There are many ways to describe Carnegie Mellon undergraduate Xochina El Hilali. Not unlike most of her classmates, she has ambitions of success. But, though she is not yet out of college, in many ways her life has already been a success even if her late grandfather might have a quibble or two.

Carnegie Mellon's Ralph Hollis didn't set out to create a computer that could reproduce a sense of touch far more realistic than any other device in the world's marketplace. He was just trying to solve a problem with a solution that initially subjected him more to barbs than to praise.

Joshua Reich was contemplating his next professional challenge. When the Tepper alumnus had difficulty getting his bank account information, he figured it out. Why not start a bank with a Tepper buddy and another partner? A challenge to be sure, but what would his two potential cohorts think of such an enormous undertaking?

Every day nearly all of us drink a glass of water. But water does much more than fill our glasses. It's as important to our economy as it is to our own well being, which makes the findings of a study led by Carnegie Mellon's Chris Hendrickson all the more alarming.