Dear All,

I hope that all of you have enjoyed Christmas holidays and energised
yourself to launch into a new year with many exciting ideas. Let me
first wish you and your family a happy and prosperous new year 2008.

I am sharing the below message I sent to TCSC with you all as I had
often shared TCSC's opportunities such as scholarships etc. on this
mailing list.

I also want to bring to your attention:
First IEEE International Scalable Computing Challenge (SCALE 2008)
which provides opportunities for showcasing your efforts in Grid
computing. For details, please see:
http://www.ieeetcsc.org/scale2008.html

Here is a CFP for workshop on Content Delivery Networks that as sent to this
mailing list by a member: http://2008.upgrade-cn.org/

Cheers
Raj
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: New year wishes and TCSC report - 2007 and looking forward
Date: Tue, 01 Jan 2008 16:17:53 +1100
From: Rajkumar Buyya <raj@...>
Organisation: The University of Melbourne, Australia
To: tcsc@...

Dear Members of the TCSC:

1. I hope that all of you have enjoyed Christmas holidays and energised
yourself to launch into a new year with many exciting ideas. Let me
first wish you and your family a happy and prosperous new year 2008.

2. From the TCSC's perspective (http://www.ieeetcsc.org/), 2007 has been
a great and exciting year. TCSC has strengthened earlier programs and
services and further created new and innovative programs for the benefit
of our community. For example, to ignite the minds of young researchers
and recognise a prominent volunteer (for his/her excellence in research
and community service), TCSC has initiated two new programs: (i) IEEE
International Scalable Computing Challenge and (ii) IEEE Medal for
Excellence in Scalable Computing.

For full details on TCSC's 2007 activities, please browse the "final"
annual report available at:
http://www.ieeetcsc.org/tcsc_files/TCSC2007AnnualReport.pdf
I have added outcomes of TCSC's recent events and some thoughts for
future activities as a result of new community developments.

3. As this report also happens to be my final report as the first
elected Chair of the TCSC, I have tried to reflect on TCSC
accomplishments during my tenure over the last two years. Of course, the
position statement:
http://www.ieeetcsc.org/raj_position_statement.html
I had put forward, which is endorsed by the TCSC community (by way of
electing me), has offered strong guiding principles for TCSC activities
and services to its communities. I sincerely hope and believe that I
have been able to deliver all that I had promised to your satisfaction.

4. Acknowledgements: This was all made possible due to the strong
support I received from all the members and volunteers of TCSC (members
of the executive committee, organisers of various TCSC events), TCSC
advisory committee, the IEEE Computer Society, colleagues/friends on the
TCSC discussion mailing list, media, industrial sponsors of TCSC events
and all participants. I have tried my best to recognise all our key
volunteers by nominating them for the IEEE Computer Society service
awards (see 2007 annual report for details).

I would like to offer my special appreciation to my employer, the
University of Melbourne and the Dept. of Computer Science and Software
Engineering's previous head (Prof. Rao Kotagiri) and the current head
(Prof. Alistair Moffat) and my family for allowing me to spend a
significant amount of time on TCSC community services.

5. In a day or two, I will be handing over TCSC leadership to a new
Chair - I am waiting for the IEEE Computer Society's announcement of the
results of recent TCSC election. I will offer my full support to the new
TCSC leader to ensure smooth transition and outstanding success of TCSC
in offering community services into the future.

Thank you one and all, for your unreserved support and kindness you have
offered me for the past several years. I will continue to look for new
opportunities to further serve you all with dedication.

Best regards
Raj
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Dr. Rajkumar Buyya
Associate Professor and Reader
Grid Computing and Distributed Systems (GRIDS) Lab
Dept. of Computer Science and Software Engineering
The University of Melbourne
ICT Building, 111, Barry Street, Carlton
Melbourne, VIC 3053, Australia
Phone: +61-3-8344 1344 (office); +61-0431385688 (home)
Fax: +61-3-9348 1184; Email: raj@...
URL: http://www.buyya.com | http://www.gridbus.org/~raj
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