April 26, 2007
Vol. 17, No. 39

In this issue:

• Researchers Unveil Web-Controlled Robots Anyone Can Build
• Tepper School Names Staff Award Winners
• Bayer Foundation Awards Chemistry, Chemical Engineering Fellowships
• News Briefs
• Personal Mention
• Calendar Highlights

Researchers Unveil Web-Controlled Robots Anyone Can Build

Carnegie Mellon researchers have developed a series of robots that are simple enough for almost anyone to build with off-the-shelf parts, but are sophisticated machines that wirelessly connect to the Internet. The robots can take many forms, from a three-wheeled model with a mounted camera that people could use to monitor their home while they're away to a robotic, six-pedaled flower that can open and close based on moods. The robots can be customized and their ability to wirelessly link to the Internet allows users to control and monitor their robots' actions from any Internet-connected computer in the world.

The new tools that make this possible are a single piece of hardware and a set of "recipes" that people follow to build their robots. Both are part of the Telepresence Robot Kit (TeRK) developed by Associate Professor of Robotics Illah Nourbakhsh and members of his Community Robotics, Education and Technology Empowerment (CREATE) Lab. Their goal is to make highly capable robots accessible and affordable for college and pre-collegestudents, as well as anyone interested in robots.

At the heart of each TeRK robot is a unique controller called Qwerk that combines a computer with the software and electronics necessary to control the robot's motors, cameras and other devices. Qwerk, developed by the CREATE Lab and Charmed Labs of Austin, Texas, also connects the robot automatically and wirelessly to the Internet so it can be controlled by any Internet-connected computer. Recipes, software, technical support and other information are available free at http://www.terk.ri.cmu.edu.

Tepper School Names Staff Award Winners

The Tepper School of Business has announced the winners of its annual staff awards. The Excellence Award went to Lawrence Rapp, manager of Student Services for the Ph.D. Program. Bill McIntosh, director of technical administration for the Master of Science in Computational Finance program, received the Rookie Award. The Team Award went to the recruiting team in the Career Opportunities Center.

Bayer Foundation Awards Chemistry, Chemical Engineering Fellowships

The university chemistry and chemical engineering departments have received $725,000 from the Bayer Foundation to continue the successful Bayer Graduate Fellows Program. The graduate fellowships will support two Ph.D. students conducting interdisciplinary research in chemical engineering and chemistry, particularly in the areas of polymer characterization and complex fluids; and one Ph.D. student doing research in solid-state materials. Further information: http://www.cmu.edu/news/archive/2007/April/april19_bayer.shtml

News Briefs

• The open enrollment period for campus parking will close at 5 p.m., Monday, April 30. You can access your parking application by going to www.cmu.edu/parking and clicking on the "Open Enrollment" link. Lot assignments will be given by May 11. If you have any questions, contact Parking & Transportation Services at 412-268-2052 or parking@andrew.cmu.edu.
• In an Earth Day interview, Terry Collins addressed the health challenges created by thousands of chemicals released in our environment and his research designed to destroy dangerous, waterborne pollutants. Collins is director of the Institute for Green Oxidation Chemistry at the Mellon College of Science and the Thomas Lord Professor of Chemistry. The interview is at http://www.cmu.edu/news/multimedia/terry_collins.mp3.
• Staff Council is currently accepting nominations for representatives to serve a two-year term. Take a moment to participate in the nominations -- and don't forget you can nominate yourself!  Nominations will close May 4. Nominations may be submitted via an online form at https://www.cmu.edu/staff-council/. To request a paper nomination form, contact Wayne L. Oglesby Jr. at x8-1009 or wlo@andrew.cmu.edu. Further information on Staff Council: http://www.cmu.edu/staff-council.

Personal Mention

• Microsoft Research has chosen Luis von Ahn, assistant professor of computer science, as one of five 2007 Microsoft Research New Faculty Fellows, an award that includes an unrestricted cash gift of $200,000. The highly competitive program identifies new faculty who are advancing computing research in novel directions with the potential for high impact and who demonstrate the likelihood of becoming thought leaders of the field. The 2007 fellows will be formally recognized at the Microsoft Research Faculty Summit in July.
• Burcu Akinci, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, has been selected to receive the prestigious 2007 Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). The prize is awarded to ASCE members under the age of 40 in honor of their notable research in civil engineering. Akinci will receive her award at the ASCE national meeting, Nov. 1-3 in Orlando, Fla.
• Bistra Iordanova, a doctoral student in the Department of Biological Sciences, has received a 2007 Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation (NSF), a prestigious award given to only 910 U.S. graduate students. The fellowship will provide a stipend, travel allowances and tuition for Iordanova.
• Colin Raney, a second-year MBA student at the Tepper School of Business, won the Student Leadership Award from the Graduate Business Forum(r), a global network of business school student leaders. Raney was selected for his role in developing the Tepper Prepper program, a mentoring initiative that pairs second-year MBA students with incoming students to help improve the latter's interviewing and networking skills. He worked with other student leaders, the school's Dean's Office, Career Opportunities Center and Student Services Office to create the program.
• Assistant professors Russell Schwartz and Nathan Urban have received Eberly Family Career Development Professorships in Biological Sciences. "Russell and Nathan are creative, highly productive scientists who use ingenious computational and mathematical tools to solve interesting problems at disciplinary interfaces," said Elizabeth Jones, head of the Department of Biological Sciences. 
• Eleven students were recently named Carnegie Mellon Student Employees of the Year. They are: Larissa Atamian, Alisa Brown, Yanhao "Matthew" Chen, Brian Thomas Freeman, Xiang Gao, Carol Lee, Richard D. Lee, Kevin Lipkin, Najwa Noharuddin, Graham Pugh, and Cornell Wright.  Brown, Carnegie Mellon's representative for the National Student Employee of the Year Award, was also named the State of Pennsylvania Student Employee of the Year.
• Don Marinelli, Entertainment Technology Center executive producer, gave the keynote address at the annual Leadership Retreat of the Mon Valley Education Consortium Conference held in Greensburg, Pa.
• The Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence has announced its 2007 Wimmer Faculty Fellows. These fellows, funded by a grant from the Wimmer Family Foundation, are junior faculty members seeking to enhance their teaching by designing a new course, redesigning a course, creating new materials or exploring a new pedagogical approach. This year's fellows are Stacie Rohrbach; assistant professor of design; David Danks, assistant professor of philosophy; Mariana Achugar, assistant professor of Spanish and second language acquisition; and Felipe Gomez, lecturer in Hispanic studies.
• Assistant Vice Provost for Graduate Education Suzie Laurich-McIntyre has been named to the board of directors of the Oak Ridge Associated Universities' (ORAU). The ORAU is a university consortium leveraging the scientific strength of 98 major research institutions to advance science and education by partnering with national laboratories, government agencies and private industry. The ORAU manages the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education for the U.S. Department of Energy.

Calendar Highlights

• Sunday, April 29: Carnegie Mellon's All University Orchestra Spring Concert. 7 p.m., First Baptist Church on the corner of N. Bellefield and Bayard. It is free to all.
• Tuesday, May 1: "Panel on Open Access." Carnegie Mellon faculty members Jay Kadane, Barbara Johnstone and David Danks explain why they self-archive, the tools they use, the problems they have encountered and how they solved them. 4:30 - 6 p.m., Rangos 3, University Center. Live Webcast at www.library.cmu.edu/AuthorsRights.html.
• Tuesday, May 1: Student Health Services Skin Cancer Screening Clinic. 8:30 - 11 a.m. Free for all students, faculty and staff. Call 268-2157 and press 2 to schedule your free exam.
• Wednesday, May 2: Staff Council will host an Open Forum on "Transportation and Pedestrian Safety," at noon in McConomy Auditorium, UC. Panelists will include Pittsburgh City Councilman Bill Peduto; Robert Reppe, director of design in the Campus Design and Facility Development group; Robert Gradeck, project director of community policy in the Center for Economic Development; and mathematical sciences student Jacob Chen. Each panelist will briefly discuss their research findings, new data, and policy changes relevant to current challenges faced by the university and Pittsburgh community. A question-and-answer period will follow. For more information see http://www.cmu.edu/staff-council.
• Friday, May 4: Award-winning poet Elizabeth Alexander will speak at 8 p.m. in the Adamson Wing of Baker Hall, when the English Department presents its annual Adamson Awards to honor student writers.