December 8, 2005

Vol. 16, 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.

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Carnegie Mellon researchers and members of Taiwan's government-affiliated Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) unveiled new security technology on Dec. 6 in Hsinchu, a research-rich area south of Taipei. Increased demand for both Internet and physical security prompted both Carnegie Mellon and ITRI researchers to develop a software toolbox capable of tracking everything from an errant teenager taking the family car for an unscheduled drive to surveillance at major transportation hubs. Called ICTrack, the new flexible tracking toolbox is made up of a series of building blocks, or modules, according to Tsuhan Chen, Carnegie Mellon Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor and co-director of the ITRI lab on campus. "Each module represents a unique type of mathematical algorithm configured to track anything you can imagine," he said.

—The second technology unveiled at the Taiwan symposium was a dime-size motion sensor designed to track lost or stolen laptops and cell phones. It can also be used to assist with personal navigation. The sensor, housed in a cube-shaped casing, can be embedded in any commercial product. Once embedded, it automatically senses any small acceleration and emits a specially coded signal.

—Further information: http://www.cmu.edu/PR/releases05/051205_taiwan.html

NEW CENTER ANNOUNCED FOR RESEARCH ON URBAN WATER QUALITY

A collaborative research team, led by Civil and Environmental Engineering professors Jeanne VanBriesen and David Dzombak, has announced the creation of a new center--WaterQUEST--to study urban water quality. WaterQUEST (Water Quality in Urban Environmental Systems), which has $1 million in university seed funding, builds on a wide-range of existing water-related research spanning several departments at Carnegie Mellon.

—VanBriesen and Dzombak say human health and quality of life are at risk if nothing is done. Urban watersheds are a complex mix of natural and man-made water flows that we depend upon to provide clean, safe water to people and industries. Most existing systems are old and in need of repair in many urban areas. And the natural systems are over-taxed by the input of persistent toxicants and pathogens, according to Carnegie Mellon researchers.

—WaterQUEST will focus on problems that are national in scope but local in impact. "The Pittsburgh region, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the nation face difficult challenges to improve and protect surface water and groundwater quality in urban areas," said Dzombak. "WaterQUEST Center faculty and students at Carnegie Mellon, and our collaborators from Pittsburgh and around the country will work to bring new ideas and approaches to meet these challenges."

—Further information: http://www.cmu.edu/PR/releases05/051206_water.html

TARTANS NAMED TO ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA TEAM

Carnegie Mellon junior defensive back Aaron Lewis and senior offensive guard Bryan LeBude earned First Team ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 on a scale of 4.00, and have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her institution.

—Lewis, a business administration major with a 3.95 grade-point average, earned First Team All-University Athletic Association (UAA) honors for the third straight year with a league-leading 115 (61 solos) tackles. He also ranked second in the UAA with six interceptions. LeBude, a biological sciences major with a 3.75 GPA, started every game and helped the Tartans average a UAA-leading 219.8 rushing yards per game. He led an offensive line that gave up only 13 sacks in 10 games, which also ranked first in the UAA.

—Carnegie Mellon finished the 2005 campaign with a 5-5 overall record and a third-place standing in the UAA. It was the 31st consecutive non-losing season for the Tartans.

—Further information: http://www.cmu.edu/cmnews/extra/051205_espn.html

NEWS BRIEFS

—Carnegie Mellon has been ranked second in the nation in psychology by Thomson Scientific, which provides products and services for researchers. The rankings are based on the number of times that the university's researchers are cited in scientific articles. Thomson Scientific considers this a key measure of scientific influence, and Carnegie Mellon researchers routinely are ranked among the most cited in the nation by the organization.

—If you are planning to travel abroad during the winter break, the Student Health Service encourages you to take precautions against seasonal influenza by getting flu vaccine. Vaccines can be administered by injection or by an intranasal spray called FluMist. To register for the vaccine send email to health@andrew.cmu.edu. In addition to flu vaccine, it is always prudent to follow good hygiene practices to protect yourself from viral infections. Further information: official.cmu-news@andrew, Dec. 6.

—There's still time to contribute to Carnegie Mellon's United Way Campaign. By making a gift before Dec. 16 you can support programs and services that help people in our community, such as the Jewish Community Center, Pittsburgh Action Against Rape, the Center for Hearing and Deaf Services, Mercy Behavioral Health and Three Rivers Youth Inc. Contribute online at http://www.unitedwaypittsburgh.org/uwac/carnegiemellon or contact Courtney Bryant at cbryant@andrew for a paper form.

PERSONAL MENTION

—Simeon Adlow Friedberg, longtime Carnegie Mellon professor and researcher who chaired the Physics Department during the 1970s, died Dec. 4 of Parkinson's disease in his Squirrel Hill home. He was 80. He joined the Carnegie Tech Physics Department as an instructor in 1952, the start of a 42-year career. He was a professor of physics and department chair from 1972 to 1980.

—Robert D. Tilton, professor of Biomedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering, has been elected vice chair of the American Chemical Society Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry for 2006. This position automatically transitions to chair-elect for 2007 and chair for 2008.

—ECE graduate student Chunyan Xie, advised by Professor Vijayakumar Bhagavatula, won the Best Student Paper Award at the IEEE International Workshop on Analysis and Modeling of Faces and Gestures in Bejing, China. She also won third place in the student author contest at the IEEE Workshop on Automatic Identification Advanced Technologies in Buffalo, N.Y.

—Jia-Yu (Tim) Pan, a doctoral student in computer science, won one of five best student paper awards at ICDM'05, one of the top data mining conferences. The paper is on mining biomedical images using a novel technique of visual vocabularies and independent component analysis.

—Computer Science professors Bob Harper and Hui Zhang have been elected ACM Fellows. Harper's recent research interests are in scientific computing and trustless grid computing. He has also conducted research in programming languages, with specific focuses in type theory, logical frameworks and meta-languages. He is also one of the co-authors of "The Definition of Standard ML." Zhang's research interests are in computer networks, specifically on the scalability, robustness, dependability, security and manageability of broadband access networks, enterprise networks and the Internet. His end system multicast work has been used for the real-time broadcast of national events, including the John Kerry rally on campus during the 2004 presidential campaign.

CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS

—Friday, Dec. 9: College of Fine Arts (CFA) and School of Music Holiday Concert, directed by Robert Page. Noon, CFA Great Hall. The Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic, Concert Choir and Repertory Chorus will perform. This special event is free and open to the public and will be broadcast live on WQED-FM 89.3.

—Sunday, Dec. 11: The recent screening of a pornographic film in McConomy Auditorium has sparked considerable discussion on campus. In response, Student Government invites all Carnegie Mellon community members to a campus forum co-hosted by professors Suzie Silver and Michael Witmore to explore whether public screenings of pornography have a place on campus. Representatives from student government (Senate, GSA and the executive branch), Activities Board and the administration will be there to hear opinions. 4:30 p.m., Rangos 3.

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