CCC’s mission is to catalyze computing research, and we are always on the lookout for ways to promote visioning about the future of computing across disciplinary boundaries. When I was at the 11th Heidelberg Laureate Forum in Germany, I asked many of the laureates, all of whom have been awarded prestigious prizes in computing based on their groundbreaking technical advancements, about how they collaborate with diverse groups of experts.
In response to my question about the best way to collaborate across disciplines and promote visionary thinking, Dr. Vint Cerf, widely known as one of the “fathers of the internet”, first emphasized the importance of in-person collaborations: “It’s when people are together. Especially my favorite situation is standing in front of a whiteboard with somebody else having a giant argument about something and trying to figure out what ideas work.” He went on to explain that video conferencing is the second best mechanism, and the third best is reading a wide range of research publications.
For his third point, he used an anecdote from an interaction with Henry Kissinger to emphasize the importance of seeking out long-form research papers: “[Henry Kissinger and I] were having lunch one day, and we sat down, and the first thing he said was, I hate the internet. And you know, I’m sitting thinking, well, lunch is over. Why is that? Dr. Kissinger said, ‘Well, people on the internet are satisfied with two paragraph answers, but I write 700 page books’, so we need to remember that sometimes the longer form is the better choice.”
Dr. Patrick Hanrahan, one of the founders of Pixar, also emphasized the importance of in-person interactions, and specifically noted how Pixar prepared teams to create animated films by requiring the technical experts to take drawing classes, and artists to take science classes. Dr. Hanrahan glowed while enthusiastically sharing the results of this cross-discipline training for himself and his colleagues: “I just appreciate the drawings so much more. Now I’ve learned to draw a little bit. I’m still not nearly as good at them, but you just realize how unbelievably skilled they are. And same with them, you know, they think we’re just nerds and we’re like machines and crank out code. But no, they guided them. It’s pretty fun, you know?” He added, “We didn’t expect people to become experts in both. We didn’t want to make Renaissance people, but we wanted people that appreciated the other and had some knowledge about what they did. And I think that is important.”
Dr. Patrick Hanrahan during a Press Conference
Dr. Patterson, a former CRA Board Chair and a renowned computer architecture scientist, agreed that prioritizing engaging in multidisciplinary work is key to successful work. He broadened his answer to research as a whole, and explained that he has re-emphasized the need for interdisciplinary work for decades when giving talks because research silos, especially in industry, is an ongoing issue. He mentioned many of the points made in the recently released CCC/CRA Interdisciplinary Best Practices for Researchers document, specifically that it is important to learn each other’s terminology and cultural values, and that interdisciplinary work takes more time to accomplish.
It was invigorating to hear the laureate’s ideas for effective collaborations at the CCC-level, like in-person collaborations (see CCC Visioning Workshops) and long form reports (see CCC Visioning Reports), and at the computing research level.
