Computer's December 2015 Special Issue "Rebooting Computing" Presents Novel Approaches to Further Computing Capabilities

LOS ALAMITOS, Calif., 01 December 2015—"Rebooting Computing," the December 2015 issue of Computer, IEEE Computer Society's flagship publication, reveals new ideas to "reboot" the computer industry and ensure its continued position as a major economic driver.

"Rebooting computing — that is, finding a renewed source of scalable computing performance — requires revolutionary thinking," said Sumi Helal, editor in chief of Computer and professor of computer science at the University of Florida. "This special issue presents a first installment of amazingly diverse ideas that help us reexamine many of our deeply rooted assumptions while offering new approaches that further advance our conventional computing wisdom."

The timeliness of this special issue underscores IEEE CS's leadership in promoting cutting-edge technology. In July, President Barack Obama issued an executive order for a National Strategic Computing Initiative (NSCI) to maximize the benefits of high-performance computing research, development, and deployment (www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/07/29/executive-order-creating-national-strategic-computing-initiative).

"Fundamentally rethinking how we compute is an urgent need and now a national priority. That's why this issue of Computer couldn't be more timely," said Thomas M. Conte, 2015 IEEE CS president and Georgia Tech professor. "It will take multidisciplinary, joint industry/academic organizations, such as the IEEE CS, to lead this monumental effort."

Guest edited by Conte, IEEE Council on Superconducting past president and nVizix CEO Elie Track, and IEEE Senior Member and Sandia National Laboratories technical staff member Erik DeBenedictis, the issue includes articles by top researchers, including:

• "Computing beyond Moore's Law" — John M. Shalf of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Robert Leland of Sandia National Laboratories argue that ideas to reboot computing will require substantial funding and resources to reach the marketplace. The authors, who were influential in developing the NSCI, describe the need for a new and sustained R&D agenda to evaluate emerging semiconductor materials and device physics.
• "Energy-Efficient Abundant-Data Computing: The N3XT 1,000×" — A cross-institutional team of authors introduce Nano-Engineered Computing Systems Technology (N3XT), which reinterprets Moore’s law to be more amenable to 3D manufacturing.
• "Ohmic Weave: Memristor-Based Threshold Gate Networks" — David J. Mountain of the Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Research Park and his colleagues discuss how today's Turing-derived machines could incorporate neuromorphic capabilities.

Computer explores new cutting-edge technologies, discoveries, and innovations. With readership that includes over 100,000 technology professionals, it covers all aspects of computer science, computer engineering, computing technology, and applications. For more than 40 years, developers, researchers, and managers have relied on Computer for timely, peer-reviewed information about research, trends, best practices, and changes in the profession. Offering feature-rich multimedia — including videos, podcasts, and additional Web content — the extraordinary reputation and popularity of Computer magazine make it a sought-after source of peer-reviewed publications for researchers and technologists.