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August 22, 2013

News Briefs

Entrepreneurs Fund Invests in Five More Alumni Startups

Carnegie Mellon's Open Field Entrepreneurs Fund (OFEF), administered by the CMU Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, has awarded $250,000 to five startup companies to help them grow their business ventures. The fund, established by CMU alumnus and Flip Video Camera creator Jonathan Kaplan and his wife, Marci Glazer, provides early-stage business financing and support to alumni who have graduated from CMU within the last five years.

This is the third cycle for the program, which, since its inception in June 2012, has provided support to 21 startup companies across North America, representing a diverse group of industry sectors. Current awardees are introducing products and services that will benefit humanity in aspects such as helping reduce energy cost for residential electricity consumers, improving the benefits of athletic training, assisting surgeons and physicians in analyzing medical image data, helping network engineers to monitor network performance, and providing a flexible, managed development environment for growing IT development groups.

Read the full announcement.

EH&S Sponsors Emergency Awareness Day, Sept. 3

Environmental Health & Safety will sponsor its annual Emergency Awareness Day from 1 - 5 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 3. Emergency response organizations will set up on the sidewalk in front of the CFA Lawn between Doherty and Baker halls to explain their roles in emergencies and answer questions. Organizations scheduled to attend include the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA), Allegheny County Emergency Services, City of Pittsburgh Emergency Management, American Red Cross, City of Pittsburgh Emergency Medical Services, Carnegie Mellon Student EMS, and CMU Environmental Health and Safety.
 
The City of Pittsburgh K-9 Unit will have dogs on site and explain how they are trained. They will demonstrate how the dogs conduct drug and weapon searches, and how they pursue and capture individuals.
 
The city also will have its “Command 200”  mobile command post on site for visitation.
 
EH&S has obtained the rights to show the powerful film “After the Fire,” the true story of the unexpected and inspirational survival and recovery of Alvaro Lianos and Shawn Simons, two students who were badly burned in an arson fire at Seton Hall University in January 2000.  Screenings will take place at 9 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 4 in McConomy Auditorium and 9 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 5 in Doherty Hall Room 1212. This acclaimed film is in high demand at college campuses across the country.

Persian Music Festival Set for October

The Center for Iranian Music (CFIM) at Carnegie Mellon will host the Persian Music Festival, Oct. 17-19, featuring lectures and performances of traditional and contemporary Iranian music.

"The goal of the festival is to support the culture and music of Iran," said Reza Vali, professor of composition at CMU's School of Music and director of education and research for the center. "This will be the first year of the festival, and CFIM hopes to continue to host it every year."

The festival provides an opportunity for people to learn more about Iranian music and culture. Vali believes that all cultures are interconnected, and music is a universal language that speaks to everyone, regardless of ethnic background, religion or country of origin.

Read more about the festival.

2013-14 CMU Wall Calendars Now Available

Official Carnegie Mellon 2013-14 wall calendars are now available for purchase in the University Store. Bulk orders over 50 can be delivered on campus or sent via campus mail. For quantities under 50, visit the store on the lower level of the University Center.

Bulk orders should be sent to art-store@andrew.cmu.edu. Your email order should include your name, department, campus address, Oracle String and a phone number. Orders from off-campus locations will be assessed an additional charge for a mailing tube.

Proposals for Dietrich College Undergraduate Colloquium Due Sept. 15

Abstract presentation proposals for the first Dietrich College Undergraduate Colloquium (DUC) are due by Sept. 15. The DUC, which will be held Nov. 1-Nov. 2, is a new opportunity in which Dietrich College majors and minors can share their ideas, class projects, creative works and research projects. Presentations can be in the form of a 15-minute oral presentation followed by a Q&A or a poster presentation. Proposal and submission guidelines as well as general information can be found at https://sites.google.com/site/cmuduc2013/about.
 
The DUC committee is looking for student volunteers to organize the colloquium and faculty mentors to guide presenters through their preparations. Students can contact Catharine Youngs at cqy@andrew.cmu.edu and faculty can contact Bonnie Youngs at byoungs@cmu.edu for more information.

Applications Being Accepted for Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellows Program

Applications are now being accepted for the campus-wide James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellows Program, which fast-tracks the careers of Carnegie Mellon graduate students who are passionate about entrepreneurship in the technology arena. This highly selective program, directed by the Carnegie Mellon Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE), is designed to develop each fellow’s entrepreneurial potential and leadership skills through coursework in entrepreneurship, mentoring, hands-on experiences and networking.

The core of the program is a mentored summer internship with a top tier, venture-backed startup within the high-tech, high-growth environment of California’s Silicon Valley. Mentoring from faculty, staff, alumni and members of the business community, cohort and community building, and two networking trips help to shape each fellow’s guided internship and career search.

The application deadline is 11:59 p.m., Monday, Sept. 9. Applications must be submitted to Emily Stark at vestark@andrew.cmu.edu

Applications must include a one-page resume and a personal statement no longer than two pages. The statement should include:

  • Entrepreneurial interests;
  • Goals (internship, immediately post-graduation, long-term);
  • Entrepreneurial successes and failures;
  • Plans to contribute to the evolution of CMU's entrepreneurial ecosystem;
  • Role of the Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellows program in achieving your goals.

The applicant also must have two letters of recommendation sent directly to Emily Stark at vestark@andrew.cmu.edu

Successful candidates will be notified by Sept. 23.

For more information, go to http://www.cmu.edu/cie/for-students/james-r.-swartz-entrepreneurial-fellows-program/index.html

This program is made possible by James R. Swartz (TPR ’66), founder and managing partner of Accel Partners, a Palo Alto-based venture capital firm with more than $6B under management.

C-MITES Offers Fun Classes for Bright Kids

The Carnegie Mellon Institute for Talented Elementary and Secondary Students (C-MITES) offers hands-on classes for gifted students in Kindergarten through 10th grade. One-day classes on selected dates in August through November include Robotics Programming and Design, Culinary Chemistry, Egg Drop Physics and Action-Packed Engineering.  Classes cost from $65 to $115 and financial aid is available.  For more information, see http://www.cmites.org.

New Online System Created for Research Conflict of Interest Disclosures

A new online system, SPARCS COI, became available to CMU researchers on July 15.  A team involving many campus affiliates created this secure system to comply with Conflict of Interest regulatory requirements and meet the needs of CMU’s research community. 

During the rollout of SPARCS COI, anyone who has Public Health Service (PHS) funding or expects to seek such funding in the next year is asked to complete an Annual Disclosure in SPARCS.

Researchers that have already submitted an annual disclosure using a paper form, will still need to create a new online disclosure during this six-week window. Paper forms are being phased out over time. 

The Office of Research Integrity and Compliance (ORIC) is holding a series of workshops to provide assistance with SPARCS COI.  Registration for training (http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SPARCStraining) is not required but is preferred. Researchers can complete their annual disclosures during a training session.  Please bring the financial information necessary to do this.

All training sessions will be held in Cyert Hall’s first-floor cluster in room 100-D. Dates and times are as follows:

  • Thursday, Aug. 22 : 10 – 11 a.m., 3 – 4 p.m.
  • Tuesday, Aug. 27: 3 – 4 p.m.
  • Thursday, Sept. 5: 10 – 11 a.m.
  • Friday, Sept. 13: 12  – 1 p.m.
  • Monday, Sept. 16: 1 – 2 p.m.
  • Monday, Sept. 23: 10 – 11 a.m.

For more information as well as guidance, please visit: http://www.cmu.edu/research-compliance/conflict-of-interest/index.html