of […]

The 24-minute scientific documentary that was released this summer about the dynamics of the sun may soon be coming to a planetarium near you. “Solar Superstorms” is a new documentary that features data-driven visualizations that have been computed on the giant new supercomputing initiative, Blue Waters, based at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The documentary deputed on June 30th, 2015 at the Louisiana Art and Science Museum in Baton Rouge and has since then been appearing in over a dozen planetariums around the world. “Solar Superstorms” is part of project CADENS (Centrality of Digitally Enabled Science). CADENS is a National Science Foundation […]

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has recently announced a partnership with Intel Corporation  on two new grants for $6 million to research security and privacy solutions of cyber-physical systems (CPS). Cyber-physical systems, such as smart-homes and autonomous vehicles, are part of the rise of the new Internet of Things (IoT). “Advances in the integration of information and communications technologies are transforming the way people interact with engineered systems,” said Jim Kurose, head of Computer and Information Science and Engineering at NSF. “Rigorous interdisciplinary research, such as the projects announced today in partnership with Intel, can help to better understand and mitigate threats to our critical cyber-physical systems and secure the nation’s […]

The following is a special contribution to this blog by CCC Executive Council Member Mark D. Hill of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Full disclosure: He had the pleasure of working with one of the authors of the discussed paper—Sarita Adve—on her 1993 Ph.D. Great conundrums include: * Will I drink coffee or tea? * Shall I have cake or ice cream? * Should I use a cache or scratchpad? While most readers will not face the last choice, it is important for saving time and energy in the devices we love by keeping frequently-used information close at hand. Caches are the workhorse of modern computers, feeding the processor with data […]

There will be a special presentation and webinar on Tuesday, September 8, 2015 on Security and Privacy: Mobile Medical Applications by Dr. David Kotz, the Champion International Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Dartmouth College.  The talk will be at the National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored by the Smart and Connected Health Program and can be viewed online. Mobile medical applications offer tremendous opportunities to improve quality and access to care, reduce cost, and improve individual wellness and public health. These new technologies, whether in the form of software for smartphones as specialized devices to be worn, carried, or applied as needed, may also pose risks if they are not designed or configured with security and privacy […]

National Science Foundation (NSF) Assistant Director for the Directorate of Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE) James Kurose has issued the following letter to the community describing the Division Director position available: Dear Colleagues, NSF is pleased to announce the search for a Division Director for the Division of Computing and Network Systems (CNS) in the Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE).  The official announcement for this position can be found on USAJOBS at https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/414827000. CNS, one of four divisions in CISE, supports research and education activities on new computing and networking systems and technologies, while ensuring their security and privacy, and on new ways to make use of […]