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Title:

How abstractions define a research agenda: from circuits to packets to flows to content to systems in networks, and broader thoughts for computing.

Abstract

For nearly fifty years, beginning with Kleinrock's pioneering work on using queueing theory to model packet flows in communication networks, network modeling has adopted the packet as a primary abstraction for network modeling and analysis. In the 1990's the notion of "flows" (generally associated with TCP connections) gained currency, and more recently "content" has become the central abstraction in the content-centric networking. In this talk, we trace how dominant networking abstractions reflect and define a research agenda. We conclude with a discussion of how SDN and the management capabilities it enables have created a new focus on autonomic management of the network, and its services, as a system.

We then turn to the computing research agenda more broadly. What have been dominant abstractions and "targets" for computing research, and in what broad directions is the field heading? Lastly, we conclude this talk with some musings on teaching and learning - again, networking in particular and computing more broadly.

Biography

Jim Kurose is a Distinguished University Professor of Computer Science, and Associate Chancellor for Partnerships and Innovation at the University of Massachusetts. His research interests are in the areas of computer networks, network measurement, and multimedia systems. He received his PhD in computer science from Columbia University and BA in physics from Wesleyan University. He has held a number of visiting scientist positions in the US and abroad, including the Sorbonne University, INRIA and IBM Research. He is proud to have mentored and taught an amazing group of students, and to have received a number of awards for his research, teaching and service, including the IEEE Infocom Award, the ACM SIGCOMM Lifetime Achievement Award, the ACM Sigcomm Test of Time Award, and the IEEE Computer Society Taylor Booth Education Medal. With Keith Ross, he is the co-author of the best-selling textbook, Computer Networking: a Top Down Approach (Pearson), now in its 8th edition. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the ACM and the IEEE.

From 2015 to 2019, Jim served as Assistant Director at the US National Science Foundation, where he led the Directorate of Computer and Information Science and Engineering; he also served in the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).