Personal Mention

Aaditya Ramdas, assistant professor in the Department of Statistics & Data Science and Machine Learning Department, has received the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development Award for his project, “Online Multiple Hypothesis Testing: A Comprehensive Treatment.” “Arguably, one of the major hurdles to reproducibility of scientific studies is the cherry picking of results among the vast array of tests run or quantities estimated,” Ramdas said. “We need ‘online’ methods to correct for cherry picking, first acknowledging that the problem exists and then designing algorithms that can account and correct for it.” Ramdas says statistical methods that improve reproducibility in large-scale scientific studies will combat the increasing public distrust in science. Ramdas received a joint Ph.D. in statistics and machine learning from CMU in 2015. Find out more.

Denise Novak, acquisition librarian at University Libraries, has announced her retirement after 28 years at CMU. Her last day at the university will be Friday, Feb . 14. Novak was responsible for the acquisition of, and payment for, all print and electronic materials for University Libraries. She was very active in her field and at CMU. She was a member of the Dewey to LC Reclassification Project Task Force, and was instrumental in implementing the ExLibris Alma Primo VE library management system. She also led coordination for the opening day collection of the Carnegie Mellon University-Qatar Library. Novak was very involved in CMU’s Faculty Senate and served as chair, treasurer and a member of several committees. She is a former president of the North American Serials Interest Group (NASIG) and served two terms as treasurer of that organization. She also was a member of the American Library Association Council. Novak presented at many conferences and authored several articles on library acquisitions.

Mohammed Al-Qassabi, a sophomore information systems major at Carnegie Mellon in Qatar, was awarded the gold medal in the individual category at the Doha Oasis for Innovation, part of the Doha Organization Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Youth Capital 2019 activities. Al-Qassabi’s project is a prototype that helps soccer referees to detect players offside during matches. Al-Qassabi was selected from 15 students in the category of ‘Internet of Things.’ Al-Qassabi competed alongside 42 inventors from 32 countries in the Muslim world between the ages of 18 and 30 in both individual and group competitions. The Doha Oasis for Innovation competition aims to stimulate youth creativity in the fields of invention and innovation. Learn more.