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Timothy M. Pinkston Professor, USC July 25-27, 2009

CDC/CRA CHiPs Mentoring Workshop What Does It Mean to Earn a PhD? Perspectives from Successful Researchers. Timothy M. Pinkston Professor, USC July 25-27, 2009. My Background. Education: BSEE (minor in CS): The Ohio State Univ., ’85 MSEE ( Computer Engineering): Stanford U., ’86

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Timothy M. Pinkston Professor, USC July 25-27, 2009

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  1. CDC/CRACHiPs Mentoring WorkshopWhat Does It Mean to Earn a PhD?Perspectives from Successful Researchers Timothy M. Pinkston Professor, USC July 25-27, 2009

  2. My Background • Education: • BSEE (minor in CS): The Ohio State Univ., ’85 • MSEE (Computer Engineering): Stanford U., ’86 • PhDEE (Computer Engineering, Comp Arch): Stanford U., ’93 • Experience: • Industry: AT&T Bell Labs, ’85-’86; IBM Intern, ‘89-’90 (summers); Hughes Research Labs (HRL) Doctoral Fellow ’90-’93 • Academia: University of Southern California ’93 - present • Government: NSF, Jan. ‘06 – Dec. ‘08 • Research Interests: • Computer systems architecture: interconnection networks, on-chip networks for multicore and multiprocessor systems • Recent Activities: • “Interconnection Networks” with Jose Duato , book chapter in Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach, 4th edition, J. L. Hennessy and D. A. Patterson (2006) • Lead Program Director for Expeditions in Computing program: NSF CISE, $40M award portfolio in inaugural year (2008)

  3. Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Degree • About the Ph.D. (ref. wikipedia) • Origins date back to the middle ages—first awarded in 1150 A.D. in Europe (Paris); first awarded in U.S. at Yale University in 1861 • For academic disciplines outside the professional fields of theology (Th.D), medicine (M.D.), and law (J.D.) • Highest degree conferred by a university to an individual • Advanced coursework plus regiment of research and scholarship that builds upon, and contributes to, our wealth of knowledge • Value in Industry • Often required for positions of technical leadership, management • Value in Academia • Almost always a requirement for college/univ. faculty positions • Earning a Ph.D. demarks the embarkation of a career-long journey of discovery and cutting-edge innovation

  4. Research and Scholarship • Research: can be thought of as “concentrated study” that contributes new knowledge & understanding • Seeks answers to difficult questions: What is (is not) possible? • Seeks discovery of new knowledge and insights in addition to broad, deep understanding and/or creative application of them • New theories, methods, algorithms, techniques, technologies, designs • Far-reaching scope in both time horizon and space of exploration • goes beyond high-end development, which typically looks out only a few years and has a well constrained design space with fewer, less complex tradeoffs • Provides basis/foundation for new innovation, new inventions … • Hallmark: SOS—sustained, original, significant work • Understand problem, gain awareness of other proposed solutions (assumptions, benefits, limitations), propose new idea(s), formulate plan of attack, evaluate effectiveness, document/disseminate results • Scholarship: provides state-of-the-art context for research

  5. Characteristics of Research • What can one expect from doing research? • As much effort can go into understanding and defining the problem as goes into finding novel solutions • May happen upon unexpected discoveries along the way • May need to change directions based on preliminary findings • Oftentimes must build new tools (research infrastructure) to enable discovery and/or evaluation of what’s being discovered • High Performance Systems research: develop relevant benchmarks or metrics, simulation/synthesis tools, experimental prototypes, etc. • Many good ideas may not transfer to commercial products, yet they can contribute to our base of knowledge and understanding • Some research results take years for technology to catch up • Highly focused effort, but can (should) have wide ramifications • Research efforts should work towards achieving a goal

  6. Properties of a Research Goal • Simple to state • Not obvious how to do it • Clear benefit • Progress and solution are testable • Can be broken into smaller steps • So that you can see intermediate progress By Jim Gray, Turing Award Winner http://research.Microsoft.com/~Gray/talks/Turing2.ppt

  7. Ultimate Driver of (Systems) Research Societal Challenges • Push-pull between three drivers of research • Spurred by scientific inquiry, systems research ultimately should help us meet societal challenges through innovative technological advancement Technological Advancement Scientific Inquiry

  8. In Conclusion • Earning a Ph.D. • Acknowledges you for attaining highest scholastic achievement • Equips you to do research that contributes new knowledge • Enables you to become an “expert” in an area within a discipline • Puts you in driver’s seat to pursue satisfying career opportunities • Academia • Industry • Government Labs • Entrepreneurship • Sets you on a course for making exciting and impactful new discoveries that, ultimately, benefit society • Learning and discovery do not end with earning a Ph.D.

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