News Briefs
Pipes and Drums Play On After Winning National Championship
Carnegie Mellon's Pipes and Drums band recently took first place in the 2019 American Pipe Band Championships, under the direction of Andrew Carlisle, CMU's director of piping and a professor in the School of Music. The week before that, the group took first place in the Toronto Indoor Games, their first competition outside the U.S.
"We had a really good semester, a really good season for the band," Carlisle said. "It's been a steady progression building the band to this level. It's now one of the best in the country. We've started talks of trying to get the band to the World Championships in Glasgow in 2021. We'd like to try to take the band a few places further afield."
Bagpiping has been a part of Carnegie Mellon tradition for more than 75 years. In 1990, CMU's School of Music launched the world's first bachelor's degree in bagpipe performance.
Libraries Convene Scholars To Tackle Data Challenges
University Libraries recently hosted a conversation on harnessing the power of artificial intelligence for scientific data discovery.
The AIDR (Artificial Intelligence for Data Discovery and Reuse) 2019 conference brought 150 researchers, computer scientists, librarians and industry representatives from 10 countries and 65 institutions and organizations to CMU May 13-15. The conference focused on innovative solutions that would enable scientists and researchers to extract more value from large, complex datasets.
"With the recent advances in machine learning and AI, it is possible to train computers to find optimal solutions to a problem, such as integrating different datasets and extracting metadata," said Huajin Wang, a CMU librarian and conference chair. "We created AIDR 2019 because it's about time that people working in a variety of disciplines come together to benefit from diverse expertise, and address these mutual challenges together, using the power of AI."
CMU-Alert Changes Coming July 1; Verify Your Contact Information
CMU-Alert, Carnegie Mellon’s emergency notification system, is transitioning to a new service provider, which will no longer require subscribers to opt-in.
As of July 1, faculty and staff will automatically receive CMU-Alert messages to their email, office phone and personal phone numbers listed in Workday. Students will continue to automatically receive CMU-Alert messages to their email and personal phone numbers listed in the Student Information Online (SIO) system.
In preparation for the transition, students are asked to make sure their contact information is accurate in the SIO system. Faculty and staff are asked to make sure their contact information is accurate in Workday by using this guide. Please note that faculty and staff wishing to receive text alerts must identify their cellphone number as a mobile device in the drop-down menu.
While discouraged, faculty and staff will have the ability to opt-out of receiving emergency alerts to their mobile and/or other personal phone numbers by following this guide: Unsubscribe from CMU-Alert in Workday Quick Guide [pdf]. Students will continue to have the ability to opt-out via the SIO’s “Edit CMU-Alert Emergency Notifications” link.
CMU-Alert email messages will come from cmu-alert@andrew.cmu.edu. CMU-Alert voice notifications will come from 412-268-2578 (ALRT). Please add this information as a contact on your mobile device to avoid confusion and concerns with spam communications.
If you have any questions regarding this information, please contact cmu-alert@andrew.cmu.edu. Thank you for your attention and for ensuring that your contact information in the SIO system or Workday is accurate.
EH&S To Conduct Building Evacuation Drills
To practice fire safety awareness and preparedness, the Environmental Health & Safety Department will conduct evacuation drills in more than 35 academic and administrative buildings this summer.
During the 15-20 minute drill, please follow these directions when the alarm sounds:
- Follow the directions of your floor marshal and proceed to the nearest exit.
- Floor marshals should notify the nearest emergency official when everyone is accounted for, or if anyone is missing.
- Remain with your group until the all-clear is given to return to the building.
- Do not leave campus until the exercise has been completed.
Evacuation drills will be conducted between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. and will follow the schedule below.
Tuesday, June 25
Hamburg Hall and Smith Hall
Collaborative Innovation Center
Wean Hall
Doherty Hall
Hamerschlag Hall
Scott Hall
FMCS-Physical Plant Building
Thursday, June 27
Porter/Baker Halls
Scaife Hall
Roberts Hall
College of Fine Arts
Margaret Morrison Carnegie Hall
Skibo Gym
Hunt Library
Monday, July 1
Gates/Hillman Center
Newell-Simon Hall
Purnell Center for the Artrs/Miller Gallery
Cyert Hall
Cohon University Center
Bramer House
Alumni House
Wednesday, July 10
Information Networking Institute
Software Engineering Institute
UTDC Building
Whitfield Hall
4721 Fifth Ave.
GATF Building
Friday, July 12
Integrated Innovation Institute
205 S. Craig St.
300 S. Craig St.
311 S. Craig St.
407 S. Craig St.
417 S. Craig St.
Monday, July 15
6555 Penn Ave.
National Robotics Engineering Center
Pittsburgh Technology Center
Questions? Contact Thomas Plietz, fire safety manager, at tplietz@andrew.cmu.edu.
Nominate Your Deserving Colleagues for the Andy Awards
Nominations for the Andy Awards, the university's staff recognition program, are now being accepted. Take the time to nominate your colleagues whose outstanding work is deserving of this special recognition. All materials must be submitted by July 8.
For more information on the awards program, including category descriptions and criteria, and how to nominate, visit the Andy Awards website at https://www.cmu.edu/andyawards/.
Questions? Send email to AndyAwards@andrew.cmu.edu.