ORLANDO, Fla.. - Applications are now being accepted for scholarships to attend the 2007 Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference to be held Oct. 14-17 in Orlando. The deadline for applications is Monday, June 11.
The Tapia 2007 Conference scholarships were established to encourage and support participation in the conference by people from groups that are underrepresented in computer science, mathematics, computational sciences and engineering. Scholarships covering travel, hotel accommodations, meals, and conference registration are being provided to assure the attendance of those who would otherwise be unable to attend and ensure diversity in conference attendance.
"In addition to featuring presentations by some of the leading names in fields related to computing, the Tapia conferences are characterized by their collegial and supportive atmosphere," said Tapia 2007 Scholarships Co-Chair Pamela Williams of Sandia National Laboratories. "Tapia conferences are often the first professional meetings many of our students attend and these scholarships help ensure that those who could benefit most from such a conference but may not be able to afford it will still have an opportunity to participate."
This year marks the first time that the Tapia Conference and the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing (October 17-21) are being held in the same location. Bridge Day - Wednesday, October 17th -will informally bring students together from both conferences to build their individual networks and come to better understand their common issues. Students are encouraged to apply for scholarships to participate in Bridge Day, during which students will attend a keynote talk given in conjunction with the Tapia Conference, take a technical, back-stage tour of Disney attractions at the Magic Kingdom and Epcot, and take part in a Disney Institute Team Building Exercise at Epcot. Students selected to participate in Bridge Day will also be given support and housing to attend one day of the Grace Hopper Conference.
The deadline for applying for scholarships for the Tapia Conference, Bridge Day, and/or the Hopper Conference is Monday, June 11. Detailed information about applying, as well as the common scholarship form, can be found at http://www.richardtapia.org/2007/scholarships.php. Questions about the scholarship program should be sent to scholarships@richardtapia.org.
In awarding scholarships, preference will be given to students and mentors who present posters, papers, or panels at the conference. In addition, preference will be given to teams of faculty and students. The determination of the awards will be based on need, according to Scholarships Co-Chair Cristina Villalobos of the University of Texas, Pan-American.
Tapia 2007, the fourth in the conference series, is being held under the theme ""Passion in Computing - Diversity in Innovation." Organized by the Coalition to Diversify Computing, Tapia 2007 is co-sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery and the IEEE Computer Society, in cooperation with the Computing Research Association.
The Tapia Conference series honors the significant contributions of Richard A. Tapia, a mathematician and professor in the Department of Computational and Applied Mathematics at Rice University in Houston, Texas. He is internationally known for his research in computational and mathematical sciences and is a national leader in education and outreach programs. Tapia has authored or co-authored two books and more than 80 mathematical research papers. His current positions at Rice are University Professor; Maxfield-Oshman Professor in Engineering; and Director, Center for Excellence and Equity in Education.
The Tapia conference series enjoys the support of a number of academic, research and business organizations, including Google, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, Texas A&M University, the National Center for Women and Information Technology, Auburn University, the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign School of Computer Science, IBM, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Tufts University and Georgetown University. For more information about the different levels of support and the associated benefits, go to: http://www.richardtapia.org/2007/supporters.php.
For more information about the Tapia 2007 conference, visit the Web site at http://www.richardtapia.org/2007/
