Dear Members of ACM SIGDA,

After two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world is slowly returning to a new normal. In the Design Automation Conference (DAC) held in San Francisco last month, more than a thousand engineers, scholars, and students gathered in person for the first time in the last two and half years. They presented research ideas, exchanged industrial and societal information, and discussed collaboration opportunities. The only notable difference was probably that everyone was  wearing a mask. 

As  the world reopened from the pandemic, SIGDA elected its new executive committee (EC) in the summer of 2021. Like its predecessors, the new EC is responsible for all regular operations  of SIGDA, including conferences, publications and media, educational and technical activities, awards, and members’ benefits. Understandably, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought numerous unprecedented challenges that the current EC, and the whole SIGDA in general, are facing: disrupted international travels, unpredictable outbreaks of local epidemics, and lack of efficient and effective communications among our members, to name a few. Fortunately, the volunteers of SIGDA and the whole society at large have accumulated extensive experience in overcoming these challenges: the successful in-person DAC last month was just a perfect example. 

Building on these experiences, the new EC has been working tirelessly with our volunteers and the whole society to meet these challenges and prepare for the era after the pandemic. A new “Who’s Who” column of the SIGDA website (https://www.sigda.org/whos-who/) has been launched so that we’d still be able to learn about those active young researchers and scholars all over the world. A new version of ACM/SIGDA E-Newsletter is in the works, among many initiatives that are being planned. I am very proud of how our members, volunteers, and SIGDA leadership team have persevered through the challenging times and have also been delighted to witness the remarkable progress and achievements we have made in the past year. With this message we not only celebrate a successful 2021 with you, but also look forward to sharing some big goals and ideas soon! Our fellows will get in touch with you in the new year about our new plans and initiatives.

My warmest wishes to all the SIGDA members and their families for a healthy, restorative and productive 2022!

Yiran Chen

Chair of ACM SIGDA