Date: Fri, 12 Jan 96 00:01:08 -0500
From: dwl@cs.duke.edu (D.W.Loveland)
Message-Id: <9601120501.AA27915@stego.cs.duke.edu>
To: qed@mcs.anl.gov
Subject: Call for written contributions
Sender: owner-qed@mcs.anl.gov
Precedence: bulk

This is a call for written contributions to assist the preparation
of a report on the future directions of automated deduction, as
explained below.

Because of concern of a possible sharp decrease in funding of
ATP research in the United States, a workshop has been organized
to assess the future directions of Automated Deduction(AD).
The outcome is to be a report that we expect will present a case 
for strong support of the field.  This
``Workshop on Future Directions of Automated Deduction'' is to be
funded by the National Science Foundation(NSF) with a modest
budget that prohibits bringing to the workshop many key
researchers (e.g., participation of foreign researchers cannot be
funded).  The scope of the workshop will be limited to future
directions, present and future applications of automated
deduction, and the anticipated influence of automated deduction
on other fields. No attempt will be made to fully survey the present
state of the field or the major accomplishments in the field to
date.

Given both the importance of this task to those in the U.S. and
perhaps to those in other countries, and the opportunity to
educate our professional peers as well as funding agencies, we 
wish to solicit input from the AD community at large. This will
insure that no relevant ideas or work is overlooked and 
that the best possible case is made for our research area.
The edited contributions will be made available to the
workshop participants and the ideas and insights will be of
direct use in a workshop report to NSF written by Larry Wos 
and me, and in a somewhat expanded paper planned for submission 
to a journal such as the Communications of the ACM. We also
intend to make the contributions, perhaps in edited form,
available to contributors via FTP.

The focus of your communication to us should be future directions
and future vision of AD.
While general philosophical thoughts are inspiring, and sometimes 
useful, of much greater use will be specific insights drawn from 
your research expertise, most likely in your subarea.  In particular, 
the NSF sponsors have made clear that they wish most to understand 
how our area is impacting other areas, research or development. 
This includes commercial applications; we are very much interested 
in learning of uses of AD in commercial products, existing or soon 
to be released. More generally, we seek information about ongoing 
projects that have possible links with applications. Also, we do seek
insight into new opportunities for applications and the obstacles 
encountered in realizing applications. While the above are our
priorities in interest, we welcome any comments that add new insight 
to the future directions of AD.

We expect that most contributions will be short, focusing on a 
single point.  If you do choose to present a comprehensive summary 
of your project or research subarea, the following organization is 
suggested:
(i) historical and intellectual perspective, 
(ii) overview of research and contributions of your particular
research subarea, 
(iii) impact of your research subarea on related fields, 
(iv) obstacles encountered, if any, and either overcome or those that 
prevent a still stronger impact, and 
(v) goals, opportunities and future directions of research in your 
subarea. 
References, if included, should follow the Jour. of Automated Reasoning 
format.  Items (iii),(iv) and (v) should be the main sections.
The presentation throughout should be succinct; this is important as 
vague or wordy contributions may be severely edited or relegated to a 
less prominent position in the collection of contributions.

Submissions in latex format are preferred.  Please include key words;
these will help us organize the ideas of different contributors.

We intend to compile the contributions for distribution prior 
to the workshop, which is planned for March 2-3. Therefore,
we request that Email messages be sent before February
15 (and the earlier the better), to both Deepak Kapur and me.
(Deepak, together with Peter Andrews, Bob Boyer, and Mark Stickel
form the Steering Committee for this workshop.)  The Email
addresses are: 

	dwl@cs.duke.edu       kapur@cs.albany.edu 

(We appreciate the double mailing to simplify our handling.)  

The possibility exists that one or more contributors may be
invited to the workshop, with a subsidy to help offset
expenses. The number of people chosen, and the subsidy size,
depends on several dynamic variables within a very tight
budget. If such a selection is possible, the decision will be
made by the steering committee and myself based on the
contribution and the stature of the contributor.  There is no
need for contributors to apply for funding or invitation to the
workshop.

Donald Loveland
  Workshop Director