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August 7, 2003 Vol. 14, No. 5
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
2001 Editions are available online. 2002 Editions are available online. Previous editions are available online.
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROFESSORS AWARDED $1.3 MILLION GRANT Mechanical Engineering professors Yoed Rabin and Paul Steif have received a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to investigate and reduce the mechanical stresses that occur during cryopreservation, the freezing and storing of tissues and cells at super-cold temperatures used during modern medical procedures. The purpose of the research is to characterize the levels of thermo-mechanical stresses in cryopreserved tissues and ultimately improve methods for the long-term storage of both natural and engineered vascular grafts. While their research focuses on the cryopreservation of blood vessels, the results of the four-year study could be expanded to benefit a wide variety of cryopreserved tissues. HR OFFERS ONLINE APPLICATION FOR PAT STICKER RENEWAL All Carnegie Mellon benefits-eligible employees can now apply for their Pittsburgh Port Authority Transit (PAT) sticker online. Go to http://hr.web.cmu.edu and click on "2003-04 Free PAT Transit Sticker Now Available" to request your sticker using the online enrollment form. The form gives you the option of picking up the sticker at Whitfield Hall or having it mailed directly to your home. With the sticker attached to your Carnegie Mellon ID card, you can ride any PAT bus, incline or T line for free. For more information, see official.cmu-news, Aug. 1. DOCTORAL CANDIDATE RECEIVES SCHOLARSHIP FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH Anindya Ghosh, a doctoral candidate in the Chemistry Department, has received a $10,000 scholarship from the Teresa Heinz Scholars for Environmental Research Program. Part of the Teresa and H. John Heinz III Foundation, the program honors doctoral and master's degree candidates researching environmental issues. —Ghosh is working with Terry Collins, the Thomas Lord Professor of Chemistry, to develop a group of environmentally safe catalysts called tetra-amido macrocyclic ligands [TAML®], non-toxic activators that work with hydrogen peroxide to detoxify a range of potentially harmful substances. Research suggests that they will form the basis of economical, safe replacements for the chlorine-based technologies now used in the pulp and paper, textile and laundry industries without creating pollutants that threaten health and the environment. —Only eight doctoral candidates nationwide receive this prestigious scholarship each year. Ghosh will speak at the American Chemical Society national meeting in New York City this September. ORIENTING NEW EMPLOYEES FOR SUCCESS Room is still available in Human Resources' workshop "Orienting New Employees for Success!" from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 14 in the Peter-McKenna Room in the University Center (UC). Gloria Gruber, Temporary Employment Services supervisor, will facilitate the workshop, which will discuss the purpose and objectives of an orientation program, the importance of orientation and its effects on performance and turnover. Participants will explore the supervisor's role and the benefits of proper employee orientation. They will also receive helpful checklists and other tools to facilitate the orientation process. Register for the workshop by visiting www.cmu.edu/learning-programs. Follow the "Learning and Development" link. NEWS BRIEFS —The Carnegie Mellon Women's Association (CMWA) is accepting members for the 2003 - 2004 academic year. Female faculty, staff and trustees are welcome to join, as well as the wives or partners of all Carnegie Mellon faculty, staff and trustees. Membership dues of $5 per year go toward scholarships each spring for several graduating senior women. Members participate in events, sponsored by CMWA, to build a greater sense of community life at Carnegie Mellon. For more information, visit the new CMWA Web site at http://www.cmu.edu/CMWA/ —The local division of the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) recently concluded their NFTE University at Carnegie Mellon. During the five-day event, 48 teachers from across Pennsylvania and parts of Ohio gathered on campus for instruction on teaching entrepreneurship to disadvantaged students using a curriculum based on a business plan model. Local executives lectured the teachers on business plans and business experience. —More than 150 of the world's medical elite will gather at Pittsburgh's Sheraton Station Square hotel August 20 - 23 to discuss the latest technologies used in wound healing and tissue engineering as part of the Global Bone Symposium. The symposium, co-sponsored by Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh, is designed to stimulate interaction among academic clinicians and scientists, the private sector and industry. In addition to panel sessions and poster displays, conference participants will meet and greet keynote speaker and legendary NBA Hall of Fame star Bill Russell. The former Boston Celtics player will speak at 7 p.m., Friday, Aug. 22. PERSONAL MENTION —Statistics Professor Brian Junker has been named editor of Psychometrika, the official journal of the Psychometric Society. The journal is devoted to the development of psychology as a quantitative rational science. Junker was previously associate editor of the journal. —Institute for Complex Engineered Systems (ICES) principal research faculty Asim Smailagic gave an invited talk entitled "Carnegie Mellon Pervasive and Context Aware Computing" at the Royal Academy of Engineering in London, England, this past June. The Royal Academy of Engineering is launching an initiative to collaborate on new technologies for improving human lives, independent living, smart spaces and assistive technologies for people with disabilities. Smailagic is recognized as a leading scientist and investigator in the area of new computing technologies that can be used for these applications. —Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII) doctoral student Santosh Mathan and Associate Professor Kenneth Koedinger received the John Self Prize for best student paper at the 11th Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED) conference in Sydney, Australia, for their work "Recasting the Feedback Debate: Benefits of Tutoring Error Detection and Correction Skills." A paper entitled "Tutorial Dialog System to Support Self-Explanation: Evaluation and Open Questions," by School of Computer Science researchers Vincent Aleven, Octav Popescu and Koedinger, was a finalist for the AIED 2003 best paper award. CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS Aug. 19 - 24: "Orientation 2003: The World is Not Enough." Activities for first-year students. The full schedule is at www.studentaffairs.cmu.edu/first-year/orientation/ Aug. 25: Classes begin for the fall semester. |
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