April 24, 2003

Vol. 13, No. 39

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.

2001 Editions are available online.

2002 Editions are available online.

Previous editions are available online.

Teresa Heinz, chair of the Howard Heinz Endowment and the Heinz Family Philanthropies, and a member of Carnegie Mellon's Board of Trustees, will be this year's keynote speaker at commencement, Sunday, May 18 in Gesling Stadium. The Howard Heinz Endowment and Heinz Family Philanthropies are widely known for their innovative efforts to support the environment, improve education for women and children, broaden economic opportunity and promote the arts.

—Heinz has long been recognized as one of the nation's premier environmental leaders and has been active in organizations dedicated to human rights and to educating the public on how the environment impacts the health of both women and children.

—She has served as a board member or trustee for numerous schools and institutions across the country, including the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the American Institute for Public Service, the Brookings Institution and the National Gallery of Art.

"ROBOCUP AMERICAN OPEN" BEGINS ON CAMPUS APRIL 30

More than 150 researchers from North and South America—and their soccer-playing robots—will be on campus April 30 - May 4 to compete in the first-ever RoboCup American Open, chaired by Computer Science Professor and Carnegie Mellon RoboCup team leader Manuela Veloso. About 1,000 school children from Western Pennsylvania will visit the university to see the matches and attend demonstrations by a variety of robots, including Carnegie Mellon's GRACE and Honda's ASIMO, the world's most advanced humanoid robot.

—Carnegie Mellon researchers will also demonstrate teams of urban search-and-rescue robots in a special "disaster arena" developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. For the schedule of events, go to http://www.americanopen03.org/schedule/index.html.

SEI AND ARMY RESERVE PARTNER ON INFORMATION-ASSURANCE

The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) and the U.S. Army Reserve Information Operations Command (ARIOC) have launched a new partnership that will give the Army Reserve access to world-class resources developed by the SEI to provide protection and defense of critical infrastructures. The partnership, funded by $1.5 million secured by U.S. Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA), was announced at an April 17 news conference at the SEI.

—The ARIOC uses Army Reservists with high-tech skills developed in their civilian occupations to support the Army and the rest of the Department of Defense in the critical areas of information assurance. The new partnership will enhance these skills by training reservists to act as teams, conduct information assurance operations, and respond to threats. Further information: www.cmu.edu/PR/releases03/030417_sectech.html

"NEW HOUSE" GRAND OPENING CELEBRATION

The Office of Housing Services announces the opening of its latest residence hall, "New House." The 256 bed freshman facility, between Morewood Gardens and Mudge, will celebrate its grand opening on Friday, May 2.

—The festivities (food, music, building tours) will be held from 12:30 - 2:30 p.m. with the formal program beginning at 1 p.m. Food will be provided by Uncle Sams Subs, music by the Carnegie Mellon Steel Drum Band.

—President Cohon, Tim Michael, director of Housing and Wendy Hermann, assistant dean of Student Affairs, will speak briefly on the uniqueness of this building. Everyone is invited.

NEWS BRIEFS

—Environmental Health & Safety has developed an informational Web page on SARS—Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome—at www.cmu.edu/ehs/SARS.htm to ease concern and provide a factual summary of the disease. Information on SARS is also available from Health Services at www.cmu.edu/cmnews/extra/030404_sars.html/

—The Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC) is a finalist for the 2003 Computerworld Honors in Science for development and implementation of the terascale computing system, LeMieux., Hewlett-Packard nominated PSC for the award, which recognizes innovations in information technology that benefit society.

PERSONAL MENTION

—Asim Smailagic, professor, Institute for Complex Engineered Systems (ICES), has won the Information Technology award among the Carnegie Science Center's Awards for Excellence. He will be honored at an April 30 ceremony at the Pittsburgh Hilton. The awards recognize the most outstanding recent achievements in science and technology in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

—The Career Center has announced that Elizabeth Levin, a junior in the College of Fine Arts with a major in Art, is Carnegie Mellon's 2002-03 Student Employee of the Year. She is an office assistant in ICES.

—Materials Science and Engineering graduate student Jennifer Giocondi received a travel fellowship from the American Ceramic Society to attend the 5th Pacific Rim Ceramics Societies meeting in Nagoya, Japan. in the fall.

—Paul Hopper, the Paul Mellon Professor of the Humanities, Department of English, recently gave a series of lectures at the Brazilian Linguistic Society's Linguistics Institute in Rio de Janeiro.

—The following students from the Human-Computer Interaction Institute recently won the Computer Human Interaction Live Interactionary Competition: Kelli Bernard, Kevin Fox, Kevin Sang Lee, Andrew Lin, Neema Moraveji and Abigail Travis. The students had 10 minutes to develop a kiosk that allowed access and helped to plan activities at an amusement park. Further information: www.chi2003.org/live_interactionary.html.

—Martha Harris, assistant to Dean Martin Prekop in the College of Fine Arts, will have one of her photographs displayed May 10 - June 12 at the Art Association of Harrisburg's 75th Annual Juried Exhibition. The photograph is titled "Mid-Afternoon Break."

CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS

—Friday, April 25: The university community is invited to a reception for Ann Curran, editor of Carnegie Mellon Magazine, who has announced her resignation after 22 years. 4 - 5:30 p.m., Danforth Lounge, UC.

—Friday, April 25: Mellon College of Science (MCS) Staff Recognition Awards Ceremony. Winners of the MCS Rookie, Outstanding Achievement and Merit awards will be announced, and several staff members will be honored for their dedicated service. 11 a.m., Mellon Institute Auditorium. A reception follows.

—Friday, April 25: Mechanical Engineering Seminar. "Design Engineering for the Entertainment Industry." Jon Cardone, director of design, ShowMotion Inc. 2:45 p.m., Scaife Hall 125.

—April 28 - May 2: Art exhibit. "Dancing With Colors" by Kelly Young, graphic designer, Carnegie Mellon. 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m., UC Art Gallery. Reception: 4 - 6 p.m., Thursday, May 1. Free admission.

—Monday, April 28: Chemical Boat Competition. 2:30 - 4:30 p.m., at the Fence. Professor Gary Powers' Introduction to Chemical Engineering class will conceive, design, build, test and race chemical boats. The students will decide on the chemistry, propulsion system and design to move their boat from the start to finish line. Distance and load will be given to each team 30 minutes prior to the race's start.

—Tuesday, April 29: Kim Phuc, the subject of a memorable Pulitzer Prize-winning photo of a young girl naked, screaming and fleeing after her village had been bombed by napalm during the Vietnam War—and known thereafter as "The Girl in the Picture"— will talk about her experiences. 7:30 p.m., McConomy Auditorium, UC.

—Tuesday, April 29: Lecture. Tera Hunter, associate professor of history, will discuss the lives of African American women in the urban South following the Civil War. 8 p.m., Heinz History Center, Strip District. This is one of four lectures in the Dominion Lecture Series on American History. Cost is $8 for history center members, $15 for non-members. Information: 412-454-6372 or e-mail nhorner@hswp.org.

—Wednesday, April 30: Students of Color luncheon. Speaker: Otto Davis, WW Cooper Professor of Social and Decision Sciences, Noon - 1:30 p.m. Highlander Cafe Rotunda.

—Thursday, May 1: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Seminar Series. "Smart Cameras as Embedded Computing Systems." Wayne Wolf, professor, Electrical Engineering, Princeton University. 4 - 5 p.m., Scaife Hall Auditorium., Refreshments at 3:30 pm. See amp.ece.cmu.edu/ECESeminar.

—Thursday, May 1: School of Computer Science Distinguished Lecture Series. "Work in Progress." Best-selling science fiction writer Neal Stephenson, author of "Cryptonomicon" and the cyberpunk classic "Snow Crash." 4:30 p.m., McConomy Auditorium, UC.

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