Conference Name: 2009 Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference

Dates: April 1 - 4, 2009 Location: Portland Marriott Downtown Waterfront, Portland, Oregon Website: http://www.tapiaconference.org/2009 Conference Chair: Dr. Nina Berry, Sandia National Laboratories Technical Program Co-chairs: Dr. Ronald Metoyer, Oregon State University, and Dr. Manuel Perez-Quinones, Virginia Tech Conference Theme: Intellect, Initiative, Insight, and Innovation

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

The 2009 Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference—organized by the Coalition to Diversify Computing and sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery in cooperation with the Computing Research Association--is a celebration of the diversity of researchers in the field of computing. This conference will bring together diverse leading researchers from around the world to present their work on state-of-the-art research in the field of computing.

We invite researchers to submit their work to the technical program of the Tapia 2009 Conference. We welcome proposals for papers, panels, workshops, Birdsof-a-Feather sessions, and posters covering topics related to computing, computational math and science, and diversity issues in these areas. The Robotics Competition and Doctoral Consortium also offer opportunities for student participation.

Letters of intent to participate in the Robotics Competition (due Sunday, June 15, 2008) and submissions for papers, panels, workshops, Birds of a Feather, posters, and the Doctoral Consortium (due by Friday, September 5, 2008) will be accepted electronically at the Tapia 2009 Conference Website, http://www.tapiaconference.org/2009, after Sunday, June 1, 2008. Information about registering for the conference and housing will be posted by Monday, September 15, 2008.

Papers

We invite researchers to submit papers describing their research results to the Tapia 2009 Conference. Topics of interest include all areas of computing, computational math and science, and diversity issues in these disciplines. We encourage papers co-authored by students, papers by new investigators on original research, as well as thesis summaries, projects, and descriptions of goals and interim results of ongoing research.

A review committee will referee submitted papers using several criteria including technical soundness, clarity and accessibility. Accepted papers presented at the Tapia 2009 Conference will be included in the Tapia Conference Proceedings published by ACM Press.

Prospective authors are invited to submit papers of no more than 6 pages in length including results, figures and references. Papers must be formatted according to the ACM SIG Proceedings Template, which can be downloaded from http://www.acm.org/sigs/publications/proceedings-templates/. Only PDF files will be accepted.

Submissions to: http://www.tapiaconference.org/2009 will be accepted after Sunday, June 1, 2008 Deadline: Friday, September 5, 2008 Notification of acceptance: Friday, November 7, 2008

Co-chairs: Ms. Debbi Howard, Texas A&M University-Commerce Dr. Linda Morales, University of Texas at Dallas papers@tapiaconference.org

Panels

The goal of a panel session is to provide in-depth presentations and discussion on a particular topic. A panel consists of a 90-minute session with short presentations by 3-4 leaders in the field, followed by a moderated dialogue among the panelists and the audience members.

We seek a broad range of panels, including leading-edge technical discussions in the conference topic areas (computing, computational math and science, diversity in these disciplines), professional development topics (mentoring, networking, proposal writing, etc.), as well as issues and problems faced by minority serving institutions (student retention, graduation rates, issues of adequate funding, research profile improvement, etc.).

A panel proposal should include the following:

1. Panel title

1. Panelists

• Contact person/moderator:

• Name

• Department

• College, university, or other affiliation

• Address

• Telephone number

• Fax number

• E-mail address

• Other presenters: one entry for each other presenter

• Name

• Department

• College, university, or other affiliation

• E-mail address

Intended audience: For whom is this panel intended?

Presenter(s) background/biography: Provide a brief biography for each panelist describing their qualifications for participating in this panel.

Audio/visual and computer requirements: Indicate A/V requirements, such as wireless access, wired access, extra power outlets, microphone, digital projector, overhead projector, flipcharts and pens, whiteboards, etc.

Summary: In no more than 1 page, please summarize the panel. Include the objectives and the relevance and anticipated interest of this panel in order to help evaluate your proposal.

Submissions to: http://www.tapiaconference.org/2009 will be accepted after Sunday, June 1, 2008 Deadline: Friday, September 5, 2008 Notification of acceptance: Friday, November 7, 2008

Co-chairs Dr. Felicia Doswell, Norfolk State University Dr. Juan Gilbert, Auburn University

panels@tapiaconference.org

Workshops

Workshop sessions will include lengthy (e.g., 90 -120-minute) in-depth training or review of a topic of interest, including guided hands-on activities. They may focus on transferring knowledge and skills that improve the performance of attendees in a particular area or task (e.g. exploring grant opportunities, professional networking, or a particular pedagogic approach). They may focus on guiding attendees through a real, on-going activity (e.g. assistance in writing an actual proposal/grant or using a particular classroom approach). Workshops will be led by one or more individuals knowledgeable or accomplished in the particular area, or accomplished in providing training in the particular area.

A workshop proposal should include the following:

1. Workshop title

2. Workshop duration

1. Presenters

• Contact person:

• Name

• Department

• College, university, or other affiliation

• Address

• Telephone number

• Fax number

• E-mail address

• Other presenters: one entry for each other presenter

• Name

• Department

• College, university, or other affiliation

• E-mail address

3. Intended audience: For whom is this workshop intended?

4. Presenter(s) background/biography: Provide a brief biography addressing the presenter(s) qualifications for leading the proposed workshop.

5. Materials provided: Describe any handouts, software or other materials that will be provided to attendees.

6. Audio/visual and computer requirements: Indicate A/V requirements, such as wireless access, wired access, extra power outlets, microphone, digital projector, overhead projector, flipcharts and pens, whiteboards, etc.

7. Space and enrollment restrictions: Indicate any special restrictions on the number of participants or the configuration of the room (extra wall space to post flip chart work, clear floor space for robots, etc.). All workshops will be capped at 30 participants unless you specify a different limit.

8. Summary: Please summarize your workshop in no more than one page. Include the objectives and discuss the relevance and anticipated interest of this workshop in order to help evaluate your proposal.

Submissions to: http://www.tapiaconference.org/2009 will be accepted after Sunday, June 1, 2008 Deadline: Friday, September 5, 2008 Notification of acceptance: Friday, November 7, 2008

Co-chairs Dr. Valerie Barr, Union College Dr. Cheryl Seals, Auburn University workshops@tapiaconference.org

Birds of a Feather

Birds of a Feather (BOF) sessions provide an informal forum for the discussion of technical or social issues between interested parties. Previous topics include: robotics, retention of students by computer science departments and the enhancement of diversity initiatives in computer science research. Students are particularly encouraged to suggest BOF topics.

A BOF proposal should include the following:

1. BOF session title

1. Session leader

• Name

• Department

• College, university, or other affiliation

• Address

• Telephone number

• Fax number

• E-mail address

1. Intended audience: For whom is this BOF session intended?

2. Summary: In no more than 1 page, please summarize the topic of the BOF session. Include the objectives and the relevance and anticipated interest of this BOF in order to help evaluate your proposal.

Submissions to: http://www.tapiaconference.org/2009 will be accepted after Sunday, June 1, 2008 Deadline: Friday, September 5, 2008 Notification of acceptance: Friday, November 7, 2008

Co-chairs Dr. Jamika Burge, Pennsylvania State University Dr. Dale-Marie Wilson, University of North Carolina, Charlotte bof@tapiaconference.org

Posters

The technical poster session provides an opportunity for students to present their latest research results and methodologies to a wide conference audience and to network at the same time. The posters competition will be organized as an ACM Student Research Competition (SRC). The top posters (1st, 2nd, & 3rd place) in the graduate and undergraduate student categories will advance to the ACM SRC Grand Finals and will be recognized at the prestigious ACM Awards banquet.

The poster competition will take place in three stages. First, posters are submitted in any area of relevance to the Tapia 2009 Conference. Submissions will be reviewed and acceptance decisions will be based on the relevance and importance of the problem, the correctness and contribution of the results reported, and the clarity of the presentation.

The second stage is the poster session at the conference. Each accepted poster will be assigned to a bulletin board, where each author will display non-electronic visual aids (e.g. printed material) related to the research. On site judges will view the posters, and question the entrants regarding their work. The judges will then select the top five posters in the graduate and undergraduate categories as semifinalists who will advance to the third stage. The posters will remain on display for the remainder of the conference.

In the third stage, each semi-finalist will give a short (10 minute) oral presentation of their work in a special conference session. Based on these presentations, the judges will select three graduate and three undergraduate winners of the competition. First, second, and third place winners in each category will receive cash awards. They will also be entered into the ACM SRC Grand Finals (http://www.acm.org/src/) to be held online.

Each poster submission must include:

1. Poster title

1. Poster presenter

• Name

• Department

• College, university, or other affiliation

• Student status (graduate or undergraduate)

• Address

• Telephone number

• Fax number

• E-mail address

2. Extended abstract: Provide an extended abstract (2-page maximum) describing your research project. Include the problem and motivation, brief related work, approach, and results. Please format the extended abstract according to the ACM SIG Proceedings Template which can be downloaded from http://www.acm.org/sigs/publications/proceedings templates.

Submissions to: http://www.tapiaconference.org/2009 will be accepted after Sunday, June 1, 2008 Deadline: Friday, September 5, 2008 Notification of acceptance: Friday, November 7, 2008

Co-chairs Dr. Charles Koelbel, Rice University Dr. Brandeis Marshall, Purdue University posters@tapiaconference.org

Robotics Competition

We invite student teams to participate in the Tapia 2009 Robotics Competition. The competition will be focused around a search and rescue task and will involve simulated and physical disaster environments where the goal is to identify and locate objects. The competition is a staged event where the first stage involves building a software solution for a simulator and the second stage requires migration to a robot equipped with touch and camera sensors.

Below are the important dates for the robotics competition.

More details about the competition requirements can be found at

http://www.cs.duke.edu/csed/tapia09

Co-chairs Dr. Monica Anderson, University of Alabama Dr. Jeffrey Forbes, Duke University robotics@tapiaconference.org

Doctoral Consortium

The Doctoral Consortium, will be held as a one-day workshop immediately preceding the Tapia 2009 Conference, and will provide an opportunity for Ph.D. students to discuss and explore their research interests and career objectives with a panel of established researchers in computing and in computational mathematics, science and engineering.

The objectives of the Doctoral Consortium are to:

• Provide a setting for feedback on participants' current research and guidance on future research directions.

• Develop a supportive community of scholars and a spirit of collaborative research.

• Provide a new generation of researchers and scientific leaders with advice and insight into academic, research, industrial, and non-traditional career opportunities.

• Contribute to the conference goals through interaction with other researchers and participation in conference events.

Student participants in the Doctoral Consortium will receive complimentary registration for the full Tapia 2009 Conference and a fixed allowance for housing and travel.

All Doctoral Consortium participants are expected to be present throughout the Consortium and Tapia 2009 Conference. Our experience has been that participants gain almost as much by interacting with their peers as by having their presentations critiqued. Therefore, we expect all participating students to commit themselves to making the most of this opportunity by attending the entire Doctoral Consortium and Tapia 2009 Conference.

Submissions to: http://www.tapiaconference.org/2009 will be accepted after Sunday, June 1, 2008 Deadline: Friday, September 5, 2008 Notification of acceptance: Friday, November 7, 2008

Chair Dr. Charles Isbell, Georgia Tech dc@tapiaconference.org

All Submissions

In addition to the above materials, all submissions will require that the authors upload a short bio (100 words) and digital photograph. All submissions will be made electronically and information about how to submit to the Tapia 2009 Conference will be posted on the conference Website, http://www.tapiaconference.org/2009 by Sunday, June 1, 2008. Information about submission formats can be found at http://www.acm.org/sigs/publications/proceedings-templates/.

Registering for the Tapia 2009 Conference

Information about how to register for the Tapia 2009 Conference and to make housing arrangements will be posted at the Tapia 2009 Conference Website, http://www.tapiaconference.org/2009, by Monday, September 15, 2008.

Student Scholarships to Attend the Tapia 2009 Conference

Student scholarships to cover expenses and housing will be available for the Tapia 2009 Conference. The deadline to apply for scholarships is Friday, September 19, 2008. Information about how to apply for a scholarship will be posted on the Tapia 2009 Conference Website, http://www.tapiaconference.org/2009 by Monday, June 30, 2008.

Chair: Dr. Maria Cristina Villalobos, University of Texas Pan-American

scholarships@tapiaconference.org

Organized by

Coalition to Diversify Computing

http://www.cdc-computing.org/

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