April 4, 2002

Vol. 12, No. 37

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.

Last year's editions are available online.

Previous editions are available online.

STATE AWARDS $33.33 MILLION TO PITTSBURGH LIFE SCIENCES GREENHOUSE

The Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse, Inc. (PLSG), a partnership aimed at making the region a global leader in the biotechnology field, has secured $33.33 million in seed funding from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and has attracted its first company to the region. Renal Solutions, Inc., of West Lafayette, Ind., is relocating to Thorn Hill Industrial Park in Warrendale, Pa., to avail itself of the region's deep medical, research and business assets. The medical device and healthcare service company that focuses on patients with chronic kidney failure, has developed a self-contained, transportable kidney dialysis product that enables patients to self-administer dialysis therapy in their own home.

—The PLSG is a partnership between Carnegie Mellon, the University of Pittsburgh, the region's biotechnology industry, economic development organizations, and state and local governments.

—"In a very short time, the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse has demonstrated its robust capability for marshalling the region's resources," said President Jared Cohon, co-chairman of the PLSG C. "We are pleased that the state is as committed to this effort as we are. Carnegie Mellon is making an educational and financial commitment to enhancing its existing strengths in areas such as tissue engineering, medical robotics, biomedical engineering and brain imaging to support the Life Sciences Greenhouse and to help make southwestern Pennsylvania a global leader in the bioscience industry."

NEW CENTER ADDRESSES GROWTH OF WIRELESS & BROADBAND NETWORKING

Carnegie Mellon's new Center for Wireless and Broadband Networking will tap into collaborative research and university innovations under way to help accelerate growth in today's $116 billion telecommunications and networking industry. Under the direction of Engineering Professor Dan Stancil, the center is designed to create and disseminate knowledge about advanced heterogeneous networks through research, teaching and technology transfer. With more than 20 faculty members and more than 50 research projects, it is organized in four distinct areas of expertise: networking, wireless communication, telecommunications policy and optical communications. Further information: official.cmu-news, April 3.

WINNERS OF RYAN, DOHERTY AND ADVISING AWARDS

The selection committees for the university's education awards have announced this year's winners. The Undergraduate Academic Advising Award for Outstanding Contributions to Academic Advising and Mentoring: Steve Garoff, professor, Department of Physics. The Robert Doherty Prize for Excellence in Education: Harry Faulk, associate dean (emeritus), Heinz School. The William H. and Frances S. Ryan Award for Meritorious Teaching: Laura Lee, associate professor, School of Architecture.

—The award winners will be honored at 4:30 p.m., Monday, April 29, in Rangos Hall, University Center (UC).

UNIVERSITY POLICE WARN OF LAPTOP THEFTS

Over the past several weeks, Baker, Porter and Wean have become the scene of many laptop thefts from offices and labs. Information to help you protect your laptop from theft is posted on official.cmu-news, April 3.

CHILD-CARE REFERRAL SERVICE

As of April 1, Ceridian LifeWorks, the university's new employee assistance program provider, has taken over the administration of the child-care referral service. The benefit has not changed. Eligible faculty and staff will continue to have assistance in selecting appropriate child care providers and the same extensive child care referral network will remain available through Ceridian LifeWorks. To contact referral service benefits for child care, call Ceridian LifeWorks at 1-800-267-8126 or visit the Web site at http://hr.web.cmu.edu. Questions? Contact Human Resources Service Center at 412-268-4747.

PERSONAL MENTION

—Rob Kass, professor and head, Department of Statistics, delivered the Institute of Mathematical Statistics' Medallion Special Invited Lecture at its joint meeting with the Biometric Society in Alexandria, Va. on March 18.

—Jana Asher, a Ph.D. student in Statistics, was a member of a scientific team whose results were reported during the war crimes trial of Slobodan Milosevic. The team reported that the evidence they have gathered is consistent with the hypothesis that Yugoslav forces conducted a systematic campaign of killings and expulsions of ethnic Albanians from Kosovo in spring 1999.

—James W. Schneider, assistant professor, Chemical Engineering, has been awarded a Beckman Young Investigator (BYI) award grant for his proposal on Nucleic Acid Separations for Microchip Analysis and Plasmid Purfication. He will receive $240,000 over three years. The BYI Program provides research support to the most promising young faculty members in the early stages of academic careers in chemical and life sciences.

—Cristina H. Amon, the Raymond J. Lane Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering and director of the Institute for Complex Engineered Systems, received the Ralph Coats Roe Award from the Mechanical Engineering Division of the American Society for Engineering Education. The award recognizes a mechanical engineering educator who has excellence in teaching for at least a decade and who has made notable professional contributions.

—Graduate Student Association Conference Funding (GSACF), developed and financed by the Graduate Student Organization in collaboration with the Graduate Programs Office and the Provost's Office, enables more Carnegie Mellon graduate students to attend or make presentations at key conferences/exhibitions in their fields. The March GSACF winners are: Paulo Gualdi, piano performance, CFA; Hisun Kim, interaction design, CFA; Srila Nayak, English, H&SS; Sarah E. Petricca, Biomedical and Health Engineering, CIT; Mingxin Xu, Mathematical Finance, MCS.

—Pamela Lewis, principal lecturer in professional speaking, Heinz School, and a volunteer with the Bach Choir of Pittsburgh, has received the Dominion Volunteer in the Arts award for her commitment to the choir.

—Mort Kaplan, professor of chemistry, has been selected as the Deputy Council Chairperson of the STAR Collaboration, an international consortium of 451 scientists and engineers from 45 institutions. The collaboration is engaged in the operation of the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy on Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory. This experiment hopes to recreate the conditions believed to exist in the very early stages of the universe, roughly one microsecond after the "big bang."

CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS

—Monday, April 8: University Lecture Series. "How Low is Low Enough? Regulating Hazardous Materials." Roger McClellan, president emeritus, Chemical Industries Institute of Toxicology. 4:30 p.m., Adamson Wing.

—Tuesday, April 9: The Ken Westerberg Memorial Blood Drive, sponsored by the Institute for Complex Engineered Systems. 1 - 7 p.m., Singleton Room, Roberts Engineering Hall. To schedule an appointment, contact Dana Hilinski at hilinski@andrew.cmu.edu or at 8-5227.

—Thursday, April 11: Professors Jonathan Cagan, Mechanical Engineering, and Craig Vogel, School of Design, are featured speakers at the University Club's Academic Speaker Series. 6:30 p.m. Following dinner, both authors will discuss their new book: "Creating Breakthrough Products." $10 dinner fee. No reservation required. University Club, University Place, Oakland.

—Thursday, April 11: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Seminar Series. "The Role of Embedded Software in the Automobile Industry." Tom Fuhrman, senior staff research engineer, Research & Development and Planning, General Motors Corporation. 4 - 5 p.m., Scaife Hall Auditorium.

—Friday, April 12: Mechanical Engineering Seminar. "Unstructured Three-Dimensional Mesh Generation with Controlled Anisotropy and Directionality." Soji Yamakawa, Ph.D. candidate, Mechanical Engineering Department. 2:45 p.m., Scaife Hall 125.

—Saturday, April 13: Musical celebration in memory of Professor Nelson Whitaker, who died last year. 4:30 p.m., Kresge Recital Hall. Whitaker retired in 1994 after 46 years of teaching piano at the university.

—Saturday, April 13: Carnegie Mellon Wind Ensemble. Denis Colwell, conductor. 3 p.m., Carnegie Music Hall. Ticket info: 412-268-2383.

—Tuesday, April 23: Secretary's Day Luncheon hosted by Human Resources. 11:30 a.m. - 2 p.m., Rangos Ballroom, UC. The program includes a discussion on "Communication Differences between Men and Women" led by Lola Komisin, Human Resources organizational development consultant. Register at http://hr.web.cmu.edu

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