A system developed by Disney Research and Carnegie Mellon University researchers uses simple RFID tags to quickly make physical objects, such as the spaceship model shown here, interactive with digital devices.

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags are designed primarily for inventory control, but researchers at Disney Research and Carnegie Mellon University have found a way to process the tag signals with sufficient speed to make them suitable for use in games, physical interfaces and other interactive objects.

Their technique makes it possible to use RFID tags to sense movement or touch in near real-time. The low-cost tags could thus be incorporated into slider and rotary controls for games and toys or for use in other applications that demand prompt response.

Building interactive objects usually entails circuit boards, wiring and batteries, but passive RFID tags costing as little as a dime apiece make it feasible to add interactivity to a wide variety of objects, even those made from paper or other craft materials, said Alanson Sample, research scientist at Disney Research.

“You can create interactive objects that are essentially disposable and perhaps even recyclable,” said Scott Hudson, professor in Carnegie Mellon’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII).

RFID tags also could be incorporated into durable objects, such as interactive pop-up books and toys, in which batteries or wires would be inconvenient or infeasible.

The CMU and Disney researchers will present their method at CHI 2016, the Association for Computing Machinery’s Conference on Human Factors in Computing, in San Jose, Calif., May 7-12. Passive RFID tags transmit an identifying code when they are energized by radio frequency waves from an RFID reader that can be several meters away. This method simplifies inventory tasks, but isn’t engineered to provide prompt responses.

“It gets trickier when you’re not just trying to get an ID from the tag,” said James McCann, associate research scientist at Disney Research. It’s possible to infer the trajectory of a tagged object, or whether it is being touched or covered, based on the strength, radio frequency phase and Doppler shift of the tag’s signal. But that takes precious time, which has made it difficult to use RFID tags to control games and other real-time apps.

The problem, said Jennifer Mankoff, associate professor in HCII, is that the system is dealing with highly uncertain information — the RFID reader only energizes tags at intervals, tags return signals in random order and tags don’t always return signals. Waiting for confirmation through multiple “tag reads” slows response time enough to limit many interactions.

The solution was to develop a framework, called RapID, that interprets the signals by weighing possibilities rather than always waiting on confirmation. For instance, a slider controller might work by moving an object that successively obscures the antennas of a series of RFID tags; if one obscured tag suddenly is uncovered, the system might reason that the next tag in line will be obscured.

RapID reduced typical lag times from two seconds to less than 200 milliseconds, which is similar to other interactive systems.

The researchers demonstrated the capability of RapID by instrumenting a toy spaceship, whose movements would animate an on-screen spaceship; by developing a Tic-Tac-Toe application that uses a physical game board and pieces and congratulates players when they win; and by building an audio control board that enables an interactive music-mixing experience, among other apps.

“By making it easy to add RFID-based sensing to objects, RapID enables the design of new, custom interactive devices with a very fast development cycle,” Sample said.

The RapID research team also included Andrew Spielberg, a Disney Research intern who is a Ph.D. student at MIT.

For more information and to see a video, visit the project website.

The Class of 2016 is counting down the hours to 10:15 a.m., Sunday, May 15, when they'll begin their march into Gesling Stadium for Carnegie Mellon University's 119th Commencement, a major milestone in their academic careers.

This year's student speaker is Sophie Rose Zucker, a member of the Science and Humanities Scholars Program who will be receiving a bachelor's degree in chemistry with University Honors and a bachelor's degree in creative writing with College Honors.

Zucker has been an active member of the Carnegie Mellon community. She has been a four-year member of Alpha Chi Omega Sorority, serving on its executive board as vice president for recruitment. She also was president of MORF, CMU's feminist club, and has been involved in the annual MOSAIC Conference, which focuses on gender issues.

She served as editor-in-chief of The Oakland Review, CMU's literary magazine, and wrote and directed the Chemistry Department's Murder Mystery Dinner Theater production this year.

After graduation, she is heading to Madison, Wis., to work at Epic Systems, a software company for health care organizations.

This year's keynote speaker for the main commencement ceremony is Earl Lewis, president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and one of America's leading advocates for supporting the humanities and the arts in higher education.

Lewis will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. He is a renowned social historian and fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He visited Carnegie Mellon in October, when he delivered the opening address for the Center for Africanamerican Urban Studies and the Economy's 20th Anniversary Conference. He presented the keynote address for the center's opening in 1995.

Prior to joining the foundation as its sixth president in 2013, Lewis was provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs and the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of History and African-American Studies at Emory University. He previously held faculty appointments at the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Michigan. He is the author and co-editor of seven books.

Honorary Degree Recipients

It is a Carnegie Mellon tradition to award honorary degrees at commencement to exemplary leaders, whose life and work serve as an inspiration for Carnegie Mellon students, faculty and staff. In addition to Lewis, this year's honorary degree recipients are:

Holly Hunter, an Academy Award winner who is among the elite actors in the entertainment industry, will receive a Doctor of Fine Arts degree. She graduated from the College of Fine Arts in 1980.

Robert Langer, the David H. Koch Institute Professor at MIT and the most cited engineer in history, will receive a Doctor of Science and Technology degree.

Sonia Manzano, who changed the face of American television on the iconic, Emmy Award-winning children's television series "Sesame Street," will receive a Doctor of Fine Arts degree. She graduated from the College of Fine Arts in 1972.

James Swartz, leading partner and founder of the Palo Alto, Calif.-based Accel Partners, a prominent global technology venture capital firm, will receive a Doctor of Business Practice degree. He is a 1966 graduate of the Tepper School of Business.

Event Information

Guests attending the ceremony will be asked to be seated at 10:15 a.m. Graduates will begin processing to their seats at 10:15 a.m. The ceremony will take place at 11 a.m., rain or shine.

For guests who wish to view the event indoors, the ceremony will be simulcast in McConomy Auditorium, Kirr Commons and Wiegand Gym, all located on the first floor of the Jared L. Cohon University Center.

Those unable to be on campus for the ceremony can watch via webcast.

Graduates and their families are encouraged to share photos and posts on social media and to tag them with #CMUgrad. Follow @CMUcommencement on Twitter for the most up-to-date commencement news.

Posts will appear on the webcast page and some will be featured on the screens at the stadium.

Related:

• Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar graduates 89 students
• Carnegie Mellon University in Rwanda graduation ceremony planned for June 20

Carnegie Mellon University’s four Fulbright award winners for 2016 will research, study and report across three continents.

“Our Fulbright candidates have crafted distinctive academic experiences that align well with their existing skill sets and foster continued growth and development as scholars and cultural ambassadors,” said Joanna Dickert, assistant director of undergraduate research and national fellowships. “Our cohorts are quite diverse, drawing bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral and alumni applicants from all disciplines. Laura, Daniel, Chelsea and Lauren exemplify this depth and breadth, and we are very proud that they will be representing Carnegie Mellon.”

CMU’s Fellowships and Scholarships Office provides support to students who are interested in applying for nationally competitive fellowships and scholarships.

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs sponsors the Fulbright U.S. Student Program to “increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.”

This year’s Fulbright winners are:

Laura Berry | Class of 2016, Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing and Japanese Studies

Berry will travel from her hometown of Ridgewood, N.J., to Japan on a Fulbright Study/Research Grant. She plans to explore literature written by women during the economic slump of the 1990s, known in Japan as the “Lost Decade.” She will continue her language studies and audit courses at Hokkaido University in Sapporo.

Daniel Fonner | Class of 2016, Master of Arts Management

Fonner, of New Martinsville, W.Va., will study access to and the availability of creative arts therapies for U.K. military personnel suffering from mental illnesses. The recipient of a Fulbright-University of Warwick Award, he will enroll in the Master of Arts program in International Cultural Policy and participate in the Think Tank Society and Cultural Value Initiative. He also plans to join the Heart of England Co-operative Concert Orchestra as a percussionist.

Chelsea Kolb | Class of 2018, Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering

Kolb, of Cloquet, Minn., received a Fulbright Study/Research Grant to investigate how projected climate change will impact aquifer levels in northwestern Costa Rica. Working with a hydrologist, she plans to develop water management strategies for local stakeholders, whose water supply has been impacted by increased development and changing agricultural practices. She will be affiliated with the National University of Costa Rica, Liberia’s Center for Hydraulic Resources for Central America and the Caribbean.

Lauren Mobertz | Class of 2012, Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing

Mobertz, who resides in New York, received a Young Professional Journalist Award to report on the work experience of Millennials in Germany and the current state of labor in the country. She plans to cover mental health taboos in the German workforce, internships and job placement for recent high school and college graduates, and work options for young refugees.

Additional 2015 Fulbright recipient:

Juan Acosta | Class of 2015, Bachelor of Arts in Hispanic Studies and Global Studies

Carnegie Mellon University today announced that Charlie White, a leading artist, art educator and administrator at the University of Southern California, has been named the new head of its School of Art, effective Aug. 1. White succeeds John Carson, who is returning to the school’s faculty.

Charlie White

White, a professor in USC’s Roski School of Art and Design, established and was area head of a technology-rich program in digital imaging, video and media theory, which is thriving across the school’s undergraduate curriculum. As director of the school’s Master of Fine Arts program from 2007 through 2011, he worked with exceptional artists and teachers, including Sharon Lockhart, Frances Stark, Andrea Zittel and A.L. Steiner, to form one of the most progressive young graduate programs in the country. The program fostered a remarkable generation of artists, such as Amanda Ross-Ho, Alex Israel, Nicole Miller and Elad Lassry.

With more than 20 years of experience as an internationally exhibiting artist and 13 years in academia, White’s professional and creative achievements have bridged the worlds of art making, art pedagogy and art school administration.

“Charlie brings to the School of Art a demonstrated commitment to fostering creative expression and experimentation across all genres of art,” said Dan Martin, dean of Carnegie Mellon’s College of Fine Arts, which houses the School of Art. “He is a firm believer in art as a crucial part of our lives and culture, and while at USC he furthered that belief through the development of new platforms for growth, change and diversity. We welcome him to Carnegie Mellon, and we look forward to his fresh perspective and enthusiasm as he begins his role.”

As an artist, White has consistently worked to push the boundaries of representation in varied genres. His career has encompassed photography, film, animation, public events, popular entertainment and documentary archives. His work has been exhibited at institutions across the globe, and his films have screened at the Sundance Film Festival and Director’s Fortnight at Cannes. Six monographs of his work have been published, most recently “American Minor” (JPR | Ringier, 2009). White has been included in the 2011 Singapore Biennial; the “Nine Lives: Visionary Artists from L.A.” exhibit at the Hammer Museum; and “Art in America Now”, organized by the Guggenheim Museum.

In addition to his studio practice, White has written about contemporary topics related to photography and popular representation, and he has produced numerous public and non-institutional projects, including a collaborative teen pop album and the founding and editorship of “The Enemy,” a critical and cultural journal featuring essays and projects by artists, academics and activists.

An East Coast native, White has lived in Los Angeles for 20 years. He will reside in Pittsburgh with his wife, poet Stephanie Ford, and their son.

Carnegie Mellon University’s four Fulbright award winners for 2016 will research, study and report across three continents.

“Our Fulbright candidates have crafted distinctive academic experiences that align well with their existing skill sets and foster continued growth and development as scholars and cultural ambassadors,” said Joanna Dickert, assistant director of undergraduate research and national fellowships. “Our cohorts are quite diverse, drawing bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral and alumni applicants from all disciplines. Laura, Daniel, Chelsea and Lauren exemplify this depth and breadth, and we are very proud that they will be representing Carnegie Mellon.”

CMU’s Fellowships and Scholarships Office provides support to students who are interested in applying for nationally competitive fellowships and scholarships.

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs sponsors the Fulbright U.S. Student Program to “increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.”

This year’s Fulbright winners are:

Laura Berry | Class of 2016, Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing and Japanese Studies

Berry will travel from her hometown of Ridgewood, N.J., to Japan on a Fulbright Study/Research Grant. She plans to explore literature written by women during the economic slump of the 1990s, known in Japan as the “Lost Decade.” She will continue her language studies and audit courses at Hokkaido University in Sapporo.

Daniel Fonner | Class of 2016, Master of Arts Management

Fonner, of New Martinsville, W.Va., will study access to and the availability of creative arts therapies for U.K. military personnel suffering from mental illnesses. The recipient of a Fulbright-University of Warwick Award, he will enroll in the Master of Arts program in International Cultural Policy and participate in the Think Tank Society and Cultural Value Initiative. He also plans to join the Heart of England Co-operative Concert Orchestra as a percussionist.

Chelsea Kolb | Class of 2018, Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering

Kolb, of Cloquet, Minn., received a Fulbright Study/Research Grant to investigate how projected climate change will impact aquifer levels in northwestern Costa Rica. Working with a hydrologist, she plans to develop water management strategies for local stakeholders, whose water supply has been impacted by increased development and changing agricultural practices. She will be affiliated with the National University of Costa Rica, Liberia’s Center for Hydraulic Resources for Central America and the Caribbean.

Lauren Mobertz | Class of 2012, Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing

Mobertz, who resides in New York, received a Young Professional Journalist Award to report on the work experience of Millennials in Germany and the current state of labor in the country. She plans to cover mental health taboos in the German workforce, internships and job placement for recent high school and college graduates, and work options for young refugees.

Additional 2015 Fulbright recipient:

Juan Acosta | Class of 2015, Bachelor of Arts in Hispanic Studies and Global Studies

Earl Lewis

Earl Lewis, president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and one of America’s leading advocates for supporting the humanities and the arts in higher education, will be the keynote speaker at Carnegie Mellon University’s 119th Commencement. A renowned social historian and author, Lewis will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.

The student speaker is Sophie Rose Zucker. A member of the Science and Humanities Scholars Program, she will receive bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and creative writing.

CMU’s additional honorary degree recipients are:

• Holly Hunter, an Academy Award winner who is among the elite actors in the entertainment industry, will receive a Doctor of Fine Arts degree. She graduated from CMU’s College of Fine Arts in 1980.
• Robert Langer, the David H. Koch Institute Professor at MIT and the most cited engineer in history, will receive a Doctor of Science and Technology degree.
• Sonia Manzano, who changed the face of American television on the iconic, Emmy Award-winning children’s television series “Sesame Street,” will receive a Doctor of Fine Arts degree. She graduated from CMU’s College of Fine Arts in 1972.
• James Swartz, leading partner and founder of the Palo Alto, Calif.-based Accel Partners, a prominent global technology venture capital firm, will receive a Doctor of Business Practice degree. He is a 1966 graduate of CMU’s Tepper School of Business.

Learn more about the speakers and honorary degree recipients.

The ceremony will be webcast live at: http://www.cmu.edu/commencement/.

When: 11 a.m., Sunday, May 15 (rain or shine).

Where: Gesling Stadium, CMU campus.

Note: Media planning to attend Sunday's ceremony should contact Abby Simmons at 412-956-9425 for instructions on parking, photography and seating. Please wear press credentials.

Three Carnegie Mellon University faculty members, Marlene Behrmann, Jonathan Caulkins and Jelena Kovačević, have been named University Professors, the highest designation a faculty member can achieve at the university.

“University Professors are distinguished by international recognition and for their contributions to education, artistic creativity and/or research. Marlene, Jon and Jelena are colleagues most deserving of this distinction,” said CMU Provost Farnam Jahanian.

Marlene Behrmann, the George A. and Helen Dunham Cowan Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, is the first woman from Carnegie Mellon to be elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

Behrmann joined the Psychology Department faculty in 1993 and is considered to be one of the foremost experts in the cognitive neuroscience of visual perception. She has received the Presidential Early Career Award for Engineering Science, the American Psychological Association Distinguished Scientific Career Award for Early Career Contributions and the Early Career Award in Neuropsychology.

Her groundbreaking research combines behavioral investigations and brain imaging techniques with both normal and impaired individuals to identify the functional and structural architecture of the human brain that enable our visual experiences. She also uses brain imaging to uncover abnormalities in the brains of individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism and dyslexia. 

Jonathan Caulkins holds the H. Guyford Stever Professorship of Operations Research and Public Policy at the H. John Heinz III College, where he has been on the faculty since 1990.

He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a fellow of INFORMS, the recipient of the INFORMS President’s Award and the IFORS distinguished lecturer. He has received the David Kershaw Award from the Association for Public Policy and Management and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Investigator Award, among many others.

Caulkins has authored over 130 articles and 10 books. His primary research interest is modeling the effectiveness of interventions related to drugs, crime, violence, delinquency and prevention. He is a former co-director of RAND’s Drug Policy Research Center and was founding director of its Pittsburgh office.

He taught at CMU’s Qatar campus from 2005 to 2011.

Jelena Kovačević is the David Edward Schramm Professor, head of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, and a professor of biomedical engineering.

A CMU faculty member since 2003, Kovačević is an authority on signal processing, multiresolution techniques and wavelet theory with applications in biology, medicine and smart infrastructure. She is a fellow of the IEEE and EUSIPCO and has co-authored a widely used textbook, “Wavelets and Subband Coding,” as well as a more recent one, “Foundations of Signal Processing.”

She is a co-author of a top-10 cited paper in the Journal of Applied and Computational Harmonic Analysis and a paper on multidimensional filter banks and wavelets that was selected as one of the Fundamental Papers in Wavelet Theory.

Kovačević received the Belgrade October Prize in 1986, the E.I. Jury Award at Columbia University in 1991 and the 2010 Philip L. Dowd Fellowship Award from CMU’s College of Engineering. Her recent work has focused on biomedical imaging, smart infrastructure and graph signal processing.

"Do the unimagined. Discover the undiscoverable. Change the world — responsibly."

Reciting those words, more than 5,000 graduates at Carnegie Mellon University's 119th Commencement ceremony Sunday joined social historian and keynote speaker Earl Lewis in pledging to use their educations actively, throughout their lives, to the benefit of others. That theme sounded throughout the ceremony, as speakers challenged the  graduates to keep kindness, curiosity, respect, optimism and wide-eyed wonder in their hearts as they leave the university to make their mark in the world.

"'My heart is in the work' doesn't tell us to dedicate our hearts to work," said Student Speaker Sophie Zucker, of the famous words by CMU's founder Andrew Carnegie. "It's a promise to bring heart into work. To do the things we do with heart, with passion and with care."

Zucker, who earned bachelor's degrees in chemistry and creative writing, told the graduates on the chilly day, that they "have an obligation to do things that matter."

"Carnegie Mellon has not been an amazing experience just because of our classes," she said. "As we head out to careers, to graduate programs, to our parents' couches, we must realize that sometimes what made us happiest at CMU wasn't the work itself. It was the heart we put into things and the care."

Lewis, a noted social historian and author and president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, echoed those sentiments in his keynote address. He asked the graduates to keep humanity in mind as they become the architects of the next technological revolution.

He said that it was critical for the graduating students to envision themselves as a part of a problem-solving society in which engineering, math and computer science have evolved into creative disciplines.

"Human interaction is messy. It's not scientifically based or mathematically predictable," Lewis said. "Sometimes you simply cannot get from A to B in a straight line. Sometimes you have to go around the block."

In his remarks CMU President Subra Suresh reiterated that it was the responsibility of the Class of 2016 to make a difference.

"Nobody is better prepared to shape the world than the graduates at Carnegie Mellon University," President Suresh said.

Lewis said he was humbled and delighted to speak on behalf of this year's diverse class of honorary degree recipients.

"Graduates, make a note to self; learn more about these folks ASAP," he said. The recipients are:

Holly Hunter, an Academy Award winner who is among the elite actors in the entertainment industry, received a Doctor of Fine Arts degree. She graduated from the College of Fine Arts in 1980.

Robert Langer, the David H. Koch Institute Professor at MIT and the most cited engineer in history, was awarded a Doctor of Science and Technology degree.

Sonia Manzano, who changed the face of American television on the iconic, Emmy Award-winning children's television series "Sesame Street," received a Doctor of Fine Arts degree. She attended CMU's College of Fine Arts.

James Swartz, leading partner and founder of the Palo Alto, Calif.-based Accel Partners, a prominent global technology venture capital firm, was presented  a Doctor of Business Practice degree. He is a 1966 graduate of the Tepper School of Business.

Related:
Learn more about the honorary degree recipients.
Watch the recorded webcast.

Before a robot arm can reach into a tight space or pick up a delicate object, the robot needs to know precisely where its hand is. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute have shown that a camera attached to the robot’s hand can rapidly create a 3-D model of its environment and also locate the hand within that 3-D world.

Doing so with imprecise cameras and wobbly arms in real-time is tough, but the CMU team found they could improve the accuracy of the map by incorporating the arm itself as a sensor, using the angle of its joints to better determine the pose of the camera. This would be important for a number of applications, including inspection tasks, said Matthew Klingensmith, a Ph.D. student in robotics.

The researchers will present their findings on May 17 at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation in Stockholm, Sweden. Siddhartha Srinivasa, associate professor of robotics, and Michael Kaess, assistant research professor of robotics, joined Klingensmith in the study.

Placing a camera or other sensor in the hand of a robot has become feasible as sensors have grown smaller and more power-efficient, Srinivasa said. That’s important, he explained, because robots “usually have heads that consist of a stick with a camera on it.” They can’t bend over like a person could to get a better view of a work space.

But an eye in the hand isn’t much good if the robot can’t see its hand and doesn’t know where its hand is relative to objects in its environment. It’s a problem shared with mobile robots that must operate in an unknown environment. A popular solution for mobile robots is called simultaneous localization and mapping, or SLAM, in which the robot pieces together input from sensors such as cameras, laser radars and wheel odometry to create a 3-D map of the new environment and to figure out where the robot is within that 3-D world.

“There are several algorithms available to build these detailed worlds, but they require accurate sensors and a ridiculous amount of computation,” Srinivasa said.

Those algorithms often assume that little is known about the pose of the sensors, as might be the case if the camera was handheld, Klingensmith said. But if the camera is mounted on a robot arm, he added, the geometry of the arm will constrain how it can move.

“Automatically tracking the joint angles enables the system to produce a high-quality map even if the camera is moving very fast or if some of the sensor data is missing or misleading,” Klingensmith said.

The researchers demonstrated their Articulated Robot Motion for SLAM (ARM-SLAM) using a small depth camera attached to a lightweight manipulator arm, the Kinova Mico. In using it to build a 3-D model of a bookshelf, they found that it produced reconstructions equivalent or better to other mapping techniques.

“We still have much to do to improve this approach, but we believe it has huge potential for robot manipulation,” Srinivasa said.

Toyota, the U.S. Office of Naval Research and the National Science Foundation supported this research.

Carnegie Mellon University’s BrainHub will host its first Neurohackathon May 24-25. The event is one of the first hackathons to engage computer scientists in using one of the hardest systems to crack: the structure of neural data and the brain.

The brain has billions of neurons and trillions of synapses, making it an excellent source of big data. BrainHub researchers from across CMU’s Pittsburgh campus have collected vast amounts of information from the brain using techniques including MRI and electrophysiological recordings. Through this hackathon, they hope to develop new methods for analyzing and understanding this data and foster new collaborative relationships between neuro- and computer scientists.

“Getting these smart and creative young minds to look at neural data will bring 21st century tools and ideas to brain science research,” said Alison Barth, interim director of BrainHub and professor of biological sciences.

During the hackathon, teams of graduate students from CMU’s School of Computer Science will be asked to analyze data sets gathered from the labs of neuroscience researchers in the College of Engineering, Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Mellon College of Science and School of Computer Science. The teams will compete for prizes including travel awards and one semester of graduate tuition.

The Neurohackathon is sponsored by Qualcomm and CMU’s Provost’s Office, BrainHub and Department of Machine Learning.

New Eberly Professors Aryn Gittis (middle) and Joel McManus (second from right) with (l-r) Head of Biological Sciences Aaron Mitchell, Provost Farnam Jahanian and MCS Dean Fred Gilman.

Assistant professors Aryn Gittis and Joel McManus have received Eberly Family Career Development Professorships in Biological Sciences.

The professorships were established in 1993 to recruit, retain and recognize exceptional biological sciences faculty in the Mellon College of Science.

“Career development professorships support young researchers during pivotal points in their careers, allowing them to pursue adventurous paths in research, including more risky paths that might not attract initial funding from other sources,” said Fred Gilman, dean of the Mellon College of Science. “Aryn and Joel are impressive young researchers who are already doing great things in their fields. These professorships will help them to achieve even more.”

Gittis is a neuroscientist who studies the neural circuitry of the basal ganglia, a brain system involved in movement, learning, motivation and reward. Dysfunction in these circuits is thought to play a role in neurological disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease and dystonia. Gittis’ lab uses a variety of techniques including electrophysiology, optogenetics, histology and behavior to understand how these circuits affect motor control. Gittis is a member of Carnegie Mellon’s BrainHub neuroscience initiative and the joint Carnegie Mellon/University of Pittsburgh Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition.

McManus is an evolutionary systems biologist who studies gene regulatory mechanisms and their evolution. Gene expression involves a host of cellular networks and pathways, many involving the splicing, translation and regulation of mRNA. Differences in these networks lead to variation in gene expression and can play a role in health and disease. McManus’ lab uses high throughput sequencing and bioinformatics to study these regulatory networks and investigate the secondary structure of mRNA.

The Eberly family has a long history of supporting Carnegie Mellon. In 1991, they created the Eberly Scholarship Fund, which supports students from Fayette County. In 1996, they endowed the Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence and Educational Innovation to assist professors, new and tenured, to become the best educators they can be.

By Daniel Tkacik / 412-268-1187

Network administrators' jobs are getting tougher in today's world, protecting their organizations' valuable information from increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks and ensuring that security and access control policies are implemented correctly. Many of these jobs involve manual expertise, trial-and-error, and in some cases, blind faith that the security policies they intend to enforce are correctly implemented in the network.

"What's critically lacking is a principled way to check if the network correctly implements a given suite of policies," said CyLab faculty member Vyas Sekar, an assistant professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. "This problem is already very challenging even for very basic policy intents. As networks and policies both become more complex, and with emerging technology trends like software-defined networking and network functions virtualization, the problem will only become worse."

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded Sekar with an NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award to pave the way toward reliable network security assurances. The CAREER Award is one of NSF's most prestigious awards in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research and education.

"With this award, my research team will lead the development of a principled model-based testing framework and open-source tool for identifying if, and how, policies are violated," Sekar said. "The tool will also help network administrators automatically locate the sources of these violations."

While there have been significant technological advances in software testing with the development of program analysis and formal verification techniques, network testing has lagged behind.

"If we take off-the-shelf machinery from the program analysis and formal verification community, it completely chokes," Sekar said. "Even on a small network with four to five nodes, it takes several days of computing time to provide operators with assurances about the behavior of their networks with the types of dynamic policies we envision."

An early proof-point of their research is a system called "BUZZ," a testing framework that takes policy intents from a network operator and automatically generates test traffic to check if the policies are implemented correctly. If a policy is violated, the tool helps operators identify the root cause.

"Our novel approach to model network functions and their interactions significantly cuts down the time it takes to systematically test cases from days to a few tens of seconds," Sekar said. "This can potentially change the operational workflows of real networks by offering network administrators near real-time capabilities to test the correctness of their networks."

With this CAREER award, Sekar's team is planning to tackle a number of significant and fundamental technical challenges toward realizing the vision of an end-to-end framework that network administrators can integrate into their everyday workflows to ensure the security and performance.

His team plans to deploy BUZZ and its successors in real operational network settings to help transition the results from an academic setting into practice. This means the team will need to develop mechanisms for mining hard-coded policy intents or extracting them automatically from network configurations.

"Given the model-based testing approach that BUZZ adopts, one natural question that arises is where do the models come from?" Sekar said. To this end, the team plans to develop systematic techniques to automatically extract the relevant information from the network devices.

In BUZZ's current form, which one can view as an effective "bug finding" tool, there may be subtle bugs that are difficult to find. Sekar's team sees room for improvement.

"The ultimate goal is to get closer to providing exhaustive 'bug-free' guarantees to network administrators," Sekar said.

Researchers led by Carnegie Mellon University Professor of Biological Sciences Chien Ho have developed a new method for preparing mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) that not only leads to the production of more native stem cells, but also labels them with a FDA approved iron-oxide nanoparticle (Ferumoxytol). The technology could allow researchers to track the cells in vivo using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) during preclinical and clinical trials.

The findings are published by Scientific ReportsStem cells, with their ability to regenerate into a multitude of different cell types, show great promise for treating a number of diseases and injuries. Stem cells taken from a patient’s own body are of particular interest, due to a decreased chance of rejection. These cells are most commonly harvested from the bone marrow, which contains two types of stem cells, hematopoietic and mesenchymal.

Mesenchymal stem cells labeled with Ferumoxytol using a bio-mimicry method

Hematopoietic stem cells can be used to form the different types of blood cells, and are used to treat leukemia and multiple myeloma. Mesenchymal stem cells can be used to generate bone, cartilage and fat cells, and have promise for repairing bone and cartilage, damaged heart cells, and treating inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.  

Currently, there are more than 360 registered clinical trials that use MSCs, but the results have been mixed, with some patients reacting well and others not responding to the stem cell treatment. To understand why these results can be so variable, researchers need to be able to track the stem cells as they migrate through the body to see if they reach and graft to the appropriate site. To do this, researchers could label the stem cells with a superparamagnetic iron-oxide (SPIO) contrast agent and image the patient using MRI.

Ferumoxytol is the only SPIO nanoparticle that has been approved by the FDA, but researchers have not been able to label MSCs with Ferumoxytol in cell culture (ex vivo) without the help of a transfection agent. Transfection agents are undesirable because they can change the cells’ biology and inhibit their effectiveness. Furthermore, researchers have had difficulty culturing the large amount of cells needed for clinical dosing. Current methods also result in cells of different sizes and functionalities. Smaller, round cells are preferable because they show a higher capacity for regeneration and differentiation.

To surmount these problems, Ho and colleagues took advantage of the cell’s natural ability to engulf and internalize Ferumoxytol in vivo. Ho’s team developed a “bio-mimicry” method to create an environment in a petri dish that is much like the environment found inside the body. His team began by using traditional methods to extract cells from bone marrow, separate the MSCs from the other cells and expand the number of MSCs. His team then devised a new way to culture MSCs by introducing other cells from the bone marrow, mimicking the in-vivo environment. The resulting MSCs retain their optimal size and regeneration capabilities and can internalize Ferumoxytol for cell tracking. Because MSCs are multi-potent, this new methodology can prepare more native cells for applications in cell therapy and regenerative medicine.

CMU's Home Exploring Robot Butler, or HERB, uses new software to sort clutter more efficiently.

Clutter is a special challenge for robots, but new Carnegie Mellon University software is helping robots cope, whether they’re beating a path across the Moon or grabbing a milk jug from the back of the refrigerator.

The software not only helped a robot deal efficiently with clutter, it surprisingly revealed the robot’s creativity in solving problems.

“It was exploiting sort of superhuman capabilities,” Siddhartha Srinivasa, associate professor of robotics, said of his lab’s two-armed mobile robot, the Home Exploring Robot Butler, or HERB. “The robot’s wrist has a 270-degree range, which led to behaviors we didn’t expect. Sometimes, we’re blinded by our own anthropomorphism.”

In one case, the robot used the crook of its arm to cradle an object to be moved.

“We never taught it that,” Srinivasa added.

The rearrangement planner software was developed in Srinivasa’s lab by Jennifer King, a Ph.D. student in robotics, and Marco Cognetti, a Ph.D. student at Sapienza University of Rome who spent six months in Srinivasa’s lab. They will present their findings May 19 at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation in Stockholm, Sweden.

In addition to HERB, the software was tested on NASA’s KRex robot, which is being designed to traverse the lunar surface. While HERB focused on clutter typical of a home, KRex used the software to find traversable paths across an obstacle-filled landscape while pushing an object.

Robots are adept at “pick-and-place” (P&P) processes, picking up an object in a specified place and putting it down at another specified place. Srinivasa said this has great applications in places where clutter isn’t a problem, such as factory production lines. But that’s not what robots encounter when they land on distant planets or, when “helpmate” robots eventually land in people’s homes.

P&P simply doesn’t scale up in a world full of clutter. When a person reaches for a milk carton in a refrigerator, he doesn’t necessarily move every other item out of the way. Rather, a person might move an item or two, while shoving others out of the way as the carton is pulled out.

The rearrangement planner automatically finds a balance between the two strategies, Srinivasa said, based on the robot’s progress on its task. The robot is programmed to understand the basic physics of its world, so it has some idea of what can be pushed, lifted or stepped on. And it can be taught to pay attention to items that might be valuable or delicate, in case it must extricate a bull from a china shop.

One limitation of this system is that once the robot has evaluated a situation and developed a plan to move an object, it effectively closes its eyes to execute the plan. Work is underway to provide tactile and other feedback that can alert the robot to changes and miscalculations and can help it make corrections when necessary.

NASA, the National Science Foundation, Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing and the Office of Naval Research supported this research.

Carnegie Mellon University’s ProSEED grant program will fund nine new technology-enhanced learning (TEL) projects designed to improve education for CMU students while advancing our understanding of how humans learn. 

Part of the university’s Simon Initiative, the projects will leverage CMU’s learning engineering ecosystem and integrate learning research with data-driven, innovative educational practices.

ProSEED, a program initiated by CMU President Subra Suresh, provides startup support for innovative projects that span disciplines and allow researchers and educators to complete the fundamental research needed to take their work to the next level. The Simon ProSEED projects support the university’s recently published strategic plan by advancing and applying CMU’s world-leading research in learning science and TEL.

Previous Simon ProSEED projects have received external funding. The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations awarded CMU $250,000 in part to continue developing and testing the Prose Style Tutor, a TEL solution that targets key skills for effective writing, and using online resources with in-class activities to improve understanding of the effects of pH on biological systems, a topic that spans biology and chemistry courses.

“These grants represent a unique investment in education at CMU that pays dual dividends down the road — first in improving outcomes for our learners and then in providing a foundation for future funding,” said Norman Bier, executive director of the Simon Initiative. “Beyond providing direct funding, the program also provides projects with social and technical support, harnessing the Simon Initiative’s ecosystem to transform education.”

Funding for the nine new projects totals $209,068. Matching funds are provided by the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Mellon College of Science, College of Engineering, University Libraries, Heinz College, School of Computer Science and College of Fine Arts.

The projects are:

Improving Writing Instruction

Writing requires countless composing decisions that are typically beyond the conscious grasp of writers, and those choices are hard to make tangible for students. Despite significant research into ways to teach students to be better writers, helping students become better aware of their high-level composing decisions has not been addressed. To close the gap, a computer-aided learning tool will be developed to help students notice and reflect on their composing decisions to help them become more self-aware and reflective writers. This work builds on DocuScope, an existing text analysis tool that was used for more than a decade in a CMU graduate writing course. The new TEL project will embed the use of DocuScope within the existing instructional framework and will then scale it to support courses with multiple sections and instructors. The tool will be evaluated within two different undergraduate writing courses, First-Year Writing and Writing in the Professions. The project will be led by Danielle Wetzel, teaching professor of English and director of the First-Year Writing Program; Necia Werner, assistant teaching professor of English and director of the Professional and Technical Writing Program; Suguru Ishizaki, professor of English and director of the Rhetoric Program; Xizhen Cai, assistant teaching professor of Statistics; and David Kaufer, the Paul Mellon Distinguished Professor of English.

Understanding Students’ Intrinsic Motivations for Engaging With TEL Tools

Drawing on best practices in learning science, Associate Professor of Design Stacie Rohrbach, Ishizaki and Werner developed a set of TEL tools that can be embedded and used flexibly by instructors to teach communication skills. However, as previous studies have shown, students’ motivation to use TEL options is not well understood. Using their TEL tool as a basis for investigation, Rohrbach, Ishizaki and Werner will employ design-based research methods to gain insight into students’ perceptions, usage and evaluation of TEL tools. Their efforts aim to deepen the research on motivational barriers for online, self-regulated learning.

Creating a Digital “Vienna 1900” Course

The scientific discoveries, artistic developments, philosophical and literary movements, and innovations in urban planning and architecture made in Vienna at the turn of the 20th century still influence our everyday lives. To teach this era in a new and interactive way, Gabriele Eichmanns Maier, associate teaching professor of German, and Francesca Torello, adjunct associate professor of architectural history, will transform a traditional cultural studies course on “Vienna 1900” into an interdisciplinary exploration of the city. Using a digital interface as a learning tool, students will research and create 3-D models of important spaces and buildings in the city while enhancing a historical map of Vienna with a collection of records, photos, archival materials and other media. The project will eventually become a public digital humanities artifact fostering collaborative inquiry and teaching about this period, as well as a model that can be applied to other cities.

Prototype for Collaborative Skills Training

Employers want to hire people who can successfully work as part of diverse teams. Ralph Vituccio, assistant teaching professor of entertainment technology, and Martha Harty, project manager, will develop new online tools to teach CMU students to do this. In the first stage, Vituccio and Harty worked with human-computer interaction students who designed and tested a prototype module that incorporates innovative ways for students to learn basic conflict communication skills —recognizing and addressing conflict, active listening and assertion messages — and practice them online. Vituccio and Harty will fully implement the prototype module and practice environment in an Open Learning Initiative (OLI) course, which will include extensive assessment tools. With colleagues from the Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence and Educational Innovation, Mellon College of Science and Tepper School of Business, the final phase will test the effectiveness of the OLI course, and the data collected will shape the future phases and modules of the collaborative skills project.

Creating a Virtual Space To Teach Chinese Pragmatics

Mastering a second language requires more than learning grammar and vocabulary. Knowledge of pragmatics — forms, context, cultural norms and social conventions — is crucial to successfully learning a language. Virtual learning environments offer many benefits for teaching pragmatics because students can simulate roles and practice lessons, yet very few have been created for language learning. Naoko Taguchi, associate professor of Japanese and second language acquisition, will change this for Chinese learning by using game engine software to develop a 3-D interactive learning space to teach formulaic expressions to students studying Chinese at CMU. Taguchi will analyze the effectiveness of learning Chinese pragmatics in the virtual space to improve the program.

Using Video-Based Tutorials of Biological Experiments To Improve Student Comprehension of Science Literature

Research papers published in the scientific literature are considered to be the best resource for teaching students about biological pathways and the underlying discovery process. However, the techniques described in these papers often can be difficult for new students to understand, which can lead to frustration and a lack of motivation. Shoba Subramanian, assistant teaching professor of biological sciences, will create short video tutorials of techniques commonly used in cellular and molecular biology to help students to learn about the complex methodologies often described in the scientific literature. The videos will serve as a resource to help make the scientific literature more accessible and less intimidating. 

Assisting and Analyzing Children’s Learning Without School

Educational data mining has focused on data from schools and other settings that have Internet access. However, half of the children in developing countries have little or no access to the Internet or schools, let alone quality instruction by well-trained teachers. CMU’s RoboTutor is a software project that is being leveraged to help these children learn basic literary and numeracy skills. The ProSEED grant will support a group of students who will analyze preliminary findings on how children in Tanzania interact with RoboTutor and then adapt the software to make it more engaging and effective. Jack Mostow, emeritus research professor in the Robotics Institute, and assistant professors of Human-Computer Interaction Amy Ogan and John Stamper are leading this project.

Using Interactive Lab Activities To Improve Statistics Education

Hands-on laboratory activities have a long tradition in physical and natural sciences education, yet they have not been widely used in statistics as a way to improve learning outcomes. Alexandra Chouldechova, assistant professor of statistics and public policy in the Heinz College, Christopher Genovese, professor and head of the Department of Statistics, and Philipp Burckhardt, Ph.D. student in statistics and public policy, will design a set of interactive modules to use in statistics education. They also will assess the effectiveness of the modules compared to existing exercises. The hope is to identify when a student meets an obstacle, allowing those students to then receive immediate interventions, such as hints, tools and links to relevant information. The resulting interactive modules will be available to anyone under an open license.

Teaching Programming to Engineering Students Using TEL

The rapid adaptation of software applications in all engineering fields raises new requirements for engineering students to learn programming. However, it is challenging to adequately teach them all that they need to know in a way that fits their domain-specific needs and diverse backgrounds. To overcome this obstacle, Xuesong Liu, assistant research professor of civil and environmental engineering, will build a TEL platform that will automatically evaluate student performances in different areas of programming skills and knowledge, detect patterns to customize the optimal exercises for each student and provide data-driven performance analysis and feedback. Liu will leverage the OLI and Autolab projects that developed a flipped classroom for teaching python and JavaScript programming for civil and architectural engineering students.

Tartan pride was in full display as Carnegie Mellon University's Alumni Association awards were presented Friday, May 3, as part of Commencement Weekend for the first time.

Outstanding alumni and students were honored for career achievements and exceptional service to the university. Since 1950, nearly 900 alumni have been celebrated.

Beverley R. Wheeler, a 1976 graduate of the Dietrich College who earned her master's degree from the Heinz College, always knew she wanted to attend Carnegie Mellon.

"Anyone that knows me knows that I am a Carnegie Mellon freak!" she joked, adding that she had told her parents that if she couldn't go to Carnegie Mellon then she wasn't going to college.

Over the years she has had many experiences that have solidified her first impression, and she credits CMU for a unique combination of innovation, collaboration and cooperation. Wheeler is an adjunct faculty member in the Heinz College and a former president of CMU's Alumni Association.

Wheeler, who received a Distinguished Service Award, was recognized for more than three decades of volunteerism at CMU in a wide range of areas, including spearheading and co-chairing the campaign to create an endowed scholarship named for former president Jared L. Cohon. Today, she directs the nonprofit DC Hunger Solutions whose mission is to create a hunger-free community in Washington, D.C. Previously she led a charter school management organization serving 1,400 inner-city school students.

"I have learned so much and I have so many incredible friends," Wheeler said. "I believe that the education we receive impels us to action, impels us to make a better world. Carnegie Mellon gives us that opportunity."

Last weekend was grand for Minnar Xie, who was recognized for student service at the Alumni Awards, and two days later received her bachelor's degree.

Xie graduated as a 5th Year Scholar from CMU's Bachelor of Humanities and Arts program. She earned a bachelor's degree in art and psychology, with an additional major in human-computer interaction. She was recognized for her unparalleled commitment to helping others through multiple initiatives, including her leadership in supporting refugees in Pittsburgh and founding an SAT preparatory program for college-bound youth.

Xie's childhood was a cross-cultural experience shaped by Chinese parents who immigrated to the United States in their 30s. As an adult, she maintains an interest in international issues, working with people from diverse backgrounds and is fascinated by domestic issues as well, such as mental health and affordable housing.  

"Globalization has made the local and the global very intertwined, whether literally in issues like immigration, but also in the ways that international trade policies shape everyone's lives," Xie said.

Xie said her CMU education gave her new ways of working, challenged her worldviews and encouraged her.

"More than anything, it instilled in me an optimistic, collaborative attitude of approaching situations, asking 'How might I make this possible?'" she said.

Xie was among four young honorees representing the classes of 2015 and 2016.
 
The honorees were united in their deep and sincere appreciation for the support system made up of the university's faculty and staff.

"There should be an award for Dean Swank," said Anthony Caine, a 1979 graduate of the Tepper School of Business, referring to Earle Swank, who served as the dean of Student Affairs when Caine was a student.

Caine recalled having been forgiven by Swank after getting caught socializing on the roof of the College of Fine Arts. Despite a few reprimands as a student, Caine said he appreciates CMU's strong network of students and alumni. He credited the Alumni Association for creating the sense of community at CMU.

"Assets of a university, and particularly Carnegie Mellon, are tied to the ability to solve complex problems and to perform in a complex society. Those are assets that I valued and I took from Carnegie Mellon," Caine said. "An asset that I value far greater was the element of a great number of lifelong friendships at the university."

Caine is founder and chairman of Chicago-based LJM Partners, Ltd., an investment and hedge fund company. LJM manages $500 million in client and proprietary funds and has generated annualized returns exceeding 18 percent over its 18-year history. In addition to fund management, LJM Partners is active in philanthropy, supporting children and education initiatives globally and in Chicago.

"Choosing to go Carnegie Mellon was a pivotal decision for me that established the foundation for professional accomplishment and even more important the foundation to give back in the form of education philanthropy," Caine said.

By the end of the ceremony, the honorees had all expressed their appreciation for and pride  in CMU They kicked off  an eventful weekend as examples of real-word inspiration to the Class of 2016.

The full list of alumni awards includes:

Alumni Distinguished Achievement
Daniel S. Nagin (TPR 1971, 1971, HNZ 1976)

Alumni Distinguished Service
Beverley R. Wheeler (DC 1976, HNZ 1978)

Alumni Achievement
Anthony Caine (TPR 1979)
Dr. Kevin J. Handerhan (E 1980, 1986, 1988)

Alumni Service
Marilyn Bracken (MM 1957)
Jon Hayden (A 1980)
Seth Pearlman (E 1978, 1979), P.E., D.GE

Recent Alumni
Bob Moczydlowsky (A, HNZ 2007)
Shanna Tellerman (A 2003, MET 2005)

Student Service
Siriana Abboud (DC 2016)
Ian Glasner (E 2016, TPR 2016)
Mariah Ondeck (E 2015)
Minnar Xie (CMU 2016)

Related:

CMU Honors 13 Alumni and Students, May 13

Rodney P. McClendon, a senior administrator with more than two decades of leadership experience in higher education, has been appointed vice president for operations at Carnegie Mellon University, effective July 1.

In this reconfigured role, McClendon will lead the university’s work in key areas of human, physical, and technological infrastructure and services, including human resources, facilities management, enterprise risk management, computing services, campus services, environmental health and safety, real estate services, campus design and facilities development and university police.

Rodney McClendon

“The vice president for operations will be responsible for some of the most important ways in which we support our students, faculty and staff, helping to define the Carnegie Mellon University experience,” said CMU President Subra Suresh. “Rodney is a proven leader in this work, who understands the culture and importance of higher education. We are delighted to have him join CMU and our senior leadership team.”

McClendon currently serves as strategic partner for Forward Motion, a consulting firm that advises universities and not-for-profit organizations on issues of leadership and governance, strategic planning, diversity, change management, risk mitigation and crisis management.

Before joining Forward Motion in 2013, McClendon served as vice president for administration at Texas A&M University in College Station, where he led a division with more than 1,500 employees in 12 units that included facilities services and coordination, utilities and energy services, transportation services, university dining, environmental health and safety, enterprise risk management, university police, aviation services, conference center and sustainability.

“I am excited to join Carnegie Mellon University, one of the premier universities in the world, during this period of strong momentum and great opportunity,” McClendon said. “I look forward to working with partners across campus and outside the traditional borders of the university campus to help achieve President Suresh’s vision for sustained excellence in CMU’s education and research mission, supported by a world-class operations team.”

From 2009-2011, McClendon served as senior vice president for operations and senior associate vice president for administration at the University of North Texas.

From 1995-2009, McClendon served in various roles for Texas A&M University, including acting vice president and CEO, executive associate vice president and COO at Texas A&M-Galveston; and as chief of staff to the president, assistant provost, interim assistant director in the Department of Multicultural Services, and coordinator of student retention and development in the Department of Multicultural Services at Texas A&M-College Station.

He has served on the boards of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, the Bryan/College Station Chamber of Commerce, the Galveston, Texas, P-16 Council, and the Metropolitan Planning Organization in Brazos County, Texas. He also has served as a consultant and keynote presenter for local and national organizations and corporations, including the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, USAGroup Noel-Levitz National Conference on Student Retention, the Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation and Exxon Corporation.

McClendon received a bachelor’s degree in banking and finance from Morehouse College, a law degree from Emory University and a doctoral degree in agricultural leadership, education and communications from Texas A&M University.

The vice president for operations position was posted when Michael Murphy, vice president for campus affairs, announced in December that he would step down from administration to focus on teaching, after serving Carnegie Mellon in senior management for more than a quarter century. At that time, Suresh also announced that Dean of Students Gina Casalegno would take on an enhanced role in the leadership team as vice president for student affairs, in addition to her role as dean.

Rebecca Doerge, the Trent and Judith Anderson Distinguished Professor of Statistics at Purdue University, has been appointed as the next dean of the Mellon College of Science at Carnegie Mellon University, effective Aug. 1.

Doerge also will hold joint faculty appointments in the Department of Biological Sciences in the Mellon College of Science and the Department of Statistics in the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Doerge, who joined Purdue in 1995, holds a joint appointment in Purdue’s College of Agriculture and College of Science. Her research focuses on statistical bioinformatics, which brings together multiple scientific disciplines to investigate and disseminate biologically interesting information, and further understand the ultimate function of DNA and epigenomic associations.

“Rebecca brings more than 25 years of experience as a scholar, educator and leader to CMU,” CMU Provost Farnam Jahanian said. “Collaboration across disciplinary borders is a hallmark of her own scholarship and her academic leadership, and she has demonstrated a deep appreciation for supporting basic research. Those qualities make Rebecca an ideal leader for the Mellon College of Science and a champion for science throughout Carnegie Mellon at this important moment. Science is in our DNA as a university, and touches on the work that all of us do, across colleges and centers.”

As head of Purdue’s Department of Statistics from 2010-2015, Doerge oversaw the unit’s growth into one of the largest departments of statistics in the country. She led efforts that doubled both the number of undergraduate students and the number of tenured female faculty, while also increasing the department’s number of online and hybrid course offerings.

“Carnegie Mellon’s focus on educating the whole student across disciplinary boundaries is essential for addressing both societal and global challenges,” Doerge said. “I am deeply honored to be a member of the university’s leadership team and look forward to working with the Mellon College of Science faculty, staff and students to advance discovery, collaboration and innovation.”

Doerge is an elected fellow of the American Statistical Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She is a member of the board of trustees for the National Institute of Statistical Sciences and the Mathematical Biosciences Institute.

A recipient of multiple awards at Purdue, Doerge has authored more than 120 scientific articles, published two books and worked with 23 doctoral degree candidates to the successful completion of their studies.

Doerge earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics from the University of Utah and a doctoral degree in statistics from North Carolina State University. She spent two years as a postdoctoral scholar at Cornell University.

Doerge will succeed Dean Fred Gilman, who will be stepping down after serving in the position since 2007.

When Ben Elliott enrolled in the Master of Entertainment Industry Management (MEIM) program at Carnegie Mellon's H. John Heinz III College all the pieces fell into place.

"It's like taking all of your LEGOs and dumping them all out on the floor — anything is possible," said Elliott, the vice president of business development & licensing at Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE) and 2007 CMU graduate.

Helping WBIE launch LEGO Dimensions, is his latest example of what's possible.

LEGO Dimensions combines physical LEGO bricks with a virtual video game world, featuring everyone from Gandalf to Homer Simpson teaming up to defeat the evil Lord Vortech.

To make that happen, Elliott negotiated partnerships with entertainment studios such as Sony, Universal and Fox.

From Government to Games

As a political science major, head of the debate team and student body president at Pepperdine University, Elliott planned to leverage his skills in business management and public policy in a foreign affairs career. After graduation, he spent six months working for the U.S. Department of State to help promote civil society reforms in the Middle East, followed by a stint at the U.S. Embassy in Tunisia.

The experience was life changing, but Elliott said something was missing.

"When I was in high school, I actually worked six days a week at a movie store, and my best friend was a complete 'nerd,'" Elliott said. "So I was constantly consuming video game, comic book, and film content. When I was an undergrad, I planned concerts, worked on student films, and even took a screenwriting class out of curiosity. I've always really loved and consumed entertainment but never really thought of it as a career path.

"At this time I was really focused on working in foreign policy in the future, but I felt I needed to go back to school, learn more and then potentially do something that might be more creative."

After Tunisia, Elliott left the world of Beltway foreign policy and was named a Coro Fellow with the Coro Center for Civic Leadership in Pittsburgh. As a fellow, he did special projects and internships, including a stint at the Pittsburgh Film Office and working on the mayoral campaign for Bill Peduto.

Elliott met many CMU students in the Coro program, and he was attracted to CMU's collaborative community.

"My entire life, I've been interested in pop culture, and the talent that goes into making any creative product," Elliott said. "Whether it's TV, film, or video games, it takes a lot of people doing a lot of different things well, all at the same time.

"I really appreciated CMU's focus on consciously creating space for projects where art and technology could intersect to make these things happen," he said.

Elliott was completing the Coro Fellows Program just as the Heinz College was introducing its MEIM program. The unique, dual-city MEIM program covers everything from management skills to hands-on experience within the entertainment industry.

"It was completely serendipitous," Elliott said. "I heard about the MEIM program, and I thought, 'what is this?' It seemed exactly right - the perfect way to balance the creative part of my brain with what I do well: manage and negotiate."

During the first year of the MEIM program in Pittsburgh, students develop the business management and leadership skills necessary to excel in a constantly changing marketplace.

In their second year, students reside in Los Angeles, where their practical learning experiences include classes with top industry professionals and nearly 1,000 hours of internship experience. By offering a core curriculum of quantitative management skills combined with practicum work within the field, the MEIM program positions its graduates to be leaders throughout the entertainment industry.

As part of their curriculum, MEIM students attend the Sundance and South by Southwest film festivals, building relationships and expanding their network in the process. They participate in internships and capstone projects with entertainment industry clients including Disney, Warner Bros., Twitter, Nielsen, PwC, Fox and IMAX.

This hands-on professional experience in the entertainment industry allows students to find the best working environment for them.

"It's really about understanding what skill set you have, and what kind of culture you want to be in," said Elliott, speaking of the internship experience. "If you open your eyes to what companies are focused on 'entertainment,' the opportunities are remarkable."

Elliott's big break in the entertainment industry was the direct result of his second-year internship with Warner Bros. Though he originally planned to work in film development, he was offered an internship in video game production.

Seven years later, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has grown from a staff of 30 to more than 1,000 employees working for six studios. It boasts four of the top 10 games in the United States, including "Mortal Kombat X" and "Batman: Arkham Knight."

For Elliott, his love of his work goes back to his desire for creative collaboration. A yearly trip to Comic-Con International in San Diego reminds him why he's found his ideal career.

"It is an incredible experience, seeing people dressed up as characters from our films, television shows and games," he said. "It's incredible to realize that Warner Bros. is entertaining the world, and that I'm a part of that process."

By Abby Simmons / 412-268-4290 / abbysimmons@cmu.edu

Carnegie Mellon University students are developing green thumbs for the Red Planet.

Two new courses introduced this spring challenged the budding space gardeners to design and build a prototype biome in which to grow plants on Mars.

But first — like Matt Damon's character in the 2015 blockbuster "The Martian" — students addressed some of the fundamental problems they would face on the planet, namely food and oxygen.

School of Architecture faculty members Christina Ciardullo and Daragh Byrne designed and led the Mars Studios as part of CMU's Integrative Design, Arts and Technology (IDeATe) Network. Students from any major can pursue one of eight IDeATe minors or concentrations.

"What's really exciting about this course is it's about taking chances. You're creating something new, which is a great opportunity, especially as an undergrad," said junior communication design major Kaleb Crawford.

More than a dozen faculty members were involved in the courses, from a former astronaut to experts in physics, engineering, robotics and art. Students also interacted with guest speakers from NASA, the European Space Agency and SproutsIO, a company that has created a hybrid hydroculture system to grow produce without the use of soil.

"The students impressed me with their depth of technical design and innovation of the concept," said Kriss Kennedy, an architect at NASA Johnson Space Center and one of three NASA representatives who visited CMU's campus to critique the finished greenhouse.

"Engaging students to work in teams, work across disciplines — architects, engineers and scientists — and develop leadership and management skills is extremely important to the future of space development," Kennedy said.

Ciardullo and Byrne agree. A course goal was to provide the 40 students an opportunity to work on a large, interdisciplinary project team.

"At NASA, teams are quite big — upward of 30 people. Reaching consensus is important," said Ciardullo, who holds the Ann Kalla Professorship in Architecture.

Students spent half the semester investigating the conditions of Mars, membrane pressure vessels and growth systems. They explored the physics, geometry and components that could be used in the design of an inflatable, autonomous habitat compact enough to transport inside a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.

Byrne, Intel Special Faculty for Physical Computing, Responsive Environments and Emerging Media, said students learned about a variety of topics in a brief time period.

"They're excited, they're motivated, they're engaged. They're constantly pushing new directions and exploring exciting avenues. That's been the most rewarding part of this for both of us as instructors," Byrne said.

In developing the greenhouse, Ciardullo's "Building an Atmosphere" class addressed environmental conditions like solar, water, protection from Mars and protection of Mars, while Byrne's "Responsible Mobile Environments" students focused on plants, adaption, energy, control and communications.

The prototype features three "legs" that house chambers for water, algae, fungi and plants. A large parabolic reflector on top of the biome attracts sunlight to assist with plant growth.

After discussing the importance of public engagement with space exploration, students developed a virtual reality experience that allows people on Earth to witness plant growth. They displayed the finished prototype on campus.

Fifth-year architecture major Gabriel Vidal-Hallet said students could apply their newfound knowledge not only to space exploration, but also to solve problems at home.

"There are a lot of aspects with regard to closed-loop systems and environmental applications that could be brought back to Earth. Localizing systems and making things function better without exterior support could be a lesson that's really valuable," Vidal-Hallet said.

The NASA Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium provided funding for the courses, along with CMU's ProSEED/Crosswalk Seed Grant program and the Frank-Ratchye Studio for Creative Inquiry.