Carnegie Mellon News Bloghttp://www.cmu.edu/news/blogObituary: Dr. David Servan-Schreiber Empowered Cancer Patientshttp://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Summer/obituary-david-servan-schreiber.shtmlDr. David Servan-Schreiber (CS’89,’90), who was awarded an honorary doctorate in humane letters at Carnegie Mellon’s commencement this past May, died of brain cancer on Sunday, July 24. He was 50.

Servan-Schreiber’s career spanned two continents as a professor and physician in Pittsburgh and Paris. After completing two medical degrees, Servan-Schreiber earned a Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience at CMU under the guidance of Jay McClelland and Nobel Laureate Herbert Simon.

Servan-Schreiber’s distinguished career touched many Pittsburgh institutions, including senior leadership posts at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, where he co-founded the Center for Integrative Medicine, and academic appointments at the University of Pittsburgh and CMU. He published more than 90 scientific monographs and lectured at leading international academic centers.

One of the seven co-founders of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Doctors without Borders U.S., Servan-Schreiber served in Iraq, Guatemala, India, Tajikistan and Kosovo, addressing epidemics among refugees. He served as a member of the organization’s board for nine years.

In 1992, at age 31, Servan-Schreiber discovered a tumor in his own brain while conducting brain-imaging research. He was diagnosed with brain cancer and given six months to live. Confronting his illness and marshaling his own will to live, he embarked upon a 16-year journey fighting and seeking to understand his illness, culminating in his 2008 international bestseller, “Anticancer: A New Way of Life.” The book and his international lectures have empowered cancer patients and survivors with knowledge and tools to combat the disease.

Servan-Schreiber is the eldest son of the world-renowned Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber, the late politician, publisher and co-founder of the French newspaper L'Express. Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber was a distinguished lecturer at CMU during the years that his four sons, David, Franklin (E'86, HSS'89), Emile (S'85, HSS'89,'91) and Edouard (S'88) were students at the university. Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber worked closely with Raj Reddy, CMU's Mozah Bint Nasser University Professor, as founder and president of the World Center for Informatics and Human Resources.

The funeral will be held in Paris on Thursday, July 28.

]]>bg02@andrew.cmu.edu (Internal Communications) -0400http://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Summer/obituary-david-servan-schreiber.shtmlSoftware Engineering Students Develop Warhol Apphttp://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Summer/pop-app.shtmlWarhol AppThree students in last year's Institute for Software Research's Professional Software Engineering programs developed an iPhone/iPad application for The Andy Warhol Museum. The application allows users to create a digital silkscreen print by following Warhol's famed silkscreen process step by step.

As the project component of their master's degree, the Warhol Museum sponsored a team of students — Kothanda Ramakumar, Dinesh Ramadoss and Ramkumar Nagarajan — to develop the app. The team was mentored by Matthew Bass, MSE faculty and associate director for corporate and alumni relations for the Professional Software Engineering programs. The Warhol D.I.Y. Pop app, now sold through the iTunes AppStore, works on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. The top-selling app on the day of its release, July 11, it was identified as a 'Pick of the Week' by Gizmodo and featured in the Wall Street Journal's "All Things D," the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and numerous other online and print publications.

With photos taken by their device's built-in camera or obtained from photo galleries, individuals use the application to create personal works of art. The hands-on process includes cropping, exposing, and painting.  Users employ their fingers as virtual squeegees, pulling them across the screen to apply the ink that completes the digital silkscreen.

"Working with The Andy Warhol Museum was a great experience for all concerned," Bass said. "The project provided a great learning opportunity for the students, and the end-result for the Warhol was a world class app. We look forward to future collaborations."

]]>bspice@andrew.cmu.edu (Byron Spice) -0400http://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Summer/pop-app.shtmlInformation Systems Students Support Props, Costumes Projecthttp://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Summer/urban-impact.shtmlIS Summer 2011When a performing arts company donated millions of props and costumes to Urban Impact in Pittsburgh, they thought that they would never have to purchase another item for a play or musical again. But, the magnitude of the items quickly became overwhelming — simply locating specific items within the warehouse was virtually impossible.  

Urban Impact, a local ministry based on the North Side aimed at helping at-risk youth, did not have the financial means to solve the problem on their own.

Enter eight students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) who spent six weeks in the Information Systems in the Community Summer Program. Working under the direction of professors Larry Heimann and Jeria Quesenberry, the students created an inventory management system for Urban Impact's Performing Arts Program.  The program is designed to improve the lives of children through singing, dancing and playing musical instruments at venues and colleges across Pennsylvania.

Called the "Urban Impact Costume Collection," the system will allow Urban Impact's staff and production partners to browse and sort items, view photos and ultimately request to use specific items. The system also displays where in the warehouse each item is located.

Tammy Glover, director of Urban Impact's Performing Arts Program, said that working with the students was a wonderful experience that will impact kids lives for years to come.

"Not only did your work leave an imprint on your learning, but you've left a legacy in Pittsburgh," she said.  "Our city is better because you came and visited us."

For the past eight years, the CMU's Information Systems in the Community Summer Program has brought together students from HBCUs to complete an intense and complicated project designed to give them a hands-on learning experience. In addition to mastering new technical concepts, the students were taught project management, leadership and teamwork skills. The six-week program is generously supported by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

For more information about the Information Systems in the Community Summer Program, the students involved and this year's project, visit http://pawn.hss.cmu.edu/~uifteam/.

]]>sraube@andrew.cmu.edu (Shilo Raube) -0400http://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Summer/urban-impact.shtmlOnline Consumers Willing To Pay for Privacyhttp://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Summer/paying-for-privacy.shtmlA new study by Carnegie Mellon researchers debunks the conventional wisdom that online consumers won't pay a premium to purchase from vendors with clear, protective privacy policies.

The study, authored by CMU researchers Janice Y. Tsai, Serge Egelman, Lorrie Cranor and Alessandro Acquisti, appears in the current issue of the INFORMS journal Information Systems Research.

"Our study indicates that when privacy information is made more salient and accessible, some consumers are willing to pay a premium to purchase from privacy protective websites," write the authors.

The researchers note that most online privacy policies are difficult for consumers to use and are often overlooked. Challenging a predominant belief that consumers would not sacrifice for greater Internet privacy, they designed their research to determine if consumers would pay extra to make a purchase at an online store whose privacy policy was medium to high and could easily be determined.

When shopping online for batteries, participants in one phase of the study made significantly more purchases from sites rated "high privacy" (47.4 percent) than participants buying from sites rated "no privacy" (5.6 percent).

To learn more about the study, check out the podcast interview with study co-author Acquisti here: http://www.scienceofbetter.org/podcast/acquisti.html

]]>walters1@andrew.cmu.edu (Ken Walters) -0400http://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Summer/paying-for-privacy.shtmlStudents Light Up African Villagehttp://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Summer/project-yele.shtmlYesterday (Monday, July 11), two Carnegie Mellon students arrived in Yele, a rural village in Sierra Leone, to bring electricity to nearly 600 households.

Engineering and public policy doctoral student Paul van der Boor and rising junior economics and statistics major Tori Baggio are part of a four-member team from Project Yele that will be working in the African country through Aug. 11. They are blogging about the experience at http://projectyele2011.wordpress.com/.

Cocorioko, a newspaper in Sierra Leone, reports:

"During the day, the town pulsates with life as children dash to school, traders push their goods, and drivers load their passengers to nearby Bo, Magburaka or Makeni. However at night, like many towns in Sierra Leone, the town looks like a deserted village. Apart from a few kerosene lamps, an occasional lightning, moonlight or fireflies that flicker in the dark, the town has no light. However, that is about to change, thanks to a group of young, caring, innovative, tenacious students who do not only want to research world problems in classrooms, but actually find solutions."

Van der Boor and Baggio's team is refurbishing a hydropower plant that will provide electricity not only to hundreds of households, but also to a new community bazaar. The bazaar will provide space for 16 local entrepreneurs to grow their businesses, refrigerators and clean drinking water, an area to buy and charge LED lights and Internet access for the community.

Project Yele was among five international finalists in this year's Dell Social Innovation Competition. The contest received more than 1,400 entries from college students in 85 countries.

]]>ahouck@andrew.cmu.edu (Abby Houck) -0400http://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Summer/project-yele.shtmlHollywood Comes to CMUhttp://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Summer/hollywood-comes-to-cmu.shtmlCarnegie Mellon will once again play host to Hollywood, when several scenes for a major motion picture by Warner Bros., currently using the working title “Magnus Rex,” are filmed outside of the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) in late July, and inside and outside of the Mellon Institute in early August. Carnegie Mellon is working closely with the production company to ensure that the university and its students, faculty and staff will benefit from the movie-making experience with minimal disruption to normal operations.

Here's the skinny on the filming dates, and parking and traffic restrictions.

Where and When

Scenes will be filmed outside the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at the intersection of Dithridge and Henry streets from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, July 30-31.

Scenes will be filmed outside of the Mellon Institute on the Fifth Ave. side from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday, July 31, and inside of the Mellon Institute's fourth-floor entrance lobby on Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 3-4. 

Prep work for the filming will be taking place in both locations beginning July 11.

LOGISTICAL INFORMATION

SEI and Mellon Institute Operations

The SEI will be open during the filming on July 30-31, but few employees should be affected since it takes place on the weekend. 

The Mellon Institute will be open for business during filming on Aug. 3-4 although some areas will be closed to employees and the public, including the fourth-floor entrance lobby off of Fifth Ave., fourth floor elevator lobby and library.  There will be no access to the building from the Fifth Ave. entrance from July 29 - Aug. 8, and employees are asked to use another entrance on these days.

SEI loading dock deliveries will be suspended from Friday, July 29 through Monday, Aug. 1.

Other Buildings in Filming Area

Tenants in the following Carnegie Mellon buildings may also be affected by the filming activities in the area.  Please see below for parking and street closure information.

  • Shirly Apartments
  • Bristol Apartments
  • 319 Craig St. (Human Resources)
  • 300 Craig St. (University Police)
  • Technology Development Center


Dithridge Street Parking Garage

The Dithridge Street parking garage will be closed from the evening of Friday, July 29 through early morning Monday Aug. 1 only.  Leaseholders will be able to access the garage on all other days regardless of traffic restrictions.

Traffic Restrictions

During set construction and filming, some area streets will be either closed to traffic or closed to traffic intermittently.

Street Closings:

  • Henry St. from Dithridge St. to Utica Way from 5 a.m., Monday, July 11 through 10 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 9
  • Dithridge from Fifth Ave. to Winthrop St. from 5 a.m., Monday, July 25 through 10 p.m., Friday, Aug. 5.
  • Bigelow Blvd. from Fifth to Forbes avenues from 8 p.m., Thursday, July 28 through 10 p.m., Friday, Aug. 5.
  • Utica Way from Henry to Winthrop from 7 a.m., Friday, July 29 through 10 p.m., Sunday, July 31.
  • Henry St. from Utica Way to Craig St. from 5 a.m., Friday, July 29 through 5 a.m., Monday, Aug. 1.
  • Fifth Ave. from Bellefield St. to Craig from 5 a.m., Saturday, July 30 through 5 a.m., Monday, Aug. 1.
  • Dithridge from Bayard St. to Fifth (except for local access) from 5 a.m., Saturday, July 30 through 10 p.m., Sunday, July 31

Intermittent Delays: 

Saturday and Sunday, July 30-31

  • Dithridge from Bayard to Forbes
  • Fillmore St. from Bellefield to Craig
  • Winthrop from Bellefield to Craig
  • The intersection of Fifth and Bellefield
  • The intersection of Forbes and Craig
  • The intersection of Fifth and Craig

Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 3-4

  • The intersection of Fifth and Bellefield
  • The intersection of Fifth and Dithridge
]]>bg02@andrew.cmu.edu (Bruce Gerson) -0400http://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Summer/hollywood-comes-to-cmu.shtmlRobotics Institute Hits NYChttp://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Summer/robotics-institute-hits-nyc.shtmlRobot Film FestivalThe Robot Film Festival in New York City July 16-17 boasts a number of firsts, perhaps none more surprising than both Spike Jonze and Matt Mason presenting films on the same screen.

Jonze is famous as the director of "Being John Malkovich," while Mason is best known as the director of Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute. As unlikely as such a pairing seems, Jonze will screen his film short, a robot love story called "I'm here," at the festival, while Mason and his Manipulation Lab will be showing a music video, "Do What You Do."

Mason is by no means the only Carnegie Mellon presence at the festival, which will be at the 3-Legged Dog  theater in lower Manhattan. Heather Knight, a Ph.D. student in the Robotics Institute, organized the event. Reid Simmons, research professor of robotics, is a jury member and Marek Michalowski, a Ph.D. alum and visiting student at the Robotics Institute, is the festival's video coordinator.

Ten films created by CMU students, faculty and staff are featured at the festival. Also, Golan Levin, associate professor of art, and Matt Gray, assistant professor of acting, will present a Robot Theater piece in which Roomba robots recreate a Samuel Beckett play.

Knight said she hopes to eventually launch a Robot Film Festival in Pittsburgh.

]]>bspice@cs.cmu.edu (Byron Spice) -0400http://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Summer/robotics-institute-hits-nyc.shtmlCMU Applauds National Robotics Initiativehttp://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Summer/national-robotics-initiative.shtmlObama SignatureAs part of President Barack Obama's visit to Carnegie Mellon last Friday (June 24), it was announced that the National Science Foundation (NSF) will take the lead with NASA and two other federal agencies to support the administration's National Robotics Initiative (NRI). The initiative complements the administration's Advanced Manufacturing Partnership and technology transfer efforts, and supports the development and use of robots in the United States that work beside or cooperatively with people and that enhance individual human capabilities, performance and safety.
 
Over the past five years, tremendous advancements in robotics technology have enabled a new generation of assistive systems and devices in industries as diverse as manufacturing, logistics, medicine, health care, military, agriculture and consumer products. Organizations constituting the National Robotics Roundtable, including Carnegie Mellon, applauded the administration's National Robotics Initiative and touted the role robotics and unmanned systems will play in creating jobs, strengthening the economy and ensuring American competitiveness in the global marketplace.

"The steps announced by the President will advance U.S. leadership, spur new industries and create new jobs," said Jared L. Cohon, president of Carnegie Mellon. "Robotics is at the heart of the race for 21st century global economic leadership, as current and emerging robotic innovations will become increasingly vital to keeping us healthy, safe and prosperous in the next decade and beyond. Now, more than ever, it's important that industry, academia, and government work together to ensure our economic security and global competitiveness."

The purpose of the NRI is to encourage innovative collaborative research that combines computer and systems science with mechanical, electrical and materials engineering, and social, behavioral and economic sciences to tackle the most important and challenging problems in robotics, including production of human-assisting co-robots. One goal of the initiative is to stimulate the development and utilization of new computational algorithms, modeling, and analytical techniques in a range of human augmentation tasks. Another goal is to encourage the establishment of new cross-disciplinary research collaborations.

Additionally, robotics science and technology together with the science of learning have the potential to play a very important role in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education as a unique, integrative discipline that brings together basic science, applied engineering, and creative thinking. Investments in NRI from NASA, NIH, NSF and the USDA may reach $40 to $50 million in the first year with anticipated growth in funding as other agencies and industry partners engage.

For more information, see:
http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=119911&org=NSF&from=news
http://www.roboticsroundtable.org/

Pictured above is President Obama's signature on Sensabot, one of the CMU robots on display during his talk at Carnegie Mellon's National Robotics Engineering Center. Sensabot was developed to perform inspection tasks in hazardous environments and isolated facilities. Photo by CMU's Byron Spice.

]]>thomas@cmu.edu (Teresa Thomas) -0400http://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Summer/national-robotics-initiative.shtmlObama Launches Manufacturing Partnership From CMUhttp://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Summer/obama-launches-manufacturing-partnership-from-cmu.shtmlObama VisitsCarnegie Mellon University was honored to welcome President Barack Obama to campus today (June 24), as he launched the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP), a national effort bringing together industry, universities, and government to invest in emerging technologies, create sustainable new businesses, and enhance U.S. competitiveness. AMP is made up of what the President called some of the "most advanced engineering universities, like Carnegie Mellon, Georgia Tech, Stanford, Berkeley, Michigan and innovative manufacturers, from Johnson & Johnson to Honeywell, Stryker to Allegheny Technologies."  
     
Carnegie Mellon was privileged to serve as the venue for this milestone announcement, which highlights investment in industries such as information technology, biotechnology and nanotechnology.
     
President Obama’s announcement came on the heels of Carnegie Mellon's new “Greenlighting Startups” initiative, which was created to further accelerate the university's already impressive record of turning innovations into new businesses. Greenlighting Startups, a portfolio of five new and existing campus incubators, helps streamline the process for transforming research from award-winning professors and world-class students into thriving companies that provide new jobs and solve real-world problems.
       
Obama Signs RobotThe President toured a number of demonstrations focusing on advanced technologies and robotics. In his opening remarks, President Obama said, "It seems like every time I'm here I learn something.  So, for those of you who are thinking about Carnegie Mellon, it's a terrific place, and you guys are doing just great work. I just met with folks from some cutting-edge companies and saw some of their inventions here in your National Robotics Engineering Center. But that’s not the only reason I’m here. You might not know this, but one of my responsibilities as Commander-in-Chief is to keep an eye on robots."
       
He went on to say: "And that’s why we’re here. Carnegie Mellon is a great example of what it means to move forward. At its founding, no one would have imagined that a trade school for the sons and daughters of steelworkers would one day become the region’s largest — one of the region's largest employers and a global research university.  And yet, innovations led by your professors and your students have created more than 300 companies and 9,000 jobs over the past 15 years — companies like Carnegie Robotics. But more important than the ideas that you've incubated are what those ideas have become: They’ve become products made right here in America and, in many cases, sold all over the world. And that's in our blood.  That's who we are. We are inventors, and we are makers, and we are doers."
       
A complete transcript of the speech can be found at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/06/24/remarks-president-carnegie-mellon-universitys-national-robotics-engineer

Watch a video of his address at http://www.youtube.com/user/carnegiemellonu#p/u/0/sfTY38Xg9bg

See more photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/carnegiemellonu/sets/72157627038375642/

Above, President Barack Obama announces the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership from CMU's National Robotics Engineering Center.  Below (AP Photo), he signs Sensabot, one of the CMU robots on display. The robot was developed to perform inspection tasks in hazardous environments and isolated facilities.

]]>thomas@cmu.edu (Teresa Thomas) -0400http://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Summer/obama-launches-manufacturing-partnership-from-cmu.shtmlPresident Obama To Address the U.S. From CMUhttp://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Summer/obama-nrec.shtmlThe following Official Communications was sent by Michael Murphy, Vice President for Campus Affairs, earlier today.

President Barack Obama will address the U.S. from Carnegie Mellon University's National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC) in Pittsburgh's Lawrenceville neighborhood this Friday, June 24.

His speech will address the key roles that universities — in collaboration with government and industry — play in enhancing the global competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing, jumpstarting job creation and the process of bringing ideas to market.
 
The President's visit comes on the heels of our launch of "Greenlighting Startups," http://www.cmu.edu/startups/, an initiative aimed at accelerating CMU's already impressive record of turning innovations into viable, commercial businesses.
 
Attendance at the talk, which will begin at approximately 11 a.m., is by invitation only. A livestream of the event will be online at http://www.cmu.edu/event/obama. Further details will be released by the White House in the coming days.
 
Tight security measures will be in place at NREC and members of the university community who work in that facility will experience restrictions and inconveniences, which are being communicated directly to those impacted.
 
Please stay tuned for more details via our weekly newsletter and on the web at http://www.cmu.edu/news/news-notes/index.shtml.

Michael Murphy
Vice President for Campus Affairs

]]>bg02@andrew.cmu.edu (Internal Communications) -0400http://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Summer/obama-nrec.shtmlPDD To Use Deliberative Theater To Explore The Marcellus Shale Debatehttp://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Spring/managing-marcellus.shtmlWhile Marcellus Shale is recognized as one of the greatest economic opportunities for Pennsylvania, the drilling and processing of natural gas poses both challenges and threats to local infrastructure, the environment and public safety.

What is the best role for communities to play in safeguarding local assets and protecting the environment?  What does the average person know about Marcellus Shale and how do they know it?  

The Program for Deliberative Democracy (PDD), a joint venture between CMU's Center for Ethics and Policy and Pittsburgh's Coro Center for Civic Leadership, is teaming up with WQED-TV, Pop City and Unseam'd Shakespeare Company to explore the critical concerns of the Marcellus Shale debate and the various ways in which local leaders are seeking to support the development of the industry through "Managing Marcellus."

"Managing Marcellus" is a Deliberative Theater performance written by Shannon Deep, a CMU alumnus, designed to inform people of the Shale controversy and different viewpoints.

"The performance will illustrate the different relationships and complexities with Marcellus Shale and how they play out in real life," said Deep, who was a Phi Beta Kappa Fellow in Deliberative Democracy.  "The different scenes move through issues related to trust, who has the correct information and is there even correct information?"

The play works towards a solution that all sides need to be included in the Marcellus Shale conversation.

"The institutions of democracy are by no means static — we are still very much in an experimental phase," said Robert Cavalier, co-director of the PDD and a teaching professor of philosophy at CMU.  "CMU is playing an important role in this experiment.  One example of this is Shannon Deep's development of a 'Deliberative Theater.'"

Unseam'd Shakespeare Company will produce "Managing Marcellus" and it will be performed and recorded on Wednesday, July 27, 2011 from 5-8:15 p.m. at WQED-TV's studios.  It will be televised on WQED later this fall.

Seating for the taping is limited and participants will be chosen by random, not first to sign up. The event is highly participatory and will include a reception, pre-reading, pre- and post-surveys, moderated small group discussion, Q&A panel discussion in addition to the performance of "Managing Marcellus."

To sign up to attend the July 27 taping, visit http://www.popcitymedia.com/features/shaleevent062211.aspx.

For more information on the Program for Deliberative Democracy, visit http://hss.cmu.edu/pdd/index.html.

]]>sraube@andrew.cmu.edu (Shilo Raube) -0400http://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Spring/managing-marcellus.shtmlPresident Obama To Speak at CMU Friday, June 24http://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Spring/obama-visit.shtmlBarack ObamaPresident Barack Obama will visit Carnegie Mellon's Pittsburgh campus next Friday to highlight the importance of manufacturing to the U.S. economy. A White House official said the president will speak about steps that government, industry and universities will take together to create new industries and new jobs. He will discuss cross-cutting technologies meant to enhance the global competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing and speed up the process of bringing ideas to fruition.

This will be the second time in a little more than a year and the third time since 2008 that President Obama will speak at CMU. His last visit was on June 2, 2010.

This visit comes after Carnegie Mellon recently introduced "Greenlighting Startups," a new initiative aimed at accelerating CMU's already impressive record of turning campus innovations into sustainable new businesses. Since 2004, CMU has doubled the number of start-up companies created by its faculty and students and now stands as one of the fastest growing entrepreneurial institutions in the United States.

Stay tuned for more details as they become available.

]]>bg02@andrew.cmu.edu (Internal Communications) -0400http://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Spring/obama-visit.shtmlSetting a New Tablehttp://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Spring/setting-a-new-table.shtmlPaul KarolIt looks like it's time to get a new periodic table of the elements. The Joint Working Party for the Discovery of New Elements, chaired by Carnegie Mellon Chemistry Professor Paul Karol, confirmed the discovery of two new elements in a paper published online in the journal Pure and Applied Chemistry.
 
The elements, numbers 114 and 116, are the first to be added since Copernicium joined the chart in 2009. The new elements will be called ununquadium and ununhexium, Latin derivations of their atomic numbers, until the founding research team from the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia, and California's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California assigns their official names.
 
A member of the Mellon College of Science faculty since 1969, Karol has chaired the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry/International Union of Pure and Applied Physics' Joint Working Party for the Discovery of New Elements since its inception in 1999. The group evaluates the evidence behind claims of elemental discovery and makes the ultimate decision on whether or not an element can enter the periodic chart. In the last 12 years, the group has conferred elemental status to three other elements: Darmstadtium, Roentgenium and Copernicium.

Pictured above is Paul Karol.

]]>jhduffy@andrew.cmu.edu (Jocelyn Duffy) -0400http://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Spring/setting-a-new-table.shtmlCybersecurity Progresshttp://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Spring/cybersecurity-progress.shtmlNorthrop Grumman Corporation and three of the nation's leading cybersecurity research universities, Carnegie Mellon University, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology ( MIT) and Purdue University, announced today the progress they have made in developing solutions for pressing cybersecurity threats during a briefing at the National Press Club.

As part of the Northrop Grumman Cybersecurity Research Consortium, this unique industry/academia partnership set out in December 2009 to advance research, facilitate collaboration among the nation's top scientists and accelerate solutions to counter the fast-changing cyber threats.

"The threats continue to increase in both number and sophistication," said Robert Brammer, vice president and chief technology officer, Northrop Grumman Information Systems. "Our research is significant in that it is directly focused on major issues impacting our customers' needs and is already achieving some significant results. The collaboration among our industry professionals and the university researchers has been exciting, and I look forward to the consortium being a significant factor in the race to counter the growing threats in cyberspace."

Representatives highlighted progress in several key areas including large-scale information systems operations, where the consortium has developed approaches to improve the security of cloud computing. The consortium has also developed new approaches for organizing and evaluating experiments performed on cyber test ranges. This approach will allow customers to better evaluate large-scale cyber attack and defense strategies in a cost-effective manner.

"The consortium has also developed automatic techniques to analyze computer software designs to look for potential cybersecurity vulnerabilities," added Brammer. "If successful on a large-scale, these techniques will significantly improve software security for customers while reducing the time and cost it takes to develop, certify and accredit these systems for government operations."

The Northrop Grumman Cybersecurity Research Consortium members maintain laboratories and centers recognized globally for their research in this area. They include Carnegie Mellon's CyLab, MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) and Purdue's Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security (CERIAS).

Northrop Grumman is transitioning the results of the research to the marketplace through its Independent Research and Development (IR&D) program as well as through contract research and development and customer projects. The consortium continues to provide graduate student fellowships and has expanded the portfolio of research from 10 to 13 projects to cover the emerging challenges in cyberspace.

"Cybersecurity is vital to economic prosperity, personal privacy and national security; and academic research is vital to the advancement of cybersecurity," said Richard Power, distinguished fellow, director of strategic communications for Carnegie Mellon CyLab (Silicon Valley Campus). "The Northrop Grumman Cybersecurity Research Consortium provides us with a new research model, emphasizing technology transition. This process of transitioning academic innovation to industry delivers social value, for example creating jobs, spurring further innovation and of course, enhancing cybersecurity."

"The Cybersecurity Research Consortium, led by Northrop Grumman, plays a very important role in fostering the development of new security technologies in academia and facilitating their transition to real-world use," said Professor Ronald L. Rivest, lead of MIT's CSAIL. "We believe that such industry/academic collaboration is essential for successful action against the increasingly serious and effective cyber-attacks we are witnessing today."

"The Cybersecurity Research Consortium has proven to be a wonderful initiative," said Eugene H. Spafford, executive director of Purdue's CERIAS. "For more than two decades, Purdue has been leading research and education in information security. Our mission has been to build collaborative relationships with industry, government and other academic entities to advance the state of information assurance, security and privacy. Northrop Grumman has been our partner in these efforts for many years. This consortium has enabled us to work even more closely with them, as well as with a few of our academic peers, on solutions to current and future threats to cybersecurity. We are pleased to be part of this ongoing, vital partnership devoted to advancing the states of knowledge and practice in cybersecurity."


]]> () -0400http://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Spring/cybersecurity-progress.shtmlResearch Cited in Senator's Reporthttp://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Spring/research-cited-in-senators-report.shtmlA Carnegie Mellon University study that explored new methods for studying regional dialects using the Twitter social networking site showed that the use of slang and jargon can reveal important information regarding an author's identity.
   
This finding has important implications for corporations and the intelligence community. The study nevertheless was one of a number of National Science Foundation-sponsored projects whose merits are questioned in a new report released by Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma that scrutinizes the use of taxpayer money for research.
      
"Recent activities in Iran, Syria, Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya are reminders that social networking can be a powerful force in allowing citizens to communicate and coordinate their activities in hostile environments," Randal E. Bryant, dean of the School of Computer Science, said in response to the report. "Unfortunately, these same mechanisms can also be used by computer hackers, criminals, and terrorists. Whether to promote positive uses or to counter negative uses, it's important to understand the nature of interactions via social networking and how they evolve. Carnegie Mellon University scientists are leaders in this area of inquiry.
      
"By its very nature, research requires that scientists pursue promising ideas even — or especially — when the precise outcomes and applications are unknown," Bryant continued. "The Twitter study, which was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense and Google Inc., in addition to the NSF, is but one example.
      
"The key finding was that seemingly meaningless slang and jargon can reveal important properties of the author's identity, a point of interest for both corporations and the intelligence community. This finding was the result of a larger, NSF-sponsored effort in machine learning and social media analysis, which enables computers to automatically identify informative patterns in an ocean of noisy data."
      
The Coburn report noted that a total of $1.4 million in NSF grants supported this research. Those grants support general research in social and biological systems; the Twitter study was just one of more than 30 research papers supported in part by the grants.
      

]]>bspice@cs.cmu.edu (Byron Spice) -0400http://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Spring/research-cited-in-senators-report.shtmlScholarship Winner Needs Your Votehttp://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Spring/gold-standard.shtmlRodriguezCatherine Rodriguez, a Carnegie Mellon University senior majoring in Hispanic studies and drama, is already a winner, but she needs your vote.

Rodriguez was one of 24 scholars to win the first-ever $10,000 Gold Standard Scholarship from the National Basketball Association (NBA), Bacardi Gold and the Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF), but your vote could net her $30,000 more. The NBA is holding an online competition for the public to decide which four scholarship winners should receive the additional prize.  

"I am honored to even be considered for this scholarship, and even more blessed that the CMU community is so supportive of one of its own," said Rodriguez, one of 24 scholars selected from more than 1,100 applicants for her academic excellence and exemplary leadership, volunteerism and service.

"Winning this scholarship will allow me to continue my studies at CMU and pursue my life goal, which is to serve the U.S. Latino community through the art of theater," she said.

To vote for Rodriguez, go to http://www.nba.com/goldstandard/video.html and select her name under "Hispanic Scholarship Female Finalist."  

You also can help spread the word to vote by posting to Twitter, Facebook and other social media outlets. Voting ends on May 30, 2011.

]]>sraube@andrew.cmu.edu (Shilo Raube) -0400http://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Spring/gold-standard.shtmlTurning Ideas Into Realityhttp://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Spring/turning-ideas-into-reality.shtmlCarnegie Mellon faculty and students will help Toyota turn five ideas for repurposing Toyota automotive technologies into reality during a rapid prototyping session in Newell-Simon Hall and the Electric Garage June 3-5.

Improved bike helmets, a solar-powered device for clearing smoke from huts, a system for converting the energy of gym rats into electricity, technology to help firefighters position their ladders, and a device that combines a computer mouse, keyboard and numerical pad are the five winning ideas submitted for Toyota's "Ideas for Good" campaign. The people who submitted the ideas will be flown to Pittsburgh for the weekend workshop and will be paired with experts from CMU, Toyota and Pittsburgh "post-digital shop" Deeplocal, who will work to bring the ideas to fruition. Each winner also will receive a Toyota vehicle.
       
Illah Nourbakhsh, associate professor of robotics, is serving as faculty coordinator for the workshop. About a half dozen students and faculty members will take part, he said.
       
Deeplocal, headed by CMU alum Nathan Martin, has worked with Toyota throughout  the Ideas for Good campaign and has organized the "build weekend" at Carnegie Mellon. The shop also built and videotaped its own versions of a roller coaster using Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive and a disaster-relief tent using the Solar-Powered Ventilation System.

]]>bspice@cs.cmu.edu (Byron Spice) -0400http://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Spring/turning-ideas-into-reality.shtmlCrime Book Set in Pittsburgh Features Stories By Terrance Hayes and Hilary Mastershttp://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Spring/pittsburgh-noir.shtmlPittsburgh NoirPittsburgh may be "the most livable city in America," but the new crime book "Pittsburgh Noir" shows the Steel City in a different light through 14 stories from the city's most famous writers, including Carnegie Mellon University English Professors Terrance Hayes and Hilary Masters.

The collection is the latest in the Akashic Noir Series, which launched after the success of the 2004 award-winning bestseller "Brooklyn Noir."  Each book in the series is comprised of all-new fictional stories, each set in a distinct neighborhood within the city of the book.

"Pittsburgh Noir" was edited by Kathleen George, the Edgar Award-nominated author of the Richard Christie novels set in Pittsburgh and professor of theater arts at the University of Pittsburgh.  George wrote in the introduction, "In 'Pittsburgh Noir,' as in most of the novels and films that gave the genre its name, the real story is the dark underbelly of existence, the fear and guilt and rebellion and denial in regular people: the woman buying groceries, the man grilling hot dogs.  Their secret lives..."

She continued, "Here's to the black and gold, the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio, Jonas Salk, Thomas Starzel, to Primanti's sandwiches and churches that sell pierogies, to all and everything that makes up the 'burgh."

Hayes, who recently won a National Book Award, contributed "Still Air," which takes place in the city's East Liberty neighborhood.

Masters, an esteemed fiction writer who will publish his 10th novel this year, wrote "At the Buena Vista," set in the Mexican War Streets.

Additional authors include K.C. Constantine, Carlos Delgado, Rebecca Drake, Aubrey Hirsch, Paul Lee, Tom Lipinski, Nancy Martin, Reginald McKnight, Katherine Miller Haines, Stewart O'Nan and Lila Shaara.

Several events are being planned to promote the book and its authors:

  • Thursday, May 19: Book Launch for "Pittsburgh Noir." 7 p.m., Mystery Lovers Bookshop, 514 Allegheny River Blvd., Oakmont, PA.
  • Tuesday, May 24: New Yinzer Presents "Pittsburgh Noir" Celebration and Signing.  7 p.m., Round Corner Cantina in Lawrenceville, 3720 Butler St., Pittsburgh, PA.
  • Friday, June 3: YMCA Northside Presents "Pittsburgh Noir" writers Terrance Hayes, Hilary Masters and Stewart O'Nan. 7 p.m., 600 West North Ave., Pittsburgh, PA.
  • Thursday, June 9: "Pittsburgh Noir" Readings. 6:30 p.m., Waterworks Barnes & Noble, 926 Freeport Rd., Pittsburgh, PA.
  • Saturday, June 18: Speaking of Reading Series: "Pittsburgh Noir." 7 p.m. Hazlett Theater, North Side, Allegheny Square East, Pittsburgh, PA.


For more information about the book or to order a copy, visit http://www.akashicbooks.com/noirseries.htm.

]]>sraube@andrew.cmu.edu (Shilo Raube) -0400http://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Spring/pittsburgh-noir.shtmlCarnegie Mellon University's Heinz College Acknowledges Graduates in the Age of Social Mediahttp://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Spring/grad-roulette.shtmlWhat happens when one of the premier graduate schools in the United States turns over control of a YouTube channel to its graduating students? That's precisely what Carnegie Mellon University's H. John Heinz III College, a global leader in the areas of public policy, technology and management, has done with a project called Grad Roulette.

Having recently launched in conjunction with the college's commencement ceremony, the website http://www.gradroulette.com features a virtual roulette wheel visitors can spin to randomly land on a 2011 graduate. A video player is then launched and the graduate proceeds to draw, as well as answer, a random question from a commencement cap. Some questions relate specifically to areas of study at Heinz College while others are humorous and of general interest. All questions were submitted by Heinz College students, faculty and staff.

Brad Stephenson, a 2005 Heinz College alumnus and senior web media and marketing manager for Heinz College, says Grad Roulette is a creative attempt to shine the spotlight on our graduating students.

"Our alumni have helped shape Heinz College's outstanding reputation for educational excellence, and we just wanted to acknowledge the newest members of that community with a fun and original concept," he says.
]]>walters1@andrew.cmu.edu (Ken Walters) -0400http://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Spring/grad-roulette.shtmlETC Students Help Develop Sundae-Dispensing Robot Exhibit at Rochesterhttp://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Spring/with-a-cherry-on-top.shtmlAn exhibit about alternative energy sounds noble — and boring. But when students at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) teamed with master's students at Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center, they cooked up an interactive display that people ultimately would wait 40 minutes or more to experience.

Perhaps it was the water wheel or the windmill that attracted people. Or maybe it was the robot powered by alternative energy that served ice cream sundaes. Whatever the reason, "RITchie's Ice Cream Experience" was a hit at Imagine RIT: Innovation and Creativity Festival, a campus-wide showcase May 7 at RIT's Henrietta, N.Y., campus.

"The RIT students really pulled it all together," said Danielle Holstine, one of six ETC students who served as mentors to RIT students on the project. Guests to the exhibit visited a series of stations, featuring water, wind, geothermal and solar power, where they collected enough energy to power the ice-cream-dispensing robot at the end. "It looked great. Kids really seemed to enjoy it."

The unusual partnership began last fall when members of RIT's College of Applied Science and Technology (CAST) visited the ETC, looking for mentors to help them create a theme-park-style exhibit. Mk Haley, ETC associate executive producer, agreed to help direct them. Holstine and five other ETC students agreed to serve as mentors as a spring elective. They consulted with the RIT students weekly via Skype, made a visit to RIT in March as the exhibit construction began and returned for the May 7 event.

Holstine said the RIT students knew they wanted to build an interactive exhibit that dispensed ice cream. But the ETC helped them think through how guests would interact with the stations and how the whole experience would flow. They provided help in establishing the exhibit's footprint and determining a construction schedule. They also helped the RIT team — which included nutritionists, engineers and industrial designers, among others — to work together across disciplines, something that ETC students learn early.

"It's actually more difficult than you can imagine," Holstine said.

Serving as advisers, rather than advisees, was an unusual experience for the ETC students, she added, but a rewarding one.

ETC student Solip Park designed the project logo.
]]>bspice@andrew.cmu.edu (Byron Spice) -0400http://www.cmu.edu/news/blog/2011/Spring/with-a-cherry-on-top.shtml