September 2, 2004

Vol. 15, No. 9

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.

First year students at Carnegie Mellon in Qatar—the university's first residential campus outside the United States—began classes Aug. 29. It is a diverse class consisting of 32 females, 12 males, 26 Qatari citizens and 18 citizens from various nations including the United States (4), Egypt (4), Canada (3), Syria (2), Jordan (2), India (1), Belize (1) and Palestine (1). Twenty-three students have enrolled in the business program and 21 are studying computer science.

—At a convocation ceremony held in conjunction with orientation, Chuck Thorpe, dean of Carnegie Mellon in Qatar, quoted mathematician Alfred North Whitehead, who wrote, "Fools act on imagination without knowledge; pedants act on knowledge without imagination. The task of a university is to weld together imagination and experience."

—The convocation featured two special guests from Pittsburgh. Lifetime trustee Lucian Caste attended the celebration while in Doha to advise on the university's architectural plans for a permanent campus building, slated to open in 2006. Caste says he is extremely interested in fostering a sense of shared community among all the Carnegie Mellon campuses—Pittsburgh, Doha, the West Coast and Athens, Greece. To help create that tie between the Pittsburgh and Qatar campuses, Andrea Modeste, a civil and environmental engineering graduate student, presented the class of 2008 with its tile—a twin of the 2008 floor tile that tradition dictates be placed inside the front entrance of Baker Hall in Pittsburgh.

NOMINEES ANNOUNCED FOR THIS YEAR'S ANDY AWARDS

Carnegie Mellon's annual Andy Awards celebration will take place at noon on Monday, Sept. 27 in McConomy Auditorium, University Center (UC). The awards recognize outstanding staff performance—those who go above and beyond their job descriptions to help Carnegie Mellon become one of the nation's premier educational and research institutions.

—This year's nominees include individual staff members and teams whose dedication and performance have had a significant impact on the university in the following categories: Innovation: SEI Intranet Redesign Team: Laura Bentrem (team leader), Clifford Huff, Stacy Mitchell and Laine Towey. Enthusiasm: Stacy Joseph, Suzanne Smith and Michelle Wirtz. Citizenship: Madelyn Miller, Rita Motor, Environmental Sensitivity Committee: Larry Powell (team leade)r, Ignatios Alexander, Martin Altschul, Karen Beaudway, Don Coffelt, Jo Donatelli, Patricia Gyurke, Linda McFadden, Madelyn Miller, Nancy Papernick and Kyle Tomer. Dedication: Roy Beebe, Thomas Brandt, Terri Burner, Barbara Mulholland, Larry Powell, Timothy Sager and Diane Stidle. Culture: Darlene Covington-Davis, Sally Cunningham, Barbara Hussein and Rhonda Moyer.

—For more about the Andy Awards, visit http://www/cmu.edu/andyawards/

UNIVERSITY SIGNS RESEARCH AGREEMENT WITH FRENCH TELECOM

The Institute For Complex Engineered Systems (ICES) has signed a research agreement with French Telecom that could revolutionize the future of mobile phone devices. The technology, developed by professors Asim Smailagic and Dan Siewiorek, is a state-of-the-art, context-aware mobile phone that can track a multitude of everyday details in a person's life—email sent, phone calls made and user's location. The phone also adapts to dynamically changing environmental and psychological condition. Further information: http://www.cmu.edu/PR/releases04/040825_ices.html

NOMINATIONS REQUESTED FOR UNIVERSITY'S MAJOR EDUCATION AWARDS

Associate Provost for Education Susan Ambrose invites current and former members of the university community to nominate members of the faculty, staff and administration for the university's three major education awards: the Academic Advising Award for Outstanding Contributions in Advising and Mentoring, the Robert E. Doherty Award for Excellence in Education and the William H. and Frances S. Ryan Award for Meritorious Teaching. Descriptions of the awards are posted on official.cmu-news, Aug. 31.

—Last year's award recipients were Teaching Professor and Associate Department Head of Mathematical Sciences Russell Walker, the Academic Advising Award; Professor of Biological Sciences William Brown, the Doherty Award; and Professor of Computer Science Steven Rudich, the Ryan Award.

— Nominations may be made by any group of at least three persons, each of whom is either a current or retired faculty member or administrator, or a current or former full-time undergraduate or graduate student. Nominations should be in the form of a letter of no more than two pages addressed to Dr. Susan Ambrose, Associate Provost for Education, Cyert Hall 125. Nominations must be received by the first Monday in November to be considered for this academic year.

—Award guidelines are available at the University Center Information Desk and at http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/eberlycenter/awards/index.html

PERSONAL MENTION

— ICES research scientist Jeffrey Hansen, chemical engineering graduate student Sourav Ghosh, Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor Ragunathan "Raj" Rajkumar and College of Humanities and Social Sciences Dean John Lehoczky, have received the Best Paper Award for "Integrated Resource Management and Scheduling with Multi-Resource Contraints." Presentation of this paper will lead off a special session of the 25th IEEE International Real-Time Systems Symposium in December in Lisbon, Portugal. The conference is the flagship conference of the IEEE Technical Committee on Real-Time Systems.

—The journal Progress in Energy and Combustion Science, founded by Mehanical Engineering Professor Noman Chigier, celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Chigier has been the prestigious publication's sole editor since its founding in 1974. As editor, Chigier selects the most distinguished and leading experts in energy and combustion science to write topical and state-of-the-art reviews, which are used for teaching and research at universities, government labs and in industry.

—At the U.S. Rowing Masters National Championships in Oakridge, Tenn., this past week Jamie Vorhes, technology manager in Procurement Services, brought home the gold in the Lightweight 4+. Donald Webber-Plank, head coach of the Carnegie Mellon Rowing Club, won the gold in lightweight men's double sculls and silver in mixed quadruple sculls. Oscar Mayer, deputy assistant vice president of Facilities Management Services, won the gold in men's coxed eight, and the bronze in both men's club cox four and men's open coxed four.

—"A Model for Matisse," a documentary directed by Barbara Freed, professor of French studies and applied linguistics, will be broadcast Oct. 31 by France 5, France's national television station. The film, Freed's first, tells the story of Henri Matisse's friendship with the nun who inspired him to design the Chapel of the Rosary in Vence, France. The National Gallery in Washington, D.C., will show the film on Jan. 22.

CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS

—Friday, Sept. 3: Welcome reception for Carnegie Mellon's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) students. Faculty, staff and friends are invited. Connan Room, UC. Sponsored by SoHo — Carnegie Mellon's GLBT resource center. Further information: soho@andrew.cmu.edu

—Wednesday, Sept. 8: Posner Center Open House for faculty, staff, and students, 4 - 6 p.m. The center houses a high tech executive meeting room and the Posner Memorial Collection, a distinguished library of rare books and art. Explore the Posner collection in full text at http://posner.library.cmu.edu/Posner/

—Thursday, Sept. 9: Welcome Back Wine & Cheese Reception for all graduate women and faculty. 4 - 6 p.m., Rangos 2. Register at http://gposerver.as.cmu.edu/registration/multiregis.html or call 8-7970.

—Saturday, Sept. 11: Heinz School information session for Master of Public Management, Master of Science in Information Technology and Master of Science in Educational Technology Management programs. 10 a.m., Hamburg Hall. For more information and to RSVP, contact Amy George at 8-4720 or ageorge@andrew.cmu.edu. Snacks will be provided, so please RSVP. Information is also posted on official.cmu-news, Aug. 31.

—Friday, Sept. 17 - Saturday, Sept. 18: The American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. Gesling Stadium. See official.cmu-news, Aug. 23.

—Wednesday, Sept. 22: The Carnegie Mellon Women's Association's (CMWA) annual Fall Reception at the President's Residence, 4:30 - 6 p.m. Hosted by honorary CMWA President Maureen Cohon. RSVP to Gloria Claus, gc2v@andrew.cmu.edu, or x8-8430 no later than Sept. 7. Information: http://www.cmu.edu/CMWA

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