July 20, 2006

Vol. 17, No. 2

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)

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Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh have been awarded a five-year, $15 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish an engineering research center that will develop technologies to help older adults and people with disabilities live independently and productively. The new center will be jointly directed by Takeo Kanade, the U.A. and Helen Whitaker University Professor of Computer Science and Robotics at Carnegie Mellon; and Rory Cooper, Distinguished Professor and FISA/PVA Chair of Rehabilitation Science and Technology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences.

—Researchers at the new Quality of Life Technology Engineering Research Center will create a scientific and engineering knowledge base enabling the development of intelligent systems that co-exist and work with people, particularly those with impairments. These intelligent systems could include devices that a person carries or wears, a mobile system that a person rides or that accompanies a person, or an environment equipped with instruments to aid people. These devices and systems will be able to monitor the health and activity levels of people living alone, prompt failing memories or control household appliances. Technology could be developed that will enable people to continue to drive safely as they age. The center will also look to improve existing assistive technologies, like wheelchairs, by adding capabilities that provide navigational and cognitive assistance, and will develop technologies for the workplace that increase the employability of people with disabilities.

—Further information: http://www.cmu.edu/cmnews/extra/060717_qolt.html

RESEARCHERS DISCOVER KEY DEFICIENCIES IN BRAINS OF AUTISTIC PEOPLE

In a pair of groundbreaking studies, brain scientists at Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh have discovered that the anatomical differences that characterize the brains of people with autism are related to the way those brains process information. Previous studies have demonstrated a lower degree of synchronization among activated brain areas in people with autism, as well as smaller size of the corpus callosum, the white matter that acts as cables to wire the parts of the brain together. This latest research shows for the first time that the abnormality in synchronization is related to the abnormality in the cabling. The results suggest that the connectivity among brain areas is among the central problems in autism. The researchers have also found that people with autism rely heavily on the parts of the brain that deal with imagery, even when completing tasks that would not normally call for visualization.

—"Human thought is a network property. You think not with one brain area at a time, but with a network of collaborating brain areas, with emphasis on collaborating. In autism, the network connectivity (the bandwidth) through which the areas communicate with each other may be limited, particularly in the connections to the frontal cortex, limiting what types of networks can be used," said Marcel Just, co-author of the studies and director of Carnegie Mellon's Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging.

—Further information: http://www.cmu.edu/PR/releases06/060712_autism.html

CARNEGIE MELLON, TAIWANESE GOVERNMENT TO CREATE RESEARCH PROGRAM

The university has signed a $3 million agreement with the Taiwanese government, establishing a new research program and educational outreach initiative. Research at the government-sponsored International Collaboration for Advancing Security Technology (iCAST-Carnegie Mellon) will focus on a wide variety of security issues, including developing software assurance tools, metrics to measure the effectiveness of intrusion-detection systems and secure video surveillance networks, according to Tsuhan Chen, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and co-director of iCAST-Carnegie Mellon. Twenty Taiwanese researchers are scheduled to visit Carnegie Mellon to begin work on a variety of security-related projects designed to significantly improve both U.S. and Asian advanced security technologies.

—Further information: http://www.cmu.edu/PR/releases06/060713_taiwan.html

PARKING APPLICATION PERIOD BEGINS JULY 21

The application period for the 2006 - 2007 parking allocation will begin on Friday, July 21, and end Tuesday, Aug. 15. All members of the campus community will receive a detailed memo via campus mail that explains the new parking rates and other relevant information. This information will also be available July 21 at http://bizservweb.pc.cc.cmu.edu/parking/. For more information, contact Michelle Porter at 412-268-6278 or mporter@andrew.cmu.edu.

NEWS BRIEFS

—Carnegie Mellon's new Computer Science for High Schools (CS4HS) program will host more than 60 advanced placement (AP) high school computer science teachers hailing from New York to Hawaii July 21 - 24 for "CS4HS-Explorations in Computer Science." This new summer workshop will give them the latest tools and techniques to make computer science a more compelling subject for their students. It will also address the national issue of declining interest in computer science by providing teaching modules that educators can use to show that computer science is a broad and exciting field. "Our goal is to give teachers course material that they can use in their computing classes to illustrate to students that computer science isn't just Java programming," said program director and Computer Science Lecturer Thomas J. Cortina. "It will show students what they can do with a computer science degree." CH4HS is sponsored in part by a Google research award, Carnegie Mellon, Women @ SCS and the Center for Women & Information Technology. For more, see www.cs.cmu.edu/cs4hs/.

—At a media briefing scheduled for noon, Friday, July 21 in the Dilks Library at Roberts Engineering Hall, a collaborative research team led by Professor Cliff Davidson will discuss a new way of educating engineers about thinking "green" and incorporating environmental and social constraints into major development projects. The plan is part of a larger research effort under way at the new Center for Engineering Sustainability, which is supported by a $1.7 million grant from the National Science Foundation and $350,000 from the Environmental Protection Agency. The center, which includes researchers from the University of Texas at Austin and Arizona State University, aims to help engineers better manage increased stress on the world's limited resources.

PERSONAL MENTION

—"Dumpster," a feature-length film written by Jim Daniels, director of the university's Creative Writing Program, has received first place in the drama/comedy category at the Indie Gathering film festival, which will take place Aug. 4 - 6 in Cleveland. The film was recently featured at the Big Island Film Festival in Hawaii. "Dumpster" was shot on and around Carnegie Mellon during Easter weekend 2005. It tells the story of a university custodian who befriends a troubled college student living in a dumpster outside a campus building.

—Abiola Fasehun, a senior philosophy and English major, and Cherlisa Tarpeh, a senior majoring in electrical and computer engineering, have been selected to participate in a yearlong program sponsored by the Collegiate Women of Color Leadership Development Institute. The institute gives each selected student $2,500 to implement a leadership project on their campus or in their neighboring community during their senior year.

—Adele Barsh, business and economics librarian for the University Libraries serving the Tepper School, has been named the economics and business librarian at the University of California San Diego, effective in September. At UCSD, Barsh will serve as liaison to the department of economics and to the newly created Rady School of Management.

—Representatives from the departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Engineering and Public Policy co-authored eight papers for the IEEE Power Engineering Society general meeting in Montreal last month. The authors included professors Marija Ilic and Ozan Tonguz, and researchers and graduate students Ellery Blood, Seth Blumsack, Paul Hines, Jovan Ilic, Huaiwei Liao, Juhua Liu, Marija Prica, Anupam Thatte, Le Xie and Yi Zhang.

—Electrical and Computer Engineering and Computer Science Professor Raj Rajkumar delivered the keynote address, "Why Resource Reservation Is the Right Paradigm for Embedded Real-Time Systems," at the Euromicro Conference on Real-Time Systems July 5 - 7 in Dresden, Germany.

CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS

—Thursday, July 20: Artist talk for the exhibit "Trappings: Stories of Women, Power and Clothing." Artists Tiffany Ludwig and Renee Piechocki will discuss their work. 6 p.m., Regina Gouger Miller Gallery.

—Tuesday, July 25: Overview of Orientation 2006. 2 - 3 p.m., McKenna Room, UC. For more information, see http://www.studentaffairs.cmu.edu/first-year/orientation/2006/ or contact Anne Witchner at 412-268-4886.

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