Panels

 

Panel 1: Building Computing Systems and Services for the Society (HCI and the Wider Societal Challenges)

4th of October, 11:30 – 12:30, Nikola Tesla B

  • General Description:

Digital revolution has transformed the modern life. Computer science is to a large extent responsible for the dramatic changes in our everyday practices and the social transformations. Among prominent computer science disciplines is Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) that connects technology innovation with human aspects across the full lifecycle, from ideation and concept development to adoption and creation of value.

Through the lens of human and societal perspective, this panel will explore how computing innovation is viewed by academia and industry. As part of this discussion, we will consider the concerns about our digital future and the role of human experts in the computerized world. From the scholarly perspective, we want to take a critical view on the research and innovation that is void of human concerns and the balance that the field of HCI needs to bring about. From the industry and practitioners’ perspective, we want to understand the roots, the principles and the objectives that shape the development of new services and products.

HCI as a field has the knowledge and breadth to cover all necessary aspects of digitization. Its multidisciplinary nature as well its practice-oriented traditions help to research the complex problems of the society of today. HCI researchers should engage more in the development of the society, more in the effects that the development potentially could have on the society and select research problems that have a bigger potential to move the development of the society in the right direction. Understanding the societal impact and planning for it becomes increasingly more important.

Some ideas to be discussed:

  • How HCI can be an area of Computer Science that promotes inclusion and diversity (being more accessible and less technical area)?
  • What are the challenges faced in HCI with all the new technological advancements?

Panel Moderator:

Tiziana Catarci, from the University of Rome “La Sapienza”, has published over 200 research articles in prestigious journals and conferences and has authored over 20 books.

Tiziana Catarci and her research group have been among the first in Italy to work on HCI, from both a theoretical and an experimental point of view, and to introduce the HCI course in the computer engineering curriculum of “La Sapienza”. During 1996 Tiziana Catarci has been a founder member of the Italian Chapter of the ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction.  Together with Stefano Levialdi and Maria Francesca Costabile she founded in 1992 the conference series on “Advanced Visual Interfaces” (AVI), the first international event on HCI in Italy, with great success (the last edition was recently held in Castiglione della Pescaia end of May). Moreover, in 2008, she has been the Co-chair of the 2008 edition of ACM CHI in Florence. Currently, she leads the “Sapienza Design Research Center” and the ECONA center at La Sapienza (Inter-university center for the cognitive elaboration in natural and artificial systems – Centro Interuniversitario sull’Elaborazione Cognitiva in Sistemi Naturali e Artificiali).

In 2016 Tiziana Catarci has been nominated member of the prestigious European Academy of Sciences and Arts. In the same year she has been included among the “100 Women for Science” project sponsored by the Bracco Foundation. In 2017 she received the Levi Montalcini Association award for the “diffusion of scientific culture among younger generations”. Finally, she is very active in promoting the STEM disciplines among female students, being also one of the role-models of the “Valore-D” association.

Panelists:

 

Panel 2: Charting Your Professional Path: Academia, Industry, Both?

5th of October, 15:45 – 16:45, Nikola Tesla B

  • General Description:

You did the right choice! You were wise so far, Computer Science and any IT related field was the right choice. Current supply and demand conditions are in your favor and almost all IT talents enter the workforce  having multiple offers of employment and with high starting salaries. Moreover, it’s a safe prediction it will continue this way in the near future. But which career path is the best for you?

There are many professional paths one can take following graduation. Those completing their undergraduate and MSc degrees may want to continue towards their PhD. The PhD graduates may consider teaching and research career in academia. Others may decide to enter the global job market and find a way to apply their skills in a specific industry or a public sector. Some may have ideas for their own enterprises. The opportunities are many and each brings trade-offs and balances between different values that we care about as individuals and professional. It is important to understand what these values are and how they feature in our career choices.

Some ideas to be discussed:

  • Benefits, opportunities and challenges in the career path (academia, industry).
  • Values and priorities which influence the career path.

Panel Moderator:

Dr George Eleftherakis is a Reader in Computer Science and the Director of the PhD program at the  University of Sheffield International Faculty, CITY College, located in Thessaloniki, Greece. He received the Senate Award for Sustained Excellence in Learning and Teaching from the University of Sheffield in May 2014. He is a Senior member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) since 2012 and the Chair of ACM’s Committee of European Chapter Leaders. He is a member of the administration board of the Greek Computer Society since 2002. Since 2009 he is a member of the Faculty’s Research Committee, and since 2017 a member of the University PGR Committee.

He is researching at the interface of computer science, biology, and engineering, with a sustained publication record. He was a guest editor in ‘Formal Aspects of Computing’ journal, and he is a member of the editorial board of Internet Technology Letters (Wiley), Innovations in Systems and Software Engineering, a NASA Journal (Springer), and Informatica journals. He is also editor of more than 10 proceedings of International conferences he was chairing their programme committees (e.g. 10th IEEE International Conference on Software Engineering and Formal Methods in 2012). He gave numerous invited lectures including plenary talks in international conferences.

Dr Eleftherakis is  very active in teaching at any level having taught 20 different modules over the last 15 years. Very significant and important contribution is his initiative on extra-curriculum activities, and overall his passion over all these years to inspire students to participate and continue their education outside of the curriculum especially improving their professional and employability skills. He developed a tool that enables everyone (no matter the background, and age) to start learning programming and develop some essential computational thinking skills. A number of publications and an initial evaluation to ages ranging from 7 to 60, provide some very promising feedback.

Panelists: