Simson Garfinkel

Nov 22, 2024 | cacm.acm.org | Eugene H Spafford |Simson Garfinkel |R. Colin Johnson |Mark Halper

E. Allen Emerson was the first graduate student of Edmund M. Clarke at Harvard University. After discussing several ideas for Allen’s dissertation, they identified a promising candidate: verifying a finite-state system against a formal specification. According to Martha Clarke, Edmund’s widow, it was during a walk across Harvard Yard that they decided to call it “model checking.” Emerson received his Ph.D. in applied mathematics for this work in 1981.

Oct 30, 2024 | linkedin.com | Simson Garfinkel

As Halloween fast approaches, I thought it would be fun to recount a dinner talk that I gave several years ago on a dark and stormy night, and riff on the idea of spooky data—something that’s all too real in today’s data-oriented economy… In quantum physics, there is the concept of quantum entanglement: two particles can be entangled and remain linked, even if they are later separated by great distance.

Jun 27, 2024 | cacm.acm.org | Simson Garfinkel |Eugene H Spafford |R. Colin Johnson |Alex Williams

In the 1980s, there was a debate in the field of high-performance computing: Was it possible to create a supercomputer by connecting thousands of general-purpose processors, or as predicted by Amhdal’s Law, would significant speedups be impossible because at least 1% of any computation would necessarily be sequential?

Feb 29, 2024 | cacm.acm.org | Simson Garfinkel |Eugene H Spafford |Sam Greengard |Logan Kugler

Computing pioneer Niklaus Wirth died on January 1, 2024, just 45 days short of his 90th birthday. Wirth was born in Switzerland in 1934. He received his B.S. from ETH (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) in Zurich in 1959, and his M.Sc. degree from Université Laval in Montreal in 1960. He then attended the University of California at Berkeley, where he obtained his Ph.D. in EECS in 1963. Wirth then joined the faculty at Stanford University, but left in 1968 to join the faculty of ETH in Zurich.

Feb 22, 2024 | cacm.acm.org | Simson Garfinkel |Eugene H Spafford

View as:PrintMobile AppACM Digital LibraryIn the Digital EditionShare:Computing Pioneer Niklaus Wirth died on January 1, 2024, just 45 days short of his 90th birthday. Wirth was born in Switzerland in 1934. He received his B.S. from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich in 1959, and his M.Sc. degree from Université Laval in Montreal in 1960. He then attended the University of California at Berkeley, where he obtained his Ph.D. in EECS in 1963.