UpDate - Vol. 15, No. 22, Page 7
February 29, 1996
UD staff involved in Philadelphia conference

     While the UD student team was competing in the ACM international
computer programing contest, two other members of the University were
busy organizing segments of a weeklong conference by the professional
association of computer scientists.
     According  to Errol Lloyd, computer and information sciences, the
ACM event, held Feb. 10-18 in Philadelphia, was a 50th anniversary
celebration of the unveiling of the first successful electronic
digital computer, the  ENIAC, in 1946.
     For the conference, Lloyd organized three workshops on such
subjects as multimedia applications in computer science, recent
advances in computer chess and using cryptography on the internet to
protect business transactions.
     Susan Foster, information technologies, served on the steering
committee for the event, providing computer systems support and
coordinating new exhibits.
     The computer science conference included workshops, technical
papers, tutorials, speakers, panel discussions and a chess match
between world chess champion Garry Kasparov and an IBM computer chess
program.
     "It may sound ridiculous to some people, but the chess match was
as exciting as the Super Bowl," Lloyd said. Kasparov competed in six
games against the Deep Blue chess playing system.
     Although he lost the first game and two other games ended in
draws, Kasparov went on to win the final three games and the match.
     During the conference, W. Barkley Fritz, a retired faculty member
from the Department of Computer and Information Services, spoke on
"The Army, the National Need and the ENIAC."
                                                        -Cornelia Weil