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Since 2003, the ACM SIGGRAPH Education Committee and the ACM SIGGRAPH Pioneers have sponsored the Spend a Week at SIGGRAPH Student Program, which brings high school sophomores and juniors to the the annual SIGGRAPH conference. This year, the two groups are eager to continue the tradition — but they need your help.

In a world where start-ups can rocket from nothing to billion-dollar companies by riding the razor edge of advances in computing, there's a surprising shortage of young people interested in careers in computer science and technology. Young women and minorities are particularly underrepresented in the world of computing.

If you’ll be at SIGGRAPH 2016 for a significant amount of time between Sunday, July 24 and Thursday, July 28, consider volunteering to serve as a mentor for a bright young student interested in learning more about computer graphics, interactive techniques and cutting-edge technology. Being a mentor won’t cost you a lot of time (each mentor averages about 30 minutes a day), and the personal rewards are significant. The idea is simple: to enable each student to experience computer graphics up close and personal, and have an expert as a consultant and guide.

The Spend a Week at SIGGRAPH program is supported by the ACM SIGGRAPH Education Committee, and is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation. The value of the program is apparent in the letters received by past participants.

Those interested in volunteering should please contact Kathleen Milnes or Marc J. Barr.

SIGGRAPH Asia 2016 seeks student volunteers to head to Macao, China this December.

Student volunteers at SIGGRAPH Asia can expect to take part in a wide variety of conference programs, connect with computer graphics professionals, access exclusive student volunteer sessions and experience all that SIGGRAPH Asia has to offer with a full conference registration.

Visit the SIGGRAPH Asia 2016 website for more information.

Since its formation in 1996, the ACM SIGGRAPH Cartographic Visualization Project has held a Birds-of-a-Feather session at the annual SIGGRAPH conference. This year is no exception. The ACM SIGGRAPH Cartographic Visualization session at SIGGRAPH 2016 will take place at the top of the week, in the Anaheim Convention Center.

Session details:

Monday, July 25, 2016: 1:30 – 3:00 p.m., ACM SIGGRAPH Theater of the SIGGRAPH International Center

Join us and learn about the future of digital mapping. You might be surprised to discover just how deeply ingrained it is in our daily lives.

Read about the Cartographic Visualization session from SIGGRAPH 2015

ACM SIGGRAPH is seeking candidates for the position of chair of each of the following committees: Chapters, Communications, and Digital Arts. The essential responsibilities of each chair are listed below.

Chapters Chair: Chapters of ACM SIGGRAPH continue the work of the organization on a year-round basis via their meetings, site visits, conferences, video screenings, art shows and special events. Each ACM SIGGRAPH Professional or Student Chapter consists of individuals involved in education, research and development, the arts, industry, and entertainment. The Chapters Committee Chair will help promote, plan, and facilitate the full integration of chapter activities into ACM SIGGRAPH while identifying and facilitating the flow of additional ACM SIGGRAPH benefits to chapters. They will also provide a link for communication with ACM on technical issues, and ensure compliance with all relevant policies and procedures.

Communications & Membership Chair: The Communications & Membership Services Committee oversees content development for the ACM SIGGRAPH web site, membership communications, and benefits procurement. The Communications Chair is also in charge of the ACM SIGGRAPH Village at both annual conferences. The Communications Chair will recommend and implement appropriate communication channels for the organization and its constituents, as well as design and supervise ACM SIGGRAPH web presence and other communications.

Digital Arts Chair: The Digital Arts Committee fosters the evolution of a strong digital arts community within the international organization and promotes a dialogue between visual artists and the larger SIGGRAPH community. It maintains an interactive Arts Portal and an associated social networking site that provides a central place for artists and scientists to share resources, information, artwork, and opportunities for collaboration. The Digital Arts Chair will oversee all of these efforts.

Those interested in applying for any of these positions please contact Scott Owen at scott_owen@siggraph.org. Provide a CV and vision statement (why you're interested in being chair and what you hope to accomplish in that role).

The Nominations Committee will review all the candidates and make recommendations to the ACM SIGGRAPH Executive Committee by June 1, 2016.

The new chairs will be chosen in June, attend SIGGRAPH 2016, and take office September 1, 2016 for a three-year term.

More information on the committees of ACM SIGGRAPH.

Enhanced Vision – Digital Video is an online exhibition of the ACM SIGGRAPH Digital Art Community. The show highlights new works by video artists exploring socially important issues who use digital methods to enhance their practice. Launched in the spring of 2015, the works in this exhibition have gone on to win prizes and be featured in other important competitions.

Kathy Rae Huffman, the curator of the exhibition, chaired a special session of the ACM SIGGRAPH Digital Arts Community at SIGGRAPH 2015 to explore the conceptual and technical contributions of these exceptional video works. Several of the participating artists were present, contributing insight into the creative workarounds of software applications that extended their vision.

Exhibition committee members, who served as peer reviewers, offered their insights into the innovative impact of the works. These presentations are particularly interesting in how the frame the practices of digital art in the often overlooked non-profit world of social commentary.

Curator Kathy Rae Huffman edited the thoughtful commentaries of these reviewers, and has compiled them into an essay that is now online. Included in this compilation are insights on: How media illuminates contemporary attitudes toward women (Nancy Buchanan); The Digitized, Fragmented Body (Elizabeth Leister); Chance processes, meaning, and the non-nihilistic (Amy Alexander) and Re-envisioning the meaning of Contemporary Spaces with Digital Video (Astra Price).

Access the Enhanced Vision – Digital Video discussion notes online.

View the entire selection of videos from Enhanced Vision – Digital Video.