Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek) is an annual program designed to engage students of all ages in computer science.  It is observed each year, in recognition of the birthday of computing pioneer Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper (December 9, 1906).  This year, CSEdWeek is December 8-14, 2014. What started as a grassroots movement and then inaugurated by Congress in 2009, CSEdWeek has quickly grown and is now on the International Stage.  There are many ways to participate and to bring computing to others, through the code.org online tutorials written for students of all levels to hosting students in your research lab, visiting a high school class to share your stories with students, or by […]

Recently, some Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Council Members visited the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to talk about possible synergies between the computing research community and DoT. Established in 1966, the USDOT’s top priorities are to keep the traveling public safe and secure, increase their mobility, and have our transportation system contribute to the nation’s economic growth. A number of topics were touched on that we will share at a later time. One important piece of information is a recent Request For Information (RFI) on the vehicle-to-vehicle security credential management system. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced an advance notice of proposed rulemaking for Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) communications, and concurrently released an extensive research […]

The following blog post was written by Dr. Martin Wiener, AAAS Fellow Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering Division of Information and Intelligent Systems at the National Science Foundation (NSF).   Comparisons of the brain to a computer have been around since Alan Turing first described the Automatic Computing Engine in 1936. However, decades of research have now shown that the brain is nothing like a computer; at least, nothing like one that currently exists. Plasticity, flexibility and redundancy in neural circuits have led us to understand that the human brain operates with greater efficiency than the most powerful supercomputers today. However, as the field of neuroscience advances, the field of […]

Last week the National Science Foundation (NSF), in partnership with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Agriculture and NASA announced $31.5 million in new awards to spur the development and use of robots that work cooperatively with people (known as co-robots). The awards mark the third round of funding made through the National Robotics Initiative (NRI), a multi-agency program launched in September 2012 as part of the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership Initiative, with NSF as the lead federal agency. The 52 new research awards, ranging from $300,000 to $1.8 million over one to four years, advance fundamental understanding of robotic sensing, motion, computer vision, machine learning and human-computer interaction. The awards […]

The following is a special contribution to this blog by Tracy Kimbrel, National Science Foundation (NSF) Program Director for Computing and Communication Foundations.  The National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Computer Science and Engineering (CISE) recently announced a new program solicitation, Algorithms in the Field (AitF), which aims to promote collaboration between theory researchers and those in more applied areas. The program originated from interest and excitement among the theory community and researchers in many applied fields during a well-attended workshop held in May 2011. Bridging the gap between theory and practice in the design, analysis, implementation, and evaluation of algorithms can lead to new fields as well as broader cutting-edge applications. […]

Periodically, the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) will highlight research projects that are nominated by the public. Research highlights are meant to inform the computing community about interesting research going on in the field. The most recent research highlight featured Dr. Rajeev Alur from the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Alur leads the NSF Expeditions in Computer Augmented Program Engineering (ExCAPE). The goal of ExCAPE is to change the way programmers develop software by advancing the theory and practice of software synthesis.  ExCAPE develops synthesis tools that can assist expert programmers in discovering difficult code and meet challenges in multicore programming. To read more, see the full research highlight. To submit a research highlight for inclusion […]