2009 Quarter 3

    REPORT FROM THE ASSOCIATION FOR CONSTRAINT PROGRAMMING

This is a short summary of activities within the ACP during the months July-September 2009.

The 2009 ACP Executive Committee comprises the following people:

  • Barry O'Sullivan - President
  • Jimmy H.M. Lee - Secretary
  • Thomas Schiex - Treasurer
  • Pedro Meseguer - Conference Coordinator

  • Christian Bessiere

  • John Hooker
  • Karen Petrie
  • Christian Schulte
  • Peter Stuckey
  • Michael Trick
  • Roland Yap

The ACP Executive Committee welcomes feedback and suggestions from the ACP community. We encourage you to engage with the ACP-EC to help design new initiatives that promote constraint programming.

ACP.1. Brief Comment on CP 2009

On behalf of the ACP, the Executive Committee would like to congratulate the various people responsible for making CP 2009 in Lisbon such a success. Special thanks goes to Pedro Barahona (Conference Chair), Ian Gent (Program Chair), Ian Miguel and Patrick Prosser (Tutorial and Workshop Chairs), Karen Petrie and Olivia Smith (Doctoral Program Chairs), Jorge Cruz (Sponsorship Chair), and Francisco Azevedo (Publicity Chair). We would also like to thank the Organising Committee: Ines Lynce, Vasco Manquinho, Ludwig Krippahl and Elsa Carvalho.

ACP.2. ACP General Assembly 2009

During the CP 2009 conference, the annual ACP General Assembly took place. It was chaird by the current ACP President, Barry O'Sullivan, and was well attended by the community. The main recommendation from the ACP-EC was that the ACP Research Excellence Award move to a 2 year cycle; this was supported. The award will be given on odd-numbered years in the future. A new award, the ACP Outstanding Service Award, will be introduced and will be awarded on even-numbered years. A constructive discussion took place on how to move the community forward from its current position of strength. The main additional discussion items were (a) how to structure the two main solver competitions in the field, and (b) other activities the ACP should run each year. The minutes for the assembly will be made available on the ACP web-site.

ACP.3. Call for Proposals for New ACP Activities

During the ACP General Assembly the Treasurer, Thomas Schiex, reported that the association is in good financial standing. It was also reported that CP 2008 would be declaring a strong surplus. Therefore, the ACP would like to receive proposals for other activities that the association should support. Please send your suggestions to secretary@cp-online.org

ACP.4. Call for Proposals to Host the ACP Summer School 2010

Members of the CP community who are interested in organizing the 2010 ACP Summer School should send a proposal to secretary@cp-online.org by November 30th 2009, containing at least the following information: * 1. topic of the school * 2. location * 3. dates * 4. organizers * 5. provisional budget Since its establishment, the summer school has been a major success with feedback from student attendees being very positive.