Professor Juan de Pablo from the Institute for Molecular Engineering at University of Chicago will be giving a lecture on Soft Materials Research in the Era of Machine Learning at the National Science Foundation (NSF) on Monday, December 11th at 2:00-3:00PM ET.  Juan de Pablo is the Liew Family Professor and Deputy Director for Education and Outreach of the Institute for Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago.  He earned his BChE from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, and his PhD in Chemical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. He conducted postdoctoral research at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich and joined the faculty of the University […]

National Library of Medicine Director Patti Brennan spoke at the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Leadership in Science Policy Institute (LiSPI) this morning and strongly urged computer scientists to respond to this Request for Information (RFI) to Help Shape the Future of Data Science!  The deadline has been extended to November 20th, 2017! On behalf of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Library of Medicine (NLM) seeks community input on new data science research initiatives that could address key challenges currently faced by researchers, clinicians, administrators, and others, in all areas of biomedical, social/behavioral and health-related research. The field of data science is broad in scope, encompassing approaches for […]

The following is a guest blog post from CCC Council Member and Cybersecurity Task Force Member Nadya Bliss from Arizona State University. “Massive breach of databases containing personal information. Millions of records exposed.” This seems to be an almost daily headline these days. One of the most serious events in recent memory is the breach of the Equifax databases, potentially compromising 143 million records with personal information such as name, social security number, and credit history. While the Equifax breach garnered much attention, it is just the latest in a string of serious breaches. These events have highlighted the need for a forward-looking research agenda in support of regulatory frameworks and discourse […]

The following is a guest blog post from CCC Council Member and Cybersecurity Task Force Chair Kevin Fu from the University of Michigan. “From pacemakers to autonomous vehicles, national computing research and education initiatives for embedded security will lay a crucial foundation for the Internet of Everything era,” says Fu. Last month, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued the first major recall of a medical device because of a cybersecurity risk. Nearly half a million pacemakers were recalled for a software update that clinicians will apply during a patient’s in-clinic visit. Our team has spent a decade analyzing security problems and solutions in pacemakers and other medical devices. While […]

The following is a letter to the community from James Kurose, Assistant Director, and Erwin Gianchandani, Deputy Assistant Director, of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate of Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE).  Dear CISE Community, Our thoughts are with all those affected by Hurricane Harvey and its aftermath.  We want to take this opportunity to share important information posted by NSF, which includes a notice announcing NSF’s intent to extend proposal submission and other administrative deadlines for those affected (also included below), as well as a Dear Colleague Letter calling for research to address the challenges related to this storm. For those affected by Harvey, we in CISE want to assure you that we are […]

The organizers from the MForesight and Computing Community Consortium (CCC) workshop on Cyber Security for Manufacturers will be releasing their workshop report at a Launch Event hosted by the House Manufacturing Caucus on September 22 from 2:00-3:30PM ET in the Rayburn House Office Building, in Washington, DC. The scale and variety of cyber-threats to manufacturers have grown considerably in recent years, and they now range from rare and sophisticated Stuxnet-style attacks to the relatively frequent ransomware risks. In addition to malware attacks on industrial firms, cyber-attacks on manufacturers can include efforts to corrupt data, steal intellectual property (IP), sabotage equipment, and disable networks. The purposes and effects of attacks vary widely — but all such incidents […]