Sept. 27, 2001

Vol. 12, No. 12

The "8 1/2 x 11 News" is published each week by the Department of Public Relations. News of campus interest should be sent to
Ed Delaney, 412-268-1609 (ed47@andrew.cmu.edu) or Bruce Gerson, 412-268-1613 (bg02@andrew.cmu.edu). The newsletter is available on the official.cmu-news and cmu.misc.news bulletin boards.

Previous editions are available online.

SCS FACULTY RECEIVE MORE THAN $24 MILLION FOR RESEARCH

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded faculty in the School of Computer Science more than $24 million in grants from its Information Technology Research Initiative.

—The 14 awards, announced on Sept. 25, are part of a $156 million program established to maintain U S. leadership in computer science and its applications, and to promote fundamental research and innovative uses of information technology in science and engineering.

—One of the largest awards, totaling more than $5.6 million, was made to Guy Blelloch, Daniel Sleator, Ravi Ramamoorthi and Manuel, Avrim and Lenore Blum, who submitted a proposal titled "ALADDIN: A Center for Algorithm Adaption, Dissemination and Integration."

—The list of faculty receiving NSF awards is posted on official.cmu-news for Sept. 25.

UNITED WAY CAMPAIGN BEGINS; SPECIAL "SEPT. 11TH FUND" CREATED

Carnegie Mellon's annual United Way Campaign, which begins Oct. 1, will allow members of the university community to contribute to the national disaster relief efforts through "The September 11th Fund." The special fund will support victims and their families in the New York City, Washington, D.C., and Somerset, Pa. tragedies.

—Donors are asked to support the fund as a supplement to their normal contributions to the United Way, which helps to fund many health and human services organizations in the region, including Carnegie Mellon's Cyert Center for Early Education and other programs.

—Although the United Way campaign goal remains at $150,000, the university hopes to increase its level of participation across campus. Last year only a small percentage of the university donated a total of $153,000.

—Pledge forms are being distributed by campus mail. Individuals can use payroll deduction, a personal check, cash or a credit card. You can also pledge online at www.unitedwaypittsburgh.org

WESTINGHOUSE GIFT TO SUPPORT GRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS

The B.G. Lamme/Westinghouse Graduate Fellowship Fund has given Carnegie Mellon an endowment valued at $1,161,426 that will be used to provide graduate fellowships in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Westinghouse Electric established the Lamme Scholarship Fund for graduate study in electrical engineering in 1927 in memory of Westinghouse chief engineer Benjamin Garver Lemme, who died in 1924. Originally, the fund was only to be used for graduate study by Westinghouse engineers. When Westinghouse Electric was dismantled in the late 1990s, Carnegie Mellon was granted this endowment to support fellowships in electrical and computer engineering. With this gift, Westinghouse Electric has contributed more than $3.2 million to the university since 1985.

INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL ON AFRICA IS OCT. 4 - 7

The theme of this year's Carnegie Mellon International Festival is "Africa: Past, Present & Future." Starting with a display of artwork in the University Center Art Gallery and ending with a performance by the band "Afrisa," the festival examines critical issues, art, culture, personal stories and entertainment focusing on the continent of Africa. The keynote speaker is Dimandja Kasongo, president/founder of the American University of Kinshasa in the Congo.

—The complete schedule is available at http://www.cmu.edu/enrollment/sa/international.html

DOHERTY HALL CONSTRUCTION WILL RESTRICT WEST CAMPUS PARKING

Upcoming construction in Doherty Hall will cause 32 parking spaces in the West Campus parking lot to be closed from Oct. 1 - Dec. 31. These spaces are needed to accommodate steel deliveries. During some phases of the construction, it will be necessary to stop vehicular traffic throughout the construction site at various times. There will also be disruptions to pedestrian traffic. Detour routes will be created to accommodate pedestrians as effectively and efficiently as possible. Further information: official.cmu-news, Sept. 27.

BUGGY PRACTICE BEGINS NEXT WEEKEND

On select weekends throughout the fall and spring semester, Buggy/Sweepstakes practices will be held from 6 - 9 a.m. in Schenley Park to prepare for the April races. The Sweepstakes Committee has secured permits from the City of Pittsburgh to use Tech Street, Frew Street and Schenley Drive on the following dates: Sept. 29 & 30, Oct. 6 & 7, Oct. 13 & 14, Oct. 20 & 21, Oct. 27 & 28, Nov. 3 & 4, Nov. 10 & 11, Nov. 17 & 18.

—On those weekends, roads close at 6 a.m. and re-open promptly at 9 a.m. Cars that remain parked on the designated streets after 5 a.m. will be towed by the city at the owner's expense.

VIDEO OF HERB SIMON INTERVIEW TO BE SHOWN OCT. 6

"A Conversation With Herb Simon," a 25-minute video of an interview with the late Nobel Laureate Herbert Simon, will be presented at 4 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 6 in McConomy Auditorium as part of the university's Parent's Weekend. Simon won the 1978 Nobel Prize in Economics for his pioneering research into the decision-making process within economic organizations. He is recognized as one of the founders of the field of artificial intelligence.

—Copies of the video will be available for $25 to support the Andrew Carnegie Society Scholarship fund.

THE 8-PAGE "CARNEGIE MELLON NEWS" IS AVAILABLE ONLINE

The Sept. 27 issue of the "Carnegie Mellon News" is available at http://www.cmu.edu:/cmnews/index.html Contents include: "University Rallies to Mourn National Tragedy", "Carnegie Mellon Rated ŒMost Wired', Again," "Robert Page Receives Professorship in Music," "40-Year-Old Sets Hectic Pace as Freshman and CFA Staff Member" and "Satyanarayanan Heads New Intel Lab to Develop Improved Software Systems for Data Storage."

PERSONAL MENTION

—Norman Chigier, the William J. Brown professor of mechanical engineering, is president of the International Institute of Liquid Atomization and Spray Systems (ILASS). He presented two papers and was the banquet speaker at the ILASS-Europe Conference in Zurich, Switzerland, Sept. 3-6. At the ILASS-Asia Conference in Busan, Korea, Oct. 10-13, he will present two papers and the Invited Plenary Lecture "Atomization and Sprays in Perspective."

—Babak Falsafi, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, has received an IBM Faculty Partnership Award for his work on bridging the processor/memory performance gap in future generation computer systems. Falsafi's research group, the CMU Impetus is proposing novel memory system designs which unlike conventional approaches are "proactive." A proactive memory system tracks and learns a processor's memory access patterns and bridges the processor/memory performance gap by predicting subsequent memory accesses to hide the access latency.

CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS

—Friday Sept. 28: The Morris H. DeGroot Memorial Lecture. Sir David Cox, University of Oxford. 4:15 p.m., McConomy Auditorium, University Center. See official.cmu-news, Sept. 20.

—Monday, Oct. 1: President Jared L. Cohon's Address to Staff. Noon, McConomy Auditorium, UC.

—Monday, Oct.1: University Lecture Series. "Film Scoring as a Collaborative Art Form in the Golden Age of Hollywood." Jeannie Pool, executive director of the Film Music Society. 4:30-6 p.m., Adamson Wing.

—Wednesday, Oct. 3: Workshop on Cost Sharing. 2 - 4:30 p.m., Connan Room, UC. This workshop will explain the difference between cost sharing and matching funds, Carnegie Mellon procedures in Oracle to handle cost sharing, and how to satisfy documentation requirements. New and experienced research administrators, or anyone interested in the field of research administration, and faculty who have research projects with cost sharing commitments, should attend. Presenters: Thomas M. Eagan and Joseph Sullivan, Office of Sponsored Research. Register at: http://hr.web.cmu.edu/learning/registration1.htm

—Thursday, Oct. 4: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Seminar Series. "State of ECE Address." Pradeep Khosla, ECE department head. 4 - 5 p.m., Scaife Hall Auditorium, Rm. 125. Refreshments begin at 3:30 pm. See http://amp.ece.cmu.edu for details.

—Thursday, Oct. 4: University Lecture Series. International Festival. "Africa." Ernest Green, managing director, Public Finance for Lehman Brothers,Washington, D.C. . 4:30 p.m., Adamson Wing.

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