Notes and Trip Report 
CRA-W Career Mentoring Workshop, June 6-8, 2003, FCRC, San Diego, CA
by Elaine Cheong, celaine@eecs

http://www.cra.org/Activities/craw/projects/mentoring/mentorWrkshp/fcrc_2003.html

Career Mentoring Workshops booklet
http://www.cra.org/Activities/craw/projects/mentoring/mentorWrkshp/transcripts.pdf

Other CRA-W Publications
http://www.cra.org/Activities/craw/pubs.html

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Whole Group Panel: Research as a Career
(Research Careers in Academia, Industry, National Labs; building a
research program)

Jeanne Ferrante, UCSD
Ronitt Rubinfeld, NEC
Victoria Stavridou, SRI International

Research Management
  Ferrante:
  - Get students to mentor undergrads
  - Get students to write a major part of a grant proposal

  Rubinfeld:
  - Only take good students.  They must be enthusiastic.  Have students
  for a trial period.
  - Finding a problem to work on: remember the basics.  A simple
  result is better than a complicated one, in general.  Example: Can
  you solve basic problems in the algorithms book (by Cormen,
  Leiserson, and Rivest)?

  Stavridou:
  - (N)eed (A)pproach (B)enefit (C)ompetition
  - managing researchers - you must have the reputation and be respected
  - maintain your integrity
  - demand excellence

Making Transitions
  Ferrante:
  - Industrial research lab: still keep an academic profile
  - Keep your CV up for things you might want to do in the future.

  Rubinfeld:
  - Stay positioned in case of layoffs: publication record!

Making a Name for Yourself
  Ferrante:
  - Make a plan: talks, trips, program committees, conference activities, awards

  Rubinfeld:
  - Talk tours: 1 and 3 years before tenure.
  - Invite colleagues to give talks.
  - Become known through the quality of your students.
  - Organize a workshop.

  Stavridou:
  - Don't be afraid to lead.

Questions
  Traps to avoid:
  - Don't apply to too many grants.
  - Say "no" more often.
  - Don't be the "talking woman" (i.e., the token woman on a committee
  of all males.  Insist that there be other women if possible).

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Panel: Models of Industrial and National Lab Research

Susan Dumais, Microsoft
Jean Scholtz, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Ellen Yoffa, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center

Ellen Yoffa
- Director, Emerging System Technologies, IBM TJ Watson.
- IBM has "Professional Interest Communities", similar to ACM SIGs.
Technical community across IBM research labs worldwide.
- Greater emphasis on working with immediate peers.
- (Susan Dumais) More collaboration.
- Look at business model of company.  Is my work useful for the company?

Jean Scholtz
- NIST
- http://firstgov.gov

Susan Dumais
- Microsoft (formerly of Bell Labs and Bellcore)
- books: Donald Stokes, "Pasteur's Quadrant"

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Panel: Strategies for Success in Industry and the National Labs

Suzanne Iacono, National Science Foundation
Robin Jeffries, Sun Microsystems
Telle Whitney, Institute for Women and Technology

Suzanne (Suzi) Iacono, NSF, Digital Society and Technologies Program
<siacono@nsf.gov>

        President
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       Science Advisory
       Office of Science and Tech Policy
            |
           ...
            |
       Independent Agencies
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    -----------------------------------------------------
    |                         |                         |
  National Science Board     Smithsonian Institute     ...
  NSF
    |
    -------------------
    |                 |
  Director         Deputy Director
  (Rita Caldwell)     |
    |                 |
  Office of the       Directorates
  Director            ...
                      |
                      CISE

- Success characteristics
  - Personal: Bring up talking points incessantly.
  - Do things outside regular program work.
- IPA: Interagency Personnel Act

Robin Jeffries, Distinguished Engineer, Sun Microsystems
- Don't sell yourself short.
- Leave if things don't happen.
- If you plan, you can make things happen.

- Show up!  Be passionate!
- ADVERTISE yourself, COMMUNICATE your work ==> promotion
- Don't set barriers.

- http://mentornet.net
- http://www.systers.org

Telle Whitney, President, Institute for Women and Technology

- Startups (both are chip companies):
  Actel
  Malleable Technologies (sold to PMC Sierra)
- Became consultant.

- Anita Borg celebration on Sept 9, 2003 at Stanford.  See http://iwt.org

- LEADERSHIP in unstructured environments
  - Set clear objectives so team can focus.
  - Find a way to show others why they should care (what's in it for them?).