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pipeline DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE & ENGINEERING WINTER/SPRING 2016 Turing Award Winner Returns to MSU for Honorary Degree harles Bachman (’48) was recognized a generic control system that would be far chair one of the more significant groups by MSU’s College of Engineering with more eff ective. Bachman was to be the in this open systems interconnection (OSI) an honorary doctorate in December architect for this new system that yielded eff ort that led to the familiar seven-layer C2015 for his lifetime achievement and the first direct access database manage- networking architecture known as the OSI contributions to computer science—and ment system (DBMS), Integrated Data Reference Model that is widely deployed database architecture in particular. Store (IDS), as one of its by-products. The in various implementations. Bachman has received many honors and invention served as the foundation for the Bachman’s career continued to focus awards in his career including an ACM Fel- world’s first general purpose manufacturing on database architecture innovations but low, the Turing Award, and the Presidential resource planning (MRP) system, and a few moved from manufacturing corporations to Medal of Technology and Innovation years later the two were used to create the soft ware companies. Feeling the entrepre- from President Obama. Bachman’s career world’s first online transaction processing neurial bug, he formed his own company, included stints at Dow Chemical, General system (OLTP). Bachman Information Systems, which Electric, Honeywell, Cullinet, and eventu- In 1978, the International Organiza- went public (NASDAQ: BACH) and was later ally his own computer assisted soft ware tion for Standardization (ISO) formed a acquired by Computer Associates. Aft er that engineering (CASE) company—Bachman technical committee to develop solutions exit, he focused on writing and consulting Information Systems. for computers to talk to one another, assignments. He now lives in a retirement Bachman’s post-war career began at exchange data, and thus allow programs community in Lexington, Mass. e Michigan State followed by graduate work to interoperate. Bachman was elected to > Rick Ducey at UPenn. His first job at Dow Chemical took him through various departments from 1950–1960. This journey through Dow’s functional areas was driven by his Anil Jain Named engineer’s mind and unique vision for how data and systems could be better NAE Member designed for business efficiencies. In 1960, Bachman was recruited by Congratulations to University General Electric to continue his path- Distinguished Professor Anil Jain, breaking leadership in computer data elected a member in the National systems. Bachman recalls that GE had a Academy of Engineering Class hundred autonomous business groups, of 2016—for contributions to the each making diff erent products. Each engineering and practice of biometrics. business unit preferred to have its own The honor, announced Feb. 8, is among manufacturing control system. However the highest professional distinctions GE had the foresight to see that computers, accorded to an engineer. e data, and soft ware programs could support COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING I am pleased to report that the Ding, who recently joined the department as assistant professors. National Science Foundation Both are experts in areas of data science, including large-scale FROM THE CHAIRIR renewed its support of the MSU data and machine learning. Furthermore, we are pleased to BEACON Science and Technology announce that Wolfgang Banzhaf will join the department this Matt Mutka Center due to the significant suc- fall as the John R. Koza Endowed Chair in Genetic Programming. cesses of BEACON researchers in In addition, new teaching specialists recently joined our its first five years. The center brings together researchers of many department. Sebnem Onsay comes to MSU aft er teaching for disciplines, including computer science, and continues to attract an extended time at Oakland University. Joshua Nahum joined talented graduate students. the department aft er working as a postdoctoral researcher with In other areas of impact, I wish to highlight the many eff orts BEACON. of Professor Laura Dillon to attract more women and underrep- A highlight each semester is the graduation of our students resented groups to computer science. MSU was rewarded with a at the commencement ceremonies. This past semester, in Pacesetter grant from the National Center for Women & Informa- addition to celebrating our students as they begin their careers tion Technology (NCWIT) to increase recruitment and retention aft er graduation, we were honored to host a distinguished MSU of women, first-generation students, and students of color in alumnus, Charles Bachman, who made historic contributions to computer science. Many other examples of innovative activities computing. Among the many honors in his career, Mr. Bachman are taking place within the department. received the ACM Turing Award in 1973 for outstanding contribu- The number of computer science majors keeps increasing tions to database technology. The Turing Award is the highest dramatically each year. In response, the department is recruiting award granted in the field of computer science. It was our several additional faculty members for the coming fall. pleasure to welcome Mr. Bachman and his family to campus to Meanwhile, we are pleased to welcome Jiayu Zhou and Hu honor him as one of MSU’s distinguished alumni. e Girls Learn Computing at MSU Summer Camp Fun at camp. Around two dozen middle school girls attended the Girls in Computing Summer Camp at MSU in 2015 to learn basic programming concepts and participated in several hands-on activities. Girls were intro- duced to the logic of computer science using “CS Unplugged”—a project that provides free games and activities to communicate computer science concepts to students. The camp was organized by Teresa Isela VanderSloot, MSU’s College of Engineering director of Women in Engineering, Recruitment and K–12 Outreach. e MSU’s BEACON Center Nets Grant to Continue Evolution Research MSU has been awarded $22.5 million populations of organisms respond to “BEACON’s world-class faculty by the National Science Foundation to climate change. members, all pulling toward common continue the research, education, and The use of digital organisms—self- goals, enable our high level of scientific outreach activities of the BEACON reproducing computer programs operating innovation, attracting top-notch graduate Center for the Study of Evolution in Action. in a controlled computer environment— students and postdoctoral researchers Since 2010, BEACON has brought allows researchers to explore evolutionary to the best place in the world to study together evolutionary biologists, dynamics much more rapidly than studies evolution in action,” he said. computer scientists, and engineers to in the lab or field. Understanding these Overall, BEACON researchers have explore evolution going on in today’s processes contributes to better solutions published more than 565 peer-reviewed world. BEACON researchers have of design and engineering problems of papers and written proposals that have provided insights into the evolution industrial and societal importance using netted nearly $47 million in external of disease, reducing the evolution of evolutionary computational tools, accord- funds. e antibiotic resistance and predicting how ing to Erik Goodman, BEACON director. 2 DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE & ENGINEERING | WINTER / SPRING 2016 Women in Computing MSU a Pacesetter in Attracting More Women into Computer Science MSU is one of three Michigan institu- tions selected for the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) Pacesetters program, a project designed to attract more women into the field of computer science. Pacesetters is a two-year program in which participating institutions develop aggressive and measurable goals for increasing the number of women in the U.S. computing and technology workforce. It is sponsored by the National Science Foundation, Google, and Qualcomm. The number of females majoring in The number of females majoring in computer science at MSU has increased from 7 percent in 2008 to the current computer science at MSU has steadily 15 percent. Professor Laura Dillion (back, center) is a leader in MSU’s Women in Computing eff orts and works with increased from 7 percent in 2008 to the students including Keerthana Kolisetty (left , standing), and (seated, left to right) Sarah Byrum, Jessica Lam, Cassandra current 15 percent. On the strength of Thompson, and Shivaani Annadurai in a CSE291 class. past programs supported by the center, MSU was awarded a 2015 NCWIT Exten- spark interest in computer science for K–12 and communications technology (ICT). sion Services Transformation Award. students, especially underrepresented Laura Dillon, CSE professor, Louise In its Pacesetters program, MSU is minorities and girls. Hemond-Wilson (BS ’86), and Blair partnering with Lansing Community Col- Singleton, ECE PhD student, played key lege to increase recruitment and retention roles in TechKobwa ’14 and TechKobwa of women, first-generation students, and Commitment Continues at Rwandan ’15, and are helping organize two yearly students of color in computer science, said Technology Camp TechKobwa Camps—one in August and Laura Dillon, professor of computer science Over the past three summers, Camp the other in December. and engineering at MSU. TechKobwa has touched the lives of more “It is exciting