What: Seminar on two topics – “Trends, Opportunities and Challenges in IT Systems Management” and “Academia and Industry Collaboration” by Dr. Harrick Vin, Vice President (R&D) and Chief Scientist, Systems Research Lab, Tata Research Development and Design Center (TRDDC), TCS, Pune – organized by IEEE Pune.
When: Saturday, 25 April, 5pm
Where: Institute of Engineers, Opposite Modern Cafe, J.M. Road, Shivajinagar
Registration and Fees: This seminar is free for all to attend. No registration required

1st Abstract: Trends, Opportunities and Challenges in IT Systems Management

During the past two decades, many enterprises have transformed from “Businesses facilitated by IT” to the paradigm where “Business is IT”. Today, enterprises not only relay on IT systems to obtain and deliver insightful, timely, and accurate information for managing their operations, but also to provide competitive differentiation, to support business agility and growth, and to improve profitability. Unfortunately, the growing complexity of the IT systems operated by the enterprises is becoming a key obstacle in sustaining this vision. We believe that continuous evolution is a key contributor to this complexity. Unlike traditional engineering artifacts that don’t change much over time, IT systems evolve continuously to accommodate new software and hardware technologies, application functionality, user requirements, as well as changes in operating conditions (workload, faults, etc.). Thus, a grand challenge for computing is to conquer this complexity by developing methodology and tools to design simple yet efficient systems and to manage system evolution. In this talk, I will discuss this opportunity and challenge, and describe some of the approaches for realizing this vision.

2nd Abstract: Academia and Industry Collaboration

The nature and complexity of modern computer systems dictate that research and education activities in computing must blend theory and practice. Blind experimentation in the absence of theory is infeasible, and theory that is not grounded in practice is sterile. An effective academia and industry collaboration can enrich both the theory and the practice of computing science. In this discussion, I will raise several opportunities and challenges in fostering academia and industry collaboration.

About the speaker – Dr. Harrick Vin

Dr. Vin is Vice President (R&D) and Chief Scientist, Systems Research Lab at the Tata Research Development and Design Center (TRDDC), Pune, which is a division of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). He is also a member of the TCS Corporate Technology Board.

Before joining TCS, Dr. Vin was a Professor in the Department of Computer Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin. He was the founding Director of the Distributed Multimedia Computing Laboratory and the co-Director of the Laboratory of Advanced Systems Research (LASR) at UT Austin. His research interests are in the areas of networks, operating systems, distributed systems, and multimedia systems.

He has co-authored more than 100 papers in leading journals and conferences. Harrick has been a recipient of several awards including the Faculty Fellow in Computer Sciences, Dean’s Fellowship, National Science Foundation CAREER award, IBM Faculty Development Award, Fellow of the IBM Austin Center for Advanced Studies, AT&T Foundation Award, National Science Foundation Research Initiation Award, IBM Doctoral Fellowship, NCR Innovation Award, and San Diego Supercomputer Center Creative Computing Award.

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There are a bunch of other tech events happening in Pune this weekend. Check out the PuneTech calendar for more information.