About ACM @ IWU

About ACM

ACM is a student chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery, which is a professional society dedicated to advancing human capabilities through information technology. Founded in 1947, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is the largest and oldest international scientific and educational computer society in the industry today. Organized only a year after the unveiling of ENIAC, the first general purpose electronic computer, ACM was established by mathematicians and electrical engineers to advance the science and application of information technology. John Mauchly, co-inventor of the ENIAC, was one of ACM's founders.

Located in the Center for Natural Sciences (CNS), the ACM usually holds open meetings bi-monthly on Monday evenings at 7:00 pm in E201. Open meetings serve several purposes. Often, a speaker will address the group regarding a hot topic in the computer industry. Otherwise, in most meetings, members give presentations on topics related to computers. Another purpose of the open meetings is to make decisions about events and other important matters pertaining to the ACM. We are currently pursuing a project to build and program an AI Robot. The ACM would also like to participate in the annual international programming contest. Everyone is welcome to participate in events, or simply attend the meetings. Attendees are encouraged to join the ACM so that, as a voting member, they can help in the decision processes regarding the organization.

Special social events are also held occasionally. In the past, the ACM has sponsored the annual computer science picnic at a faculty member's home, a computer smashing in the quad, or a raffle for a new PDA. The ACM also organizes off-campus events such as touring a local Fortune 500 company's systems facilities or visiting the computing facilities at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.

Facilities

The ACM often meets in the Artificial Intelligence Research Lab in the CNS, E008. The lab consists of a cluster system for artificial intelligence development, several Linux based workstations, and a computer components workbench. It also has several books owned by the ACM, that can be issued by members.

General meetings are held in the CNS, E201. The lab consists of iMac workstations running the MacOS X operating system, a screen projection system, and multimedia capabilities for playing audio and DVDs.

The Center for Natural Sciences is a $25 million dollar facility housing state-of-the-art technology and the Natural Sciences program at Illinois Wesleyan. The computer science department has labs utilizing brand new Apple iMac flat screen systems.