The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), the global computing society with nearly 100,000 members from more than 190 countries, has chartered a Baltimore professional chapter led by employees of The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel. It will be the only ACM professional chapter in the Baltimore/Washington region, which is home to thousands of computing professionals across leading universities, major companies and government agencies. 

The chapter’s founding was directed by Ashutosh Dutta, senior wireless research scientist and 5G chief strategist at APL and was chartered by ACM on Jan. 27. Dutta will serve as chair of the new Baltimore ACM Chapter, working with a team of officers from APL and Johns Hopkins University (JHU). He has been an ACM member for 25 years and, through his service, has achieved the rank of senior member and ACM Distinguished Speaker. 

“We have professionals who come to this region from all over the world, but when I searched for a local ACM chapter, I realized there was a void here. Professionals need a platform for networking and professional development,” Dutta said. He noted that ACM supports collaboration across academia, industry and all sectors, adding, “Our chapter will help community members across the region connect with their peers and learn from and support each other.” 

More than 50 APL employees are currently ACM members.