Keynote

Professor at University of Massachusetts Amherst / USA

“From artifacts to systems to people: evolving directions in computing research and education”

Abstract:
Computing research and education have evolved significantly over the past four decades, as our relatively young discipline has grown and matured. An early emphasis on computing artifacts (e.g., devices, operating systems, database, networks) evolved into an emphasis on systems at scale (e.g., the Internet, data centers) and more recently to an emphasis on the use of these systems by people. We’ll examine this evolution, drawing on trends in computer networking and multimedia systems research as examples, and discuss what these trends might mean for future computing research and education.

Short Bio:
Jim Kurose is a Distinguished University Professor of Computer Science Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. His research interests include computer network architecture and protocols, network measurement, sensor networks, and multimedia communication. From 2015 to 2019, Jim served as Assistant Director at the US National Science Foundation, where he led the Directorate of Computer and Information Science and Engineering, and in 2018, served as the Assistant Director for Artificial Intelligence in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. He has also served as a department chair, dean and associate chancellor at UMass. He has received a number of awards for his research, teaching and service, including the IEEE Infocom Award, the ACM SIGCOMM Lifetime Achievement Award, the ACM Sigcomm Test of Time Award, the IEEE Computer Society Taylor Booth Education Medal, and the CRA Distinguished Service Award. With Keith Ross, he is the co-author of the best-selling textbook, Computer Networking: a Top Down Approach (Pearson), now in its 8th edition. He is a member of the US National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the ACM, IEEE and AAAS.