On day two of the Virtual Heidelberg Laureate Forum (HLF) 2020, Robert Endre Tarjan and Donald Ervin Knuth engaged in a freewheeling conversation about mathematics, computer science, and art. Donald Knuth was the 1974 ACM A.M. Turing Award winner for “for his major contributions to the analysis of algorithms and the design of programming languages, and in particular for his contributions to the ‘art of computer programming’ through his well-known books in a continuous series by this title.” Robert Tarjan won the Nevanlinna Prize in 1982 “for devising near-optimal algorithms for many graph-theoretic and geometric problems for the development and exploitation of data structures supporting efficient algorithms, and for contributing several algorithmic analyses of striking profundity […]

How can computing technology impact global health, particularly with regards to the COVID-19 pandemic? Shwetak Patel, 2018 ACM Prize in Computing winner and Computing Community Consortium (CCC) council member, addressed this question on the second day of the Virtual Heidelberg Laureate Forum (HLF) 2020. Patel, an entrepreneur and professor of computer science at the University of Washington, won the 2018 Prize for “contributions to creative and practical sensing systems for sustainability and health.” During his presentation, Patel highlighted a few of the use cases of computing technology on healthcare: for instance, AI has improved screening and diagnostic capabilities by reading X-rays and radiology scans and the ubiquity of mobile phones makes them a great […]

By Cherri Pancake, ACM President As the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic continues, we at ACM would like to do what we can to help support the computing community. Many computing researchers and practitioners are now working remotely. In addition, teaching and learning have also moved online as more and more campuses close. We believe that ACM can help support research, discovery and learning during this time of crisis by opening the ACM Digital Library to all. For the next three months, there will be no fees assessed for accessing or downloading work published by ACM. We hope this will help researchers, practitioners and students maintain access to our publications as well as increasing visibility […]

The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) just announced their 2019 ACM Fellows. The ACM Fellows award is ACM’s most prestigious member grade, which “comprise an elite group that represents less than 1% of the Association’s global membership.” The 2019 list honors 58 members of ACM for their contributions to computing. Among the 2019 Fellows is Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Council Member Maria Gini (University of Minnesota), recognized for her “for contributions to robotics and multi-agent systems and a lifelong commitment to diversity in computing.” Maria joined the CCC this year and is a member of the Health and Computing Task Force. Other 2019 Fellows include past CCC Council members Elizabeth […]

The 7th annual Heidelberg Laureate Forum (HLF) has officially begun! Yesterday (September 21st) was the opening ceremony, which included a “science slam” on the history and founding of HLF from Andreas Reuter, Scientific Chairperson of the Heidelberg Laureate Forum Foundation, as well as a Q&A session with Cherri M. Pancake, President of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), Carlos E. Kenig, President of the International Mathematical Union (IMU), and Hans Petter Graver, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (DNVA). To top it off the opening ceremony was followed by a reception, giving the young researchers opportunities to mingle with each other and the 23 laureates in mathematics and computer science that are in attendance. During the Q&A session, Cherri Pancake was asked about the […]

Last year Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Senior Program Associate, Helen Wright, attended the 6th Annual Heidelberg Laureate Forum (HLF) in Heidelberg, Germany as part of their international blog team (read those blog posts here). This year I, Khari Douglas, will be representing the CCC at the 7th Annual HLF as a blogger and podcaster. Organized by the Heidelberg Laureate Forum Foundation and Klaus Tschira Stiftung, HLF is “a one-week event combining scientific, social and outreach activities. The recipients of the most prestigious awards in mathematics and computer science, the Abel Prize, ACM A.M. Turing Award, ACM Prize in Computing, Fields Medal and the Nevanlinna Prize are invited to participate in […]