Personal Mention
Following President Barack Obama’s decision to authorize air strikes and humanitarian aid to protect American personnel and assist Iraqi forces in their fight against the extremist fighters known as ISIS, Kiron Skinner wrote an opinion piece for The New York Times titled "Airstrikes, Sure; but What About a Strategy in Iraq?” Skinner, a foreign policy expert who was a member of the U.S. Defense Department's Defense Policy Board as an adviser on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, is associate professor of social and decision sciences in the Dietrich College and director of CMU’s Center for International Relations and Politics. Read the piece.
Braden Kelner, a senior majoring in creative writing and professional writing in the Dietrich College, was featured in a Wall Street Journal video about his experience as a summer intern for the Dow Jones. Watch the video.
Carnegie Mellon's Jay Apt and Paulina Jaramillo led a team of 22 researchers in a review and analysis of the technical and policy options available for integrating variable energy resources — such as wind and solar power — into the existing power system. Their new book, "Variable Renewable Energy and the Electricity Grid," is part of the RenewElec project and addresses how the United States could increase the amount of electricity it produces from renewable energy sources. "It is likely that the proportion of electricity generation supplied by wind and solar power can increase by about five- to ten-fold or a bit more, from the present 4 percent to 20 or 30 percent," writes Apt, director of the Carnegie Mellon Electricity Industry Center and a professor in the Tepper School of Business and the Department of Engineering and Public Policy (EPP). Their research was prompted by one of the most cumbersome hurdles to integrating renewable energy generation into the present power system: its variability. Wind, solar and hydroelectric power cannot be relied on to provide consistent electricity to users. Jaramillo is an assistant professor of engineering and public policy. Read more.
At the graduation ceremony at the Silicon Valley campus last Sunday, Bob Iannucci, director of the Silicon Valley campus, announced the recipients of two campus awards given annually to recognize exceptional students and graduates in their service to the university, alumni and the community. Amin Ariana, who earned a master’s degree in software management in 2011, received the Director's Return on Education Award, presented by Jon Cagan, co-director of CMU's new Integrated Innovation Institute. In the three years since graduating, Ariana has been a full time entrepreneur and has started two companies; currently, he is co-founder of the startup Funds4All. The second award, for Outstanding Research Assistant, went to Harsh Vinayak, who is graduating this year in the Software Management program. Martin Griss, principal research scientist, presented the award to Vinayak for his work with a campus research proposal and project to improve wireless emergency alerts, sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security and led by Griss, Iannucci and Associate Teaching Professor Hakan Erdogmus.
Five recent Carnegie Mellon graduates have received Fulbright Awards to teach and conduct research abroad. The U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs sponsors the program to "increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries." It provides fellowships for U.S. graduating seniors, graduate students, young professionals and artists to study abroad for one academic year. The alumni recipients are:
- Nina Mast, an international relations and politics major who graduated in 2014, will be an English teacher in Turkey.
- Rachel Kuhn, a global studies and German studies major who graduated in 2014, will teach English in Germany.
- Paulina Reyes, an architecture major who graduated in 2014, will conduct research addressing the architectural implications of water contamination and water shortage faced by marginalized urban communities in Mexico City.
- Gabriella Rueda, a global studies major who graduated in 2013, will teach English in Brazil.
- Mackenzie Evan Smith, a creative writing major who graduated in 2011, will teach English in Montenegro.