Association for Computing Machinery-UA Chapter

2.28.11

“We’re the glue, bringing professional ITs together.”

Association for Computing Machinery, the world’s largest educational and scientific computing society, delivers resources that advance computing as a science and a profession…provides the computing field's premier Digital Library and serves its members and the computing profession with leading-edge publications, conferences, and career resources, according to the ACM website.

“We’re like IEEE; an organization of professionals in the engineering field,” said Wiwat Leebhaisomboon, former president of UA-ACM.

Involvement in a local chapter of ACM provides student access to Computer Science and Computer Engineering research papers. This can be accessed on campus, but not on your home computer.

“Our campus ACM provides the unique social aspect,” he said. “Computer Engineering and Computer Science students go to class, but how do you get to know each other? This is how.”

Why join?

“My personal favorite thing is the chance to know students and faculty. It brought me closer to the department,” he said.

In other CSCE department environments, there’s not much of a chance to talk, but at ACM, “we just talk and hangout. I enjoy that, and enjoy watching others do the same.”

Membership

ACM members must be CSCE students, but events are open to the public. Only group officers are required to pay the national membership dues, which are $35/year; there are no dues for other members.

ACM, made up of roughly 30 students, was largely a graduate student organization until this year.

“Now we (grad students) set up events and the undergrads come to the events,” he said. “Our membership is a little more than 50 percent undergraduates. It’s really hard to get them involved, maybe because challenges vary from undergrad to grad school.”

A number of the members graduate this may, so officers are encouraging undergrads to take responsibility, to become more involved or even take an officer position, like Secretary Hayley Archer.

Events

As an equally professional and social organization, the UA-ACM has three social events, two panel discussions and a distinguished lecture each year.

Social events include Board Game Night, a Video Game Night for playing Halo and this year, a Scavenger Hunt sponsored by Conoco Phillips will take place after Spring Break.

The 2011 ACM Industry Panel took place February 15, bringing one of the largest turnouts of UA-ACM event history. The panel includes representatives from six companies.

“We had a big turnout,” Leebhaisomboon said. At the panel, “you can earn FE credit, get free food, find out about available internships and prepare for the future.”

During the panel, “it’s easier to make contact with them. Students can hang out after events like the Industry Panel and talk to anyone they want to talk to,” he said. “It’s a good first impression before the Engineering EXPO.”

The dates for the 2011 Graduate School Panel and the 2011 ACM Distinguished Lecture are yet to be announced.

Each year, the UA chapter participates in the ACM National Distinguished Lecture Program.

“We can request a speaker from the list (of speakers available for distinguished lecturers,)” he said. “Nationals pays the speaker’s travel expenses and the UA CSCE Department covers local expenses.

“(ACM) is the middle man between ACM Nationals and the CSCE Dept. at UA for the lecture.”

ACM High School programming competition is the biggest ACM event of the year, a state-wide competition organized and managed by CSCE Professor, Dr. Wing Li.

Any high school students can participate, but the high school teacher can help individuals get involved, by knowing which ones would be interested in the first place, directing them to the website, and keeping contact with Dr. Wing Li.

Professional Development

“If you get your work in the ACM magazine, you’re set, it will help you (in the job market) a lot,” Leebhaisomboon said.

Coming up at the end of the Spring 2011 semester, Acxiom will sponsor workshop sessions about mobile computerized applications for ACM members. Officers plan to advertise more workshops this fall.

ACM currently doesn’t work closely with the Career Development Center now, but might in the future.

Industry Connections

The Acxiom corporation and Conoco-Phillips have partnerships with the UA Association for Computing Machinery.

Acxiom sponsored the ACM high school programming competition,” Leebhaisomboon said, and funding opportunities are growing because members are strengthening the partnerships.

“We talked to (company) representatives more and they became increasingly more interested as we told them more details of what we’re doing.”

The partnership with and sponsoring by Conoco-Phillips was one of many good things to come from the ACM Industry Panel.

Officers

Annual officer elections take place in April.

Wiwat Leebhaisomboon preceeded Ross Thian (PhD student) as ACM President. This year’s officers are Lora Strother, Vice President; Chris Borderer, Treasurer; Hayley Archer, Secretary (an undergraduate); Susan Gouch is Faculty Adviser.

Professor Gouch is responsible for keeping the UA chapter of ACM alive, through a brief period of inactivity when a majority of the members graduated.

“I joined the group when Dr. Gouch called some of us (graduate students) in her office and appointed officers to jumpstart the organization,” Leebhaisomboon said.

Contact
Google Group ACM Arkansas Chapter
Facebook Fanpage “ACM-University of Arkansas Chapter”
National Website http://www.acm.org/