[ieeetcsc-discuss] New year wishes and TCSC report - 2007 and looking forward

[Rajkumar Buyya]

Dear TCSC Friends and Colleagues:

1. I hope that you of all have enjoyed Christmas holidays and energised 
yourself to launch into a new year with many exciting ideas. Let me 
first wish you and your family a happy and prosperous new year 2008.

2. From the TCSC's perspective (http://www.ieeetcsc.org/), 2007 has been 
a great and exciting year. TCSC has strengthened earlier programs and 
services and further created new and innovative programs for the benefit 
of our community. For example, to ignite the minds of young researchers 
and recognise a prominent volunteer (for his/her excellence in research 
and community service), TCSC has initiated two new programs: (i) IEEE 
International Scalable Computing Challenge and (ii) IEEE Medal for 
Excellence in Scalable Computing.

For full details on TCSC's 2007 activities, please browse the "final" 
annual report available at:
   http://www.ieeetcsc.org/tcsc_files/TCSC2007AnnualReport.pdf
I have added outcomes of TCSC's recent events and some thoughts for 
future activities as a result of new community developments.

3. As this report also happens to be my final report as the first 
elected Chair of the TCSC, I have tried to reflect on TCSC 
accomplishments during my tenure over the last two years. Of course, the 
position statement:
   http://www.ieeetcsc.org/raj_position_statement.html
I had put forward, which is endorsed by the TCSC community (by way of 
electing me), has offered strong guiding principles for TCSC activities 
and services to its communities. I sincerely hope and believe that I 
have been able to deliver all that I had promised to your satisfaction.

4. Acknowledgements: This was all made possible due to the strong 
support I received from all the members and volunteers of TCSC (members 
of the executive committee, organisers of various TCSC events), TCSC 
advisory committee, the IEEE Computer Society, colleagues/friends on the 
TCSC discussion mailing list, media, industrial sponsors of TCSC events 
and all participants. I have tried my best to recognise all our key 
volunteers by nominating them for the IEEE Computer Society service 
awards (see 2007 annual report for details).

I would like to offer my special appreciation to my employer, the 
University of Melbourne and the Dept. of Computer Science and Software 
Engineering's previous head (Prof. Rao Kotagiri) and the current head 
(Prof. Alistair Moffat) and my family for allowing me to spend a 
significant amount of time on TCSC community services.

5. In a day or two, I will be handing over TCSC leadership to a new 
Chair - I am waiting for the IEEE Computer Society's announcement of the 
results of recent TCSC election. I will offer my full support to the new 
TCSC leader to ensure smooth transition and outstanding success of TCSC 
in offering community services into the future.

Thank you one and all, for your unreserved support and kindness you have 
offered me for the past several years. I will continue to look for new 
opportunities to further serve you all with dedication.

Best regards
Raj
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Dr. Rajkumar Buyya
Associate Professor and Reader
Grid Computing and Distributed Systems (GRIDS) Lab
Dept. of Computer Science and Software Engineering
The University of Melbourne
ICT Building, 111, Barry Street, Carlton
Melbourne, VIC 3053, Australia
Phone: +61-3-8344 1344 (office); +61-0431385688 (home)
Fax: +61-3-9348 1184; Email: raj at csse.unimelb.edu.au
URL: http://www.buyya.com | http://www.gridbus.org/~raj
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