Richard Dimick Jenks
Memorial Prize
2004 Award

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Image of the 2004 Jenks Prize Plaque


A check for US$1,000 and the above plaque was presented to the SINGULAR research team by Dr. Barry Trager at the 2004 ISSAC Symposium in Santander, Spain, on July 6, 2004. Dr. Hans Schönemann accepted the prize on behalf of the SINGULAR team. The SINGULAR research group is under the overall direction of Prof. Dr. Gert-Martin Greuel, Prof. Dr. Gerhard Pfister, and Dr. Schönemann.

SINGULAR is a specialized computer algebra system for polynomial computations. The main stimulus for the system comes from research problems in algebraic geometry, commutative algebra, and singularity theory and also from applications like microelectronic circuit design and more recently from system and control theory. Implementations of Gröbner basis-type algorithms play a key role in the system. Both binaries and source code for the system are available free under the GPL license.

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."


SINGULAR has many worthy attributes, but so did a number of the other software packages that were nominated for the Prize. The Prize Committee was delighted by the quality of the nominees, and consequently the choice of the winner was not straightforward. It will be a pleasure to see some of the other deserving nominees win the prize in the future.

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