News Briefs
Department of Energy To Host Public Meeting at CMU July 21
The Energy Department’s Office of Energy Policy and Systems Analysis, led by Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, will host a public meeting at Carnegie Mellon beginning at 9 a.m. on Monday, July 21, to receive stakeholder input to the Quadrennial Energy Review (QER), an administration-wide effort to make recommendations regarding key infrastructure needed for transmission, storage and distribution of energy.
The meeting in the Hillman Center’s Rashid Auditorium will examine natural gas transmission, storage and distribution in the U.S. The meeting will include panel discussions on natural gas infrastructure, infrastructure development needed to maximize resource development and public-private partnerships for economic development. Following panel discussions, the public will have an opportunity to make statements.
The QER, officially launched by President Obama in January, is co-chaired by the White House Domestic Policy Council and Office of Science and Technology Policy, and includes representation from all relevant executive departments and agencies. The DOE is playing a key role in development of the QER by providing policy analysis and modeling, and coordinating stakeholder engagement.
Additional information, including the agenda and a full list of the speakers for each panel, will be posted online when it becomes available.
Street Parking Rates Adjusted for July
The parking study being conducted by Tepper School of Business professors Mark Fichman and Stephen Spear have adjusted street parking rates adjacent to campus for July.
The rates are:
- Frew Street, $1.25/hour;
- Frew Street (5000 block, adjacent to Skibo Gym), $1/hour;
- Margaret Morrison Street, $0.75/hour;
- Schenley Drive (adjacent to the Tepper School), $0.50/hour; and
- Tech Street, $1.50/hour.
Fichman, an associate professor of organizational behavior and theory, and Spear, a professor of economics, are measuring local street parking usage and seeking to optimize the parking resources by adjusting hourly rates to sustain an occupancy of approximately 80 percent during regular business periods. This establishes a reasonable level for revenue while allowing for intermittent parking availability throughout the business day.
The ongoing study will continue to evaluate parking usage and adjust rates on a regular basis. Learn more about the study.
Buggy Races Rank Among Top 20 College Traditions
Business Insider ranks Spring Carnival’s Sweepstakes Buggy Races among the top 20 college traditions in the U.S. Also in the top 20 are Thon Weekend (dance marathon) at Penn State, the Krispy Kreme Challenge at North Carolina State, the Harvard-Yale football game, the bras and boxers run at Arizona State, Winter Carnival at Dartmouth and the civilians vs. cadets snowball fight at Virginia Tech. See the top 20.
SEI Blog a Big Hit
In the first half of this year, the SEI blog has experienced unprecedented growth with visitors in record numbers learning more about the SEI's work in secure coding for Android, malware analysis, Heartbleed and V Models for Testing. In the first six months of 2014 (through June 20), the SEI blog has logged 60,240 visits, which is nearly comparable with the entire 2013 yearly total of 66,757 visits. At the mid-year point, this blog takes a look back at the SEI's most popular areas of work according to its readers, and highlights the most popular blog posts for the first half of 2014, as well as links to additional related resources that readers might find of interest.
Read "Android, Heartbleed, Testing, and DevOps: An SEI Blog Mid-Year Review."
CMU Helps Form Video Game Alliance
Entertainment Technology Center Director Drew Davidson is among the key players heading the Higher Education Video Game Alliance announced earlier this month. The alliance will provide a platform to showcase the critical role video game programs are playing in educating and preparing students for the 21st century workforce.
"There's a plethora of universities in this space now, but people are starting to think about how we can coordinate to address larger issues," Davidson said.
The goals include working to share and highlight best practices, publish research, initiate and strengthen industry connections, and educate and engage policymakers and the media.
The first-of-its-kind alliance will be led by, and open to, university faculty, directors of game design programs, departmental heads and other university leadership.
Offerings and activities in the areas of media design and intelligent environments at CMU are being expanded through the Integrative Design, Arts, and Technology network. This fall, students will have the opportunity to pursue Game Design as an undergraduate concentration.
Learn more.
Lower Hamerschlag Drive To Close for Scott Hall Steel Erection
The lower part of Hamerschlag Drive will be closed to all vehicular traffic from 6 a.m., Friday, July 25 through 6 p.m., Saturday, July 26 for the mobilization of a 300-ton, 300-foot-tall crane that will be used to erect the steel structure for Scott Hall.
There will be no access from Hamerschlag Drive to the Physical Plant Building, the Roberts Hall loading dock, the Gates High Bay and parking garage, and to the loading docks for Doherty and Wean halls.
Carnegie Mellon Police along with Pittsburgh Police, paramedics and fire departments will have unrestricted access to lower Hamerschlag Drive through an emergency access temporary road from Frew Street through the Scott Hall construction site.
CMU Credit Union Offers New Loan Rates
The Carnegie Mellon Credit Union is offering new rates for new and used vehicles as well as personal loans. The rates are as follows:
- New vehicles as low as 2.25 percent for 36, 48 or 60 months;
- New Vehicles as low as 2.75 percent for 72 months;
- Used Vehicles 2007 thru 2014 as low as 2.99 percent;
- Used vehicles as low as 3.50 percent for 72 months; and
- Personal loans as low as 7.99 percent.
Update Your Mobile Phone Info for CMU-Alert
Many CMU-Alert text message subscribers did not receive their text message during the test of the system in late April. It is believed that many of these failures were a result of the new CMU–Alert service provider, e2Campus, needing mobile phone carrier information in addition to phone numbers.
Therefore, please take a few minutes to review and, if necessary, update your mobile telephone information by going to http://www.cmu.edu/alert and following the directions listed.
Please update your information by Friday, July 11. A re-test of the system will be conducted later this summer.
If you are not a subscriber to the CMU-Alert system, please register for the service today. CMU-Alert sends voice and/or text messages to your registered phone in the event of a campus emergency. Registration information is available at http://www.cmu.edu/alert.
Carnegie Mellon Portugal Selects Startups for Acceleration Program
Four startups — DISPLR, Followprice, WeTruck and Xhockware — have been selected to be part of Carnegie Mellon Portugal's inRes 2014, a very early stage acceleration program for entrepreneurial teams working in information and communication technologies (ICT) in Portugal. inRes will provide a training period in Portugal, followed by a six-week structured immersion period at Carnegie Mellon's Pittsburgh campus.
The four entrepreneurial teams were chosen through a competitive selection process, which included a personal interview with each of the 14 teams that submitted an application. After a careful analysis, the evaluation panel selected four solid projects that aim to commercialize products and services in the area of ICT. “The four teams selected presented business ideas focused on technological solutions that can be competitive and add value to businesses and end-users,” said João Claro, national director of the CMU Portugal program.
“inRes will help strengthen and consolidate the management skills of entrepreneurial teams leading technology-based startups by exposing them to highly competitive international environments," said Claro, who noted that CMU Portugal has helped create 10 startups in seven years. Learn about the startups.
Summer Camps Offered
Carnegie Mellon’s Department of Athletics offers several summer sports camps for kids. Camps include boys and girls soccer and boys basketball. Also offered is a fitness camp for boys and girls between the ages of 7 and 14. For more information and to register your child, go to http://athletics.cmu.edu/athletics/camps-clinics.