Every time we get in a car or a train or an airplane, we take for granted that everything will operate smoothly and that we'll safely reach our destination. Sadly, mechanical failures can happen, but a breakthrough computer program by Carnegie Mellon researcher André Platzer may make travel safer for us all.

On a 57-acre farm in Hillsborough, North Carolina, Franklin Garland hoped to grow something most Americans have never tasted—French truffles. In fact, the Carnegie Mellon alumnus hadn't even sampled the French delicacy when he first pursued the idea of creating one of the first French truffle orchards on North American soil.

Stimulating conversations on any number of subjects have been occurring on the campuses of colleges and universities for generations. Sometimes they lead nowhere, sometimes they lead to really good ideas, and sometimes, as is the case with Carnegie Mellon alumnus Oliver Williamson, they can lead to a Nobel Prize.

The Churchill Scholarship gives students an opportunity for postgraduate study at the University of Cambridge in England, one of the world's oldest and most renowned institutions. But only 14 students are chosen each year from among more than 100 colleges and universities. One of this year's finalists happened to be from Carnegie Mellon.