[RTC List] Science of Design Symposium announcement

[sod at humboldt.edu]

Community invited to participate in Science of Design Symposium

Guy-Alain Amoussou, Steve Steinberg and Eileen Cashman, faculty at
Humboldt State University, welcome community members to attend the Science
of Design Symposium, March 22-24, 2007, on the HSU campus. The symposium
is an outgrowth of a National Science Foundation grant awarded to the
professors to study and develop ways of teaching creativity and design in
computing science.

The Science of Design is a forward-looking NSF program that anticipates
revolutionary advances in the design of software systems in general. Such
innovation requires new ways of designing systems that rely on computer
programs that behave as expected. Learning about creativity, design and
the design process, traditionally seen as the domain of the arts,
architecture, engineering and related fields, will bring to light these
new approaches and theoretical foundation to building future software
intensive systems and technologies. This past summer 2006, HSU was awarded
$207,000 to support its research project.

During the fall 2006, as part of this Science of Design NSF funded
initiative, fifteen faculty from thirteen disciplines () developed an
interdisciplinary course to teach creativity and design. “This spring
semester 2007 we are pilot-testing a curriculum for teaching creativity
and design to computer science students,” said Dr. Steinberg. “We look
forward to a focused discussion of the curriculum during the Symposium,”

“We invite community members to participate in the Science of Design
Symposium because our goal is to build an interdisciplinary, diverse group
that together can find a way to teach design and creativity in computer
science,” said Dr. Amoussou. “The many technology experts and innovators,
artists and designers in our region have a wealth of experience to
contribute to our project and the whole Science of Design study program.”

Professor Nigel Cross, a leading international figure in the world of
design research, is the keynote speaker. His talk will focus on "Creative
Thinking in Design"  and is open to the public as well as to Symposium
participants. Cost for the talk, scheduled for 8:00 p.m., March 22, is
$10, $5 for students.

Referring to the SoD project and symposium, HSU President Richmond noted,
"I am pleased that our faculty have taken the initiative to explore
innovative approaches to software design. Our students, as well as the
public in general will profit from such research."

The Science of Design Symposium runs from Thursday, March 22 through
Saturday, March 24, 2007. Early-bird registration ($125) runs through
March 1, 2007. To learn more about the Symposium topics and schedule and
to register, look online at www.humboldt.edu/~sod.

Local businesses and organizations with an interest in the Symposium or in
connecting with participants have an opportunity to underwrite the event.
Information about how to sponsor is online at
www.humboldt.edu/~sod/symposium/sponsorship.html.

For more information about the Science of Design research project, contact
the principal investigators Dr. Guy-Alain Amoussou, Dr. Steve Steinberg or
Dr. Eileen Cashman at sod at humboldt.edu.