Eakta Jain, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Computer & Information Science & Engineering, was recently named an Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques (SIGGRAPH) Executive Committee Director.
“This role gives me an opportunity to give back to the professional community I ‘grew up in,’ ” Dr. Jain said. “It reflects that my professional community trusts me to look out for this SIG and help steer it such that it continues to be a vibrant SIG in the years to come. The role also provides me with continuing personal and professional growth.”
“The role is also important to me because it reflects how supportive our department has been of my professional growth. It is a result of departmental support that I have been able to carve out the time needed to put into SIGGRAPH executive committee work, a characteristic that was recognized by various SIGGRAPH committee members as very positive and very rare. It is also a result of the mentorship provided by department senior faculty that I have been able to navigate the numerous roles and responsibilities within ACM SIGGRAPH that prepared me to take on this role.”
Dr. Jain said every director has the general responsibility of setting the strategic direction of where the community is going, overseeing year-to-year continuity, and shepherding new initiatives. In addition, each director takes on two individual responsibilities. Dr. Jain’s responsibilities are to chair the Nurturing Community strategy group – a think tank whose charter is to broadly consider how SIGGRAPH can support its members as well as the graphics community beyond the membership in-group – and liaise with the Career Development Committee Grouping – SIGGRAPH standing committees are grouped by theme and are assigned one or two executive committee members as liaisons.
“SIGGRAPH is one of the biggest special interest groups (SIGs) within ACM and is exceptional in the extent to which it connects research and practices with annual conference events and year-round activity,” said Juan E. Gilbert, Ph.D., the Banks Family Preeminence Endowed Professor and department chair. “Dr. Jain’s leadership in this SIG raises the department’s profile both in the academic and industry realm.”
Governance is a cornerstone of ACM SIGGRAPH’s mission to nurture, champion and connect researchers and practitioners of computer graphics and interactive techniques. The organization is managed by the executive committee, which consists of nine directors, who vote on major strategic decisions, and two appointed members. The elected directors are elected by the ACM SIGGRAPH membership and serve three-year terms. The officers, chair, chair-elect, treasurer, and treasurer-elect, are selected each year from the directors.
Members of the Executive Committee are primarily responsible for oversight and strategic planning for ACM SIGGRAPH. They also serve as liaisons to the organization’s standing committees, and lead strategy teams and conference advisory groups.
Allison Logan
Communications Manager
Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering