Remembering 9/11, One Step at a Time 

On Saturday, September 11, the Steel City Naval ROTC Midshipmen will honor those who lost their lives, loved ones and friends in the 9/11 terrorist attacks 20 years ago by climbing the number of steps in Gesling Stadium equivalent to the 110 stories of the World Trade Center. Members of the CMU Police Department are expected to join them.

The stair climbing — the Midshipmen will climb the stadium stairs 17 times — will start at 8:46 a.m., marking the time when floors 93-99 of the North Tower were struck by the first airplane. There will be four rounds of stair climbing broken into segments. Midshipmen will share stories between each segment about some of the many heroic acts that took place on that day.

In addition to the Steel City Naval ROTC event, CMU will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the tragic events of 9/11 with a lone bagpiper playing at the 9/11 Memorial Tree on the Cut. The Memorial Tree was planted in memory of the seven alumni who perished that day. The piper will play at the moments of impact: 8:46 a.m., 9:03 a.m., 9:37 a.m. and 10:03 a.m., marking the times four airliners crashed into the World Trade Center Towers, the Pentagon and an open field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

SLICE is inviting Carnegie Mellon community members to the 9/11 20th anniversary observance on the Flight 93 Memorial Plaza in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, Saturday, September. 11. Bus transportation and a boxed lunch will be provided.

The bus will depart at 9:45 a.m. from the Margaret Morrison Rotunda at the corner of Margaret Morrison and Tech streets, and will depart from the Memorial Plaza in Shanksville at 2 p.m.

Free tickets are limited and can be reserved at CarnegieMellonTickets.com.

September is Campus Fire Safety Awareness Month

The Environmental Health and Safety Organization's Fire Safety Team is committed to fire prevention and risk reduction through the delivery of fire safety education, prevention, assessment and preparedness. Their commitment extends all the way to the Governor’s Office.  

“Back in July, I wrote to the Office of the Governor and requested Governor Tom Wolf to declare a proclamation to promote fire safety awareness at Carnegie Mellon University,” said John Guerra, CMU’s fire safety manager. “I have since received a signed proclamation and pan on championing fire safety educational opportunities to heighten awareness around campus throughout September.”

Guerra and CMU’s fire safety team will be tabling outside at several campus locations this month to educate the campus community about fire safety. The team will have its fire extinguisher simulator present to teach students, faculty and staff about fire extinguishers and how to use them. The proper use of smoke detectors and electrical outlets also will be discussed and handouts on fire safety will be available.

Look for the fire safety team at these times and locations:

• Sept. 14, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., outside Wean Hall;
• Sept. 20, 11 a.m. – 2 pm., 3rd floor, Mellon Institute; and
• Sept. 30, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., outside the Cohon University Center.

Learn about fire safety online.

Tartans Claim Fifth Consecutive AVCA Team Academic Award

The 2020 Carnegie Mellon University volleyball team has been recognized by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and the United States Marine Corps (USMC) for its performance in the classroom by being named a recipient of the USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award. This marks the Cardinal and Gray's fifth consecutive season earning the award.

The award, which was initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honors teams that displayed excellence in the classroom during the school year by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade-point average (GPA) on a 4.0 scale. The Tartans finished the year with a team GPA of 3.76.

Contributing to the 3.76 GPA for the Tartans were four student-athletes whom earned a 4.0 for the year while 18 of 19 earned a 3.5 or better.

Lowry and Colleagues Receive Two NSF Awards for Nanoparticle Research

Professor Greg Lowry of the Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) Department has received two grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) totaling $2.2 million to improve agricultural efficiency using nanoparticles (NPs) for targeted delivery of nutrients and plant protection products in crop plants.

The first award of $1.7 million will explore the potential of NPs as a nitrogen delivery system, a vital nutrient for plant growth and the primary agent in fertilizers. According to Lowry, replacing traditional fertilizer application to soil with foliar NP delivery would be a massive leap ahead for agriculture, significantly improving the efficiency of nitrogen uptake, lowering energy inputs, and reducing harmful runoff. Joining Lowry in this project will be Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Jerry Wang, Chemical Engineering Professor Bob Tilton, and researchers from the University of Kentucky and University of California, Riverside.  

Lowry’s second award of half a million dollars from the NSF will fund the creation of nano-enabled materials for targeted delivery to chloroplasts, capable of turning plant chloroplasts into “ubiquitous solar powered molecular factories for personalized biomanufacturing devices.” This is a collaborative project with researchers from the University of California, Riverside, and University of California, San Diego.

Learn more about the awards.

Provost Announces Office Hours for Fall 2021

Provost Jim Garrett will continue to host office hours for students, faculty and staff this fall.

“When I began my tenure as provost, I promised to hold monthly office hours to hold conversations with community members,” Garrett said. “I truly enjoyed our exchanges during those times and was reminded how important it is to regularly connect with the people who make Carnegie Mellon the special place that it is. I’m glad to welcome you to talk with me in person this year.”

Office hours vary to accommodate the variety in our community members’ schedules and will be held at the dates and times below:

• Wednesday, September 22 from 1 - 2:30 p.m.;
• Wednesday, October 20 from 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.; and
  
• Thursday, November 18 from 3 - 4:30 p.m.

Appointments will be made in person on a first-come, first-served basis. All office hours will be held in CCR East in Warner Hall, unless otherwise noted.

“I invite you to continue to use this time to tell me what’s on your mind, and share your experiences, ideas and aspirations for Carnegie Mellon,” Garrett said.

VentureBridge Showcases 16 CMU Startups, Sept. 15

VentureBridge Demo Day is the culmination of the 12-week summer VentureBridge Accelerator program and is intended to showcase the incredible amount of progress the CMU startups have made. This year, 16 startups are participating in the 2021 cohort. 

The VentureBridge is an initiative of the Swartz Center to help early stage Carnegie Mellon alumni founders develop their startups into fundable seed stage ventures. The cornerstone of the VentureBridge program is the summer accelerator. The summer 2021 cohort was composed of 16 Carnegie Mellon startups across all disciplines and verticals.

See the schedule and meet the summer 2021 cohort.

Last Call: Swartz Center Seeking Teams for Fall 2021 I-Corps Training Program

The Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship is currently recruiting teams for its fall 2021 NSF Innovation Corps (I-Corps) customer discovery training program. CMU faculty, staff, students and alumni graduated within the past year are eligible to participate in the program. Teams can be reimbursed up to $3,000 for eligible customer discovery expenses to assess the commercialization potential for their STEM technology. 

Further details on the I-Corps program and eligibility can be found on its website. There have been 195 teams in the program since fall 2014 and they have received more than $66 million in additional funding for their ideas. The deadline for teams to apply is Monday, September 13 at https://bit.ly/fall2021NSF

Who's New at CMU?

Carnegie Mellon welcomes the following new staff members this week.

• Matthew Katsaros, Project Administrator, Computer Science Department;
• Dylan Hamilton, Temporary Employment Service, HR Operations;
• Brandon Born, Associate Software Engineer, SEI Ssd Eiss Tactical and Ai Enabled Software;
• Britnai Nunley, Tepper Leadership Coach, Tepper Accelerate Leadership Center;
• Daehwa Kim, Research Associate, HCII: Human Computer Interaction Institute;
• Ernest Kufuor, Research Associate, Information & Communication Technology;
• Kurt Steigerwalt, FMCS Window Mail Package Handler, Postal Services;
• Marsha Harvey, FMCS Window Mail Package Handler, Postal Services;
• Ruiling Zhang, Senior Software Engineer, Computer Science Department;
• Roger Vanhoy, Associate Director of Business Development, NREC: National Robotics Engineering Center;
• Vishnu Vemuru, Research Associate, ISR: Institute for Software Research;
• Benjamin Cristofano, Temporary Employment Service, HR Operations;
• Jenna Cowan, Temporary Employment Service, HR Operations;
• Aashish Rai, Research Assistant, Robotics Institute - Campus;
• Austin McClinton, Part-time Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach, Campus Engagement;
• Christina Im, Research Associate I, Psychology;
• Danell Castro, Senior Cybersecurity Researcher, SEI CERT Security Operations;
• Esteban Alcala Aguirre, Coordinator of Student Engagement, The Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion;
• Emma Thomas, Administrative Coordinator II, Language Technologies Institute;
• Keren Decarlo, Manager of Administrative Services, Mechanical Engineering;
• Mathew Polowitz, Project Administrator I, Psychology;
• Miranda Gard, Part-time Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach, Campus Engagement;
• Miles Bennington, Drumming Instructor, Pipes and Drums, Dean of Student Affairs Programs;
• Quankai Gao, Research Assistant, Robotics Institute - Campus;
• Richard Malina, MTS - Senior Engineer, SEI Ssd Emcs Systems Software Development;
• Saman Motamed, Research Assistant, Robotics Institute - Campus;
• Zhaoning Wang, Research Assistant, Robotics Institute - Campus;
• Hyun Curtin, Music Preparatory School Piano Instructor, Music Prep School; and
• Bethany Fox, Animal Husbandry Technician I, Micv Lab.

Did You Know?

This pragmatic woodworking gem on campus was created by students for students.

As a professor, the late alumnus Larry Cartwright provided real-world experience for students in his design and construction course. This exterior staircase adjacent to Doherty Hall was built in 1998 after students were seen clambering up the hillside from art studios in the Doherty subbasement to the Cut.