People Who Change Systems

Contents

Plan

Computer systems are the tools that people use to implement computation and computing applications. People who create or change computer systems themselves can influence what computation is possible, how that computation is implemented, or who participates.

Task: With a partner, prepare and deliver a 5-minute presentation that highlights a person who has made or is making a fundamental contribution in the area of computer systems and whose influence in computing is meaningful to you.

Focus areas: Integrate the focus areas below, in any organization (for example, separate sections or tightly interwoven), following the rough minimum time guidelines given:

  • Biographical background of the person beyond computer systems. (~30 seconds or more)
  • Context for one or more areas of the person’s work in computer systems and a summary of their specific contribution(s). (~2 minutes or more)
  • Why this person’s computer systems work was/is valuable. (~30 seconds or more)
  • Why this person’s influence in computing is meaningful to you. (~30 seconds or more)

Delivery: Present over live or prerecorded video in class and submit a list of your sources.

  • Speak to your classmates, not your instructor.
    • Design your presentation to be understandable and engaging for a student taking CS 240.
    • Where useful, relate technical concepts in your presentation to concepts we study in CS 240.
  • Visual aids can help, but are not required.
    • Slides are most useful to share photos, diagrams, or examples that help communicate your ideas.
    • Try to minimize text. Keep your presentation notes separate from any slides.
    • If using slides, use only a few. A good rule of thumb is that it is difficult to get through more than 1 slide per minute, unless the slide is a non-technical photo.
    • Practice to check your overall timing. 5 minutes is short!
  • There will be a brief time for the class to ask questions at the end of each presentation.

Both partners should participate in roughly equal measure in all stages of the project, including research, preparation, and delivery of the presentation.

If a live presentation may be logistically difficult (such as due to network/computer conditions, or anything else) or if you otherwise prefer to prepare a video in advance instead of giving a live presentation, talk to the instructor about the option to pre-record a video.

Definitions

  • Computer systems:
    • For the purposes of this project, “computer systems” consists of all areas of computer science that focus on the implementation of (usually general) computational tools that are used to build computing applications and software.
    • It is impossible to draw any fixed boundary delineating what is or is not part of “computer systems.” In fact, the blurry edges tend to be the most interesting parts, where new innovations require bridging gaps between between the needs of a particular application and the available system building blocks. As the field of computing advances, the meaning of computer systems grows.
    • Another way to describe computer systems is: the design and implementation of any tool that most programmers might take for granted, such as computer architecture, operating systems, virtual machines, distributed systems, networks, database implementations, programming languages, compilers, programming environments, parallel computing, but also concerns that slice through many system and application layers, such as security, privacy, or energy efficiency, as well as the reuse or adaptation of techniques from any of these areas for specific computing applications, and more.

  • A fundamental contribution in the area of computer systems:

    • Design, implementation, or measurement of a computer system, related tool, or technique, as defined above; OR
    • Substantial new application of a system that influenced the evolution of that system itself; OR
    • Changes to process, accessibility, or participation in the above activities.

  • Whose influence in computer systems is meaningful to you:

    • This is entirely open to your personal interpretation.

Logistics and Timeline

Each pair will present about a distinct person, so that your presentations collectively highlight a broader range of individuals in systems. At most one presentation will take place on any given day.

To make this feasible, pairs will register their presentation dates and selections on a first-come-first-serve basis in the presentation sign-up tab of the 0xCAFE spreadsheet. Please consider more than one potential presentation subject during your initial searches until you have marked a distinct selection in Presenting About. If, at a later date, you prefer to change and present about another person who is not listed by another pair, you may do so.

Please follow this schedule in preparing your presentation:

  • No later than the checkpoint date:
    • Find a partner. You might like to explore shared interests with potential partners.
    • Schedule a presentation slot on the presentation sign-ups (a tab in the 0xCAFE sheet).
    • Meet with the instructor during drop-in hours or an appointment. We will:
      • Have a general get-to-know-you chat about:
        • name/pronouns
        • questions, excitement, or concerns you have about the course
        • what brings you to CS
        • the place you would most like to visit in a world with no restrictions on your travel
      • Answer your questions about this project or help guide your search.
  • No later than one week before your presentation date, choose a person to highlight and list them in the Presenting About column of the presentation sign-ups (a tab in the 0xCAFE sheet). Remember this is first-come, first-serve and each presentation subject must be distinct. Please check that your selection is not already claimed in the sign-up sheet and fall back to alternates as needed.
    • If you and your partner would like to present earlier than this timeline technically allows, please sign up and get in touch with the instructor ASAP.
  • Plan ahead as you are researching and preparing to:
    • Take advantage of the support of a few people who are eager to assist you; and
    • Leave time to practice your presentation with your partner to make sure that it runs roughly 5 minutes (± 1). You are welcome, though not required, to practice for an “audience” (such as other students) and solicit feedback to improve your presentation.
  • On the evening or morning before your presentation date, check in with the instructor about logistics for the day of your presentation.
    • The due date indicates the last day available for presentations.
  • Before the start of your presentation, submit a list of your sources.

Finding and Researching People to Highlight

You are welcome to present about anyone who meets the above criteria. There are a variety of strategies you might follow to search for candidates. For example, you could search for people who work within a particular field of computer systems, who have a particular background or identity, who worked during earlier parts of computing history, or who are changing systems right now.

Research Support

Our subject specialist librarians are eager to assist you with research resources and citations for this project. You are strongly encouraged to reach out to:

Of course you are also encouraged to ask the instructor questions, such as about interpreting technical contributions or presentation and speaking strategies.

Examples of People to Highlight

Here is a small set of examples of people who have made interesting systems contributions. You are highly encouraged to search out other people to highlight. Do not feel constrained by the list or any inferences you draw from it. (For example, this selection leans toward U.S. academic researchers, but there are hosts of interesting systems creators around the world, in industry, government agencies, non-profits, …)

  • Melba Roy Mouton, NASA (automation of program documentation)
  • Sarita Adve, UIUC (computer architecture)
  • Jeanine Cook, NMSU (computer architecture)
  • Valerie Taylor, Argonne National Lab (performance/power analysis)
  • Monica Lam, Stanford (compilers)
  • Fran Allen, IBM (compilers)
  • Cindy Rubio-González, UC Davis (programming languages, bug detection)
  • Amy Ko, UW (program understanding, programming language learning)
  • Ann Quiroz Gates, UT El Paso (software engineering, software correctness)
  • Alexandra (Sasha) Fedorova, UBC (operating systems)
  • Mwende Window Snyder, Square (security)

If you are unsure what direction to explore, consider highlighting a person working in computer systems who you believe should be more visible or represented in computing. Examples could include, but are not limited to individuals from marginalized groups or groups underrepresented in computing:

  • Black people, indigenous people, people of color
  • People with disabilities
  • People from the first generation of their families to attend college or from low-income backgrounds
  • LGBTQIA+ people
  • Women

Research Starting Points

Here is a small set of example starting points to help find people of interest:

Citations

You must cite all references on which your presentation is based, using the ACM Reference Formats. Please submit your list of references by creating a new Doc in this Drive folder, using this template:

  • The name of the person you highlighted should be both the name of the document and the title within the document.
  • List your name, your partner’s name, and the presentation date.
  • After a “References” heading, list references in ACM Reference Formats.
  • This document should be text. Screenshots of text are not appropriate.

Presentations without a list of references will not be graded.

Even though this is a small project, you may wish to try software like Zotero to keep your references organized and generate your references list.

Grading

Each focus area of the presentation, will be assessed on the following basis:

✓+ Exemplary depth or synthesis of the focus area, substantially surpassing expectations.
✓ Substantive coverage of the focus area, meeting expectations.
✓− Superficial or unclear coverage of the focus area, requiring improvement to meet expectations.
0 No coverage of the focus area.

An average of ✓ or higher across all focus areas translates to full credit. In other words, exemplary coverage of one focus area can compensate for superficial coverage of another. It is expected that ✓+ is not especially common. Assuming you have invested a baseline effort and that you understand the focus areas, ✓− is also not expected. If you are uncertain about expectations, reach out ahead of your presentation to discuss with the instructor.

While clear communication is important and you are strongly encouraged to practice delivery of your presentation to make it engaging for your classmates, grading emphasizes content over form or style, with the goal of avoiding differentiation based on your stylistic choices or prior experience level in public speaking. While a valuable and important skill to develop, public speaking is not taught in CS 240 or its prerequisites.

The time investment for this project is intended to be relatively modest, but you are welcome to invest as much as you like if you are enjoying it. The course grading system weights this presentation at about 1/3 the weight of one code assignment.

Grading of this project will not be anonymous, due to the nature of presentations.

+Optional Extensions

Since the term system is new and uncertain, we have elected the relatively low-stakes internal presentation format for this term’s iteration of the project. If this version goes well, we hope to develop a public-facing compilation of profiles of people who change systems, driven by students in this project in CS 240. Stay tuned, share ideas, or reach out for opportunities to contribute by turning your presentation into something more durable.