September 29, 2005

Vol. 16, No. 13

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.

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Carnegie Mellon's Red Team and its autonomous robotic racing HUMMERS, Sandstorm and H1ghlander, are one step away from reaching the starting line at the $2 million Grand Challenge, a 150- to 175-mile race across the Mojave Desert on Saturday, Oct. 8. Forty-three teams have advanced to the semifinals being held through Oct. 5 at the California Motor Speedway in Fontana, where the field will be reduced to 20. Each semifinalist will have six runs on a punishing two-mile course that will include metal, earth and water obstacles, as well as vegetation. "The ambition of the Red Team is to put two machines on the Grand Challenge starting line and one in the winner's circle," said Robotics Professor and Red Team Leader William L. "Red" Whittaker.

—The Grand Challenge gets under way somewhere near Primm, Nev., at 6 a.m., Oct. 8. The first robot to cover the course in 10 hours or less will win the $2 million grand prize. While the exact route won't be unveiled until two hours before race time, competitors know that the course will run through hostile desert terrain, mountains, gullies, dry lakebeds, tank traps and man-made obstacles.

—A live Webcast of the Oct. 8 Grand Challenge will be shown in Breed Hall in Margaret Morrison Carnegie Hall from 9 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. Breakfast will be served from 9 to 11 a.m. and lunch from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. For more information, see http://www.cmu.edu.

ETC ROBOT CHOSEN TO BE MASCOT FOR WORLD'S FAIR FOR KIDS

Quasi, an animatronic robot created by a team of Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) students, has been selected as the official mascot of the April 16-23 Worldıs Fair for Kids in Orlando, Fla.

—"Quasi was selected to be the official 'Spokes Robot,' mascot of the 2006 Orlando World's Fair for Kids for many reasons," said Brian Sockin, president and CEO of the World's Fair for Kids. "Quasi is a remarkable achievement in any measure and caliber and equally impressive are the students that built him." Quasi can make responses based on guest input, recognize speech patterns, track faces, detect proximity, dispense candy and even perform a karaoke duet.

—Further information: http://www.cmu.edu/PR/releases05/050923_quasi.html.

STAFF EARN ANDY AWARDS FOR OUTSTANDING DEDICATION AND PERFORMANCE

The Andy Awards are a university-wide staff recognition program that honors individuals and teams in five categories. This year's winners--one individual and four teams--were selected by a committee of university representatives and announced at the Annual Andy Awards ceremony on Sept. 27.

—Charlie Matous, who effectively serves more than 100 faculty, staff and students as computer facilities manager for the Institute for Complex Engineered Systems (ICES), received the Andy Award for Dedication.Thirty-eight educators from the Cyert Center for Early Childhood Education took the Andy Award in the Enthusiasm category for their exemplary efforts. (For the list of team members, visit http://www.cmu.edu/cmnews/extra/050927_andy.html). The Human Resources Orientation Team received the Andy Award for Innovation for transforming the traditional benefits orientation program into an interactive, multimedia, CD that can be accessed online anytime from anywhere. Team members include: Karen Beaudway, Lori Bell, Gemma Green, Gloria Gruber, Charles Palmer, Ron Placone, Richard Smereczniak and Everett Tademy. The Core Redundancy and Upgrade Network Connections to One Hundred Megabits Per Second (CRUNCH) Team won the Andy Award for University Citizenship for successfully upgrading more than 200 wiring closets and more than 10,000 active wired network connections on campus. The project was completed ahead of schedule and under budget. Team members are: Pete Bronder, Mark Campasano, Josh Emerson, Larry Gallagher, Frank Kietzke, Jenny Ladd, Alex Lang, Shirl McGaffick, Dave Nolan, Lisa Picone, Alan Sutton, Joe Winwood and Russ Yount. The Fitness Team of Donna Morosky and Pattye Stragar earned the Andy Award for Culture for creating a positive and supportive workplace environment and for "living the message of health and fitness with vitality and energy."

—For more information, visit http://www.cmu.edu/cmnews/extra/050927_andy.html.

NEWS BRIEFS

—To help expand the university's digital library collections and promote information literacy region-wide, the Eden Hall Foundation has approved two contributions to the University Libraries totaling almost $680,000. The first grant, of nearly $180,000, is for the Information Literacy for the Region project. The second is a challenge grant for the University Libraries' endowed Knowledge Renewal Fund. This pledge facilitates the development of a $1 million fund for ongoing acquisition of digital library resources. Once additional contributions to the fund reach $500,000, the Eden Hall Foundation will provide a matching $500,000.

PERSONAL MENTION

—Nichole Cates, a materials science and engineering junior, received a $2,000 Thoms Scholarship and Kelly Cronin, a civil and environmental engineering senior, received a $1,000 Morris Scholarship from the National Society of Women Engineering for the 2005-2006 academic year.

—Paula Martin has been hired as a registered dietician in Student Health Services. For the last seven years Martin has held community-based and clinical positions working with nutrition assessment, consultation and education, including the last two years as the nutrition educator at the University of Pittsburgh. This new position is a partnership between Student Health Services and Housing & Dining Services, created to support nutrition and diet education programs for students, faculty and staff. Consultation appointments are now available at 8-2157.

—Beth Yazemboski has been named director of the new office of Conference and Event Services. Serving for the last eight years as the senior administrative associate to the vice president for enrollment, Yazemboski will lead a restructured conference services' organization that will become responsible for pre-college summer studies administration and close coordination with campus catering sales and marketing.

CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS

—Thursday, Sept. 29: Seminar Series on Nanotechnology. "Designing Nitride Nanocomposites for Solid-State Energy Conversion," Professor Timothy Sands, Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University. 3:30 - 5 p.m., Scaife Auditorium. Co-sponsored by the Center for Nano-enabled Device and Energy Technologies, the Institute for Complex Engineered Systems and the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. Questions? Contact Dan Marks at danmarks@andrew.cmu.edu.

—Sept. 30 - Oct. 1: 10th Anniversary Celebration of the Center for Africanamerican Urban Studies and the Economy. "African Americans and the Post-Industrial Age: New Challenges of Urban History and Policy-Making." Hamburg Hall 1000.

—Tuesday, Oct. 4: Carnegie Mellon Technology Transfer conference. "Enterprise Creation and Economic Development: Transforming Research into Startups." A one-day conference to discuss what companies need and what local funding groups look for. 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Rangos 2, UC.

—Wednesday, Oct. 5: Design Lecture Series. A conversation with Kees Overbeeke, Nierenberg Distinguished Professor of Design, Technical University Eindhoven, the Netherlands. 7 p.m., McConomy Auditorium. Reception to follow. He joins Carnegie Mellon's School of Design for the current academic year.

—Thursday, Oct. 6: "Techniques for Dealing With Stress." Dr. Bruce Rabin, aka "Dr. Stress," director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Healthy Lifestyle program. 10 a.m. - Noon, Rangos 1, UC. Register at http://hr.web.cmu.edu/current/learning.

—Thursday, Oct. 6: The ETC presents the man behind "Shrek," Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO and director of DreamWorks Animation SKG. 2 p.m., McConomy Auditorium. A Q&A will follow his remarks.

—Wednesday, Oct. 12: Staff Council presents the First Annual Dialogue With the President. Noon - 1 p.m., McConomy Auditorium. President Cohon will speak briefly on a topic of his choosing and then take questions from the audience. Pre-submitted questions are also welcome, and should be forwarded to Audrey Portis at aportis@andrew.cmu.edu by Friday, Sept. 30. Because Staff Council sponsors an Open Forum series throughout the year on topics such as parking and benefits, questions on those matters will be deferred to those venues.

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