December 11, 2003

Vol. 14, No. 22

The "8 1/2 x 11 News" is published each week by the University Advancement Division. News of campus interest should be sent to one of the following editors:   Ed Delaney, 412-268-1609 (ed47@andrew.cmu.edu)
  Bruce Gerson, 412-268-1613 (bg02@andrew.cmu.edu)
  Susan Cribbs, 412-268-7521 (cribbs@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.

After two years of stagnant growth, the MBA job market is signaling an increase in hiring. Referencing an upswing in recruitment activity at Carnegie Mellon's business school, Ken Keeley, executive director of the school's Career Opportunities Center, believes this is a sign of things to come.

—"Companies who didn't recruit last year are back on campus, and they're much more optimistic about the months ahead," Keeley said. "But an even stronger indicator is the number of offers that our second-year MBA students are reporting. It's significantly higher than last year at this time, and the pace of the offers has been steady." Carnegie Mellon students have received 85 offers thus far, compared to 42 offers at this time a year ago.

INTELLIGENT TECHNOLOGY ENHANCES UNDEREXPOSED PHOTOGRAPHS

Vladimir Brajovic of the Robotics Institute has developed a tool called the "Shadow Illuminator" that automatically improves the appearance of darkened or underexposed photographs by digitally adding light to dark areas.

— Funded through a $350,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, the Shadow Illuminator was originally developed to help robots see better. Using principles based on the physics of how optical images are formed, Shadow Illuminator imitates the vision processes that take place in the human eye. It examines the content of a photograph, estimates the illumination conditions and then brightens shadows. The tool also enhances details within the shadow.

—"Shadow Illuminator is intelligent and works consistently for all pictures," said Brajovic, director of the Computational Sensor Laboratory in the Robotics Institute. "It provides the same results quickly and eliminates the hassle of manually adjusting photographs."

—Shadow Illuminator can be accessed at www.shadowilluminator.org. Visitors to this free site can upload pictures and apply Shadow Illuminator to achieve brighter, clearer results. For visitors who sign up for a free account, the site also creates a personalized album to hold uploaded photos.

OFFICIAL CARNEGIE MELLON/PA LICENSE PLATE AVAILABLE

Although several hundred members of the Carnegie Mellon community have ordered official Carnegie Mellon license plates approved by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 14 more applications are still needed to fulfill the required number the commonwealth needs to issue the first plate. The fee is $20 for the initial registration and $1.50 for each additional registration card.

—If you are interested and need an application, contact Linda Wright at 8-1604 or lwright@andrew.cmu.edu. Checks or money orders should be made out to Carnegie Mellon University and mailed to License Plate Program, Alumni Relations, Alumni House, 5017 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213.

GOVERNOR'S SCHOOL FOR THE SCIENCES IS HIRING STUDENT WORKERS

Undergraduate summer employment at Carnegie Mellon is available with the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Sciences, a five-week summer school (June 27 - July 31) for extremely talented high school students from across the commonwealth. Teaching assistant/counselor appointments are available in the areas of biology, chemistry, physics, computer science and mathematics. Applicants should have finished their sophomore year by the start of the program. Preference will be given to those with outstanding academic records and strong social skills. The stipend is $2,000 for new teaching assistants (TAs) and $2,200 for returning TAs. Free room is provided as well as a food allowance. Applications, due Jan. 30, 2004, are available in Doherty Hall A301 or at www.pgss.mcs.cmu.edu.

NEWS BRIEFS

—Creig W. Doyle, director of security/chief of University Police, offers some excellent "holiday safety reminders" on the official.cmu-news bboard for Dec. 10.

—Staff Council has a limited amount of Entertainment Books still available for sale. The books may be purchased from the following Staff Council representatives: Renee Snyder, Hamburg Hall 1107, 8-6060, rn32@andrew.cmu.edu; Karyn Carpenter, Whitfield Hall 303, 8-4747, kc@andrew.cmu.edu; Jackie Cushion, Alumni House 2nd floor, 8-2019, jackie@andrew.cmu.edu; Barb Price, GSIA 12B, 8-3688, bp0a@andrew.cmu.edu; Kathy Bossick, Mellon Institute Library, 8-3172, bossick@andrew.cmu.edu.

—Effective Jan. 1, 2004, the Internal Revenue Service will increase the standard reimbursement rate for operating a car from $0.36 to $0.37 cents per mile for all business miles driven. The standard reimbursement rate to use when computing deductible moving expenses was also adjusted from $0.12 to $0.14 cents per mile. Remember, when you are submitting moving expenses, you must use the moving rate ($0.14/mile) instead of the standard business mileage rate when computing the expense report. If you have questions concerning these changes, contact Terri Burner of Accounting Services at 8-1016 or tb1o@andrew.cmu.edu.

PERSONAL MENTION

—George Edward (Ed) Gross, commodity manager with Procurement Services for the past five years, died Dec. 3. "He will be greatly missed," say his colleagues, "for his work ethics, his pleasurable and friendly demeanor, and his always smiling face."

—Chris Hallstein, an associate teaching professor of German, recently testified before the Pennsylvania Department of Education on the importance of teaching students a foreign language. "It is essential for our citizens to understand people and places outside themselves," he said. "This not only promotes peaceful coexistence and reduces the fear and hatred that often accompany ignorance, but it also helps us see how others see us."

—Sheldon Cohen, the Robert E. Doherty Professor of Psychology, has won the American Psychological Association's prestigious Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award for 2004. The award honors psychologists who have made distinguished theoretical or empirical contributions to basic research in psychology. Cohen will be honored for his work on the role of psychological factors in health and well being. He will receive the award at this year's American Psychological Association's convention in Hawaii, where he will deliver an address entitled "Social Networks, Social Supports And Health: How Our Social Environments Get 'Under Our Skin.'"

—Doctoral candidates Anand B. Rao of Engineering and Public Policy and William R. Morrow of Civil and Environmental Engineering have each received a $10,000 scholarship from the Teresa Heinz Scholars for Environmental Research Program, which honors doctoral and master's degree candidates who are researching environmental issues. Only eight doctoral candidates and eight master's candidates nationwide receive this prestigious scholarship each year. The Heinz Foundation is principally focused on issues concerning the environment and its relation to public health. Rao's research topic is "A Technical, Economic and Environmental Assessment of Carbon Capture Technologies for Greenhouse Gas Control." Morrow is researching "Barriers to a Decentralized Power Generation Market." Further information: official.cmu-news, Dec. 10.

—Ghadi Shayban, a junior piano major studying with Music Professor Enrique Graf, recently won first prize in the Young Artists division at the Music Teachers National Association Pennsylvania State Competition.

—Professor and Head of Architecture Vivian Loftness received a 2003 "Tree of Life" Leadership Award from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) at the recent international Greenbuild conference attended by 5,000 people. Three alumni also received first and second place design awards in the first national USGBC design competition: Christopher Ilg (A'02); Christina Neumann (A'00), and Kelsi Montgomery (A'00).

CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS

—Monday, Dec. 15: Institute for Complex Engineered Systems Seminar. "Biomechanical Evaluation of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: Application to Clinical Rupture Prediction and Endovascular Grafting." Professor Elena Di Martino, Departments of Surgery and Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh. Noon - 1 p.m., Hamburg Hall 1202.

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