Odds are, a smartphone’s in your pocket. What’s its battery level? You’re probably tempted to check. The red battery indicator may no longer be such a bane. The Qatar National Research Fund awarded the Best Computing and Information Technology Research Program of the Year to Khaled Harras, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon’s Qatar campus for his work on OPERETTA, a system that optimizes energy saving, conserving up to 44% of battery power without sacrificing performance.

Not to be outdone, Qatar computer science student Dania Abed Rabbou won the Best Student Computing and Information Technology Research of the Year for SCOUT—it combines your social networking with your current location to provide real-time mobile services, like restaurant recommendations.
—Michelle Bova (DC’07)