October 10, 2002

Vol. 13, No. 14

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.

Carnegie Mellon's Center for Computer and Communications Security (C3S) will receive $35.5 million over the next five years from the Department of Defense to create a new network security paradigm to tackle the challenges related to Internet security, data storage and privacy issues stemming from America's ongoing war against terrorism.

—The new multidisciplinary center, headed by Pradeep Khosla of Electrical and Computer Engineering, will pull research faculty from the school's Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Engineering and Public Policy Department, the School of Computer Science, the Department of Statistics, the Heinz School, the Software Engineering Institute and the CERT Coordination Center, the nation's first and best-known computer emergency response team.

—Khosla said the crucial role that information technology plays in warfare and homeland security inspired Carnegie Mellon to create the new center. "The focus on using technology to meet security challenges has implications on both private and public organizations, and that's why our research is a collaborative effort."

—Further information: official.cmu-news, Oct. 8.

CARNEGIE MELLON #2 IN ORGANIC CHEMISTRY AND POLYMER SCIENCE

Carnegie Mellon has been ranked 2nd among national universities in organic chemistry and polymer science by in-cites, an online science publication (www.in-cites.com). The ranking was based on the number of citations per published paper, 1997-2001. Carnegie Mellon's 170 published works were each cited an average of 12.76 times.

—"The #2 citation ranking validates the incredible improvements that the Chemistry Department has been able to achieve in a very short time," said Mellon College of Science Dean Richard McCullough. "Award-winning discoveries, such as the new methods to create unique plastic nanoarchitectures by Professor Kris Matyjaszewski, and new ways to create carbon nanotubes from simple block copolymers by Professor Tomek Kowalewski and Matyjaszewski are revolutionary."

HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION EXPERTS TO MEET IN PITTSBURGH

More than 100 experts in human-computer interaction will meet in Pittsburgh, Oct. 14-16, when Carnegie Mellon hosts the first international IEEE (Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers) conference on Multimodal Interfaces (www.is.cs.cmu.edu/icmi/) at the Pittsburgh Renaissance Hotel. The researchers will be working on ways to make computers and robots more responsive to people.

—Multimodal interfaces combine qualities such as eyetracking, speech and gesture recognition, lipreading and other human attributes that can make computers and robotics more accommodating to human needs. Researchers, developers and end-users of these technologies will demonstrate and discuss their work at the conference, which will include a trip to the Carnegie Mellon campus for demonstrations of some of the latest multimode technologies.

—"The IEEE has recognized multimodal interfaces as an important new direction in research," said conference co-chair, Alex Waibel, a professor in the Language Technologies Institute in the School of Computer Science. "We're elevating the field from workshops and interest groups to a major field of scientific endeavor that has become mainstream."

YOUR ONLINE CONTRIBUTIONS TO UNITED WAY MAY WIN A PRIZE

Provost Mark Kamlet urges the university community to participate in Carnegie Mellon's annual United Way Campaign, which began last week. "Your generosity will support the charitable work being done by the region's many deserving United Way health and human services organizations," Kamlet said. This year, the United Way has created a secure Web site for members of the Carnegie Mellon community to make their contributions online: www.unitedwaypittsburgh.org/uwac/carnegiemellon. Donors making their contribution online will be entered in a raffle for an Orlando, Florida, vacation, compliments of the United Way. The university will also raffle off a $500 gift certificate to Seven Springs Mountain Resort. Donate online or by campus mail by Nov. 17 to be eligible for the gift certificate. The drawing is on Monday, Nov. 18.

—For more information, contact Edna Jackson of the Provost's Office, 8-6685 or ej16@andrew.cmu.edu.

NEWS BRIEFS

—The Carnegie Mellon student team placed 12th overall in the recent 2002 Solar Decathlon, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. The competition, held Sept. 27 - Oct. 4 on The National Mall in Washington, D.C., brought student teams and their solar houses from across the country to compete in 10 different categories, including Design Presentation & Simulation in which Carnegie Mellon placed second. To view images, journal entries and complete results from the competition visit www.eren.doe.gov/solar_decathlon/

—Credit Union Christmas Club checks are available for pick up at the Credit Union Office.

—The university community is invited to join in celebration of Gay Pride during the month of October. For details about the events, visit: www.andrew.cmu.edu/~soho/pride2002/

PERSONAL MENTION

—The American Academy of Rome has invited Professor Hilary Masters, Department of English, to be a visiting artist for the month of April 2003. The academy was founded as a center of study at the turn of the 20th Century to create an opportunity for artists and scholars in 18 different disciplines to live together. The academy is housed on the Janiculum Hill overlooking the city of Rome.

—Visiting Fulbright scholar Riccardo Lattanzi, researcher, Laboratory of the Medical Technology, Orthopedic Institute Rizzoli, Bologna, Italy, is doing research at Carnegie Mellon through March 2003 on validation of image-guided surgery in total hip replacement.

—The Carnegie Mellon Research Administrators Council (RAC) has announced the first group of internally certified research administrators: Denise Murrin Macey, EPP; Rhonda Moyer, ICES; Sharon McCarl, MCS; Kathi McShane, Mathematics; Liz Fox, CFA; Ann Marie Zanger, SCS; Margaret Kinsky, Psychology; Leslie Levine, Statistics. These individuals were part of a group of Carnegie Mellon employees who attended workshops and seminars presented by the RAC since January 2001, and participated in an intense course of study spanning the first seven months of this year. Certification has been awarded following successful completion of a comprehensive examination.

—Steinar Hauan, assistant professor, Chemical Engineering, has been selected to receive the 2002 Ted Peterson Student Paper Award given by the American Institute of Chemical Engineering's Computing and Systems Technology Division. The award recognizes Hauan's 1999 Chemical Engineering Science paper, "Phenomena-based Analysis of Fixed Points in Reactive Separation Processes" and his 2000 Chemical Engineering Science paper, "Difference Points in Extractive and Reactive Cascades. I - Basic Properties and Analysis." Further info: www.cheme.cmu.edu/events/hauan.html

CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS

—Saturday, Oct. 12: "The Scottfest." Daylong conference in honor of Professor Dana S. Scott's 70th birthday. Baker Hall A53. All are welcome to attend, no registration required. Sponsored jointly by the departments of Computer Science, Mathematics and Philosophy. Reception 5:30 - 7 p.m. Alumni Concert Hall, CFA. The conference schedule is posted on www.andrew.cmu.edu/~awodey/colloquium/scottfest.html

—Monday, Oct. 14: University Lecture Series. "The Business Case for Energy Productivity - What Works, What Makes Sense!" Peter Garforth, Strategy & Business Development, Owens Corning. 4:30 p.m. Adamson Wing, Baker Hall 136A.

—Oct. 16 ­ 17: Institute for Complex Engineered Systems (ICES) open house to showcase its research and education initiatives. A reception and poster session will be held 4 - 7 p.m. on Oct. 16 in the Singleton Room, Roberts Hall. Lab workshops and lab tours will be conducted on the morning of Oct. 17. To register, visit www.ices.cmu.edu/openHouse.html or email hilinski@andrew.cmu.edu.

—Oct. 17 ­ 18: The 2002 Chemical Engineering Graduate Student Association Symposium. Speaker: Professor Mario Molina, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Molina received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering the depletion of the ozone layer. Molina will speak at 11 a.m., Thursday, Oct. 17, Singleton Room. Web sites with additional information are listed on official.cmu-news, Oct. 9.

—Thursday, Oct. 17: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Seminar Series. "Toward Robust Speech Recognition in Real Environments." Sadaoki Furui, professor, Department of Computer Science, Graduate School of Information Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan. 4 - 5 p.m., Scaife Hall Auditorium, Rm. 125. Refreshments begin at 3:30 p.m. See amp.ece.cmu.edu/ECESeminar

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