SIGMOBILE Vice Chair Candidate
Nigel Davies
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Biographical Information
Nigel Davies holds a BSc and PhD in Computer Science, both from Lancaster University, UK. Having completed his studies he was a visiting researcher at the Swedish Institute of Computer Science (SICS) before returning to Lancaster in 1994 to help create the University's Mobile Computing group. He has since managed numerous projects at Lancaster, including the MOST and GUIDE projects, both of which have been widely reported on in the academic literature and the popular press. During 1999/ 2000 he spent a year as a visiting researcher at Sony Distributed Systems Lab in San Jose working on integrating mobile devices with home AV networks. In recognition of his work in establishing Lancaster as a major research center in the field of mobile computing he was awarded a personal chair in the Computing Department in 2000. He has participated actively in the mobile computing research community and has served in a number of roles including Program Chair for IEEE WMCSA 2000, tutorials co-chair for Mobicom 2000 and demo chair for Mobicom 2001. He currently divides his time between Lancaster and Tucson, AZ where he has recently been appointed as an Associate Professor at the University of Arizona. For additional information see: http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/computing/users/nigel/ |
Candidate Statement
In recent years mobile computing has emerged as a major
research field with its own set of conferences and journals
and an active research community. One of the most exciting
aspects of the field is that it is thematic: attempting
to solve the problems of mobile computing whether they
appear at the hardware, systems software, application
software or user-interface level. As a result the mobile
computing community is incredibly diverse, encompassing
engineers and computer scientists with a wide range of
specialisms. I consider that one of the major challenges
facing SIGMOBILE is to provide a single voice that fairly
represents this community and to offer services that reach
out to all members of the community. Thus I believe that an
important factor in maintaining a strong SIGMOBILE is to create
innovative services that provide members with real value.
Of course in all of this it is important to recognize the
dynamic nature of our subject area. Indeed, many researchers
are already moving from traditional mobile computing research
into emerging areas such as ubiquitous computing. Hence, a
further important challenge for SIGMOBILE will be to position
itself in such a way that it can evolve with its members:
reflecting their changing interests and needs while maintaining
a cohesive identity.
Finally, while the membership of SIGMOBILE is certainly
diverse, there can be no doubt that the membership does
not adequately reflect the level of activity in mobile
computing. Extending SIGMOBILE membership to better represent
the level of academic and, critically, commercial activity in
the field of mobile computing is of paramount importance to
building a strong and sustainable SIG.
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