SCIENCE

The 2007 Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference has issued a call for participation seeking submissions for papers, panels, workshops, posters and birds-of-a-feather sessions for the three-day conference. Tapia 2007, the fourth in the series, will be held Oct. 14-17, 2007, in Orlando under the theme “Passion in Computing – Diversity in Innovation.” “These words – Passion, Computing, Diversity, Innovation – all mean different things to each and every one of us. But one thing is certain. We would not be computing if we were not passionate about it,” said Conference General Chair Monica Martinez-Canales of Sandia National Laboratories. “We would not be passionate if we did not dedicate ourselves to continued learning to propel ourselves to new heights that resulted in discovery, creativity, and innovation.” While the program will cover technical areas, the conference is aimed at providing a supportive networking environment for under-represented groups across the broad range of computing and information technology, from science to business to the arts to infrastructure. Organized by the Coalition to Diversify Computing, Tapia 2007 is co-sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery and the IEEE Computer Society, in cooperation with the Computing Research Association. “In concert with Dr. Richard Tapia’s legacy of recruitment, retention and graduation of under-served student populations in higher education, a major goal of the conference is to achieve significant and diverse student participation,” said Martinez-Canales. “To that end, we offer specific student venues: a Doctoral Consortium and not one, but two student competitions: Posters and Robotics.” For the first time in the history of the Tapia conference, the 2007 meeting will be co-located with the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Conference, to be held Oct. 17-20, 2007, in Orlando. Papers, Panels and Workshops Submissions Researchers are invited to submit papers to Tapia 2007 in the following areas of interest: • Information Security • Intelligent Systems • Human Centered Computing • Computational Math and Science Papers on other areas of research will also be considered. Prospective authors are invited to submit extended abstracts of no more than four pages, single-spaced in 12-point type size, including results, figures and references. All papers must be submitted electronically. Proposals are also invited for panels focusing on technical areas or issues related to increasing diversity in the field of computing. Panel proposals should be no more than one page, single-spaced in 12-point type size. Finally, proposals are invited for workshops focusing on issues related to increasing diversity in the field of computing. Workshop proposals should be no more than two pages, single-spaced in 12-point type size. Details can be found at: its Web site. Extended abstracts should be submitted by Friday, March 30, 2007. Authors will be notified of acceptance decisions by June 15, 2007. Posters Submissions The poster session is an opportunity for students to present their latest research results and methodologies to a wide conference audience and to network at the same time. This year, all accepted posters will be entered into the ACM Student Research Competition (SRC), with the possibility of advancing to the Grand Finals. Due to ACM SRC rules, every poster must have a single student author — no group projects can be accepted this year. The category of a poster (graduate or undergraduate) is determined by the author's student status on the day when it is submitted. Poster submissions are limited to 600 words (about 2 pages of 12-point type). Abstracts should be submitted by Friday, June 22, 2007. Authors will be notified of acceptance decisions by Aug. 1, 2007. Birds-of-a-Feather (BoF) Submissions BoFs provide an informal discussion in a specific topic area. Topics which will bring together participants with a common interest in technical areas are particularly encouraged. Abstracts should be limited to 200 words, 12 point font, and are limited to one page. The deadline for submitting proposals is Sunday, May 20, 2007. Doctoral Consortium Submissions The Doctoral Consortium, a one-day workshop held immediately prior to Tapia 2007, provides an opportunity for Ph.D. students to present, discuss and explore their research interests and career objectives with a panel of established researchers. Application packages should be submitted no later than Sunday, May 20, 2007. More information can be found at: its Web site. The Tapia conference series honors the significant contributions of Richard A. Tapia, a mathematician and professor in the Department of Computational and Applied Mathematics at Rice University in Houston, Texas. He is internationally known for his research in computational and mathematical sciences and is a national leader in education and outreach programs. Tapia has authored or co-authored two books and more than 80 mathematical research papers. His current Rice positions are University Professor; Maxfield-Oshman Professorship in Engineering; Associate Director of Graduate Studies, Office of Research and Graduate Studies; and Director of the Center for Excellence and Equity in Education. The Tapia conference series enjoys the support of a number of academic, research and business organizations. For more information about becoming a supporter for 2007, contact Brian Blake of Georgetown University at tapia2007funding@gmail.com. For more information about the Tapia 2007 conference, visit the Web site at http://www.richardtapia.org/.