Events - Colloquia & Seminars

CCIS Colloquium Fall 2005

What's Going On With Federal Funding for Computing Research and Words from My Sponsor

Speaker: Andrew Bernat (Executive Director, Computing Research Association)

Date: Wednesday, November 2nd, 2005

Talk: 3:30 pm, 366 WVH

Abstract

The Computing Research Association is the Washington-based non-profit looking out for the health of the computing research enterprise by focusing on the people and money necessary to conduct computing research. This talk brings people up to date on what is going on with research funding at the federal level and what CRA is doing to improve the situation. Then I turn to what CRA is doing in general to support the people doing computing research and how students and faculty can make use of these efforts.

Biography

Andrew Bernat, CRA's Executive Director, is recognized internationally as a builder of innovative, quality programs in academia. He has demonstrated expertise in developing the relationships and environment necessary for the creation of new programs and the enhancement of existing ones. As founding member and chair of the Computer Science Department at the University of Texas at El Paso, he developed an acclaimed model of student involvement in research, secured external funding, attracted and hired high quality faculty, and directed the renovation of a building to house the department. In recognition of "his success in creating arguably the strongest computer science department at a minority-serving institution", the Computing Research Association honored him with the A. Nico Habermann Award. In developing and leading the National Science Foundation-funded Model Institutions for Excellence project at UTEP, he forged working groups across different departments and colleges that dramatically transformed the campus and led to qualitative and quantitative improvement in student achievement. He has led national efforts to increase the participation of underrepresented minorities and women in the computing profession. The workshop series he initiated with colleagues in Mexico dramatically increased the activity and productivity of the Mexican computer science community.

His experience is truly interdisciplinary and international, ranging from scientific research, with some 62 invited presentations and publications, to educational reform and innovation, with some thirty invited presentations and publications. His external peer-reviewed funding totals 21 proposals valued at over $3.4 million.

He has chaired national committees, served on the editorial boards of journals, and organized international conferences and workshops. He has consulted for the U. S. Army, academic institutions and foundations. He has regularly reviewed for the National Science Foundation, NASA, textbook publishers and the Computer Science Accreditation Board. At the National Science Foundation, he directed the Scholarship for Service component of the federal Cyber Corps program.