Carnegie Mellon University

The Piper

CMU Community News

Piper Logo
October 25, 2012

Personal Mention

Biological Sciences Professor Gordon Rule has been named associate dean for research at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar. Rule’s research focuses on understanding inter-molecular interactions in biological systems — a necessary step toward fully comprehending biological systems at the molecular level. Rule earned his Ph.D. in biological sciences from CMU in 1986. He became an associate professor at CMU in 1996 and was promoted to full professor in 2004. "Gordon brings a strong balance of academic, research and leadership experience to Qatar. His impact in the development of our biological sciences program has been invaluable. I am confident that our entire campus community will benefit from his experience and guidance. I look forward to having Gordon join our leadership team,” said Ilker Baybars, dean of CMU-Qatar.

Lorenz (Larry) T. Biegler, a University Professor and the Bayer Professor of Chemical Engineering, is meeting program chair for the annual American Institute of Chemical Engineers Conference (AICHE), slated to bring more than 5,000 scholars to Pittsburgh to discuss and present leading-edge research about energy, the environment and health care. The meeting takes place from Oct. 28 - Nov. 2 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. "This is a wonderful opportunity to showcase Carnegie Mellon, the region and our unique place in solving some of the world's most pressing social issues, including biomedical applications of chemical engineering and the ongoing debate about energy independence for the U.S.," Biegler said. The AICHE annual meeting is the premier educational forum for chemical engineers interested in innovation and professional growth. Read the full story.

Jon Peha, a professor in the Engineering and Public Policy and Electrical and Computer Engineering departments, has won the 2011 Technical Publication Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for decades of outstanding techno-economic analysis of cognitive networking trends. For more than two decades, Peha’s research has spanned technical and policy issues of computer and telecommunications networks. Some of those areas have included spectrum, broadband Internet, wireless networks, video and voice over IP, communications for emergency responders, universal service, secure Internet payment systems, e-commerce and network security. He also frequently consults for industry and government agencies worldwide. Read the full story.

Janet Madelle Feindel, professor in the School of Drama, is presenting a voice/Alexander Technique workshop at the Alexander Technique International AGM in Papenburg, Germany, and teaching at Alexander Alliance Deutschland. She served as Dialect/Alexander Technique and voice coach for the production of August: Osage County for the Pittsburgh Playhouse Rep Company.

History Professor Wendy Goodman has been awarded an honorable mention for this year’s Reginald Zelnik Book Prize in History for her latest book, "Inventing the Enemy: Denunciation and Terror in Stalin’s Russia." The Zelnik prize is sponsored by the Institute of Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies at the University of California, Berkley. It is awarded annually by the Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies for an outstanding monograph published on Russia, Eastern Europe or Eurasia in the field of history.

Kiron Skinner, associate professor of social and decision sciences, director of CMU’s Center for International Relations and Politics (CIRP) and the university’s national security adviser, wrote an opinion piece for Foreign Policy titled "Why I Support Mitt Romney." Skinner, who is advising the Romney campaign, attended the third presidential debate in Boca Raton, Fla., on Oct. 22 as part of Romney’s spin room. Read the piece in Foreign Policy.

Milton Cofield, a teaching professor of business management at the Tepper School, was recently profiled as part of Bloomberg Businesweek's series on favorite undergraduate business professors. Professors are chosen based on feedback collected by the magazine's annual survey of senior business students. Read more: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-10-12/favorite-professors-carnegie-mellons-milton-cofield. Poets & Quants, a social network for people interested in graduate business school education, recently recognized two other business professors, Laurie Weingart and Michael Trick. Read about Weingart and Trick.

Khaled Harras, an assistant professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon in Qatar, and Carnegie Mellon Qatar computer science 2012 graduate Dania Abed Rabbou were among a group of 12 researchers and students that received awards for their groundbreaking discoveries at the Qatar Foundation's Annual Research Forum. The awards, presented this past Monday, aim to inspire collaboration for future research and advance the nation’s developmental goals. Harras, in collaboration with Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology in Egypt, was awarded Best Computing and Information Technology Research Program of the Year for OPERETTA: An Optimal Deployable Energy Efficient Bandwidth Aggregation System. The award comes with a $100,000 cash prize for use in future research. Rabbou's senior thesis last year, "SCOUT: Extending the Research of Social-Based Context-Aware Ubiquitous Systems," received the award for Best Student Computing and Information Technology Research of the Year. Harras and computer science post-doctoral associate Abderrahmen Mtibaa were Rabbou's advisers. The award came with a cash prize of QAR 20,000. Read the full story.

The Judicial Conduct Board of Pennsylvania has appointed CMU Police Lieutenant Gary Scheimer to a four-year term. Scheimer joined the CMU Police Department in 2009 after 28 years with the Dormont (Pa.) Police Department. During his tenure with the Dormont Police, he received the Governor's Highway Safety Award in 1998 and citations from both the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and Senate for his role in solving a 2002 homicide investigation. In February 2003, Scheimer received the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 91 Excellence in Law Enforcement Award. He served as president of the Dormont Police Association from 2001-2009. Scheimer graduated magna cum laude from Kent State University with a bachelor’s degree in law enforcement administration.

Deborah Moon has resigned as vice president and chief financial officer, a position that she held since 2004. In an email to faculty and staff announcing her resignation, President Jared L. Cohon praised Moon for her many contributions to the university and for successfully presiding over the university’s financial operations during the recent economic recession. Provost and Executive Vice President Mark Kamlet will serve as interim CFO until a successor is named. Plans will be made to conduct a national search.