Nikos Hardavellas Named Future CRA Leader

Northwestern Engineering’s Nikos Hardavellas has been named to the inaugural cohort of Future Computing Research Association (CRA) Leaders.

Selected by the CRA Board of Directors and the co-chairs of the 2024 CRA Conference at Snowbird through a competitive nomination process, the Future CRA Leaders aim to develop a leadership pipeline and create points of connection among computing researchers across academic, industry, and government organizations.

Hardavellas, an associate professor of computer science and electrical and computer engineering at the McCormick School of Engineering, will attend the biennial, invitation-only, CRA conference July 23-25 in Snowbird, Utah. The flagship event draws leadership of the North American computing research community, including computer science, computer engineering, and information technology department chairs; directors of graduate and undergraduate education; and heads of industry and government research labs and centers.

The cohort of Future CRA Leaders will be recognized during the conference’s opening session and attend an exclusive networking event.

“I am humbled to be included in the inaugural cohort of Future CRA Leaders,” Hardavellas said. “Attending the CRA Conference at Snowbird will be a unique opportunity to identify common issues in the field and ways to address them, get a glimpse of the future of computing from leaders in the space, and take steps toward advancing that vision.”

Hardavellas will also present a lightning talk during a special Future CRA Leaders conference session. He plans to discuss his vision for reinventing memory systems.

“Memory systems are rooted on abstractions and ideas that were put in place in the ‘60s. While technology has made great leaps since then, memory system fundamentals have remained largely unchanged,” Hardavellas said. “In the meantime, computer architects have been forced to invent and deploy a lot of complex machinery to bridge the gap. I believe the time is ripe for new ideas and capabilities in this space.”

Hardavellas is excited to attend the CRA Conference at Snowbird.

“This conference is unlike our typical narrow-themed research conferences,” Hardavellas said. “Experts from academia, industry, national labs and centers in every branch of computer science will be in attendance, from theory, to systems, to AI, and beyond. Great ideas often lurk at the intersection of sub-areas, so I am also looking forward to stimulating discussions on promising new research directions at the intersection of domains.”