Personal Mention

Biological Sciences Ph.D. student Karina Mueller Brown has received the Glen de Vries Fellowship. The fellowship, made possible by the generosity of MCS alumnus, Carnegie Mellon trustee and founder of Medidata Solutions Glen de Vries, recognizes outstanding research achievement and potential among Ph.D. students in biological sciences. "My research broadly concentrates on understanding how bacteria can cause disease by studying what happens at the time and space where the bacteria and human host interact with each other," said Mueller Brown. "With the resources provided by the fellowship, I can now get into researching these aspects in much more detail." She also looks forward to attending in-person conferences again post-pandemic, and the fellowship will allow her to do that. Outside of her research, Mueller Brown enjoys hiking and being outside with her new family after becoming a mother in May. "I also really enjoy baking and cooking," she added. "I guess it comes naturally since it is mostly following a protocol, just like lab work." 

Alessandro Rinaldo, a professor in the Department of Statistics & Data Science, will serve as the Dietrich College’s next associate dean for research (ADR). He succeeds David Creswell, who has served as the ADR since fall 2019.  While continuing to teach, Rinaldo will spend 20% of his time focused on aspects of research for the college. In his new position, he will help faculty in Dietrich College navigate research compliance and corporate-sponsored research, and he will represent the college in university-level discussions of research policy and practice. Rinaldo received his Ph.D. in statistics from Dietrich College in 2005, and he has been at Carnegie Mellon ever since. His research interests revolve mainly around the theoretical properties of statistical and machine learning models for high-dimensional data under various structural assumptions, such as sparsity or intrinsic low dimensionality. “Our college is unique in its diversity of research and teaching missions, scientific aspirations and intellectual expertise. This provides a wealth of opportunities and untapped resources for multi-disciplinary collaborations and growth. I look forward to working with all the different units in the college,” Rinaldo said.

Assistant Professor of Mathematical Sciences Franziska Weber has received a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation. These prestigious grants are designed to support promising research by early-career faculty. Weber combines tools from mathematical and numerical analysis and probability to design mathematically sound algorithms to simulate applications in fluid dynamics and material sciences. Her work supported by this grant will focus on areas where fluids are subject to magnetic fields, she said. These can be found in nature, such as when studying magma and how the Earth's magnetic field affects it, or in industrial applications such as precision sensors or magnetic drug targeting. "The algorithms developed in the course of this project may be useful for engineers and physicists to simulate complicated processes on a computer instead of conducting expensive and elaborate physical experiments," Weber said. "Moreover, it will contribute to a better understanding of these complex phenomena."  With this grant, Weber said she will be able to hire students to assist with the work and be able to visit and invite collaborators to Carnegie Mellon.  Find out more about Weber.