On July 6, 2004, at the ISSAC Symposium in Santander, Spain, the first Richard D. Jenks Memorial Prize for Excellence in Software Engineering applied to Computer Algebra was awarded to the research team for SINGULAR. A check for US$ 1,000 and a handsome plaque was presented to Dr. Hans Schönemann of SINGULAR by Dr. Barry Trager on behalf of the Prize Committee. The SINGULAR research group is under the overall direction of Prof. Dr. Gert-Martin Greuel, Prof. Dr. Gerhard Pfister, and Dr. Schönemann at the Centre for Computer Algebra of the University of Kaiserlautern.
SINGULAR is a specialized computer algebra system for polynomial
computations that was lauded by the Prize Committee for its
contributions to the practice of algebraic computation and its impact
on scientific research. The main stimulus for the system comes from
research problems in algebraic geometry, commutative algebra, and
singularity theory. Implementations of Gröbner basis-type
algorithms play a key role in the system. SINGULAR:PLURAL is a
kernel extension of SINGULAR that is designed for fast computation
within a certain class of non-commutative polynomial algebras. This
extension allows one to tackle many problems coming from
representation theory, including Lie and quantum algebras, algebraic
geometry, theoretical physics, and differential equations. Both
binaries and source code for the system are available free under the
GPL license. A textbook, A Singular Introduction to Commutative
Algebra, by Greuel and Pfister that features use of SINGULAR has
been published by Springer. Additional information about the software
can be found at the SINGULAR home page:
http://www.singular.uni-kl.de.
A respected scientist from the USA wrote the following in support of
the Singular nomination:
I have been using SINGULAR for serious polynomial manipulations since 1996. [...] SINGULAR is not hard to use, the C-like syntax enables rank amateurs like myself to write complicated yet transparent code without a knowledge of the finer points of computer programming or data structures. Its excellent on-line manual removes the fear of using new parts of the package. [...] Certainly the SINGULAR Team, or other letter writers will tell you about the internal reasons that SINGULAR is a great piece of symbolic computing software. My perspective as a user should tell you that it passes the most important (and perhaps hardest) test: Is the software sufficiently easy to use, well-designed and versatile enough for others to choose to use it in their work? In my perspective, it is at the head of its class by this measure.
The idea of a prize in computer algebra for contributions in software engineering is due to the late Richard D. Jenks. Dr. Jenks wanted a way to recognize outstanding examples of research and development in this area of work and to encourage future excellence. The prize became a reality when, before his death, Dr. Jenks contributed the residue of funds from the series of Computers and Mathematics symposia that he and David Chudnovsky had organized over the years. After his death, friends and organizations made additional contributions to the prize fund in his memory. The 2004 award was the first of what is intended to be regular awards in future years.
The prize has been administered to date in an informal way by a number of colleagues of Dr. Jenks. It is anticipated that the administration will soon be delegated to an appropriate professional organization. The 2004 Prize Committee consisted of Dr. Manuel Bronstein of INRIA Sophia Antipolis, Prof. Bob Caviness of the University of Delaware, Prof. James Davenport of the University of Bath, Prof. Patrizia Gianni of the University of Pisa, and Dr. Barry Trager of IBM Research. More information about the prize can be found at http://www.cis.udel.edu/~caviness/jenks.