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December 01, 2016

Personal Mention

AAAS FellowsJames H. Garrett Jr., Vijayakumar Bhagavatula and David Kinderlehrer (l - r) have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). AAAS Fellows are elected by AAAS members in recognition of their scientifically distinguished efforts and contributions.

  • Garrett, dean of the College of Engineering, was elected for contributions to the field of computing and civil engineering, particularly for pioneering work on intelligent civil infrastructure and fostering an interdisciplinary academic culture.
  • Bhagavatula, the U.A. and Helen Whitaker Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering, was elected for research contributions to the field of pattern recognition, particularly for the development of the theory and application of correlation filters for object recognition.
  • Kinderlehre, the Alumni Professor of Mathematical Sciences and professor of materials science and engineering, is being recognized for his long and distinguished career in applied mathematics and mathematical analysis. He has made important contributions to advancing materials science research.

Moore testifies before Senate subcommitteeAndrew Moore, dean of the School of Computer Science, told a U.S. Senate subcommittee Wednesday (Nov. 30) that the U.S. should be preparing 1 million high school students to join a growing artificial intelligence industry. In testimony before the Subcommittee on Space, Science and Competitiveness of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Moore said such dramatic increases in the number of AI experts will be essential to meet the growing demands of industry and to maintain global competitiveness. “Based upon my experience, a computer science grad with expert-level AI training adds between $5 and $10 million to the bottom line of a company,” said Moore, who previously was a vice president at Google responsible for machine learning technology. “There are major bidding wars for these few individuals.” Read more of what he had to say.

Jane BernsteinJane Bernstein recently wrote “How I Helped Tell a Soldier’s Story” for the website Literary Hub. In the piece, she described the relationship she built with Joe, a WWII veteran and former POW, when she spent time teaching him about creative writing. When Joe approached Bernstein for help to tell his story, he had been working for a decade on a manuscript about his experiences in an Italian prison camp during WWII. Bernstein is a professor of English. Read Bernstein's story.

Stephen FienbergThe Statistics Department recently held a two-day event honoring Stephen E. Fienberg, University Professor of Statistics and Social Sciences, Emeritus. Fienberg’s CMU career began in 1980, when the late Morris H. (Morrie) DeGroot, founding head of CMU's Statistics Department, recruited him to join professors William Eddy, Joseph B. Kadane, John Lehoczky, Mark Schervish and a few others in the small department. Since then, Fienberg has served as department head and dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (now the Dietrich College), has joint appointments in the Machine Learning Department, CyLab and the Heinz College, and is one of the reasons the Statistics Department has top undergraduate and graduate programs. Read more.

Stefanie SydlikStefanie Sydlik won the women’s division of Pittsburgh’s Dirty Dozen hill-climbing bicycle race for the second consecutive year last Saturday. The route climbs 13 of the city’s steepest hills. Riders are given 10 points for winning each hill, nine points for finishing second and so on. Sydlik won 12 of the 13 hills among women riders, and also finished among the top 10 men on several hills. Sydlik is an assistant professor of chemistry and biomedical engineering. A record number of riders — about 400 — competed in the race founded by Danny Chew, a legendary Pittsburgh bicyclist who became paralyzed from a bicycle accident in September.