Welcome Letter from the SIGSOFT Chair

ACM SIGSOFT Blog
3 min readSep 13, 2024

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Dear SIGSOFT Community,

It is with great pleasure and excitement that I welcome you to the 2024–2027 term of the SIGSOFT Executive Committee. I am honored to introduce our distinguished team:

  • Massimiliano Di Penta, University of Sannio, Italy (Vice Chair)
  • David Lo, Singapore Management University, Singapore (Secretary-Treasurer)
  • Emerson Murphy-Hill, Microsoft, USA
  • Kelly Blincoe, University of Auckland, New Zealand
  • Claire Le Goues, Carnegie Mellon University, USA
  • Tom Zimmermann, Microsoft Research, USA (Most Recent Past Chair)
  • Shakira Toomer, ACM Support

Each member brings unique strengths and responsibilities to the committee, and I would like to outline their portfolios:

  • Massimiliano Di Penta, as Vice Chair, will assist me in general duties and oversee SIGSOFT conference operations, including sponsored, co-sponsored, and in-cooperation events. This encompasses conference timelines, budgets, and publications.
  • Claire Le Goues will manage SIGSOFT awards, ensuring that outstanding contributions in our field are recognized. She will also explore opportunities for new awards.
  • Emerson Murphy-Hill will lead SIGSOFT’s communications efforts, coordinating Software Engineering Notes, managing the SIGSOFT blog, and overseeing our social media and online presence.
  • David Lo will focus on student mentorship and support, managing CAPS (Conference Attendance Program for Students) and other travel funds, summer schools, and special projects.
  • Kelly Blincoe will spearhead membership growth and community outreach, ensuring that SIGSOFT remains an inclusive and vibrant community.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the members of the 2021–2024 SIGSOFT Executive Committee for their dedication and service to our community:

  • Lin Tan, Purdue University, USA (Secretary-Treasurer)
  • Cristian Cadar, Imperial College, UK
  • Martin Robillard, McGill University, Canada
  • And of course, Tom Zimmermann, who has served as Chair of the SIGSOFT Executive Committee for the past six years.

Both David Lo and I are continuing our work on the SIGSOFT Executive Committee, and we are excited about the future of SIGSOFT.

Announcements

Awards: SIGSOFT is now accepting nominations for our annual international awards. For more details, please visit https://www2.sigsoft.org/awards/.

  • Key Dates:
  • Deadline for submitting an intention to nominate (mandatory): October 21, 2024
  • Nomination deadline (firm): November 4, 2024
  • Notification of awards: January 2025
  • Award presentation: at ICSE 2025

Open Positions: We are also looking for volunteers to support several SIGSOFT programs aimed at advancing the software engineering community. Open positions include:

  • Industry Chair: Advocate for non-academic SIGSOFT members, contribute ideas for industry-oriented resources, and engage with the community.
  • Webinar Co-Chairs: Identify and invite speakers to deliver webinars, interview them for the SIGSOFT blog and social media.
  • CAPS Co-Chairs: Review student applications for travel funding to SIGSOFT-sponsored conferences.
  • Social Media Chair: Promote SIGSOFT activities through social media channels.
  • Information Director: Maintain SIGSOFT’s digital assets (website, Mastodon server, mailing lists).
  • SIGSOFT Blog Editor: Solicit and publish content of interest to the community.
  • Awards Committee Member: Help select recipients of SIGSOFT awards.
  • Summer School Evaluation Committee Member: Evaluate applications for SIGSOFT-funded summer schools.

If you’re interested in volunteering, please complete the form at this link.

I look forward to working closely with the new Executive Committee and with each of you to make a lasting impact on the SIGSOFT community.

Warm regards,
Marsha Chechik
Chair, SIGSOFT Executive Committee (2024–2027)

Disclaimer: The posts in the SIGSOFT Blog are written by individual contributors and any views or opinions represented in their posts are personal, belong solely to the blog authors, and do not necessarily represent those of ACM SIGSOFT or ACM.

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ACM SIGSOFT Blog

SIGSOFT is the ACM Special Interest Group on Software Engineering