July 11, 2002

Vol. 13, No. 1

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.

An interdisciplinary scientific team from Carnegie Mellon and Dickinson College will receive $3.5 million from the Pennsylvania Department of Health over the next four years to create a more exact way to identify cancer subtypes, leading to improved diagnosis and treatments. The project begins this summer and is funded through 2006. It is one of four multi-million dollar grants awarded by the Department of Health this fiscal year. The support for these projects comes from Pennsylvania's tobacco settlement funds earmarked for research.

—"The wealth of expertise that will come together on this protein informatics project will be impressive," says Richard McCullough, dean of the Mellon College of Science. "The benefit it will make to our understanding of certain types of cancers will be substantial." Further information: www.cmu.edu/PR/press_releases/index.html

BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES GETS $2.2 MILLION FROM HUGHES MEDICAL INSTITUTE

Carnegie Mellon will receive a four-year, $2.2 million grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) to continue its development of highly interdisciplinary undergraduate programs in the biological sciences. The HHMI is a medical research organization whose principal mission is biomedical research.

—Elizabeth Jones, head of the university's Department of Biological Sciences, said the grant allows the department to "continue its strong commitment to undergraduate research, to equip and roll out a new interdisciplinary laboratory, and to strengthen and expand our interdisciplinary education programs." Further information: www.cmu.edu/PR/press_releases/index.html

GOVERNMENT RELATIONS OPENS OFFICE IN WASHINGTON, D.C.

Carnegie Mellon's Office of Government Relations, under director Maureen McFalls, has opened an office in Washington, D.C. It is available for use by the university community when visiting Washington to interact with federal officials and as a resource for information regarding legislative and policy matters.

—Sharon Grant, former legislative director for Pennsylvania Representative Mike Doyle, heads the office which is at 499 South Capitol Street, Suite 504A, Washington, D.C. 20003. She can be reached at 202-488-1780 or sharongr@andrew.cmu.edu.

PROGRAM ENCOURAGES YOUNG WOMEN TO STUDY ENGINEERING

Carnegie Mellon's Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is conducting its annual summer workshop from July 8 - 19 to introduce female students to the excitement of engineering professions and to increase awareness of engineering as a profession for women. The workshop offers hands-on activities in Biomedical, Chemical, Civil and Environmental, Electrical, Materials and Mechanical Engineering. Sponsored by companies and foundations, the program is coordinated by SWE advisor Hilda Diamond and conducted by professors Cristina Amon, Gary Fedder, Susan Finger, Annette Jacobson, Yoki Matsouka, Lisa Porter and Jeanne VanBriesen along with undergraduate and graduate students. Information is posted on www.andrew.cmu.edu/org/swe/eyf/

COMMITTEE TO STUDY PITTSBURGH'S RIVER POLLUTION

The National Academy of Sciences has chosen Pittsburgh for its first study of how an aging river city can avoid fouling its rivers with sewage and make its drinking water safer. A 14-member committee set up by the National Academy will hold its first public meeting, 10:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. and 1 - 5:15 p.m., Monday, July 15 in the University Center's Connan Room. Carnegie Mellon members of the committee are Joel A. Tarr, professor of urban and environmental policy, and Jeanne VanBriesen, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering.

VIDEOS WIN AWARDS

Ralph Vituccio, director of Media Special Projects in the University Advancement Division, has announced that Carnegie Mellon has won three major awards for excellence in media communications. The awards, by the Media Communications Association-International at its annual Festival of Awards in Media Excellence, recognize the best in professional video production. Winning a "Golden Reel Award" was Carnegie Mellon's new video created for the Carnegie Corporation's 100th anniversary celebration last December. The video can be accessed from www.cmu.edu. Winning the "Bronze Reel Award" was "Virtual March Madness," a TV commercial (www.cmu.edu/news/news_stories/01stories/01_superbowl.html) that aired during the 2001 NCAA Men's Basketball Championships on CBS. The "Admission Recruitment Video 2000" won a Telly Statuette, one of the most sought-after awards in the television commercial and video industry. Nearly 1,000 videos go through a preliminary judging process throughout the country, followed by a final evaluation by the Blue Ribbon panel of experienced video professionals. Information on the winning videos is posted on official.cmu-news for July 8.

NEWS BRIEFS

—The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) has announced the publication of a new CERT book, "Managing Information Security Risks: The OCTAVE Approach, by SEI staff members Christopher Alberts and Audrey Dorofee. The book is published by Addison-Wesley as part of the SEI Series in Software Engineering. Further information: official.cmu-news, July 3.

—The June/July issue of Carnegie Mellon News, the university's news periodical, is available on the Web at www.cmu.edu/cmnews/020621/020621_main.html

PERSONAL MENTION

—Sebastian Thrun, associate professor, Center for Automated Learning & Discovery, is the recipient of the Finmeccanica Chair for 2002 - 2005. The chair, which is a three-year appointment, recognizes "promising teaching and research potential in junior faculty members."

—Paul Hopper, the Thomas S. Baker Professor of English and Linguistics in the Department of English, recently gave a series of seminars on Grammaticalization to the Linguistics Department of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He also lectured at several other Brazilian universities.

—David Dzombak, professor of civil and environmental engineering, received the 2002 Professional Research Award from the Pennsylvania Water Environment Association (PWEA) at its annual meeting in State College, Pa. The award honors outstanding research in support of the PWEA mission, which is focused on municipal and industrial wastewater treatment.

—Donald Marinelli, co-director of the university's Entertainment Technology Center, was the keynote speaker at the Faculty Academy 2002 at Penn State University. The conference, "Embracing Problem-Based Approaches Online: Learning Without Walls," concentrated on technology-enhanced learning. The title of Marinelli's talk was "What Can Educational Technologists Learn from the Entertainment Industry."

—Jerry Griffin has been named the William J. Brown Professor of Mechanical Engineering. Griffin is an internationally renowned researcher in the area of turbomachinery vibrations, specifically in the area of engine blade "mis-tuning" problems, which can lead to excessive vibrations and failure of engines while in flight. In the past 20 years, Griffin's contributions have altered the design of aircraft turbine engines, making them safer. In 2001, he received the Carnegie Institute of Technology's inaugural Research Award.

—Jeffrey O. Hollinger, director of Carnegie Mellon's Bone Tissue Engineering Center, has been named an associate director of the Pittsburgh Tissue Engineering Initiative (PTEI) for a variety of projects, including new Web-based research. Hollinger, who came to Pittsburgh in July 2000 from the Oregon Health Sciences University, works with a multidisciplinary team of researchers to create lab-grown bones. His research team has received more than $4.5 million in funding from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Institutes of Health. He also has obtained more than $500,000 in industry-sponsored grants.

—Walter Schearer, business manager in the Institute for Software Research International, has been appointed to the additional post of director of planning and analysis for the School of Computer Science. In this new position, Schearer will provide long-term planning information for the dean and department heads.

—Alumna Marylouise D. Meder (L'49) has established a History of Books and Printing endowment for the Hunt Library, which will provide financial stability and growth potential for collecting fine and rare books in the book arts and graphic design. Her generosity will support, with additional acquisitions, an already notable collection at Carnegie Mellon that centers around four significant gifts: Rachel McMasters Miller Hunt's collection on the history of bookmaking and bookbinding; the collections of professors Homer Sterling (printing) and Arnold Bank (calligraphy and graphic design); and the collections of print management student Wilder Bentley (California fine-printing and books created by Carnegie Mellon's Lab Press). In the course of her career as a librarian and professor, Meder taught the History of Books and Printing for many years.

-Back to the top-