In May 2022, my cohort of 2020 and 2021 Computing Innovation Fellows traveled to Washington D.C. to meet each other (for the first time!)
We attended lots & lots of great panels together... And one of my favorite things to do at conferences is to draw sketches of the talks and share them with the presenters.
Drawing often helps me listen and make sense of information. Even though it's been years since I last attended an in-person conference, I decided to once again pick up my pens and put them to paper.
I hope you enjoy these sketches...
Many of our CIFellows cohort with program sponsors & mentors. The CIFellows program is supported by the Computing Research Association (CRA) and the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) — with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) — and awards 2-year postdoctoral fellowships to recent PhDs.
NITRD Symposium Panel 1: Computing at Scale
Luiz André Barroso (Google), Ian Foster (Argonne NL), Timothy Pinkston (USC), and Kathy Yelick (UCB). Moderated by Ben Zorn (Microsoft) with opening remarks from Alondra Nelson (OSTP).
NITRD Symposium Panel 2: Networking & Security
Deborah Frincke (Sandia NL), Jim Kurose (UMA), and Chris Ramming (VMware). Moderated by Bob Bonneau (OSD/DoD).
NITRD Symposium Panel 3: Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning
Charles Isbell (Georgia Tech), Chad Jenkins (UM), Talitha Washington (CAU), and Patti Ordóñez Franco (UPRRP). Moderated by Liz Bradley (UCB).
NITRD Symposium Panel 4: Privacy & Internet of Things
Ed Felten (Princeton), Marc Groman (Groman Consulting), Katerina Megas (NIST), and Sunoo Park (Cornell). Moderated by Charles (“Chuck”) Romine (NIST)
NITRD Symposium Panel 5: How Technology Can Benefit Society & Broadening Perspectives in Fundamental Research
Janet Abbate (Virginia Tech), Deborah Estrin (Cornell), Charles Isbell (Georgia Tech), and Ramayya Krishnan (CMU). Moderated by Alondra Nelson (OSTP).
CIFellows Panel: Building Your Research Network
Bill Gropp, Ifeoma Nwogu, Timothy Pinkston
CIFellows Panel: Work/Life Balance
Bobby Schnabel, Dan Lopresti, Katie Siek
CIFellows Panel: Mentoring & Managing Students
Brian Scassellati, Holly Yanco, Liz Bradley
Welcome from the NSF: "Pursue those crazy ideas, take those risks."
Joydip Kundu, Deputy Assistant Director, CISE
(Photo by Ann Schwartz Drobnis). It was fun to draw again! Especially because this was my first pandemic-era work trip and in-person conference. Since I haven't drawn this intensely in awhile, it took time to re-familiarize myself with the colors, shapes, and lines.
After the CIFellows gathering, I met up with a (phenomenal!) colleague from my AI CIRCLS Project Incubator cohort at the Busboys & Poets bookshop cafe (soo many great books there!).
It was fitting to see this poem, "Dreams" by Langston Hughes, written on the wall — because it reminded me of another favorite poem of his:
"The Dream Keeper"
by Langston Hughes
Bring me all of your dreams,
You dreamer,
Bring me all your
Heart melodies
That I may wrap them
In a blue cloud-cloth
Away from the too-rough fingers
Of the world."
This adventure with my CIFellows was a powerful reminder of the importance community-building, and bringing our full selves into the spaces we share.
Until we dream again, D.C. <3