Carnegie Mellon University

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January 24, 2013

Personal Mention

Michael E. McHenry, a professor in materials science and engineering, will tour the world in 2013 giving more than 30 talks as a distinguished lecturer of the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Magnetics Society. His lecture will focus on the development of high frequency magnetic materials for grid integration of renewable energy sources for bridging the gap between materials development, component design and system analysis, as well as future applications for nanocomposite magnets. McHenry also is developing new materials and processes for improving the efficiency of multicore transformers. The work is expected to impact the economic success of America's manufacturing sector. Read more.

Teresa Thomas, assistant vice president of media relations, will leave Carnegie Mellon to become director of marketing and communications for the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy in early February. Thomas has served Carnegie Mellon for more than 24 years in various public relations and media relations roles. Before becoming assistant vice president, she was public relations director for several colleges, including the Tepper School, the Mellon College of Science, the College of Engineering and the Dietrich College, and the former Carnegie Mellon Research Institute. "Her love of the university is reflected in her efforts to showcase the university's innovative approach to education and research with the local, national and international media. Teresa's knowledge of the university, as well as her genuine concern for others, will be missed," said Bonnie Cersosimo, associate vice president for Marketing and Media Relations. A reception honoring Thomas will be held from 3:30 to 5 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 29 in Danforth Lounge.

Ignacio Grossmann was selected as the Agustin Vazquez Vera Lecturer by the Instituto Tecnologico de Celaya in Mexico in recognition of his contributions to chemical engineering and his support to the scientific development of Mexico. On Jan. 15, Grossmann delivered the lecture "Discrete and Continuous Optimization Models for the Design and Operation of Sustainable and Robust Process Systems.”

School of Music faculty member R. James Whipple recently played principal bassoon in a festival orchestra in Montpelier, Vermont, comprised of musicians from Maine to Tennessee. The program celebrated the 50th birthday of Vermont composer and pianist Michael Arnowitt, and included two world premieres: Haiku Textures and Bulgarian Hoedown for orchestra and jazz trio.

Daniel Teadt, artist lecturer in voice, will travel to Brazil in March for the Palacio das Artes Music Festival. While there, he will present a masterclass and sing in a performance of Carmina Burana. This coming July, Teadt also will perform the role of Frederick in Sondheim's "A Little Night Music" as well as acting as a master teacher with the Opera Theater Summerfest in Pittsburgh.

Kevin R. Fall, a computer scientist and engineer with broad experience in government and industry, will join Carnegie Mellon's Software Engineering Institute (SEI) Jan. 30 as deputy director for research and chief technology officer. In this role, Fall will direct the research and development portfolio of the SEI's technical programs in cybersecurity, software architecture, process improvement, measurement and estimating, and unique technical support to sponsors. Prior to joining the SEI, Fall was principal engineer at Qualcomm, where he worked on adaptive video streaming technology and networking-related programs with QGOV, Qualcomm's government systems subsidiary. Previously, Fall was co-founder of NetBoost Corp., which was acquired by Intel, where he became a principal engineer. For several years, he also researched simulation, network scalability and protocols at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Fall has served as a member of the U.S. Air Force (USAF) Scientific Advisory Board. As board member, he provided technical advice to the USAF chief of staff and secretary, and he participated in technical reviews of the Air Force Research Laboratory.

Alex John London, professor of philosophy and director of the Center for Ethics and Policy, recently participated in two high profile meetings concerning medical ethics. In December, London spoke at the World Medical Association Expert Conference in Cape Town, South Africa, on the vision of the Declaration of Helsinki, a statement of ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects. Earlier this month, he traveled to France to participate in a World Health Organization (WHO) consultation about the ethics of placebo controls in vaccine trials.

Joseph B. (Jay) Kadane, the Leonard J. Savage University Professor of Statistics and Social Sciences, Emeritus, will return to Washington. D.C., Jan. 31 to again brief congress on the situation in Argentina, where the government is repressing statisticians from accurately reporting inflation numbers. Kadane initially briefed lawmakers in December 2012. Read more.

Kathy M. Newman, associate professor of English, wrote a post for the Working Class Studies Blog that explores what the popular TV show "Downton Abbey" says about the current American class system. Read "Upstairs, Downstairs, Downton: What Downton Abbey Can Tell Us about Class in America Today."

Gabriela Hug, an assistant professor in electrical and computer engineering and engineering and public policy, has received the National Science Foundation Early Career Development Award, its most prestigious award for junior faculty. She was awarded a five-year, $400,000 grant to make the electric power grid more secure and flexible. Hug reports that she is recommending a "distributed approach" to grid operations, which is capable of handling the computational complexity resulting from the placement of a large number of power flow devices in the system. Read more.

Jeffrey Balmert, instructional multimedia developer at the SEI, recently produced and co-directed a music video for Paul Luc, a local Pittsburgh band. Many of the cast and crew are from CMU, including lead actors Colleen Pulawski and Steven Robertson, who are students in the School of Drama. You can view the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAy7PSNxmBE&hd=1.