Personal Mention
University of California President Mark G. Yudof announced Thursday, May 3, that he has recommended Pradeep K. Khosla, dean of Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Engineering, to serve as the eighth chancellor of the University of California, San Diego. The University of California Board of Regents will vote on the recommendation May 16. A highly regarded leader, educator and researcher, Khosla also is an alumnus of Carnegie Mellon. "He is a time-tested, oft-honored researcher, an innovative educator dedicated to improving the quality of life for students, faculty and staff, and an entrepreneurial leader with a global vision and proven fundraising abilities," Yudof said. Read more online: http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/27627
Computer Science Professor William L. Scherlis yesterday (May 9) testified before the House Ways and Means Committee's Social Security subcommittee that the Social Security Administration (SSA) should restructure its already massive information technology (IT) systems so they can be readily scaled up, much like the systems used by Google and Amazon. Scherlis said without such changes in the architecture of its software systems, the SSA will be hard-pressed to keep pace with the data processing demands associated with making benefit payments to 60 million people annually and maintaining Social Security numbers and associated earnings records for almost every American. Read the full story.
Architecture Professor Omer Akin has authored a groundbreaking book on conducting building performance verfication assessments. "Embedded Commissioning of Building Systems" provides a solid understanding of the underpinnings and latest developments of embedded commissioning as the overarching building evaluation approach. Supported with nearly 100 illustrations and contributions from CMU experts in architecture, engineering and construction including Burcu Akinci, Mario Berges, Steven Bushby, James Garrett, Daniel Huber, Song Hoon Lee and Tanyel Turkaslan-Bulbul, the book offers in-depth coverage of the most important topics in the field including product models and process models; building information modeling; building codes; sensor networks; just-in-time technologies; and wearable computers.
Paul K. Eiss, associate professor of anthropology and history, has won a book award from the Mexico Section of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) for his book "In the Name of El Pueblo: Place, Community and the Politics of History in Yucatán." The award honors the best book on Mexico published in all social science fields in 2010 and 2011. Eiss will be presented with the award at LASA's 2012 conference May 25 in San Francisco. Read more.
University Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Mark Kryder has received the California Institute of Technology's 2012 Distinguished Alumni Award for his lifelong contributions to perpendicular magnetic recording technology. The award is the highest honor the institute bestows. Since its inception in 1966, Caltech's Distinguished Alumni Award has been presented to outstanding alumni in the sciences, engineering, business and the arts for a particular achievement or series of achievements. Kryder, who joined the Carnegie Mellon faculty in 1978 and founded the university's Magnetics Technology and Data Storage Systems Centers in 1983 and 1990, respectively, earned both his master's degree and Ph.D. from Caltech. He will accept the award at a ceremony on Saturday, May 19, during Caltech's 75th annual Seminar Day. Read the full story.
Tanoto Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Larry Pileggi has received the ACM/IEEE A. Richard Newton Technical Impact Award in Electronic Design Automation for his paper, "PRIMA: Passive Reduced-Order Interconnect Macromodeling Algorithm." The award, presented by the ACM Special Interest Group on Design Automation and the IEEE Council on Electronic Design Automation, honors a person or persons for outstanding technical contribution within the scope of electronic design automation, as evidence by a paper published at least 10 years before the award's presentation. The award is based on the impact of the contribution. Read the full story.
Andrea Grover, the curator of the Miller Gallery's touring exhibition "Intimate Science" and the lead writer of "New Art/Science Affinities," a publication with CMU's STUDIO for Creative Inquiry and co-authored by School of Architecture faculty member Pablo Garcia, talks about her residency at CMU, the historical antecedents of artists working in scientific or technological environments, and the processes leading to the current publication and exhibition in Art Works, the official blog of the National Endowment for the Arts. Read Grover's blog at http://www.arts.gov/artworks/?p=13060&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new-artscience-affinities
Kiron Skinner, associate professor of social and decision sciences and director of CMU's Center for International Relations and Politics, has been named to Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett's 18-person Advisory Commission on African-American Affairs. The commission will advise and make recommendations to the governor on policies, procedures, legislation, and regulations that affect the African-American community. Read the full story.
Jendayi Frazer, a Distinguished Service Professor in the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences and Heinz College, wrote an opinion piece that appeared in The Root, a leading online source of news and commentary from an African-American perspective. Frazer's piece, titled "Liberian Verdict Validates Bush Strategy," explains Frazer's view on the Charles Taylor war crimes conviction. Frazer was the leading architect of U.S.-Africa policy over the last decade. Read the piece.
Throughout his career, Joseph B. (Jay) Kadane, the Leonard J. Savage University Professor of Statistics and Social Sciences, Emeritus, used the Bayesian theory, both in its decision-theoretic foundations and in problems of elicitation and computation, to solve political science, law, physics, medicine and computer science problems. Kadane draws on his vast experiences in his new book, "Principles of Uncertainty," as an effort to explain Bayesian statistics and math. Read the full story.
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will close its Paris Festival with sheer vigor, featuring Anne Martindale Williams, CMU artist lecturer in cello, performing the Honegger Cello Concerto. The vibrant and exceptional music for the ballet "Pétrouchka" is an invention of Igor Stravinsky through his collaboration with the famous Ballets Russes in Paris. Then, hear three pieces inspired by the influence of American jazz in Paris. The concert is 8 p.m., Friday, May 11 and 2:30 p.m., Sunday, May 13. Tickets start at $15 and can be purchased by visiting www.pittsburghsymphony.org/cmutix.
Senior English and Social and Decision Sciences major Yulin Kuang is one of three finalists for the 2012 Steeltown Film Factory Competition, which received 180 scripts from writers vying to win the $30,000 Ellen Weiss Kander Award and the chance to turn their script into a short film. Kuang’s script is titled “Perils of Growing Up Flat Chested.” All three finalists will have their scripts read by CMU Drama School students before an audience and panel of judges beginning at 11 a.m., Saturday, May 12 in CMU’s Purnell Center for the Arts. Tickets are $15 for general admission and $5 for students. To purchase tickets and for more information, go to http://www.steeltownfilmfactory.org or call 412-622-1325.