Imagine playing a popular online game that is channeling the brainpower of thousands to solve an everyday problem. It's already happening, and Carnegie Mellon computer scientist Luis von Ahn is leading the way with a technique he calls human computation.
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The conversations continue in the quest for an official mascot. To date, Carnegie Mellon has been represented by Tartan plaid, with a Scottish terrier making its way onto some shirts and caps. But unlike the university’s wordmark or seal, the pup doesn’t have a license.
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No medical school? No problem. That’s one lesson of a recent entrepreneurial venture launched by Carnegie Mellon’s Daniel McChesney (TPR’05) and Ernest Braxton Jr. (TPR’07).
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Keep a positive attitude and you may just get through this year’s cold and flu season without getting sick. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon have found that people with a generally sunny disposition are more likely to stay healthy when exposed to a cold or flu virus.
These are just a sampling of the stories happening every day involving Carnegie Mellon students, faculty, and alumni. They are also the kind of stories that now appear online, thanks to the University’s newly redesigned Web site: www.cmu.edu.
“Our goal in the redesign was to reflect the innovative and distinctive personality of Carnegie Mellon,” says Marilyn Kail, assistant vice president of marketing whose team oversees www.cmu.edu alongside the University’s Computing Services. The home page’s stories—updated daily (and always available through the site’s archive)—are among Kail’s favorite new additions. She also points out that the visitor-friendly site encourages user interaction through features such as “submit a story” and submit a photo” and through a host of interactive tools on the home page. “We wanted to create an online community among students, faculty, and alumni,” she explains.
The revamped site, which debuted last fall, has received good reviews from users and some good ideas from them, too. “We’ve continued to make updates and improvements based on user feedback,” says Kail. “This is not a static site by any means.”
The redesign was a collaborative effort, involving focus groups composed of the University’s administration, faculty, students, students’ parents, and alumni. Kail is pleased with the results. “Visiting www.cmu.edu is going to be a completely new kind of experience for those who are familiar with the old site,” she predicts. “With improved navigation, a robust content-management system, and constantly changing feature stories, it will feel like a whole new Web destination.”
There is still more change to come. Currently under construction is an enhanced global site that will feature an interactive map with specific information about Carnegie Mellon’s international campuses and locations. The site will allow visitors to explore which countries students and alumni call home and provide quick access to alumni chapters around the globe. Some of the enhancements are already online; the rest should be available by early spring.
Once completed, the expanded global site will capture the worldwide breadth of the University, says Kail. “We’re not aware of any other universities offering its Web visitors a tool like this.”
The redesign won’t ever be completely finished, though. “We’ll be continuing to update the site with new features and functions,” says Kail, “including better search capabilities and more multimedia.” She wants to ensure that visitors continue to find the site entertaining, informative, and useful.
Visit www.cmu.edu and www.cmu.edu/global. Happy exploring.
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