WORKSHOP: Student Travel Support for the CHI Mentoring Workshop

Virginia Polytechnic Institute And State University, Blacksburg VA

Investigators

Abstract

The topic of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) is more important now than at any other time in the history of computing. As computers become smaller, faster, and more ubiquitous, our ability to use them effectively becomes critical. Not only must we design usable systems, but we must do so in a rapidly changing landscape of computing hardware that includes desktops, mobile phones, and embedded systems. A unique aspect of HCI is that it requires the study of not just computing, but of the combination of computing and people. Because people are involved, HCI is a field where aspects such as culture, socio-economic background, gender, etc., are considered in the systems that we build. This is a clear argument for the development of a diverse field of researchers who bring to bear a wide range of experiences in their problem solving skills. This is funding to provide partial support for the CHIMe 2010 workshop, which will bring together approximately 40 students and 10 distinguished speakers from academia and industry as part of the Discipline-specific Mentoring Workshops sponsored in part by CRA (http://www.cra-w.org/cdc). The PIs, who were co-chairs of the Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference this past year, have put together a program that consists of presentations, panels, and a poster session designed to inform, inspire, and encourage our future scientists. Workshop speakers will include leading researchers in the field, who will address a broad range of issues ranging from technical concerns (such as appropriate evaluation methods) to some of today's hot topics. The workshop will be collocated with the ACM 2010 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2010), which will be held April 10-15 in Atlanta, and is sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group on Human-Computer Interaction (SIGCHI); this is the leading international forum for the presentation and discussion of research and practice relating to human-computer interaction, and is attended by approximately 2,500 HCI professionals from around the world. The workshop is advertised on the CHI 2010 Conference website as a "Hosted Event." Workshop sponsors currently include the CDC/CRA-W and EL Alliance, and the PIs are soliciting additional funding from industry. NSF funds will be used to cover the travel costs of 9 non-local students to participate in the event. Broader Impacts: The PIs have made a serious and successful effort to attract participants from HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities), HSI (Hispanic-Serving Institutions), ACU (Appalachian Colleges and Universities), and TCU (Tribal Colleges and Universities) institutions. CHIMe 2010 will harness the cumulative experience of successful STEM professionals in the field to provide a unique forum in which to showcase the technical achievements of diverse researchers in computing and to encourage a new generation of researchers from underrepresented groups. With its focus on graduate students in HCI, the workshop will be positioned to have a direct impact on future faculty and researchers in this area of endeavor. It will provide a highly technical and supportive environment for underrepresented minority doctoral students in the field of HCI to discuss their research and to receive constructive feedback from experts, along with an opportunity for networking and peer mentoring.