Carnegie Mellon University

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CMU Community News

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September 03, 2015

News Briefs

CMU-Alert Test Friday

CMU-Alert IconA test of the university’s emergency notification service, CMU-Alert, will be conducted at 4:30 p.m. this Friday, Sept. 4.

The service sends voice and/or text messages to registered phones in the event of a campus emergency. These messages provide brief details about the nature of the emergency and will always direct you to more information, instructions and timely updates at www.cmu.edu/alert.

All students are pre-registered for CMU-Alert. Carnegie Mellon faculty and staff are encouraged to register for this service if they have not already done so. Faculty and staff can register for the CMU-Alert service online at www.cmu.edu/alert.

Your contact information will be treated confidentially. You will be contacted by the CMU-Alert system only if there is an incident/event that threatens public safety or during tests of the system in the spring and fall semesters.

Psychology Turns 100Psychology Department Turns 100

The Department of Psychology, founded in 1915 with a focus on applied psychology, has turned 100.

Over the past century, the department has become a major force in cognitive science, cognitive neuroscience, computational modeling, developmental psychology, social/health psychology and the science of learning.

Celebration activities are planned throughout the year. Find out more

CMU is Top STEMinist University

Carnegie Mellon ranks number one on Her Campus’ list of the top 10 STEMinist schools. The website says “there are some incredible colleges out there determined to combat the STEM gender gap. These inspiring and supportive campuses are the perfect homes for any girl who's a math mastermind, aspiring engineer, tech-obsessed computer whiz or scientist-in-training!”

Her Campus cites the record number of women in CMU's freshman computer science class last year and notes some of the university’s programs that bring women on campus to explore its STEM programs.

See the top 10

ORIC Offers Research Conduct Brown Bag Sessions

CMU's Office of Research Integrity and Compliance (ORIC) is sponsoring Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Brown Bag Sessions during the fall semester for faculty, students and staff members. All sessions for the fall semester are from 12 – 1 p.m. in the Cohon University Center. Here's the schedule:

  • Wednesday, Sept. 23: Overview of Research Compliance and Research Misconduct;
  • Wednesday, Oct. 21: Intellectual Property at CMU;
  • Wednesday, Oct. 28: Protecting America’s Proprietary Information and Sensitive Technologies in an Age of Globalization (presented by a special agent of the FBI);
  • Wednesday, Nov. 11: Using the IRB and Ethical Issues with Research Involving Human Subjects; and
  • Wednesday, Nov. 18: Data Management.

More information is available on the RCR website. Space is limited, so please register early.

Blog Posts Highlight SEI Strategic Plan

Kevin Fall, deputy director for Research and chief technical officer for the Software Engineering Institute (SEI), has published the second in a series of blog posts highlighting the organization’s five-year, technical strategic plan. The plan aims to equip the Department of Defense (DoD) and other federal agencies with the best combination of thinking, technology, and methods to address their software and cybersecurity challenges. This blog post details ongoing and new research to address key issues identified in the SEI strategic plan, including the following projects:

  • Effective Reduction of Avoidable Complexity in Embedded Software;
  • Human-Computer Decision Systems for Cybersecurity;
  • Graph Algorithms on Future Architectures; and
  • Design Pattern Recovery from Malware Binaries.

The DoD and other government agencies increasingly rely on software and networked software systems. As a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the United States government, the SEI works to help the government acquire, design, produce, and evolve software-reliant systems in an affordable and secure manner.

In the first post in this series, Fall provided an overview of the SEI’s two technical focus areas:

  • Lifecycle assurance of software-reliant systems; and
  • High performance software components for the distributed collection, processing, analysis, and dissemination of data and information, even in challenging settings where computing and communications may be limited.

Feedback is welcomed by leaving a comment or sending email to info@sei.cmu.edu.

CMU Mortar Board Chapter Earns Gold Torch Award

Carnegie Mellon’s Mortar Board Chapter is one of 36 collegiate chapters to have been named a recipient of the Gold Torch Award, a national distinction that is conferred upon the most exceptional chapters of Mortar Board. The honor was presented at the Mortar Board National College Senior Honor Society’s national conference in Phoenix.

Recipients must excel in all areas of chapter operations while promoting scholarship, leadership and meaningful service to their institutions.

Mortar Board is the premier national honor society recognizing college seniors for outstanding achievement in scholarship, leadership and service. Chris Herrera, a senior majoring in civil and environmental engineering, is president of CMU’s chapter. Sharon Carver of the Psychology Department and director of the Children’s School is the chapter adviser.

Gelfand Center Offers New Classes for K-12 This Fall

The Gelfand Center is offering new classes for K-12 students this fall, including, for the first time, classes for 10th, 11th and 12th graders. Classes are developed by CMU faculty and staff to be fun, engaging, rigorous and hands-on.

Some of the available classes include CSI CMU: DNA Detection (grades 10-12), The Magic of Heredity: DNA (grades 10-12), Wearable Computers (grades 7-9), Brownfields are like Transformers (grades 6-7), and Reimagining Houses (grades K-1).

Register your student online

Defensive Driving, AED Training Classes Offered

Environmental Health and Safety is sponsoring four Defensive Driving classes during the fall semester. Classes begin at 8:30 a.m. in the EH&S Conference Room in the Facilities Management Services building.

Classes will be held on Sept. 8, Oct. 13, Nov. 10 and Dec. 8.

Use your Andrew ID and password to register online.

EH&S also is sponsoring an AED (automated external defibrillator) training class beginning at 10 a.m., Sept. 9 in Rangos 2 in the Cohon University Center. Use your Andrew ID and password to register online.

New Street Parking Prices Set for Sept. 1

This fall the campus community will observe a change in street parking prices prompted by the ongoing Carnegie Mellon parking study. The new prices now in effect are:

  • Frew Street, excluding the 5000 block: $2 per hour;
  • Frew Street, 5000 block: $1.25 per hour;
  • Margaret Morrison Street: $1.25 per hour;
  • Schenley Drive: $1.50 per hour; and
  • Tech Street: $2.25 per hour.

Due to the varying prices, it is important for commuters to use the parking pay station closest to and on the same street as where they park.

The parking study is directed by Tepper School of Business professors Stephen Spear, professor of economics, and Mark Fichman, associate professor of organizational behavior and theory. The research involves periodic adjustments of hourly parking rates based on usage and demand.