February 19, 2004

Vol. 14, No. 30

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.

2003 Editions are available online.

Previous editions are available online.

Microsoft Corporation Chief Software Architect Bill Gates will speak on "Software Breakthroughs: Solving the Toughest Problems in Computer Science" at 10 a.m., Wednesday, Feb. 25, in Rangos Hall, University Center.

—Academic departments on campus are handling distribution of tickets for seating in Rangos Hall. You must have a ticket to be seated in Rangos.

—For those not receiving tickets, the lecture will be simulcast in McConomy Auditorium. Tickets will not be required for the simulcast and seating will be first-come, first-served. Campus identification will be necessary for admission. Gates' lecture will also be broadcast on the Web for the campus community only. Gates' lecture will also be broadcast on the Web for the campus community only and on Carnegie Mellon CableTV, Channel 99.

—In his remarks, Gates will share his excitement for computer science while examining some of the hard problems in the field. He will highlight work going on at Microsoft and at university and government research facilities around the world to overcome these problems. Gates is expected to demonstrate several Microsoft technologies, including work from the company's dedicated research group.

—Lecture admittance procedures and policies for the campus community:

• Check-in will begin at 9 a.m. on February 25.
• All attendees must check in at Kirr Commons, UC, before going to Rangos Hall.
• No lecture admittance after 9:55 a.m.
• All attendees must have valid Carnegie Mellon identification
• All attendees must have a ticket for Rangos Hall
• Backpacks are not permitted
• No cameras
• No recording devices (video or audio)
• No cell phones
• No food or beverages
• No holding or saving seats

BRANCH CAMPUS TO BE DEVELOPED IN ARABIAN GULF NATION OF QATAR

Carnegie Mellon has entered into an agreement with the Qatar Foundation to offer its undergraduate programs in computer science and business at a branch campus in the Qatar Foundation's Education City.

—"The education development in Qatar presents us with an extraordinary opportunity to make contributions to the region and to the world that are important and lasting. This initiative will also advance significantly our strategic priority of internationalizing Carnegie Mellon," said President Jared L. Cohon. "We salute the Qatar Foundation and the leadership in Qatar for their vision and for their commitment to education."

—Carnegie Mellon will become part of the 2,400-acre, multi-institutional Education City in Doha, Qatar's capital. It joins other institutions such as Cornell, Texas A&M and Virginia Commonwealth University in Doha. As with these other programs, all costs associated with the development of the Carnegie Mellon campus are being paid by the Qatar Foundation.

—Carnegie Mellon expects to enroll a first class of 50 undergraduates (25 in each program) by fall 2004. Chuck Thorpe, director of the Robotics Institute, will become the first dean of the Qatar campus.

—Further information: www.cmu.edu and www.cmu.edu/qatar

—Human Resources is holding an information session about employment in Qatar at 3 p.m., Tuesday, March 2, in Whitfield Hall. Learn more about the positions available, the campus, the culture, the compensation and benefits package, and other aspects of the Qatar opportunities. To RSVP for the information session, go to hr.web.cmu.edu/jobs/Qatar.html

CENTER CREATED FOR ADVANCED COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES

Carnegie Mellon and the University of Karlsruhe in Germany, both ranked number one in computer science in their respective countries, have agreed to jointly establish a new International Center for Advanced Communication Technologies (InterACT). The focus of InterACT is to support human-to-human interaction across language and cultural barriers, and to do research in pervasive multimodal and multilingual computing environments. The new center combines the Interactive Systems Laboratories established and directed at both universities by Alex Waibel, who holds professorships at both institutions. Waibel has forged research breakthroughs in speech-to-speech translation and multimodal communication technologies, such as gesture and handwriting recognition, eye tracking and lip reading. Information: www.cmu.edu/PR/releases04/040212_advancetech.html

PERSONAL MENTION

—Devin Arrington, a master's student in composition, has received the 2004 Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers Scholarship. The $1,000 award recognizes and supports Christian student composers who demonstrate excellence in their Christian testimony, achievement and potential in music composition.

—Lynn Berard, head of the science libraries, has received the 2004 President's Award from the Special Libraries Association (SLA). The award recognizes "ongoing commitment to the development of SLA as the premier organization for information professionals," and was given to members of the Executive Director Search Committee, which Berard chaired. Information: www.sla.org/content/SLA/pressroom/pressrelease/2004pressrelease/pr2405.cfm

—Dena Haritos Tsamitis, director of education, training and outreach for Carnegie Mellon's CyLab and the Information Networking Institute, recently briefed Congressional staff members of the Internet and Children's Caucus in Washington, D.C., about the need to raise awareness of cybersecurity threats to America's youth. She recommended national standards and professional development requirements at the state level for K-12 teachers in areas of cybersecurity and cyberethics.

CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS

—Friday, Feb. 20: Annual Bachelor of Humanities and Arts/Bachelor of Science and Arts show. 7 p.m., Frame Gallery. Interdisciplinary students will display design, art, architecture and humanities-based works and several musical groups will perform.

—Sunday, Feb. 22: Mosaic, Carnegie Mellon's Annual Conference on Women's Issues.10:45 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. The conference includes sessions on entrepreneurship, women in Qatar, networking and many others. Keynote speaker Bonnie Campbell is the former director of the Office of Violence Against Women, part of the Department of Justice. Free and open to the public with pre-registration. The conference program and registration information are available online at www.studentaffairs.cmu.edu/mosaic

—Tuesday, Feb. 24: Inter-University Graduate Students of Color Dinner. Topic: "From the Ivory Tower to the Boardroom." 6 - 8 p.m., Posvar Hall, Room 2M2P56. (On the Pitt campus, behind Hillman Library, at Forbes and Bigelow.) To register, go to gposerver.as.cmu.edu/registration/multiregis.html

—Feb. 24 - April 27: A video of each of the original seven Feynman lectures on the "Character of Physical Law" will begin Tuesday, Feb. 24 and end Tuesday, April 27. 4:30 p.m., Adamson Wing, Baker Hall 136A. Richard Feynman (1918-1988), Nobel physicist and gifted teacher, originally gave these in November 1964 at Cornell University. The BBC recorded the lectures on 16mm film. Each lecture will be followed by a half-hour discussion hosted by Professor Jim Hoburg, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Vice Provost for Education Indira Nair. In the first lecture, Feynman describes the history of the law of gravity, the method and character of its discovery, its range of applications and its limitations.

—Wednesday, Feb. 25: The Graduate Programs Office invites all female grads to attend the "Graduate Women's Gathering." Interactive Theatre Skit, "The Desk." Noon - 1:30 p.m. Peter/Wright/McKenna Rooms, UC. A hot lunch will be served. To register, go to gposerver.as.cmu.edu/registration/multiregis.

—Thursday, Feb. 26: The Heinz School's Master of Public Management, Master of Science in Information Technology and Master of Science in Educational Technology Management programs are hosting an open house from 11 a.m. to 1 p. m. in the Dowd Room, UC. Refreshments will be served. The programs offer evening courses that begin in January, May and August. RSVP to ageorge@andrew.cmu.edu or by calling 8-4720.

—Thursday, Feb. 26: Fenves Award Lecture. "Context Aware Pervasive Computing." Asim Smailagic, ICES Research Professor and recipient of the Steven Fenves Award for Systems Research. 3 p.m., 1202 Hamburg Hall.

—Saturday, March 6: President's Party for faculty and staff. 8 - 11 p.m. Register at www.cmu.edu/invite/PresParty/

—Tuesday, March 9: University leaders and managers are invited to Human Resources' 2004 Leadership Symposium: "Leadership in Action." Concurrent sessions in four learning tracks (Legal Updates, Leadership Development, Work-Life Balance and Management Practices) will let participants concentrate on one area or learn about topics within several. GSIA Professor Robert Kelley will give the keynote presentation. A networking reception will conclude the day. For further information or to register for the free conference go to hr.web.cmu.edu/Leadership/index.htm

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