Carnegie Mellon University

The Piper

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September 29, 2011

Personal Mention

Denis Colwell will serve as interim head of the School of Music, effective Oct. 3, succeeding Noel Zahler who has resigned to become dean of the School of Visual and Performing Arts at Long Island University's C.W. Post campus. Colwell, an associate professor of music who teaches instrumental conducting and directs the Carnegie Mellon Wind Ensemble, served as assistant head of the Music School from 1987 through 1994. A search committee will be assembled to begin the process of identifying a new head for the School of Music.

Greg Shannon, chief scientist for the SEI's CERT Program, testified before the House Committee on Financial Services, Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit on Sept. 14. Shannon was called as a witness for the hearing titled "Cybersecurity: Threats to the Financial Sector." Shannon's testimony centered on the nature of these threats and measures CERT is undertaking to combat them. To read Shannon's report, visit http://financialservices.house.gov/UploadedFiles/091411shannon.pdf

Dana Casto has been named director of marketing and communications for the School of Music, effective Oct. 17. Casto, who earned his master's degree in arts management at Heinz College in 2007, was previously project manager for the Arts Education Collaborative in Pittsburgh and coordinator of the Young Artist Program at the Indianapolis Opera. Casto succeeds Kathryn Heidemann, who resigned the post to become director of the Master of Arts Management (MAM) Program.

Yahoo! Academic Relations has selected Computer Science Assistant Professor Ariel Procaccia, who joined CMU this past summer, to receive one of its inaugural Academic Career Enhancement Awards. The award includes an unrestricted gift of $10,000 and is designed to help newly hired faculty launch research programs in areas of relevance to Yahoo!  Procaccia's studies in artificial intelligence focus on the use of social choice theory and game theory for resource allocation and collective decision-making.

Zach Negin, a 2001 mechanical engineering graduate and co-founder of SoNo Trading Company - purveyor of all-natural mustard products - is a finalist in Dell's America's Favorite Small Business Contest. Dell - in partnership with Microsoft and MasterCard - is giving small businesses the opportunity to win $25,000 in Dell products, a $50,000 prepaid card from MasterCard, and their own online reality show. Vote for Negin and hear him tell his company's story at CMU's Greenlighting Startups website: http://www.cmu.edu/startups/showcase/sono-trading.html

ETC Executive Producer Don Marinelli delivered a keynote address, titled "What CTOs Should Learn From Gaming," at the Tata Interactive Learning Forum in Atlanta, and at the CTO Roundtable in Washington, D.C.