February 14, 2008
Vol. 18, No. 28
In this issue:
Bill Gates' Feb. 21 Talk on Campus Concludes Farewell Tour
Microsoft founder and chairman Bill Gates will conclude his farewell college lecture tour at Carnegie Mellon from 4 to 5 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 21 in Rangos Hall, University Center. His talk is titled "Bill Gates Unplugged: On Software, Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Giving Back." This July, Gates will transition from Microsoft into his new role in the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. The admission line will open at 3 p.m., and students, faculty and staff presenting a valid Carnegie Mellon ID will be given a wristband for admittance. Doors will open at 3:15 p.m. and will close at 3:55 p.m. The overflow crowd may view a simulcast of the talk in McConomy Auditorium.
Please note the following procedures and policies for admittance: Check-in will begin at 3 p.m.; No admittance after 3:55 p.m.; All attendees must have a valid Carnegie Mellon ID; No backpacks, cameras, laptops or cell phones; No recording devices (video or audio); No food or beverages; No holding or saving seats.
For more: http://www.cmu.edu/corporate/bill_gates/
Morgan Leads Research Team in Developing Clean Energy Technology
With a $1.85 million grant from the New York-based Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF), University Professor
M. Granger Morgan is leading a team of investigators in an effort to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions that result from the burning of coal and natural gas to produce electricity. Morgan and his team are working to develop and promote a structure for the safe and economical capture, transport and deep geological sequestration of CO2 in the U.S. Morgan says CO2 can be removed from coal or natural gas in a variety of ways before or after combustion. Once it is removed, it can be deposited deep underground in appropriate geological formations. Most of the technologies for doing this exist today at commercial scale, but have not yet been combined for power plants. The National Energy Technology Laboratory in Pittsburgh and Morgantown, W.Va., is supporting research that is needed to make such processes commercially viable.
"Getting the technology right is important," said Morgan. "But if the U.S. is going to put large quantities of CO2 underground, we need to be sure it is done in a safe and effective way."
For more:
http://www.cmu.edu/news/archive/2008/February/feb7_MorganDDCF.shtml
Study Identifies Areas Most at Risk Due to Global Climate Change
Elmar Krieglar, a visiting research scholar in the Department of Engineering and Public Policy, is part of a new international study that identifies areas that are at the greatest risk of abrupt change due to global warming. The study was published in the Online Early Edition (Feb. 4-8) of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The researchers call the most vulnerable regions in the climate change equation "tipping elements," referring to the fact that those areas may be pushed over a threshold to a radically different climate state. The study reports that two "tipping elements" of greatest concern are the Arctic sea ice and the Greenland ice sheet. If the Greenland ice sheet were to melt, it would displace enough water to raise sea levels 23 feet, swallowing up large parts of coastal Florida, most of Bangladesh and many other regions.
"We found that while most global change is perceived to be a slow, gradual process, there are areas of the planet where this change can be abrupt and potentially irreversible," Kriegler said.
For more:
http://www.cmu.edu/news/archive/2008/February/feb5_kriegler.shtml
Design Prof Creates Games To Help Families Lead Healthy Lives
Associate Design Professor
Kristin Hughes is partnering with
Dr. Ann McGaffey at UPMC St. Margaret Family Health Centers, several Pittsburgh Public Schools and area businesses to teach children and families how to have healthy lifestyles in an educational and entertaining way. Hughes received a $195,000 grant from The Heinz Endowments to create Fitwits, a series of learning games that will be implemented in schools and hospitals. The Fitwits program includes information regarding nutrition and physical activity for pre-adolescents. There are three main subsets of the program: Games for Health - classroom games; Doctor's Spaces - games that children can play in waiting rooms and patient care rooms; and Fitwits Healthperks! - a community-based game with local businesses that reward consumers for healthy choices.
"The Fitwits program is a grassroots effort allowing teachers, after-school specialists and doctors to augment existing curricula with more comprehensive health information related to nutrition and physical activity," Hughes said.
For more:
http://www.cmu.edu/news/archive/2008/February/feb7_fitwits.shtml
News Briefs
- Carnegie Mellon Today magazine has won a Bronze Cuppie from CUPRAP, the College and University Public Relations Association of Pennsylvania. The magazine team includes Executive Editor Robert Mendelson, Editorial Production Manager Julie Gedeon and Creative Director Tom Kosak. Mendelson will accept the award at the CUPRAP Conference, March 5-7 in Hershey, Pa., where he will speak on the "Principles of a Great Magazine."
- C-MITES will hold weekend workshops from March 1 through May 4 for academically talented students in kindergarten through 9th grade. The one-day workshops on campus provide an exciting mix of hands-on learning and social interaction. The cost is $54 for 3-hour workshops and $99 for full-day workshops. Financial aid is available. For more information call 412-268-1629 or visit http://www.cmu.edu/cmites/.
- The College of Engineering received the President's Honor Roll Award for its participation in the U.S. Marine Corps' "Toys for Tots" campaign last December. Engineering students collected and donated more than three dozen barrels of toys to Marine Corps personnel to help less fortunate children during the holiday season. For more: http://www.cmu.edu/news/archive/2008/February/feb11_CIThonor.shtml
Personal Mention
- "Where Else Can You Go," a poem by Jim Daniels, the Thomas Stockham Baker Professor of English and director of Carnegie Mellon's creative writing program, will be featured on Garrison Keillor's radio show, "The Writer's Almanac," Feb. 19. The poem's text and a podcast will be available on American Public Media's Web site at http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/.
- Golan Levin, associate professor of art, and Adam Davies (MFA '05) are recipients of 2008 Individual Fellowships in Visual Arts from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.
- Statistics Professor William Eddy has received the first John C. Warner Professorship of Statistics. A pioneer in the field, Eddy has conducted research in theoretical probability, statistics and applied problems. His current research focuses on data generated by functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. For more: http://www.cmu.edu/news/archive/2008/February/feb13_eddywarner.shtml
- Men's Head Soccer Coach Nick Gaudioso has announced his retirement after 27 years at the helm. Gaudioso led the Tartans to a 295-115-37 record, including five conference championships and seven trips to the NCAA playoffs.
- Amy Stabenow, concert manager in the School of Music since 1995, is retiring, effective Feb. 15. She is a former music teacher in the Pittsburgh Public Schools and the Winchester Thurston School, and was an assistant to the executive director of the Pittsburgh International Children's Theatre.
- Raj Reddy, the Mozah Bint Nasser University Professor of Computer Science and Robotics, has received the IEEE's James L. Flanagan Speech and Audio Processing Award "for leadership and pioneering contributions to speech recognition, natural language understanding, and machine intelligence." Reddy's work in speech recognition spans nearly four decades, encompassing the production of such landmark systems as Hearsay, Harpy, Dragon and Sphinx. For more: http://www.cmu.edu/news/archive/2008/February/feb12_reddyaward.shtml
Calendar Highlights
- Wednesday, Feb. 20: The Center the Arts in Society's BYO Brain Brown Bag Series presents French Professor Beryl Schlossman, who will speak on "Art, History and Images of the Feminine in Baudelaire's Paris." Noon - 1 p.m., CFA 303.
- Feb. 21 - March 1: The School of Drama presents August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson," an enthralling struggle between two siblings set in Depression-era Pittsburgh, at the Philip Chosky Theater. Tickets are $22-$25. Discounts are available for students and seniors. For show times and tickets, call the box office at 412-268-2407. For more: http://www.cmu.edu/news/archive/2008/February/feb11_thepianolesson.shtml
- For more news and events, visit http://my.cmu.edu/site/events/
