May 29, 2003

Vol. 13, No. 44

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.

Carnegie Mellon's National Robotics Engineering Consortium (NREC), part of the Robotics Institute in the School of Computer Science, has been awarded a $2.3 million Phase II contract from the Office of Naval Research to continue development of the U.S. Marines' Tactical Unmanned Ground Vehicle (TUGV).

—The NREC-led Team Excalibur won the Phase I contract in June 2002 and has completed preliminary design and analysis of a highly mobile vehicle suitable for a variety of expeditionary missions conducted by the Marines. The team will now complete the vehicle's design, assemble a prototype and conduct operational demonstrations early in 2004. Initial fielding of TUGV is expected in 2006.

—The TUGV is planned to be a robust, easy-to-transport, semi-autonomous, multi-purpose vehicle system possessing a scouting and direct engagement capability. It will provide the Marines with remote reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition; nuclear, biological and chemical reconnaissance; obstacle breaching; and direct fire capability to neutralize threats and reduce risk to the soldier.

—Further information: www.onr.navy.mil/fncs/auto_ops/tugv/

AUTONOMOUS ROBOT TO EXPLORE AND MAP ABANDONED COAL MINE

Carnegie Mellon researchers, working with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, will present an unprecedented demonstration of a prototype autonomous mobile robot exploring and mapping a 3,500-foot corridor in an abandoned coal mine near West Elizabeth in Southwestern Pennsylvania on Friday, May 30. The Groundhog robot, developed by students in the Robotics Institute's Mobile Robot Development course, will enter the abandoned Mathies Mine from the supply yard and travel to the site of a preparation plant more than a half-mile away. Groundhog's state-of-the-art, autonomous exploration and mapping software ensures reliable and safe navigation despite ever-present mine hazards including roof fall, abandoned equipment and ponds of water.

—Groundhog was developed in response to the incident at the Quecreek Mine near Somerset, Pa., last July, when miners accidentally breached the wall of an adjacent flooded mine that they thought was some distance away from where they were working.

ANDY AWARDS NOMINATIONS DUE JULY 9; NEW CATEGORY ADDED

Nominations for this year's Andy Awards are due July 9. The university-wide staff recognition program honors staff for innovation, enthusiasm, citizenship, dedication and a new category, "culture." Nominees for culture should foster a balanced and inclusive workplace, create a positive and supportive work environment and bring out the best in each individual. Nomination forms will soon be available on the Web at www.cmu.edu/andyawards and in the next issue of the Carnegie Mellon News. Two statements of support-each no longer than one page- must accompany every nomination form.

NEWS BRIEFS

—C-SPAN is scheduled to broadcast Teresa Heinz's commencement speech at 9 p.m. and midnight, Saturday, May 31.

—Carnegie Mellon and Dell Computer are hosting a regional computer recycling event on Saturday, June 21 in the Morewood Gardens parking lot. Two shifts of 25 volunteers will be needed for that day from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. If you would like to volunteer, contact Barb Kviz at 412-268-7858 or bk11@andrew.cmu.edu

—Facilities Management Services is renovating the front entrance of Margaret Morrison Carnegie Hall. Two ramps will be constructed to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The courtyard will also be redone.

PERSONAL MENTION

—Carnegie Mellon Trustee Philip Dowd (E'63) has created a new $1 million seed fund to support graduate research. Administered by the Institute for Complex Engineered Systems, the fund will foster multi-disciplinary research and provide seed support for innovative research on projects by graduate students for which traditional sources of funding may not be readily available. The new seed fund program will award two graduate student fellowships per year.

—Barbara Smith, assistant vice president for Human Resources, chaired the Eastern Region Conference of the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources in Philadelphia May 18 - 21. Ron Placone, director of Learning and Development, and Lola Komisin, Organizational Effectiveness consultant, presented "Respect: A Model for Reaching Your Fullest Potential" at a concurrent session. Richard Smereczniak, director of Total Compensation, led a roundtable discussion on higher education compensation and benefit trends. Freida Williams, Human Resources representative, Komisin and Creig Doyle, chief of Campus Police, presented a session on "Fostering Cultural Change in a Union Environment." Pat Laughlin, associate dean in the College of Engineering, and Brenda Bakker Harger, lecturer in the Entertainment Technology Center, presented a session entitled "'Interact: A Diversity Awareness Program."

—Priya Narasimhan, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, and principal investigator of the DARPA-funded Middleware for Embedded Adaptive Dependability (MEAD) project, has won the Raytheon Company Best Paper Award at the Joint Systems and Software Engineering Symposium in Falls Church, Va. Her study investigates the trade-offs between real-time and fault-tolerance through middleware. Narasimhan is also an assistant professor in Carnegie Mellon's Institute for Software Research International.

—The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded Jeremy Avigad, associate professor of philosophy, a New Directions Fellowship. He will spend a full year studying developments in mathematics during the 19th century, a period in which dramatic conceptual advances laid the foundations of modern mathematics. The grant will enable Avigad to take four courses in the University of Pittsburgh's History and Philosophy of Science Department during the 2003-04 academic year and to discuss his findings with historians of mathematics in the United States and abroad.

—Electrical and computer engineering graduate students John Griffin and Tom Wenisch have won the 2003-04 Intel Foundation Ph.D. Fellowship Award, which will cover one year of full tuition, required fees, and a twelve-month stipend. The fellowship includes the assignment of an Intel mentor, travel costs for the Intel Foundation Ph.D. Fellowship Forum, an Intel® Centrino-brand notebook and the opportunity to do an internship or research at Intel. Approximately 35 fellowships are awarded annually. Intel Fellows, leaders of Intel research and technology, recommend the candidates for this award.

CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS

—Friday, May 30 - Sunday, June 1: Some of the brightest minds in applied mathematics will gather at Carnegie Mellon for a conference in Advances in Nonlinear Analysis. For a complete list of speakers, lecture schedule and registration information, go to http://www.math.cmu.edu/~ana/ or contact Giovanni Leoni, associate professor of mathematics and a conference organizer, at 412-268-2557.

—Tuesday, June 3: Learning and Development workshop. "Understanding the Progressive Discipline Process." 9 - 11:30 a.m., Peter/McKenna Room, University Center. Register at www.cmu.edu/learning-programs and follow the Learning and Development link.

—Saturday, June 7: Master of Science in Electronic Commerce (MSEC) Information Session. The Institute for eCommerce will hold an information session for prospective students in its newly expanded, part-time distance-learning program from 10 a.m. - noon in Posner Hall, Room 152. The MSEC is a joint degree program between the School of Computer Science and the Graduate School of Industrial Administration. For more information, contact Nancy Kury at 412-268-9197 or nskury@cmu.edu.

—Saturday, June 7: "More than a Walk in the Park." Join Carnegie Mellon's team in the 9th annual Pittsburgh AIDS Walk, 9:30 a.m., Schenley Park. There are several ways to support the cause: 1) Join the team for the five-mile walk. Pledge sheets will be available from an information table in the UC, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Friday, May 30 and Monday, June 2. Pledge sheets are also available at www.patf.org or by contacting Rowshan Palmer at rowshan@andrew.cmu.edu; 2) Pledge a donation to the team. E-mail rowshan@andrew.cmu.edu with your name, address, phone and amount of donation. Donations must be collected before the walk. The Pittsburgh AIDS Walk Community Day is the biggest annual fundraiser for the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force.

—July 7 - 11 and Aug. 4 - 7:The Robotics Academy at Carnegie Mellon's National Robotics Engineering Consortium is offering a RoboCamp for Girls-two week-long sessions for "girls only." Registration information: http://www.rec.ri.cmu.edu/education/

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