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February 07, 2013

News Briefs

SCS Awards Presented at Founders' Day

School of Computer Science Dean Randal E. Bryant announced a number of faculty and staff awards at the school's second annual Founders’ Day celebration Jan. 31 in Rashid Auditorium.

David Andersen, associate professor of computer science, was a double winner, receiving both the Herbert A. Simon Award for Teaching Excellence and a share of the Allen Newell Award for Research Excellence. The Newell award cited work by Andersen, Intel’s Michael Kaminsky, and students Jason Franklin, Amar Phanishayee and Vijay Vasudevan on energy-efficient, data-intensive computing, a project known as Fast Array of Wimpy Nodes.

Also winning the Newell Research Award were Sara Kiesler, professor in the Human-Computer Interaction Institute; Jodi Forlizzi, associate professor in HCII; and students Carl DiSalvo, Min Kyung Lee, Bilge Mutlu and Cristen Torrey for elucidating the fundamental principles of human-robot interaction and its associated research methods.

Other awards presented were:

  • Krista McGuigan, business manager in the Language Technologies Institute, was named Outstanding Staff Member.
  • The award for Outstanding Staff Team was presented to the SCS Reappointment and Promotion System Team of Michael Nikithser, assistant director of computing facilities; Rachel Shackelford, administrative manager/analyst in the dean’s office; and Dale Shanefelt, application/business process engineer for SCS computing.
  • Kathy McNiff, administrative assistant in the Computer Science Department, was honored for Sustained Excellence.
  • Debbie Tobin, art director/special events manager for the Robotics Institute, was cited for Citizenship.
  • The Rookie of the Year Award was shared by the SCS Help Desk Team of Brie Gordon, Myke Kubiak and Beth McKee.
  • Nicole Willis, HCII masters program coordinator, was honored for Individual Dedication.

Bryant gave special recognition to Robert Cosgrove, who recently retired as computing facilities director, for his contributions over the past 11 years.

Dietrich College Announces Grad Student Teaching Award Winners

English Department Ph.D. candidate Doug Cloud and Modern Languages Ph.D. candidate Ryan Miller have been selected as 2013 co-winners of the Dietrich College Graduate Student Teaching Award. Each year the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences recognizes its graduate students for excellence, dedication and innovation in teaching. Read more about this year's co-winners

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Carnegie Mellon Qatar Students Stage “Hackathon” 

Games, a motivating grade-projector tool and an online bulletin board were just some of the ingenious applications that students designed and created in just 24 hours.
 
Organized by Carnegie Mellon in Qatar students, the 24-hour “Hackathon” provided the opportunity for 40 students, 34 from Carnegie Mellon Qatar and six from Qatar University, to demonstrate applications that have the promise of contributing to the next generation of innovations in Qatar and beyond.

The Carnegie Mellon Hackathon required teams of students to develop a project or application idea — a game, a mobile app or a Web app — into a working application. Students who participated in the event could use any technology to build their application, encouraging them to showcase their creativity, range of skills and future potential.

This year’s top winner was “Tronica,” a web-based question and answer interface similar to Apple’s Siri product, created by a team called “Cereal Killers.” The application was able to answer questions asked by the audience and impressed the crowd when it answered a question regarding the projected opening date of Qatar’s new airport.

Read the full storyWatch the video.

CMU-Q Teams Finish One, Two in Programming Contest

Teams of Carnegie Mellon Qatar students placed first and second in the 2013 Oman Collegiate Programming Contest at Sultan Qaboos University. Twenty-four teams representing 18 colleges were given a set of nine problems to try to solve in JAVA, C or C++ using a single computer. The top five teams each solved four problems and CMU-Q’s teams solved each of the four problems in less than an hour.

Team Brainiacs placed first. The team included seniors Fahim Dalvi, Anas Halbawi and Baljit Singh. Team Kufta, which placed second, included seniors Talal Al Haddad, Ahmad Al Salama and Manoj Reddy. The teams are expected to compete in the Gulf Programming Competition in Abu Dhabi in March.

For more on the 2013 Oman Collegiate Programming Contest, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR1Wv3sjVeU&feature=youtu.be.

Turnshek Hosts Writing Workshop for Teens

Diane Turnshek of the Physics Department and faculty adviser for the Student College course “Science Fiction,” has announced that this July, Alpha, her international workshop for teen genre writers now in its 12th year, will include first-tier writers Tamora Pierce, Scott Westerfeld and Theodora Goss. The workshop for 14-to-19-year olds will be held July 10-19 at the University of Pittsburgh’s Greensburg campus. The application deadline is March 3. For more information, go to http://alpha.spellcaster.org/.

Save a Life: AED Training Classes Scheduled

Two AED training classes have been scheduled for those who have never had the training or for those whose certifications have expired or are about to expire. The classes are:

  • March 15, 10 a.m., Rangos 1, University Center
  • April 12, 10 a.m., Dowd Room, University Center

To register, go to http://www.cmu.edu/ehs and click on the Training tab at the top of the page, then go to AED Training.  The link to the registration page is at the end of the course description. The classes are open to all students, faculty and staff. Class sizes are limited, so register early.

CMWA To Host Mardi Gras Lunch Feb. 12

Join the Carnegie Mellon Women's Association at noon on Tuesday, Feb. 12, in the Connan Room, University Center, for a Mardi Gras Lunch fundraiser. Members and non-members are welcome. The lunch costs $10 and includes lunch, dessert and beverage. All funds go directly to the CMWA scholarship fund. RSVP to Alexa Hansen achansen@cmu.edu by Friday, Feb. 8.

Recruiting TODSTW Presenters and Volunteers

The Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Staff Council committee is now recruiting presenters and volunteers for Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day on Thursday, April 25. This annual program gives staff and faculty children between the ages of 8 and 15 an opportunity to see a wide range of career and learning opportunities at Carnegie Mellon.
 
If you would like more information or would like to be included as a possible presenter in 2013, please contact Alicia Angemeer at adbrown@andrew.cmu.edu by March 22. If you would like to volunteer at the event, please contact Gloria Gruber at ggruber@andrew.cmu.edu.

Grad Student Service and Teaching Award Nominations Due Tomorrow

The Graduate Student Service and Teaching Award nominations are due on Friday, Feb. 8. The committees would greatly appreciate your support in soliciting and submitting nominations of graduate students who have excelled in teaching or service so that their efforts can be recognized by the university community. Nomination information can be found at http://www.cmu.edu/celebration-of-education/graduate-student/index.html. The Awards will be presented on Thursday, April 4, at the Innovation with Impact: Graduate Student Celebration of Research, Teaching and Service during Graduate Student Appreciation Week. Recipients also will be recognized at the Celebration of Education on Tuesday, April 30.

Student Employee of the Year Nominations Due Feb. 20

Nominations are now being accepted for the Student Employee of the Year Award sponsored by the Northeast Association of Student Employment Administrators and the National Student Employment Association. This award program recognizes the outstanding contributions of college students who work while attending college.  All student employees, undergraduate and graduate, are eligible for nomination. Application deadline is Feb. 20. The nomination process and nomination form are available online at:  www.cmu.edu/career/student-employment-experiential/index.html. For questions, contact Pati Kravetz at pk13@andrew.cmu.edu.