CTSB Newsletter April 2008 In this issue: Editorial | Events | Spotlights | News | Conferences | Funding | Groups | Jobs EDITORIAL Welcome to this month's edition of the Center for Technology & Social Behavior (CTSB) newsletter, and a long-awaited welcome to Spring (such as it is). We trust you spent a relaxing spring break. In this month's edition, our feature spotlights turn to CTSB faculty member Ed Colgate and first year Ph.D. student Joaquin (Kino) Aguilar. We also introduce CTSB Research Associate Kathleen Geraghty, who has recently joined us - welcome Kathleen! And finally we unveil the first conference to be hosted by the CTSB: IDC 2008. As always, we aim to provide you with useful news about other CTSB affiliates, and about upcoming conference and grant deadlines. If you have any news, achievments or announcements you would like to publicize in the newsletter, then let CTSB newsletter editor, Alastair Gill ) know. Also please let us know of any resources or employment opportunities. Until next month, enjoy the newsletter, and we look forward to seeing you at one of our forthcoming CTSB events. -- Justine Cassell (Director, CTSB) and Alastair Gill (Research Scientist, CTSB) EVENTS Exciting CTSB events to mark in your calendar are: Colloquium Series The CTSB Colloquium Series returns after the break to present the next speaker in the 'Social Technologies' series, renowned MIT Media Lab faculty member Roz Picard. Picard is founder and director of the Affective Computing Research Group and author of the book Affective Computing (MIT Press, 1997). Please note that all Spring talks will take place in the ITW auditorium on the 2nd floor of the Ford Building. As usual, the CTSB colloquium speakers are available for individual meetings with faculty and students. The CTSB also organizes a graduate student-only lunch. If you would like to meet with the speaker please contact CTSB program assistant Elisa Revello . See the CTSB colloquium page for more details on the Spring talks: * Roz Picard (MIT) - April 17 (4pm) * Wendy Kellogg (IBM Research) - May 15 (4pm) Thank CTSB it's Friday! We welcome you back from the break for more Thank CTSB It's Friday (TCIF). Our regular first Friday meeting will continue again this quarter and will take place this Friday, April 4, from 4-6pm at the CTSB meeting room (2-431, Frances Searle Building). In Justine Cassell's absence (we know you miss us over there in Paris, Justine) this month's First Friday will be guest-hosted by EECS faculty member Jason Hartline. In May we will be discussing research themes, and potential center grant possibilities, so please mark that on your calendar. Please come along to meet us and to enjoy drinks, good food and conversation. TCIF is intended to be primarily social in nature, however we hope that you will enjoy the opportunity to learn more about each other's research and explore opportunities for collaboration. If you have specific ideas of research you would like to discuss, please get in touch with Alastair Gill . TCIF dates for the rest of the quarter are: April 4, May 2, and June 6 from 4pm - 6pm in the CTSB. SPOTLIGHTS Faculty Spotlight: Edward Colgate Edward Colgate is the Pentair-Nugent Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and co-Director (with Don Norman) of the Segal Design Institute, where he oversees the Master of Science in Engineering Design and Innovation, combining graduate-level engineering courses with a broad exposure to human-centered design. He received his Ph.D. from MIT in 1988 before joining Northwestern. Colgate's principal research interest is human-robot interaction. He has worked extensively in the areas of haptic interface and teleoperation, and, along with collaborator Michael Peshkin, is the inventor of a class of collaborative robots known as 'cobots'. Colgate has served as an associate editor of the Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control and the IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation, and he is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Haptics. In addition to his academic pursuits, Colgate is a founder of Stanley Cobotics, the leading supplier of intelligent ergonomic assist devices to the industrial marketplace and of Kinea Design, a start-up devoted to rehabilitation robotics and advanced mechatronics. Student Spotlight: Joaquin (Kino) Aguilar Joaquin Aguilar - better known as Kino - is a first year student in the Technology and Social Behavior joint Ph.D. program in Computer Science and Communication. He is affiliated with the Articulab and CTSB, and is advised by Professor Justine Cassell. Joaquin says that he is interested in creating technologies that are smart, aesthetically pleasing, and which serve as educational tools. He hopes to combine his wide range of interests for his dissertation: Two projects that he is currently working on are looking at the establishment of rapport and grounding between interlocutors. Previously, Joaquin received his B.S. in computer science from the University of Texas at El Paso, where he worked with the interactive systems group, completing his senior thesis under the direction of Dr. David G. Novick. For his senior thesis, Joaquin developed 'LUKIS TALES' a multi-agent system developed using SOAR, SML, and C++. Joaquin says that "it was supposed to be the greatest story generation system ever invented, but instead it ended up just being a great learning experience". We welcome Joaquin to CTSB and Northwestern University and look forward to having him around. CTSB Event Spotlight: IDC 2008 IDC 2008 logo In June, the CTSB will be hosting the 7th Annual Interaction Design for Children conference (IDC 2008). IDC 2008 will build upon previous conferences by presenting significant contributions to research, development, and practice in the field of interaction design for children. The goals of the 2008 conference are to better understand children's needs, and how to design for them, with a specific focus on creativity and innovation. In particular, this year the conference encourages researchers to extend their work beyond the domains of learning and play, and to explore the possibilities of designing for civic involvement, for democracy, for physical and emotional well-being, and for a global and inclusive society. These aims are reflected in the theme of this year's conference: "Think outside the toybox", and in two special pre-conference workshops: 'Designing for Children with Special Needs', and 'Marginalized Young People: Inclusion through ICT'. The main conference will feature presentations of original papers, posters and demos (deadlines already passed). We are proud to announce Dr. Charlotte Cole, Vice-President for International Education, Research and Outreach at Sesame Street Workshop as the keynote speaker. There are also two invited panel sessions on 'Screen Cultures' and 'From Theory to Practice' featuring researchers and commentators including Edith Ackermann (MIT), Kathleen Alfano (Fisher Price), Jim Gee (ASU), Lisa Guernsey (NYTimes), Scott Traylor (360 Kids), Erik Strommen (Microsoft), and Ellen Wartella (UC.Riverside). IDC 2008 will run from June 11-13 2008. Further details can be found at the IDC 2008 conference website. If you are interested in participating or volunteering, please contact CTSB program assistant Elisa Revello . CTSB Staff News: Kathleen Geraghty Kathleen joined the CTSB in February as a Research Associate, having recently completed her MSc in Developmental Linguistics at the University of Edinburgh. Previously she studied English and International Affairs as an undergraduate at Alverno College. Kathleen's M.Sc. dissertation examined conversational modifications and feedback in task-based and naturalistic conversations between native and non-native English-speaking children. Kathleen is particularly interested in the role of social factors in second language acquisition, particularly for children interacting with peers. Outside of research, Kathleen has worked for arts organisations and non-profits, including the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra , Goethe House of Wisconsin, and Milwaukee Repertory Theater. We welcome Kathleen to CTSB! Faculty News Roundup Peter Dinda (EECS) presented a paper ('PICSEL: Measuring User-Perceived Performance to Control Dynamic Frequency Scaling', with Mallik, Cosgrove, Dick, and Memik) at the International Conference on Architectural Support for Programming Languages and Operating Systems (ASPLOS) in Seattle, WA in March. Darren Gergle and Alastair Gill (Communication) are presenting their paper on 'Emotion rating from short blog texts' at CHI 2008 in Florence, Italy, this month. They will also be discussing linguistic characteristics of emotion in the Measuring Affect in HCI workshop. Aggelos Katsaggelos (EECS) published a short opinion piece in the March edition of Proceedings of the IEEE entitled 'The Not So Digital Future of Digital Signal Processing' (with Tsaftaris). Eva Lam (Learning Science) has a chapter called 'Second Language Literacy and the Design of the Self: A Case Study of a Teenager Writing on the Internet' due to appear in the Handbook of Research on New Literacies edited by Coiro, Knobel, Lankshear, and Leu and to be published by Erlbaum. Jennifer Richeson (Psychology) recently published a paper on 'The Threat of Appearing Prejudiced and Race-Based Attentional Biases' in Psychological Science (with Trawalter). Funding Opportunities Note: the following list is not exhaustive. You can help by alerting us to relevant opportunities. NSF - Computer Systems Research (CSR) - The program focuses on the issues surrounding computer systems being applied to increasingly demanding applications. The environments in which they function and the resources they manage are increasingly diverse, distributed and dynamic. While the time scales for control decisions are shrinking, the scale and complexity of the systems are increasing. Further, many of the assumptions behind today's most common computer systems no longer hold. As a result, these systems often fail in unpredictable ways, become compromised or perform poorly. Accordingly, the frontiers of computer systems research must be moved forward, and new bold research directions must be established to draw upon interdisciplinary research capabilities across science and engineering. The Computer Systems Research (CSR) Program supports innovative research and education projects to further these aims. Full proposals are due April 23 (pre-proposal not required). NSF - Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) - The aim of the program is excellent science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education for all undergraduate students. Toward this vision, the program supports projects based on high-quality science, technology, engineering or mathematics, and recent advances in research on undergraduate STEM learning and teaching. The program seeks to stimulate, evaluate, and disseminate innovative and effective developments in undergraduate STEM education through the introduction of new content reflecting cutting edge developments in STEM fields, the production of knowledge about learning, and the improvement of educational practice. The CCLI program design reflects current challenges and promising approaches reported in recent seminal meetings and publications sponsored by organizations concerned with the health of national STEM education. Proposal deadline is May 20 - 21 (Phase 1). NSF - Alliances for Broadening Participation in STEM (ABP) - The solicitation includes the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program. Bridge to the Doctorate (BD) Activity, and the Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) program. This portfolio seeks to increase the number of students successfully completing quality degree programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Particular emphasis is placed on transforming STEM education through innovative academic strategies and experiences in support of groups that historically have been underrepresented in STEM disciplines: African Americans, Alaskan Natives, Native Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Pacific Islanders. Closing date for letter of intent May 30, full proposal deadline June 27 (Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate), other full proposal deadlines October 10 (Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation and LSAMP Educational Research Projects). Spencer Foundation - Research Grants - The Spencer Foundation provides funding for research projects that study education in the United States and abroad. The Foundation funds research grants that range in size from smaller grants that can be completed within a year, to larger, multi-year endeavors. Funding focuses on (but is not limited to) four specific areas of interest: (1) The Relation between Education and Social Opportunity; (2) Organizational Learning in Schools, School Systems, and Higher Education Institutions; (3) Teaching, Learning, and Instructional Resources; and, (4) Purposes and Values of Education. Grants are divided into small ($40,000 or less) and large (over $40,000), with different guidelines relating to each. Proposals can be submitted at any time. Department of Education - Education Research - The central purpose of the grants program is to provide parents, educators, students, researchers, policymakers, and the general public with reliable and valid information about education practices that support learning and improve academic achievement and access to education opportunities for all students. In carrying out its grant programs, the Institute provides support for programs of research in areas of demonstrated national need. Proposals due April 26 (no letter of intent required). CTSB Exploration Grants A reminder about the CTSB "exploration grants" program. If you would like to collaborate with another CTSB-affiliate from a department other than your own (faculty, research scientist or graduate student) on a project that might potentially lead to a larger grant proposal, then you are eligible to apply for these funds. We are particularly interested in supporting the hire of undergraduates as a part of these collaborative teams. If you are interested, please contact Justine Cassell to discuss possibilities. Conference Submission Deadlines Integrating ECAs Integrating Embodied Conversational Agents with Speech and Advanced Dialogue Modeling Patras, Greece (June 21), workshop in conjunction with the 18th European Conference on Artificial Intelligence. Submission deadline is April 10. ITS 2008 workshop 3rd Workshop on Metacognition and Self-Regulated Learning in Educational Technology MontrÃl, Canada (June 23 - 24), held in conjunction with Intelligent Tutoring Systems 2008. Submission deadline is April 20. CATS 2008 Workshop on Culturally-Aware Tutoring Systems MontrÃl, Canada (June 23 - 24), held in conjunction with Intelligent Tutoring Systems 2008. Submission deadline is April 20. CID III Constraints in Discourse III Potsdam, Germany (July 30 - August 1). Submission deadline is April 25. ICDM 2008 8th Industrial Conference on Data Mining ICDM 2008 workshops covering Life Sciences (DMLS 2008), Marketing (DMM 2008), and Case-Based Reasoning on Multimedia Data (CBR-MD 2008), taking place in Leipzig, Germany (July 16 - 18). Submission deadline is May 5. ICON 10 10th International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience Bodrum, Turkey (September 1 - 5). Submission deadline is May 15. Reading Groups If you would like to advertise a reading group, let Alastair know. Currently the autism reading group meets on Fridays at 3pm in the CTSB (Frances Searle, room 2-431). This month's meetings will take place on April 4 and 18. If you would like to join the group, please contact Alastair. The Grounding Reading Group meets on the second and fourth Fridays of the month, 12pm in the CTSB. Grounding is the process of building common knowledge between interlocutors. The reading group focuses on the process of grounding and applications for computational systems. Meeting dates for April are the 11th and 25th. If you would like to join the group, please contact Kino Aguilar . Employment Opportunities If you would like to advertise any kind of job openings within your research group or lab, then please contact Alastair Gill , providing a brief description of the position(s) available, and any skills / experience required. You can sign-up, manage the way you receive the CTSB newsletter, or forward the current newsletter to a colleague, via the CTSB newsletter management page CENTER FOR TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIAL BEHAVIOR Northwestern University | Frances Searle Building, #2-431 | 2240 Campus Drive | Evanston, IL 60208 | USA http://ctsb.northwestern.edu