The National Science Foundation (NSF) has issued a new solicitation – Interdisciplinary Research in Hazards and Disasters, or HazardSEES – that aims to foster the science and engineering necessary to improve our understanding of natural and technological hazards linked to natural phenomena.  Proposals responsive to this program (which is one of several recent opportunities posted under NSF’s multi-year, Foundation-wide Science, Engineering, and Education for Sustainability (SEES) initiative) should describe (1) innovative interdisciplinary research that advances our understanding of the causes, interdependencies, impacts, and cumulative effects of these hazards on individuals, the natural and built environment, and society as a whole, and (2) mechanisms for improving capabilities for forecasting or predicting hazards, […]

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is holding this week a first-ever Principal Investigators’ meeting for its Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC) program.  From Tuesday through Thursday, nearly 400 academic researchers, industry partners, and Federal agency officials will gather just outside Washington, DC, for discussions about the status of cybersecurity R&D, including recent progress and the large number of opportunities that lie ahead. According to the meeting website: “SaTC is an interdisciplinary program including technologists, social scientists, and educators from programs sponsored by the NSF CISE, SBE, and EHR directorates. This PI meeting will encompass all of these perspectives on cybersecurity through plenary talks, breakout sessions, posters, and informal Birds of a Feather gatherings…” […]

At last week’s meeting of the Council of the Computing Community Consortium – held at Microsoft Research in Redmond WA – UC Berkeley’s Eric Brewer gave an inspirational presentation about the ability of students to design and build “whole systems.” Simply looking at the slides can’t possibly do justice to Eric’s presentation – especially since Eric agreed to an informal discussion-oriented session.  But the slides are here. The basic theme:  smartphones, 3D printers, Arduino, the “maker” culture, etc., are creating a revolution – a “gadget” and/or “whole system” revolution.  We in academia are behind the 8-ball, and we should catch up.  The result will be more and better students. Eric […]

The New York Times article, “Killing the Computer to Save It,” takes a closer look at how Dr. Peter G. Neumann, a computer scientist who specializes in computer security, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) are rethinking how to make computers and networks more secure. Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta voiced concerns about “an epidemic of computer malware and rising concerns about cyberwarfare as a threat to global security.” Neumann, who is now 80 years old, and Robert N. Watson, a computer security researcher at Cambridge University’s Computer Laboratory, are currently leading a research program funded by DARPA to address these concerns. “The program includes two separate […]

Microsoft is taking steps to position itself as a cutting-edge technology provider by offering services that can analyze big data. That type of technology is being developed by Microsoft Research, Microsoft’s advanced research arm. In Monday’s issue of the New York Times, CCC Council member, Eric Horvitz, who is a distinguished scientist and deputy managing director at Microsoft Research in Redmond, offered his perspective. Since Horvitz joined Microsoft Research 20 years ago, his goal has been “to build predictive software that could continually get smarter.” In the coming months, Horvitz will see that goal realized and shared with the public with the release of updated versions of Excel, which will […]

Today, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) officially kicked off its newest Grand Challenge, DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC). As we’ve blogged previously, the Grand Challenge calls for “a humanoid robot (with a bias toward bipedal designs) that can be used in rough terrain and for industrial disasters.” DARPA also released a video of Pet-Proto, a humanoid robot manufactured by Boston Dynamics. Pet-Proto, a predecessor to DARPA’s Atlas robot, is an example of what the agency envisions for the challenge. Watch Pet-Proto in action, as it navigates obstacles:   More about the challenge from DARPA: The Department of Defense’s strategic plan calls for the Joint Force to conduct humanitarian, disaster relief and related operations.  The plan identifies requirements to extend aid […]