An excellent article by MIT’s Bill Bonvillian, just out in the MIT Press journal Innovations.  Bill’s prescription: The U.S. must develop an integrated strategy if it is to reinvent its production capability. It should include the nine steps listed below: Developing advanced technologies that could lead to new manufacturing paradigms Selecting manufacturing paradigms that apply across a range of sectors Integrating technology development with efforts to develop new processes and business models In doing this, encompassing the new combined services/production model Tracking where world production competitors are moving Building at all levels a new advanced manufacturing workforce Applying an organizational model that works across the seams between the R&D agencies […]

Earlier this week, NBC aired a video segment highlighting how Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are transforming education. Professors at universities like Stanford, Princeton and Columbia are now offering online courses in a wide range of topics for free. View the segment here. On February 11-12, 2013, the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) will hold a visioning workshop titled, “Multidisciplinary Research for Online Education.” Participants will look beyond the current high-profile interest in MOOCs, and to ideate on important research questions over the next 10 years in all areas of computing in support of massively open online education.

ACM has joined forces with the newly created Heidelberg Laureate Forum to bring students together with recipients of the Abel Prize, the ACM A.M. Turing Award, and the Fields Medal.  The first Heidelberg Laureate Forum will take place September 22-27 2013 in Heidelberg, Germany.  Applications and nominations will be accepted through February 15. Additional information here (pdf).  This is a tremendous opportunity!

Last year, the Computing Community Consortium and CRA’s Government Affairs Committee held the first Leadership in Science Policy Institute.  A total of 35 participants attended the institute, which featured a series of presentations from science policy experts, current and former Hill staff, and relevant agency and Administration officials.  Topics included the mechanics of the legislative process, serving on advisory committees, and interfacing with Federal agencies. A second Leadership in Science Policy Institute will be held April 11-12, 2013 in Washington, DC. Please discuss this opportunity with your colleagues, identify those you believe would be interested in participating, and submit nominations! The deadline is Real Soon Now – December 14!

The CCC is sponsoring another in its series of “Challeges and Visions” tracks at the 6th Biennial Conference on Innovative Data Systems Research (CIDR) January 6-9, Asilomar Conference Grounds, Pacific Grove, CA. As part of its mission to identify major new research opportunities, the CCC sponsors “challenges and visions” sessions at several conferences. The goal of these sessions is to break free of the shackles of the normal reviewing process while still requiring a paper.  In this way, a “challenges and visions” session differs from a “midnight session” of informal talks, in that the paper allows the ideas presented to be more broadly accessible. CCC has sponsored eight such sessions […]

The Computing Research Association has adopted a set of “best practices” for postdocs, the result of work done by Anita Jones and Erwin Gianchandani under the auspices of CRA’s Computing Community Consortium. Postdocs have been expanding rapidly in the computing fields.  Only by being introspective and proactive can we ensure that these positions contribute to the professional development of the student, rather than being exploitative.  The “best practices” white paper sets serious expectations for three constituencies relating to the postdoctoral experience: The Ph.D. student considering a postdoc position must educate himself or herself about what a postdoc is, think through the pros and cons of accepting a postdoctoral position at […]