71DECEMBER 2009

COMPUTER SOCIET Y CONNECTION

Published by the IEEE Computer Society 0018-9162/09/$26.00 © 2009 IEEE

Kenichi Miura is a visiting researcher on the Next-Generation Supercomputer project at RIKEN.

Miura Wins Cray Award

K enichi Miura, a profes-sor at Japan’s National Institute of Informatics, recently received the

IEEE Computer Society’s prestigious 2009 Seymour Cray Computer Science and Engineering Award during the SC09 conference in Portland, Oregon.

Miura’s citation reads. “For leader-ship in developing groundbreaking vector supercomputing hardware and software.”

KEY CONTRIBUTIONSIn 1983, Miura made seminal con-

tributions to the Fujitsu VP-100/200 vector processing system, a major milestone in the history of super-computer design. The supercomputer design showed how effective vec-torizing compilers could exploit architectural features. Miura was the fi rst to vectorize Monte Carlo radia-tion transport using the technique.

“The IEEE Computer Society is honored to recognize Dr. Miura’s

ingenuity in developing supercom-puter software and hardware that advanced the state of the art in technical computing,” said Susan K. (Kathy) Land, CSDP, Computer Soci-ety president for 2009.

Daniel Reed, chair of the Cray Award selection committee, wrote that “Dr. Miura was one of the key leaders of the Japanese supercom-puting designs, which were the only peers of the pioneering designs cre-ated by Seymour Cray.”

Miura received a BS in physics

from the University of Tokyo and an MSEE and a PhD in computer science from the University of Illinois. He has authored many technical publications and was the 2008 recipient of the SC Cornerstone Award. Miura is also a member of the Engineering Academy of Japan.

SEYMOUR CRAY AWARDEstablished in 1998, the Seymour

Cray Award is given each year to individuals whose innovative con-tributions to high-performance computing systems best exemplify the creative spirit demonstrated by the late Seymour Cray. The award includes a crystal model, certifi cate, and $10,000 honorarium.

Convey Computer cofounder Steven Wallach was the winner of the 2008 Seymour Cray award. Other previous recipients of the Seymour Cray Award include John Cocke, Glen Culler, Monty Denneau, John L. Hen-nessy, and Burton J. Smith.

Car and Parrinello Named 2009 Fernbach Winners

R oberto Car and Michele Parrinello, developers of the Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics

approach, recently received the 2009 IEEE Computer Society Sidney Fern-bach Award.

CPMD has become the lead-ing code used in high-performance

computing. The algorithm, a break-through in computer simulation, is at the root of other combined quantum/classical simulations. CPMD unifi es two separate scientific communi-ties—classical computer simulations and electronic structure calculations.

Car and Parrinello’s citation reads, “For leadership in creating

the modern theoretical and practical foundations for modeling the chem-istry and physics of materials. The software resulting from this work is one of the enabling tools for materials science modeling.”

“The Fernbach Award recognizes the leadership of doctors Car and Parrinello in creating the modern

COMPUTER 72

COMPUTER SOCIET Y CONNECTION

T he CRA-W Distributed Mentoring Program was established by the Computing Research Association Committee on the Status

of Women in Computing Research (CRA-W) in1994 with the objec-tive of increasing the number of women entering graduate studies in the fields of computer science and engineering. Since 2007, the program has been coadministrated by the CRA-W and the Coalition to Diversify Computing (CDC), and its objective has been expanded to encourage computer scientists and engineers from all underrepresented groups to consider graduate school.

Program Scope ExpandsIn 2009, the program name was changed to DREU (Distributed

Research Experiences for Undergraduates) to more accurately reflect the program. The DREU experience provides students with a close-up view of what graduate school is really like and also increases their competitiveness as applicants for graduate admis-sions and fellowships.

DREU matches qualified undergraduates with a faculty mentor for a summer research experience at the faculty member’s home institution. Students are directly involved in a research project and interact with graduate students and professors on a daily basis. Stu-dents maintain a weekly journal and website documenting their progress on the project. At the end of the summer, the student

webpages and final reports are posted to the DREU website. Stu-dents are also encouraged to submit papers and to present their work to other appropriate journals and conferences.

Funding is intended to cover 10 weeks of research during the summer, although alternative arrangements are possible. Addi-tional funds may be available to support student conference travel, either during the summer or afterward, and for outreach activities promoting DREU.

Tangible ResultsSince 1994, more than 400 students from more than 100 different

academic institutions have participated in DMP/DREU. The number of student applications has also increased dramatically—from an average of roughly 60 per year from 1994 to 2001 to more than 200 per year now. There is also great interest on the part of potential faculty mentors, with 80 to 100 applying each year for 25 to 30 positions.

An objective assessment by the University of Wisconsin Learn-ing through Evaluation, Adaptation and Dissemination Center found that students who participated in DMP/DREU were 20 times more likely to attend graduate school than a control group with comparable grades.

Visit http://parasol.tamu.edu/dreu for application materials and a detailed explanation of the program.

CRA-W DISTRIBUTED MENTOR PROGRAM SUPPORTS WOMEN IN COMPUTING

theoretical and practical foundations for materials modeling,” said IEEE Computer Society President Susan K. (Kathy) Land, CSDP.

“The CPMD approach is a one of the key enablers of complex materials modeling and a workhorse of compu-tational science,” said Fernbach Award selection committee chair Daniel Reed.

ROBERTO CARRoberto Car is the Ralph W.

Dornte Professor of Chemistry at Princeton University. He is a Fellow of the Princeton Center for Theo-retical Science. He received a PhD in physics from the Milan Institute of Technology. Car is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and of the UK’s Royal Society of Chemistry, and was recently honored with the 2009 Dirac Medal from the Interna-tional Centre for Theoretical Physics. He received a Humboldt Foundation research award in 2008.

Car’s research focuses on the physical and chemical properties of matter, in both condensed and molecular phases, using computa-

tional methods based on microscopic quantum theory.

MICHELE PARRINELLOMichele Parrinello, a professor of

computational science at ETH Zurich, served as director of the Swiss Center for Scientific Computing. Prior to joining ETH, he was director of the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart, Germany, a manager at IBM Research in Zurich, and a professor at the International School for Advanced Studies in Trieste, Italy.

Parrinello also received the 2009 Dirac Medal from the International Centre for Theoretical Physics. The Italian Physical Society presented him with its Somaini physics prize in 2006. He is a member of the UK’s Royal Society, Italy’s Accademia dei Lincei, Germany’s Max Planck Institute, and the American Physical Society.

Parrinello’s scientific interests include the study of complex chemi-cal reactions, hydrogen-bonded systems, catalysis, materials science, and large-scale motion in proteins.

Roberto Car heads the CAR Group at Princeton University.

Michele Parrinello holds the Raman Prize for Computational Physics from the American Physical Society.

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73DECEMBER 2009

the final stage of the competition, when they will compete against each other for four prizes. Projects will be judged on originality of the architecture designed; the function-ality, quality, and versatility of the simulator; and the use of software engineering in the simulator design. Prizes of $1,000 will be awarded to the winning team in each of these categories, and a $7,000 prize will be awarded to the overall winning team. No team will be judged an overall winner unless its use of soft-ware engineering in the design and creation of the simulator is judged to be of high quality.

For additional information, con-tact Alan Clements at alanclements@ntlworld.com, or visit www.computer.org/portal/web/competition.

Society Launches New Student Design Competition

T he IEEE Computer Soci-ety is launching a new design competition for undergraduates. Teams

of three to five undergraduates will be invited to design a CPU simulator, a program used in many architecture courses to illustrate how computers work. Prizes total $10,000.

FOCUS ON EXCELLENCEThe purpose of the competi-

tion is to promote excellence. The competition requires the skills of students who have taken a course in architecture and the experience of programmers and sof tware engineers who can turn a speci-fication into a working program. The competition will last several months. Upon completion, teams

will submit both a report on their methods and a working program for judging.

“This is an exciting competition because it cuts across traditional boundaries by combining archi-tecture with program design and software engineering—just like real life,” said Computer Society vice president Alan Clements, professor of computer science at the UK’s Uni-versity of Teesside. “All you have to do is to write a program. Well, that’s not quite all. You have to write an excellent program using profes-sional design techniques.”

$10,000 IN PRIZESThe top 10 teams will be awarded

certificates of achievement. These 10 teams will be free to participate in