Personal Mention
The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS), the leading professional association for analytics professionals, has named Tuomas Sandholm, professor of computer science, and Nikolaos V. Sahinidis, professor of chemical engineering, among 12 new INFORMS Fellows. Sandholm was cited for contributions to research in computational economics, including market design, combinatorial auctions and game theory, and for contributions to practice through companies that create new markets using optimization methods. Sahinidis was recognized for outstanding theoretical and computational contributions that have changed the way optimization is practiced across science, engineering and financial decision-making. The INFORMS Fellow Award, which brings together the very best operations researchers and analytics experts throughout the world, recognizes outstanding achievement in such areas as research, education in operations research and management science, and service to the profession. The awards will be presented at a luncheon at the 2014 INFORMS Annual Meeting in San Francisco. Over 4,000 academics and professionals are expected to attend the conference.
Lee Branstetter, professor of public policy and economics, has been invited to deliver the opening address at the United Nations Framework Climate Change Convention’s Technology Executive Committee workshop titled “Strengthening National Systems of Innovation in Developing Countries: Covering the Entire Technology Cycle for Climate Technology” on Oct. 13 in Bonn, Germany. Branstetter, who holds a joint appointment in the Heinz College and Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, will set the scene with his talk, “What are national systems of innovation for climate technology?” The workshop will be webcast. Audience members may pose questions for workshop participants on Twitter with the hashtag #climatetech.
Ignacio Grossmann, the R.R. Dean University Professor of Chemical Engieneering, gave the plenary talk — the 6th James Y. Oldshue Lecture — at the XXVII Interamerican Congress of Chemical Engineering in Cartagena, Colombia, this past Monday (Oct. 6). His talk was titled “Optimal Synthesis and Planning of Sustainable Chemical Processes: Water, Biofuels and Shale Gas.” Learn more about his talk.
GENETICS, the flagship journal of the Genetics Society of America, has selected Kathryn Roeder to be an associate editor. Roeder is professor of statistics and computational biology and a leading expert on statistical genomics and the genetic basis of complex disease. Learn more.
Joel Tarr, the Richard S. Caliguiri University Professor of History and Policy, wrote an opinion piece for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on the history of pedestrian safety in Pittsburgh. Read the piece.
Sue-mei Wu, teaching professor of Chinese Studies in the Modern Languages Department and founder and president of CLTA-WPA, the Chinese Language Teachers Association of Western Pennsylvania, Yueming Yu (vice president of CLTA-WPA) and Gang Liu (treasurer of CLTA-WPA) organized a successful Chinese Symposium at Carnegie Mellon on Sunday, Oct. 5. The symposium theme was “Steps to AP Chinese: The Articulation of K-12 and K-16 Chinese Teaching and Learning.” Around 80 Chinese educators were in attendance. Symposium activities included paper presentations, a general membership meeting and open forum, a book exhibition and a drawing for prizes. The CLTA-WPA was established on May 4, 2014, and it has already attracted over 120 members. It aims to provide a forum for exchanging information, expertise and ideas related to teaching and learning Chinese, thus serving the community by promoting quality Chinese education for K-16 in the Western Pennsylvania area.