COMPUTING RESEARCH NEWS The News Journal of the Computing Research Association September 1996 Vol. 8/No. 4 NSF division slightly changes HPC Act about to expire; portfolio of research priorities renewal is not expected BY Richard B. Kieburtz BY Fred W. Weingarten One has to suspect that the The National Science Foundation’s research sponsorship programs in the CRA Staff acronym, HPCC, is about to sink Division of Computer and Computation Research (CCR) have undergone without a trace. (The Office of the a facelift, making room for a new program in experimental software On December 9 the High-Perfor- National Coordinator for HPCC, systems in fiscal 1997. The portfolio of research areas supported by the mance Computing Act will quietly division will not change radically, although there are some shifts in expire. No ceremony, no wake, no headed by John Toole, is changing its priorities. The new program is intended to enable researchers to conduct memorial service will mark the name to National Coordinator for significant experimental investigations, supporting projects of larger size occasion. Evidently no tears will be Computing, Information and Com- than have been typical in the past. shed in the administration, either, munication.) At hearings held earlier The impetus for change has come from a review of research in the even though the bill was closely this year by the House Science Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate, con- identified with Al Gore while he was Committee on a possible renewal of ducted by its external advisory committee last fall. The review team in the Senate. HPCC, the administration argued observed that as programs tried to stretch their budgets to support a So close was this identity, against reauthorization. rapidly increasing number of outstanding younger investigators, the President Bush was reluctant to sign There are several reasons offered average award had atrophied, losing about one-third of its spending power the legislation, despite its being for these changes, none of them over a 10-year period. A consequence has been a subtle shift in the kind of inherently bad for computing passed by heavy bipartisan majorities research that NSF grants have enabled, a shift away from experimental research. Some even find reasons for in both houses. Bush was concerned investigations toward less costly theoretical studies. The committee optimism from the last few years. Gore would run against him for recommended that NSF should provide ways to support top-quality First, the administration argues president and the issue might be experimental projects requiring more than average resources. It further that these changes, rather than raised in the campaign. recommended that team-oriented approaches, in which multiple investi- reflecting decreasing enthusiasm for gators can bring complementary expertise to a complex research activity, Bush was close to correct on the computing research, instead reflect should be encouraged and supported. first concern and very correct on the the continued broadening and The new program will address this need. It is intended to support second. For the first time ever, maturing of the program. Second, teams of investigators planning to undertake important investigations that computing research was at least any special initiative of this sort has a cannot easily be done in small fragments and to improve the quality of tangentially the subject of a presiden- natural trajectory of support. The experimental research in software systems and software engineering. A tial campaign, sneaking into debates public and politicians become bored word of caution is in order, however. No new funds are available in the under the guise of the National with the same old thing, and political Information Infrastructure. Now, four Continued on Page 9 interest in HPCC actually goes back years later, much has changed. Those more than a decade. Inside CRN curious about the candidates’ stands Finally, this presidential campaign on science policy will have to use an is different from the last one (they all Opinions .......................................... 2 Research News .............................. 9 electron microscope to find science are, of course). Four years ago the Expanding the Pipeline .................. 3-4 Washington Update ........................ 10 and technology, much less comput- CRA Conference at Snowbird ........ 5 Professional Opportunities ............. 11 Clinton/Gore campaign was trying to Association News ........................... 6-7 Technology Update ......................... 12 ing research, mentioned in the Awards and Honors ........................ 8 campaign. Continued on Page 9 Contrary to myth, CS&E doing well BY David Patterson • Print advertisements, cartoons, computer engineering end up getting CRA Board Chair movie trailers and even news shows programming jobs that have nothing PAID The following is an edited excerpt of a include e-mail addresses and URLs. to do with ME or CE. U.S. POSTAGE PERMIT NO. 3778 NONPROFIT ORG. talk David Patterson gave at the CRA • We are starting to see sympa- EECS departments at Berkeley, WASHINGTON, DC Conference at Snowbird in July. thetic characters who are in CS&E: the University of Michigan and the Myth #1: Compared to other the hit movie of 1996 is “Indepen- Massachusetts Institute of Technol- fields, computer science and engi- dence Day,” starring Jeff Goldblum as ogy historically have had many more neering (CS&E) is disadvantaged in an ecologically sensitive computer EE majors than CS majors. Starting attracting the best and brightest. genius who uses his computing skills in 1995-96, more than half of the (AKA: We need a TV show titled LA to literally save the planet. freshman who declared majors at Computer Engineer.) The reality is It can’t hurt that CS&E is the each school declared computer very different; our field is one of the field of one of the wealthiest people science as their major. These excel- most popular and attractive. in the world (Bill Gates), or that the lent public and private schools are Surely the pervasiveness of PCs Feb. 19, 1996, cover of Time maga- geographically distributed, so it seems and the World Wide Web will inspire zine featured 24-year-old Netscape plausible that this is a nationwide the curious to learn about the multimillionaire Marc Andreessen. trend. Freshman majors in 1996 underlying technology. I’m sure that colleagues in science would seem to be the leading We have two popular magazines and engineering fields are jealous of indicator for the senior majors in dedicated to computing that include our visibility and popularity. 2000. This sampling suggests to me articles explaining CS&E research; Myth #2: CS&E is shrinking, and that by that time we will have many for more than 25 years Byte magazine we will never match the mid-1980s CSEE departments. has popularized computing research, enrollments. (AKA: The academic sky My conclusion is that I expect and now we have the cool and is falling.) In contrast, I have noticed undergraduate CS&E majors to award-winning Wired magazine. How several small recent counter-examples. increase in popularity, provided our curriculum can leverage the excite- many other fields have such magazines? The College of Engineering at ment of the brave new world. The New York Times, the closest Berkeley has seen a shrinkage in Myth #3: CS&E is seen as a lesser we come to having a North Ameri- classical engineering at the under- field by our peers in engineering and can newspaper, dedicates every graduate level; the three most science. (AKA: Any field with the Monday’s Business section to popular majors are electrical engi- word “science” in the title is not one.) information technology. How many neering and computer science, This inferiority complex tends to other fields have one-seventh of the bioengineering and undeclared. be associated with the more senior mind share of such a newspaper? These are followed by mechanical, members of CS&E, but I’d like to Our society now includes many civil and industrial engineering. “cure” the complex in case it is signals that suggest the public should Moreover, I have been told many learn about computing technology: B.A.s in mechanical engineering or Continued on Page 7 CRA NW Ave. 1875 Connecticut Suite 718 DC 20009-5728 Washington, COMPUTING RESEARCH NEWS September 1996 Opinions Computing Research Association Electronic publishing plan a must their everyday concerns. We are pertaining to a given subject area or Board Officers BY Peter J. operating in a market of researchers interest. David A. Patterson Denning Chair In the May issue who think increasingly that printed This plan accomplishes the University of California, Berkeley of CRN (Page 2) journal publication is slow and objectives Ullman, Preparata and Mary Jane Irwin Jeff Ullman redundant compared with Web Savage discuss by moving toward all- Vice Chair wrote that the publication, of developers with many electronic research publication and Pennsylvania State University Internet is demands on their time, of educators dissemination without losing the Nancy G. Leveson changing the and students who want easy access to features of the current system that Secretary role of printed materials and of end-users who produce value for researchers. University of Washington journals because the Web—not the want rapid insights into changing In this context we developed a Michael R. Garey journals—is becoming the medium of technology. ACM is repositioning set of new copyright policies for Treasurer research communication. He its journals to produce new value cyberspace. We designed these Bell Labs, Lucent Technologies suggested that home page hits for these clients. policies to promote and facilitate Board Members (HPHs) become a measure of The electronic publishing plan is dissemination and recognize emerg- Alfred V. Aho research impact, replacing publica- the vehicle that will transport us to ing practices on the Web. The policy Columbia University tions in prestigious journals (PPJs). this destination. To generate value permits people using ACM materials Frances E.