CMU Night at the Symphony is Friday, Sept. 20

Carnegie Mellon University students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends are invited to come together for a performance and reception celebrating CMU’s important partnership with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

A reception will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the Garden Courtyard of Heinz Hall, followed by the PSO opening night performance at 8 p.m., featuring conductor Manfred Honeck and violinist James Ehnes in works by Mozart, Dvorak, Saint-Saens and Borodin.

Reserve your tickets by Sept. 10.

Tartan Express Truck Now Serving Fresh Mediterranean Kosher Menu

Carnegie Mellon's food truck, the Tartan Express, is now open, featuring Tahini by Elegant Edge, serving fresh, authentic Mediterranean cuisine, certified kosher by the Vaad Harabanim of Greater Pittsburgh. The menu features shawarma, vegan eggplant “shawarma” and falafel pita sandwiches, couscous and hummus bowls, and freshly prepared sides and salads including bourekas, tabbouleh, grape leaves, chickpea salad and zahtar pita fries. Offerings include a wide variety of plant-based, vegan options and menu items that can be prepared without gluten-containing ingredients.

The Tartan Express food truck is located in the Legacy Plaza between the Cohon Center and West Wing. The truck will serve lunch and dinner Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and lunch on Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Explore AndyEATS To See What's Cookin'

Explore the September AndyEATS events calendar to see what Dining Services’ is cooking up this month, including food samplings, a pop-up smoothie bar, Taste of the Tartans and more! This week, check out the Kraft Heinz Back-to-School Carnival, and Discover Dining events at Rohr Commons, Pure, The Cohon Center Marketplace and The Underground.

New Art Exhibit, "Held Together," Unveiled in Tepper School

The Tepper School's Accelerate Leadership Center has partnered with the Miller Institute for Contemporary Art  to unveil a new art exhibit for Emergence, a rotating art installation series in the Tepper School's MBA Commons. Titled “Held Together,” this sculptural exhibition created by artist Rachel Mica Weiss explores human relationships and boundaries — both physical and psychological.

Emergence launched last year as part of Accelerate’s SHIFT programming, a series of interdisciplinary initiatives created to foster the development of empathy, ethical judgment, critical thinking and cultural sensitivity as an elective supplement to the center’s required MBA leadership curriculum. “These exhibitions are meant to spark conversation and support in MBA students a greater sense of self and others,” said Leanne Meyer, executive director of the Accelerate Leadership Center. 

Weiss’ sculptures highlight her focus on transforming materials to challenge assumptions and expectations about material integrity. In this exhibit, she brings together material and visual languages to give form to the boundaries that define us and to demonstrate aspects of the human condition.

Emergence: Held Together will be introduced at an opening reception at 6 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 18 in the Tepper Quad MBA Commons.  Find out more.

September is Fire Safety Month

The Environmental Health & Safety Department is hosting several activities and hands-on training exercises in September to highlight Fire Safety Month. The sessions will teach you what you need to know about fire safety and fire prevention.

Sept. 10
Hands-On Fire Extinguisher Training
12 – 1 p.m., 4 – 6 p.m., Merson Courtyard, Cohon Center
Rain location: Cohon Center Rotunda
Learn how to use a fire extinguisher. It could save a life!

Sept. 18
Fire Trailer Demonstration
1 – 3 p.m., Merson Courtyard, Cohon Center
See how quickly smoke can impair visibility and learn how to navigate a fire event.

Sept. 24
Documentary Screening: “After the Fire”
McConomy Auditorium, Cohon Center
12 – 1 p.m., speak with the creators Shawn Simons and Alvaro Llanos
4 – 6 p.m., screening
In “After the Fire,” Simons and Llanos tell their powerful story of survival to reinforce the importance of fire safety. 

Questions? Send email to safety@andrew.cmu.edu

Free Flu Vaccine Clinics Begin Sept. 9

Once again, the university will offer flu vaccinations at no cost for faculty and staff members. The flu vaccine clinics will be hosted by the Office of Human Resources and administered by Giant Eagle Pharmacy.

Visit the Flu Vaccine Clinic Website for the clinic schedule. To obtain your flu vaccination, you will need to present your Carnegie Mellon ID card. While walk-ins are welcome, we recommend you schedule an appointment for faster service. 

As an added incentive, employees who are vaccinated at a mobile clinic are eligible to receive $5 off their next visit to Giant Eagle. You must present your Giant Eagle Advantage Card at the clinic to receive the $5 credit.

Jon Cagan, interim dean of the College of Engineering and the George Tallman and Florence Barrett Ladd Professor of Mechanical Engineering, has been awarded the Design Automation Award from the American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME). The award is granted to an individual who has made sustained, meritorious contributions to research in the field of design automation. Cagan was chosen for his decades of work in the field, including research in grammar representation, agent-based search, optimization, AI and machine-learning. In 2016, Cagan received ASME’s Design Theory and Methodology Award, marking a major accomplishment in his other primary research community. Cagan has served as associate editor for ASME’s Journal of Mechanical Design. He was co-founder and co-director of Carnegie Mellon’s Integrated Innovation Institute.  Find out more.

Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences Huaiying Zhang has received a New Investigator Award from the Charles E. Kaufman Foundation. The $150,000 grant will support her research on the physics and chemistry of liquid condensation in live cells, which could inform the development of new treatments for cancer. Zhang has developed optogenetic tools ­that control genetically engineered proteins using light to study how condensation occurs within the complex cellular environment and the role it plays in cellular function. Specifically, Zhang uses these tools to study membrane-less organelles called APBs that are associated with telomeres in some cancer cells. Telomeres, the protective endcaps of chromosomes, play an important role in cancer. In normal cells, telomeres shorten over the cells’ life span and when they reach a certain length, they trigger cell death. In cancer cells, telomeres maintain their length, allowing the cancer cells to live indefinitely. Under the Kaufman grant, Zhang will attempt to determine the physics that underlies APB condensation and the chemistry behind the formation of APB and its material properties. Find out more.

Qing Li, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, is the recipient of a prestigious 2019 Young Faculty Award from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). He received the award based on his research proposal titled "Visible and mid-infrared frequency comb generation in wide-bandgap photonic materials." In this project, Li’s team will develop a novel integrated photonics platform for the efficient implementation of various nonlinear optical processes on chip. Microresonator frequency combs, which are useful for a wide range of applications, will be generated in the visible and mid-infrared range based on wide-bandgap photonic materials such as silicon carbide and aluminum nitride.  The DARPA Young Faculty Award recognizes "rising research stars" who hold junior faculty positions at academic institutions in the United States, with the goal of developing the next generation of scientists who will address national security challenges. Award winners receive up to three years of grant funding and mentorship opportunities with Department of Defense (DoD) contacts. Find out more.

Rayid Ghani, a pioneer in using data science and artificial intelligence to solve major social and policy challenges and former chief scientist for Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign, will join the Carnegie Mellon faculty this fall. Ghani, a CMU alumnus, will be a distinguished career professor with a joint appointment to the Heinz College and School of Computer Science. In his new role, Ghani will continue his work as a leader in harnessing the potential of artificial intelligence, data science and other emerging technologies for social good. His work in these areas complements the research being done in CMU's Metro21: Smart Cities Institute and the Block Center for Technology and Society. Ghani comes to CMU from the University of Chicago, where he was the director of the Center for Data Science and Public Policy, a research associate professor in the Department of Computer Science, and a senior fellow in the Harris School of Public Policy. Find out more.

Three pre-eminent thought leaders in social justice, medicine and learning are the invited speakers this fall in the 2019-20 University Lecture Series. Each year, the ULS features a diverse range of lectures and performances to highlight topics of interest to the campus community, the nation and the world.

“We had a tremendous response to the 2018-19 speaker series, and I believe this year’s lineup will be just as engaging,” said Amy Burkert, vice provost for education. “In our continual effort to raise the relevance of the series and respond to the expressed interests of our campus community, the ULS committee encourages you to nominate speakers, performers or topics you would like to see included in our offerings. On behalf of the committee, thank you for taking an active role in shaping this year’s campus conversations and helping us envision programs for the future.”

Here’s a look at the fall lineup.

An Evening with Michelle Alexander
4:30 p.m., Sept. 26
McConomy Auditorium, Cohon University Center

Michelle Alexander is a legal scholar, social justice advocate and New York Times columnist whose work focuses on race and criminal justice, and how the “War on Drugs” and other governmental policies have created a New Jim Crow Era. In this ULS discussion, Alexander will lead conversations on the state of race relations in America and injustices found within the U.S. legal system.

A visiting professor at Union Theological Seminary, Alexander is the author of the 2010 bestseller “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.” In the book, she reveals the systemic racism in the American prison system, showing that by targeting black men through the War on Drugs and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system is a contemporary system of racial control.

The New York Review of Books described the book as “striking in the intelligence of her ideas, her powers of summary, and the force of her writing.”

Before joining the Union Theological Seminary, Alexander was director of the Racial Justice Project at the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California. She also directed the Civil Rights Clinic at Stanford Law School and served as a law clerk at the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.D. Circuit.

Dickson Prize Lecture
Dr. Emery N. Brown
4:30 p.m., Oct. 10
Rangos Ballroom, Cohon University Center

Dr. Emery Brown, one of the world’s leading physicians and scientists and the 2018 winner of Carnegie Mellon University’s Dickson Prize in Science, will discuss “The Dynamics of the Unconscious Brain Under General Anesthesia.”

Brown is the renowned Edward Hood Taplin Professor of Medical Engineering and Computational Neuroscience at MIT, the Warren M. Zapol Professor of Anesthesia at Harvard Medical School and an anesthesiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). He directs an interdisciplinary team studying the neuroscience of general anesthesia, which is considered one of the most significant mysteries of modern medicine. He also leads the Neuroscience Statistics Research Laboratory at MGH and MIT, where his team is developing statistical methods and signal processing algorithms to analyze data collected from neuroscience experiments.

Brown’s research has developed a framework for understanding how anesthetic drugs create the altered state of general anesthesia. His statistics research is developing algorithms and methods to accurately characterize the dynamic properties of neuroscience data.

One of only 21 people who are members of all three National Academies — Medicine, Science and Engineering — Brown is considered the "world's expert on statistical analysis of neuronal data," and his work in anesthesia has been "truly transformative," said CMU Statistics Professor Robert Kass, who nominated Brown for the Dickson Prize.

This lecture was originally scheduled for Jan. 31, 2019, but extreme cold temperatures caused it to be postponed.

Simon Initiative Distinguished Lecture
Michelene (Micki) T.H. Chi
4:30 p.m., Nov. 12
Simmons Auditorium A, Tepper Building

Michelene (Micki) T.H. Chi is a cognitive and learning specialist whose research focuses on how students learn best, especially complex concepts in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Chi’s Simon Initiative lecture is titled “ICAP: How to Promote Deeper Learning by Engaging Students Cognitively.” ICAP assumes that Interactive engagement is superior for learning than Constructive engagement, and they both exceed the benefits of Active or Passive engagement.

Chi earned her bachelor’s degree in mathematics and her Ph.D. in psychology from Carnegie Mellon. Her thesis was titled “The Development of Short-term Memory Capacity” and her thesis committee consisted of David Klahr, Patricia Carpenter and the late Nobel Laureate Herbert Simon.

Chi is the Foundation Professor and the Dorothy Bray Endowed Professor of Science and Teaching in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University. She also is director of ASU’s Learning and Cognition Lab. In 2018, she was named a Regents Professor, the highest faculty distinction at ASU.

In 2010, Chi was elected into the National Academy of Education and in 2016 she was inducted into the National Academy of Arts and Sciences. She received the E.L. Thorndike Career Achievement Award from the American Psychological Association in 2015 and earned the Rhumelhart Prize from the Cognitive Science Society earlier this year.

Computational Biology Hosted Nation's First Pre-College Program

Twenty-six high school students recently completed studies in Carnegie Mellon’s Computational Biology Department’s first pre-college program, the first in the nation for computational biology. The students split their time between computer labs and wet labs, using computational methods to perform actual microbial research in a matter of weeks that would otherwise take years using traditional methods for colonizing bacteria. 

Phillip Compeau and Josh Kangas, both assistant teaching professors, co-directed the program. Its curriculum was similar to a module of a lab course Kangas teaches for undergraduate computational biology majors. The idea, Kangas said, is to push the students to learn by gathering real biological data and analyzing it with computational methods to solve real problems.

First, the students went on a cruise of Pittsburgh's three rivers, where they collected water samples. Then, working with Kangas, they learned to perform DNA sequencing of the bacteria in each sample. Finally, Compeau taught them how to use software to analyze the data in the computer lab.

The students learned methods and techniques, and also performed actual research, observing how microbial communities in the river differ depending on location, season and proximity to pollution sources.

"This was a really amazing experience," said Stephanie Eristoff, a rising senior at the American School in Tokyo.

Find out more.

New Building Signage Project Gets Underway Aug. 5

The first phase of installation for new exterior building signs on campus will begin during the week of Aug. 5, when approximately 80 new signs will be installed as part of the new campus signage system. The new identification signs, which will replace the existing ones that are more than 20 years-old, will complement the navigation technology that is widely used today. 

The new signs will be mounted directly onto buildings to more easily confirm that a visitor has reached the correct destination. They will include the building name, street address and building abbreviation code that matches the campus map to help navigate the campus. You can view the building names, codes and street addresses online.

“The new campus signage is the next step in the university’s vision to elevate the experience people have on campus,” said Bob Reppe, senior director of planning & design, Campus Design & Facility Development. “With the opening of the new Tepper Quad, the refurbishing of Forbes Avenue, the completion of the Square Project at Forbes and Morewood, and now the new signage, the campus continues to become more unified and recognizable.”

Beth Wiser, director, Visitor Experience, Marketing & Communications, said this new signage system will help everyday users and visitors navigate campus more easily.

“Our goal in creating this new signage system was to improve the experience for campus visitors and our students, faculty and staff from their arrival to their destination.  As people find their way around campus using technology, having the street addresses on the building signs will prove to be beneficial,” she said. “It also will help first responders to find their way quickly in an emergency, and help support the increasing amount of deliveries to campus buildings.”   

The existing red post and panel freestanding building signs, which have faded or suffered damage over the last two decades, will be removed. The new signage system includes a process for repairing or replacing damaged exterior signs, and includes a maintenance plan to keep the campus looking fresh and up-to-date.

The second phase of the project will be completed by mid-October, and will include directional and wayfinding signs throughout campus utilizing the new, unified map. The third phase will include identification signs for the East Campus and Collaborative Innovation Center garages.

The signage project, which began with the revamping of multiple campus maps into one unified map, is being coordinated by a working group with representatives from Campus Design & Facility Development, Facilities Management & Campus Services, and Marketing & Communications.

If you have questions about the campus signage project, please contact Beth Wiser at bwiser@cmu.edu.

Hamburg Entrance, Forbes Sidewalk To Close Through Aug. 14

The main entrance to Hamburg Hall, the driveway directly in front of the main entrance, and the adjacent sidewalk on Forbes Avenue will be closed through Aug. 14, while several revisions are made. The accessible entrance/exit from Hamburg Hall A level will remain open for use during the course of this work.

The renovations will eliminate the stairway leading from the driveway to the sidewalk, which was the pedestrian crosswalk that has been moved. The stairway will be made into a garden area, matching the gardens on both sides of the stairway. The work this summer will set the stage for additional streetscape and pedestrian improvements next summer, including a wider sidewalk and street trees.

For questions or concerns regarding the work, contact Ron Cunningham at rcunning@andrew.cmu.edu.

Enroll Part-Time in INI Master's Degree Programs: New Opportunity for Fall

The Information Networking Institute (INI) is offering a new opportunity to enroll part-time in its highly acclaimed master’s degree programs in Pittsburgh. For fall 2019, students may enroll part-time in the Master of Science in Information Networking program or the Master of Science in Information Security program. If you'd like to learn more, submit an interest form and the admission team will be in touch.

The INI is an integral part of the highly ranked College of Engineering at Carnegie Mellon. Its technical, interdisciplinary master’s degree programs incorporate business and policy perspectives and are an ideal fit for Pittsburgh professionals looking to take the next step in their technology careers. 

Learn more about the INI programs. 

Take Me Out to the Ballgame: CMU Night is Sept. 17

The fourth annual Carnegie Mellon Night at PNC Park is Tuesday, Sept. 17, when the Pirates host the Seattle Mariners at 7:05 p.m. Buy your tickets online — $23 for a corner box seat or $18 for a seat in the infield grandstand — and you’ll receive a free Pirates hat in CMU colors with the Carnegie Mellon wordmark on the side.

Prior to the game you can enjoy discounts on food and beverages from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. in the concessions area behind sections 133-135.

Purchase your tickets online.

William Kramer has been selected as the new director of the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC), a joint research center of Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh, effective this fall. Kramer is currently project director and principal investigator of the Blue Waters Project and senior associate director for @Scale Science and Technology at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Kramer has held leadership roles at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and at NASA Ames Research Center. Over the course of three decades, his award-winning career has focused on making large-scale, complex computational and data analytics systems extremely effective, and making the organizations that create and use them highly productive. Most of the systems Kramer has helped create are among the largest supercomputers and storage repositories of their time. He has played a key role in establishing 20 of the world’s most powerful supercomputer systems, six extreme-scale storage systems and five best-in-class high-performance computing facilities. Founded in 1986, the PSC has enabled breakthroughs in many scientific disciplines by providing researchers nationwide with access to the most advanced computational systems available. The center and its collaborators have attracted more than $611 million in federal support to Pennsylvania, $150 million in the last five years alone, and have played a significant role in the Pittsburgh region's thriving technology economy. Find out more.

Mechanical Engineering Professor Jessica Zhang was recently awarded a Simons Visiting Professorship by Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach (MFO), Germany. The Simons Visiting Professors program supports distinguished scientists from outside Europe who wish to combine an existing invitation to an Oberwolfach Workshop with a research visit to a European university of up to two weeks. Zhang was invited to attend the Oberwolfach Workshop of “Mathematical Foundations of Isogeometric Analysis” on July 15-19, and she presented her latest research on "Convergence Rate Study Using Hybrid Non-Uniform Subdivision Basis Functions." Following this workshop, she visited Department of Mathematics, University of Rome “Tor Vergata” on July 22-23 and delivered a seminar on "Image-Based Mesh Generation and Volumetric Spline Modeling for Isogeometric Analysis with Engineering Applications."

Shawn Litster received a 2019 Annual Merit Review Award from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Program, recognizing his leadership and work in fuel cell research and development. Litster, a professor of mechanical engineering, is leading a team of researchers from Carnegie Mellon, the State University of New York at Buffalo, 3M and Giner to develop platinum-free fuel cells that perform for longer durations. Fuel cells, which primarily use hydrogen as fuel, are energy efficient, clean and fuel flexible, with high energy density and no carbon emissions. One of major challenges in making fuel cells more available has been the high cost of platinum, a part of the cell that works as a catalyst.

Chemistry Ph.D. candidate Zoe Wright has been named the recipient of the 2019 Kwolek Fellowship in Chemistry. The fellowship is funded by a bequest from Carnegie Mellon alumna Stephanie Kwolek, best known as the inventor of the synthetic fiber Kevlar. It provides up to $50,000 to women Ph.D. candidates who "have shown significant advances in their research." Wright works in the lab of Assistant Professor of Chemistry Stefanie A. Sydlik, where she focuses on synthesizing new methacrylate-based monomers to act as additives to existing medical adhesives. With the support from her Kwolek Fellowship, Wright plans to work on completing her research projects at Carnegie Mellon to prepare for postdoctoral research. She hopes to be able to expand her therapeutic methacrylic comonomer additives as a platform that could deliver antibiotics from bone cement, and to learn how to do bacterial cell culture. Find out more.

Sophomore Nicholas Acuna has been selected as a 2019 Perryman Scholar by the Perryman Family Foundation. Acuna is pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering and working as a research assistant in the Robotics Institute. The scholarship is designated for students in technology, engineering, math or metals, and rewards hard-working students who hope to apply their education to make a difference in the world. “I have gained more knowledge and practical engineering experience than I could have ever imagined through my studies and while working on the lunar rover project [in the Robotics Institute],” Acuna said. “After growing to love robotics, I am now beginning to consider entering a master’s degree program for it. I am incredibly grateful for the scholarship offered by the Perryman Foundation that will allow me to afford these amazing programs and to continue working on what I love.”

Rahul Panat and Eric Yttri have received a $1.95 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to use a low-cost, rapid additive manufacturing method to create a new class of high-density neural probes to record neurological data. The grant, which is part of the federal Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative, supports research that will create an entirely new manufacturing method for the fabrication of neural probes based on 3D nanoparticle printing. This new technology will dramatically increase accessibility to brain tissue, as well as the number of electrodes that can fit in a small area, and will give researchers the ability to prototype new electrode configurations at the click of a button, on-demand, within a few hours. Panat and Yttri's new 3D nanoparticle printing technology promises to overcome the field's current limitations in terms of sampling, structure, reliability and cost. By producing customizable, 3D printed neural probes, they believe their research has the potential to profoundly change the course of neuroscience research. Panat and Yttri are both members of the Carnegie Mellon Neuroscience Institute. Panat is an associate professor of mechanical engineering and a member of Carnegie Mellon's Next Manufacturing Center. Yttri is an assistant professor of biological sciences. Find out more.

Lori Holt and Seth Wiener have received a two-year, $151,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health for their project “Examining the impact of non-linguistic incidental auditory category training on adult language acquisition.” The grant will be used to explore a novel method of foreign language instruction and will position Carnegie Mellon as a leader in technology-enhanced language learning. Wiener is an associate professor of second language acquisition and Chinese Studies in the Department of Modern Languages. Holt is a professor of psychology in the Department of Psychology.

Assistant Professor of Actor Kyle Haden is playing prosecutor Captain Jack Ross in the Pittsburgh Public Theater’s presentation of “A Few Good Men.” Ross was played by Kevin Bacon in the motion picture. The show runs through Oct. 13 at the O’Reilly Theater in Pittsburgh’s Cultural District. "A Few Good Men" is set in 1986 in Washington, D.C., and Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. The story concerns two young Marines accused of killing one of their fellow platoon members while serving at Guantanamo Bay. Haden has performed at regional theaters nationwide, including the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Arizona Theater Company, Colorado Shakespeare Festival and Cleveland Play House, as well as various theaters in New York and Chicago. Haden has taught at various theater companies, and was program manager at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Summer Seminar for High School Juniors. He previously held tenure-track appointments at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts and Southern Oregon University. As a director, he was named a 2018 Drama League Directing Fellow, and has directed various productions across the country, including "A Brief History of America" (Hangar Theatre Company), "Hamlet" (Island Shakespeare Festival) and "The Monologue Project" (Pittsburgh/NYC).

Initiative Aims To Enhance CMU's Commitment to Sustainability

Provost Jim Garrett has announced the creation of a new campus-wide Sustainability Initiative. This initiative will be organized around objectives that strengthen the university’s commitment to sustainability; elevate Carnegie Mellon’s engagement with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a shared blueprint for sustainability adopted by countries, cities and universities; and improve coordination of CMU's sustainability education, research and practices among students, faculty, staff and local community members.

This initiative’s efforts will be led by a standing steering committee, comprised of co-chairs David Dzombak, the Hamerschlag University Professor and head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Steve Guenther, university engineer and assistant vice president of Facilities Management and Campus Services; and Sarah Mendelson, distinguished service professor of public policy and head of Heinz College in Washington, D.C.

A newly formed standing Sustainability Advisory Council, a group of CMU scholars, administrators, staff and students, will provide counsel to the steering committee on opportunities regarding Carnegie Mellon’s goals for sustainability education, research and practice within the framework of the SDGs. Find out more.

INTERSECT@CMU Tackles the $3.68M Question

Carnegie Mellon's annual INTERSECT@CMU conference, hosted by the Tepper School this Saturday, focuses on health care innovation with a keynote address by Seema Verma of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services and three provocative panel discussions.

Verma oversees a $1 trillion budget, representing 26% of the total federal budget, and administers health coverage programs for more than 130 million Americans.

The first panel will address how artificial intelligence can impact the development, delivery and experience of health care. The second panel will delve into how science and the arts will help shape the future of health care. The third panel asks the $3.68 million question: How do we tackle the issues related to to the costs, pricing, and policy design of wellness and health care?

See who the panelists are and the full conference schedule.

Host Family Program Seeks Volunteers

Carnegie Mellon’s Host Family Program for International Students in Pittsburgh is seeking faculty and staff volunteers to serve as hosts. The program is not a homestay program — rather, hosts and students agree to get together about once a month at convenient times. The program welcomes single people, couples or families.

Within the last two weeks, more than 160 new graduate students have applied for the program, so the need for hosts is great. 

Administered by the Office of International Education, the Host Family Program for International Students is part of a university-wide effort to enrich the student experience at Carnegie Mellon. The program gives international students the opportunity to explore Pittsburgh with their hosts, engage in meaningful dialogue, practice their English, and generally enjoy a connection to the city they might not otherwise experience. Many students feel more engaged with the university because of the personal, one-on-one interactions with their hosts.  As ambassadors, hosts enhance their connection to the university and enjoy getting to know talented students. 

For more information and to sign up as a host, visit the program website and click on the link titled “To Participate as a Host Family” for the application and release form.  Send questions to hostfamily@andrew.cmu.edu.

Find out more.

Faculty and Staff Benefits Survey Launches Sept. 16

Each year, Carnegie Mellon University reviews and updates its benefit programs based on faculty and staff member feedback, market practices, competitive data and other factors. This input is used to inform CMU’s faculty and staff member benefits strategy.

To get your vital feedback on the programs and benefits that mean the most to you, the Office of Human Resources is asking all domestic, benefits-eligible faculty and staff members to complete a confidential CMU Faculty and Staff Member Benefits Survey by Friday, October 4.

On Monday, Sept. 16, all domestic, benefits-eligible faculty and staff members will receive an email with instructions on how to access the online survey. The survey will take about 15 minutes to complete. As an added incentive, Aon, an independent consulting firm, will randomly select 25 survey participants to receive a $25 gift card.

Why Conduct A Survey?
This survey is your opportunity to tell us what you value most about the university’s benefit programs. The goal of the survey is to help the university best match the benefits the community wants while maximizing available resources. It is not a cost saving measure; it is a tool to help tie our benefit programs to CMU’s strategic goal of attracting, retaining and developing the best talent. Your opinion and the opinions of your colleagues will help shape faculty and staff member benefits at CMU over the next few years, beginning with the 2021 benefits plan year.

Your Responses Are Confidential
To ensure individual responses are kept confidential, the Office of Human Resources is working with Aon to conduct the survey and analyze the results. Each survey recipient is assigned an individual participation link. This allows Aon to categorize, analyze and report on survey responses by aggregate groupings and demographics to enable the Office of Human Resources to better understand and respond to community needs. Responses will not be identified by the individual, and only collective results will be reported to the university.

If you have issues accessing the survey, please contact the Human Resources CMUWorks Service Center at 412-268-4600 or cmu-works@andrew.cmu.edu.

Symposium To Honor the Late Egon Balas

The Tepper School will host an academic symposium and memorial, Oct. 27-28, to pay tribute to University Professor of Industrial Administration and Applied Mathematics Egon Balas, who died earlier this year on March 18. He was 96.

After being imprisoned twice, once for joining the communist party to oppose the Nazis during World War II and later by the communist party in a Stalinist purge, Balas became one of the world's foremost experts in mathematical optimization after joining Carnegie Mellon in 1967.

"A beloved member of the CMU faculty for more than half a century, Egon Balas was a pre-eminent and legendary scholar who was enormously influential in the fields of operations research and applied mathematics," said President Farnam Jahanian. "Throughout his long and distinguished career as a researcher and teacher, he applied bold, focused and independent thinking to solve complex problems and also demonstrated a profound sense of humility, character and good humor. His extraordinary life and legacy will continue to serve as an inspiration to the entire CMU community."

Find out more.

September is Fire Safety Month

The Environmental Health & Safety Department is hosting several activities and hands-on training exercises in September to highlight Fire Safety Month. The remaining sessions are listed below. 

Sept. 18
Fire Trailer Demonstration
1 – 3 p.m., Merson Courtyard, Cohon Center
See how quickly smoke can impair visibility and learn how to navigate a fire event.

Sept. 24
Documentary Screening: “After the Fire”
McConomy Auditorium, Cohon Center
12 – 1 p.m., speak with the creators Shawn Simons and Alvaro Llanos
4 – 6 p.m., screening
In “After the Fire,” Simons and Llanos tell their powerful story of survival to reinforce the importance of fire safety. 

Questions? Send email to safety@andrew.cmu.edu

Flu Vaccine Clinics Have Begun; Schedule an Appointment Online

The university is offering flu vaccinations at no cost for faculty and staff members. The flu vaccine clinics are hosted by the Office of Human Resources and administered by Giant Eagle Pharmacy.

Visit the Flu Vaccine Clinic Website for the clinic schedule. To obtain your flu vaccination, you will need to present your Carnegie Mellon ID card. While walk-ins are welcome, we recommend you schedule an appointment for faster service. 

As an added incentive, employees who are vaccinated at a mobile clinic are eligible to receive $5 off their next visit to Giant Eagle. You must present your Giant Eagle Advantage Card at the clinic to receive the $5 credit.

Stephanie Wallach is using her skills as an adviser, mentor and administrator to feed students’ appetite for research.

As assistant vice provost for undergraduate education, Wallach runs the Undergraduate Research Office (URO), which works to connect and assist students with research opportunities by networking with faculty and through a variety of funding programs.  

“There’s a great desire on the part of our students to get involved in research, and we have amazing faculty who want to nurture this next stage of talent in the world,” she said. “We have to make sure students who have an interest in undergraduate research have the opportunity to pursue it.”

Wallach and her team administer several programs to help students in every field of study. Students can apply for Small Undergraduate Research Grants (SURG), Small Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF), international grants and fellowships, summer apprenticeships, and interdisciplinary, or crosswalk, grants. Wallach also oversees the Jennings Family Companion Fund, which enables students to study, conduct research and participate in service projects abroad.

“We’ve developed and expanded undergraduate research on campus tremendously,” said Wallach, who was nominated for an Andy Award this year for her innovative and creative contributions. “We’ve created several new programs and added an educational component that works with students on their research proposal writing. We want them to be successful in applying for research grants.” 

Wallach noted the addition of Speak Up!, a series of four summer workshops that help students explain their research and enhance their communications skills. The series culminates with students giving a three-minute presentation about their work before a panel of judges.

“Undergraduate research opens up new ways for students to see themselves and their potential careers.”

More and more students have been applying for research grants. Wallach said her team received 131 SURF and about 210 SURG program applicants last year. Approximately 150 students participated in the Summer Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship (SURA) program. And a record-setting 700 students presented at the 2019 Meeting of the Minds, an annual showcase of undergraduate research that will celebrate its 25^th anniversary next May.

Wallach said research can be a life-changing experience for students. 

“Undergraduate research opens up new ways for students to see themselves and their potential careers,” Wallach said. “They build close relationships with faculty, they experiment without fear and they test out things that may take them in directions they did not anticipate, but that’s what they should be doing.

“They can learn what it really means to master an area — what it means to know something better than 99% of other people. It changes things,” she said.

Wallach also heads the Fellowships and Scholarships Office (FSO), which helps students apply for highly competitive national and international undergraduate and post-graduate awards. It’s no coincidence she has seen a rise in student interest.

“Undergraduate research often is imperative in order to compete for many national scholarships,” she said. “We’re fortunate that our undergraduate research and fellowships and scholarships offices are coupled together. We’ve worked to foster a close connection. Many offices across the country find this a compelling model.”

Wallach has a Ph.D. in history from Columbia University, and master’s degrees in education from the University of Chicago and University of California, Berkeley. She joined CMU in 1995 and has been supporting students ever since.

“I feel privileged to be at this university, to have this level of support and to work with these great students.”

Her first assignment at CMU was directing an internship program for students in the History Department and the Philosophy Department's Ethics, History & Public Policy program; later she became an adviser for history students and the newly established international relations majors. She also assumed responsibility for CMU’s Milton and Cynthia Friedman Internship program, which places students in government internships in Washington, D.C. Wallach became director of the URO and FSO in 2006.

“I love working with the students,” she said. “I feel privileged to be at this university, to have this level of support and to work with these great students.”

And students love working with her. Wallach shared a text message from a recent graduate.

“You are my best mentor. I don’t know what I’m going to do without you,” wrote the 2019 alumna.

In her spare time, Wallach enjoys playing tennis, golf and pickle ball, cooking, reading and taking advantage of the many cultural offerings of Pittsburgh.

“Coming from New York and the Bay Area, we never imagined we would love Pittsburgh like we do,” she said.

Have a suggestion for Staff Spotlight? Send it to piperweekly@andrew.cmu.edu.   

Linda Argote, the David M. Kirr and Barbara A. Kirr Professor of Organizational Behavior and Theory at the Tepper School of Business, recently received an honorary doctorate at Aarhus University in Denmark. She was recognized for her research focusing on organizational learning and knowledge sharing within and between teams. Argote publishes on topics such as knowledge transfer, transactive memory, group processes and performance, social identity and communication networks. She is a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science (APS), the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS), and the Academy of Management. Argote is director of the Tepper School’s Center of Organizational Learning, Innovation and Knowledge.

Joe Bartels, Jooli Han and Bruce Wu were recently awarded Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship Innovation Fellowships for 2019-20.

Bartels, a postdoctoral researcher in the Robotics Institute, is working to commercialize novel depth imaging systems for broad use in robotics, including self-driving cars, industrial manufacturing and mobile robots.

Han, a Ph.D. candidate in biomedical engineering, is researching the development of soft robotic muscle-powered cardiac assist devices for heart failure patients.

Wu, a research scientist in the Scott Institute for Energy Innovation, is working on solutions that can optimally utilize the residual value of used lithium-ion battery cells through secondary use as energy storage solutions and direct recycling to exact high value materials.

The yearlong Innovation Fellows Program works to accelerate the process of commercializing university research. Fellows are awarded $50,000 in funding and participate in dedicated workshops and intensive mentoring to pursue their startup idea.  Learn more. 

Piper To Debut New Look, Format

Beginning next week, the Piper will be playing in a different key.

Carnegie Mellon University’s weekly newsletter for faculty and staff is getting an updated design on Sept. 26, its first since January 2017. The new look reflects the university’s refreshed visual identity that will be fully released this week.

The Piper will feature a new masthead that incorporates the university’s refreshed wordmark, higher quality images and a “Did You Know?” section that highlights a fun fact related to CMU’s distinctive history and culture.

Analytics gathered from the Piper’s new format, such as open rates and click-through rates, will help to inform content decisions moving forward to better serve our campus community and identify the stories and events that interest readers most.

Community Day a Time to Connect, Reflect and Have Fun

Carnegie Mellon’s inaugural Community Day, designed to bring together students, faculty, staff and alumni to connect, reflect, restore and have fun, will be Friday, Oct. 25.

All classes will be canceled in Pittsburgh to allow the community to take part in a variety of activities, including a fireside chat with one of CMU’s famous alumni, a presentation about lessons learned from the Life@CMU Project and opportunities to join discussions about the CMU experience. There also will be a free community picnic lunch, a showcase of Tartan talent with performances throughout the day, and plenty of other fun events and activities.

Community Day was initiated by the Task Force on the CMU Experience, which was convened in 2016 to closely examine the Carnegie Mellon experience and take action to enhance a community in which all members can engage, build resilience and thrive. Celebratory days like Founders Day and the Presidential Inauguration galvanized the Task Force’s commitment to shape an annual tradition the entire campus community could adopt.

Newly Renovated Schatz Dining Room Is Open

Schatz Dining Room has re-opened to the community with a focus on culinary innovation, elevated service and a welcoming and flexible space. Schatz is open exclusively to faculty, staff and graduate students during lunch, Monday – Friday, and is open to all members of the university community for breakfast, dinner and brunch on weekends.

A summer-long renovation has resulted in a space transformation that features flexible seating, an inviting and updated space and a complete kitchen remodel, providing Chartwells’ culinary team a state-of-the-art facility.  Schatz Dining Room features unique elements including a chef action station and Teaching Kitchen, a space for culinary programming where the CMU community can connect and learn in a dynamic, hands-on environment. The Teaching Kitchen program will offer food demonstrations and cooking classes with the goal of connecting the campus community to the food they eat and the people who passionately prepare it.

A grand opening celebration is being planned for Oct. 4. Find out more.

Provost Sets Office Hours for Students, Faculty, Staff

Provost Jim Garrett has announced he will hold open monthly office hours this fall to meet with students, faculty and staff on a first-come, first-served basis. No appointment is necessary.

“I invite you to use this time to tell me what’s on your mind, and share your experiences, ideas and aspirations for Carnegie Mellon,” he said in an email to the Pittsburgh campus community last week.

Office hours, below, will be held in the CCR East on the first floor of Warner Hall.

Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2:30 – 4 p.m.
Monday, Oct. 28, 1 – 2:30 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 15, 9:30 – 11 a.m.
Thursday, Dec. 12, 3 – 4:30 p.m.

Guidance for Addressing Non-Postal Service Campus Deliveries

With the increase in deliveries to campus buildings, and the addition of the Amazon for Business service, Carnegie Mellon Postal Services and Procurement Services are offering guidelines to help departments with campus deliveries.

When scheduling campus deliveries from private carriers and suppliers, such as catering companies, UPS and Amazon Business, Carnegie Mellon Postal Services requests you use your name, building name, room number and building street address according to the new master building list. A campus addressing system was developed by Property Accounting, Campus Design & Facilities Development and the City of Pittsburgh, which now has been incorporated into the new building identification signage, to help visitors, emergency responders and private delivery services navigate campus more easily.

The best practice for addressing deliveries is as follows:

• Full Name: [ First and Last Name ] - [ Department Name ]
• Address Line 1: [ Building Name ] - [ Room # or Dept. Mail Room # ]
• Address Line 2: [ Building Street Address ]
  when in doubt, consult with your department administrator for guidance
• City: [ Pittsburgh ]
• State: [ PA ]
• Zip Code: [ 15213 ] unless otherwise noted on Master Building List
• Phone: [ Phone number or department mail room phone number ]
• Delivery Instructions: [ Signature required. DO NOT LEAVE PACKAGE UNATTENDED ]

Using 5000 Forbes Avenue for deliveries is only allowable for United States Postal Service (USPS) deliveries and if your department is housed in Warner Hall.

Procurement Services and the Postal Services staff have been working closely with Amazon to help improve delivery service. Work is also being done to improve the accuracy of Google maps. While many delivery services rely on their own navigation systems, the accuracy of Google maps is essential to all users navigating our campus.  

Remember that these guidelines for student mail and package deliveries remain the same – all mail and deliveries for students continue to go through the student mail box system.

For more information about campus deliveries and mail service, see the CMU Postal Services website. For questions or issues not covered on the website, you are encouraged to contact Postal Services staff at departmentdeliveries@andrew.cmu.edu.

Help Center Continues Sunday Support

The Computing Services Help Center will continue email support on Sundays through the end of the fall semester. Help Center consultants will be available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to answer emails sent to it-help@cmu.edu.

Visit the Computing Services Help and Support (https://www.cmu.edu/computing/support) webpage for current hours; and the service board for real-time updates, 24/7.

Host Family Program Seeks Volunteers

Carnegie Mellon’s Host Family Program for International Students in Pittsburgh is seeking faculty and staff volunteers to serve as hosts. The program is not a homestay program — rather, hosts and students agree to get together about once a month at convenient times. The program welcomes single people, couples or families.

Within the last two weeks, more than 160 new graduate students have applied for the program, so the need for hosts is great. 

Administered by the Office of International Education, the Host Family Program for International Students is part of a university-wide effort to enrich the student experience at Carnegie Mellon. The program gives international students the opportunity to explore Pittsburgh with their hosts, engage in meaningful dialogue, practice their English, and generally enjoy a connection to the city they might not otherwise experience. Many students feel more engaged with the university because of the personal, one-on-one interactions with their hosts.  As ambassadors, hosts enhance their connection to the university and enjoy getting to know talented students. 

For more information and to sign up as a host, visit the program website and click on the link titled “To Participate as a Host Family” for the application and release form.  Send questions to hostfamily@andrew.cmu.edu.

Find out more.

Lorrie Cranor, the FORE Systems Professor of Computer Science and Engineering and Public Policy, has joined 11 other distinguished computer scientists on the Technology Policy Council, newly formed by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). The ACM, the world’s largest association of computing professionals, created the council to coordinate the agenda for its policy activities around the globe. It also will serve as the ACM’s contact point for its interaction with government organizations, the computing community and the public in matters of public policy related to information technology and computing. Cranor is the director and Bosch Distinguished Professor in Security and Privacy Technologies at the CyLab Security and Privacy Institute. She also directs the CyLab Usable Privacy and Security Laboratory and co-directs the privacy engineering master’s program. In 2016, she served as the chief technologist of the Federal Trade Commission.

Nathan Beckmann, an assistant professor in the Computer Science Department, has received a five-year, roughly $500,000 Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award, the National Science Foundation's most prestigious award for young faculty members. Beckmann's research interests include computer architecture and performance modeling. The NSF grant will support his work crafting and evaluating a new computer system design that makes accessing data faster and cheaper. Beckmann said more energy efficiency is needed to sustain growth in computing power for machine learning, social networking and robotics. Learn more. 

Melanie Lucht, associate vice president for Enterprise Risk Management and chief risk officer, was a presenter this week at the 50th Annual University Risk and Insurance Manager’s Association annual conference in Boston. Her presentation, titled “Launching a Sustainable Business Continuity Program in Higher Education,” discussed the strategies and tools used by CMU to overcome barriers, and effectively launch and sustain its successful business continuity program, which has had widespread support over the past six years. Lucht also was recently quoted in Risk Management magazine on building enterprise risk management programs in higher education. Lucht joined CMU in 2013 to head the university’s efforts in disaster recovery and business continuity. In 2017, she was named Continuity and Resiliency Professional of the Year for the private sector by The Business Continuity Institute. In 2018, she was appointed asociate vice president for Enterprise Risk Management, a position in which she oversees the development and deployment of risk management tools and practices across the university.

Be compelling, be disruptive, and go big.

Those words of advice are part of a new brand blueprint designed to help the Carnegie Mellon University community tell the CMU story in a powerful and unified way.

The brand blueprint equips CMU communicators with common language and a set of refreshed visual identity elements and guidelines that help define the university’s distinctive characteristics. 

Lara Steiner, senior director of marketing for the Marketing & Communications Division, said the blueprint was created after research revealed a lack of public understanding of what makes CMU a top global university.

“People knew of CMU — awareness was high — but they didn’t know what made it unique,” she said. “This blueprint gives us distinctive messaging that we didn’t have before.”

Foundation and Five Pillars of Strength

The brand blueprint is built on the strategic foundation that Carnegie Mellon is at the leading edge of human progress, which provides inspiration and sets the groundwork for all communications.

Building upon that foundation are five message pillars reflecting CMU’s distinctive strengths. They are academic excellence; real, practical impact; crossing intellectual boundaries; partnerships in action; and unorthodox culture.

“If we focus on these pillars as we develop our communications, storytelling for CMU will become stronger and more unified, and that helps to build the brand globally,” said Steiner, who credited a university-wide working group for their input in helping to create the blueprint. 

CMU communicators are encouraged to use supporting information, or proof points, such as past achievements and current examples related to their college, school, department or unit, to build on the pillars.

Hero, Sage and Outlaw

A key part of any brand is personality.

“Personalities allow you to think about your brand as being human,” said Brian James, senior director of creative for Marketing & Communications. “By associating a brand with human character traits, it is easier to imagine how we might speak about them or how they should be portrayed.”

James said the personality of CMU aligns to three different types of characters that we find in storytelling: the hero, the sage and the outlaw.

“A hero is going to be bold, see a need and fill that need. A sage is always looking for wisdom, to learn new things and to share that knowledge. The outlaw looks to bend the rules, challenge conventional thinking and create something new. I am sure we all know more than a few heroes, sages and outlaws at CMU,” he said.

The blueprint challenges communicators to draw their readers into the story, bend the conventional rules and break the mold.

“Go big! Be confident of who we are and what we’re doing,” James said.

Visually Speaking 

Among the visual elements getting a refresh are the wordmark, university seal and mascot mark, and new to the university’s identity set is the CMU lettermark.

A new format for the most universal mark, the wordmark, places the stacked Carnegie Mellon University in a black, red, white or grey square. This “wordmark square” creates a strong visual that stands out from any textured or photographic background and should be used to draw attention as seen in the new signage system being installed on the Pittsburgh campus. 

The university seal is the most academic symbol and is now available to all units and departments in a one-color format — red, black, white and gray.  The full-color seal is reserved official use and for special events, like commencement and convocation. At the center of the seal is the thistle, Scotland’s national flower, which represents, strength, bravery, determination, devotion and durability.

The mascot mark — Scotty in a shield with Tartans spelled out across the top — represents the university’s competitive spirit. While mostly used in the past for athletics, the mascot mark is intended to be used by anyone wanting to show their school pride.

“The Scottish Terrier is a very confident breed and a consistent winner at international competitions,” James said. “It’s a spirited breed and known to be aggressive around larger dogs. We should embrace this confidence as we present CMU to the world.” 

Our university initials, CMU, now have an official mark of their own, known as the lettermark. Similar to a nick-name, this mark adds a visually friendly option for branding. Always use the lettermark in proximity to the full wordmark for clarity of the official school name.

Broadening the Color Palette

New secondary color palettes are being introduced to provide a wider range of tones that represent CMU’s various personality traits. These palettes are derived from the bold colors of the Tartan and the soft colors of the campus architecture. The new color palette includes matching paint swatches which can be used by CMU’s interior designers to incorporate the brand into every area of the campus. 

CMU’s core colors remain red, black, steel gray and iron gray.

Complementing the color palettes is the traditional tartan, the plaid pattern that was first introduced by a student group in 1905-06 and “has become a statement of our diverse community weaving together to become something greater,” James said.

For more information visit www.cmu.edu/brand and download an “essentials toolkit,” including the gallery of visual elements and communications guidelines.

McQuade Brings Capital Perspectives to CMU

Michael McQuade is working to put Carnegie Mellon University research in the right place at the right time so that it makes the biggest impact.

That’s the top priority for CMU’s new vice president for research, who is guiding the university’s research enterprise by fostering connections across campus, and building alliances with private sector partners and federal agencies, such as the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the departments of Defense, Energy and Homeland Security.

McQuade is familiar with the workings in Washington, D.C. He is a founding member of the Defense Innovation Board, an independent federal advisory committee formed in 2016 that advises the Secretary of Defense on how best to advance technological innovation. He previously served on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and on the Secretary of Energy’s Advisory Board.

“We have to make sure that people who would benefit from the brilliance of this university know about us and we need to be sure that our faculty and researchers know what issues are important to funders, policymakers and legislators,” McQuade said. “We need to create and mature the technologies in which we are world leaders — neurosciences, robotics, computer systems, artificial intelligence, sensors, just to name a few— into tools for transforming society.”

McQuade said there is no place better suited to impact society than Carnegie Mellon.

“If you think about the way artificial intelligence is changing society, we are uniquely equipped to be able to do that, and to do that in an atmosphere that is enormously cross-functional,” he said. “It’s extraordinarily important that we have people at the cutting-edge of the science of AI and at the cutting-edge of the ethics, societal impact and psychology of AI. This is precisely what we mean when we talk about the collaborative culture at CMU.”

A three-time CMU physics alumnus, McQuade found himself at the right place at the right time nearly a year ago. After retiring from a stellar career leading research, development and business functions for several top engineering and technology companies, including United Technologies Corporation (UTC) and 3M, he was looking for a new challenge and “wanted to do something that mattered” in his retirement. At the same time, CMU was looking for someone with his type of research and business acumen to strengthen and support its research function.

“Carnegie Mellon’s combination of so many areas of deep expertise, the way it is uniquely aligned to the critical issues of the world today and the ability for this university to make a global impact was a big attraction,” said McQuade, a former member of CMU’s Board of Trustees. “I am delighted and honored to be at this place where we truly can make a difference.”

In his first nine months on the job, he has been busy. McQuade has raised the visibility of the research office, enhanced administrative functions and has increased the interaction with government agencies, particularly the Department of Defense. Earlier this year, the U.S. Army activated its AI Task Force Hub at CMU’s National Robotics Engineering Center, which includes top-tier research universities and American companies as partners. The technology developed by the Army and its partners aims to modernize processes used to equip and protect soldiers, enhance readiness and increase the Army's capabilities.

“I feel very good about CMU’s leadership role in the Army AI Hub,” McQuade said. “The DoD is recognizing the importance of all aspects of AI to its mission, from the technical side, to the capabilities DoD personnel will need, to the need to understand the ethical issues AI might present.”

McQuade earned his Ph.D. in experimental high-energy physics from CMU in 1983, spending three years of his graduate study researching charm quark production at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory outside of Chicago. After receiving his doctorate, he went to work for 3M, Imation and Eastman Kodak, where he held senior positions in technology development and business oversight.

From 2006 to 2018, he served as senior vice president for Science & Technology at UTC. McQuade's responsibilities included providing strategic oversight and guidance for research, engineering and development activities on a broad range of high-technology products and services for the global aerospace and building systems industries.

After spending more than three decades in the corporate world, McQuade said he is enjoying the culture at CMU.

“This is the most collaborative work environment,” he said. “This particular management team, the deans and senior faculty are very congenial. I like that. It’s a great atmosphere.”

In his free time, McQuade, who spends a lot of time in the nation’s capital, likes to visit the museums on the National Mall. He also enjoys reading, hiking, traveling and the opera.

“I’m looking forward to ‘Rinaldo,’ the School of Music’s first opera of the season next month,” he said.

Have a suggestion for Staff Spotlight? Send it to piperweekly@andrew.cmu.edu.   

CMU Announces Six Commitments To Advance Sustainability Goals

Provost Jim Garrett has announced six university commitments to advance the United Nation’s Sustainability Development Goals. Garrett made the announcement in a university-wide email on Monday following CMU's participation in “American Leadership in Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals,” a conference organized by the United Nations Foundation (UNF) and the Brookings Institution in New York City.

CMU’s commitments over the next 10 years are:

• To educate CMU students around the world about the SDGs, recognizing that this framework applies to all of us and represents a special opportunity to create a more peaceful, prosperous, planet with just and inclusive societies.
• To help solve pressing problems brought to light by the SDG framework, by acting boldly, taking risks, and applying creativity.
• To do this work collaboratively, an approach deeply embedded in our university culture.
• To demonstrate advancement of the SDGs at CMU through education, research, partnerships and operational activities.
• To create a Voluntary University Review of work being done at CMU and to report these findings in New York as the UN General Assembly meets next year.
• To do more to align CMU’s work with the SDGs and build on the good work already done by CMU faculty, students, staff and alumni – whether focused on mitigating climate change, eliminating food waste, reducing violence or ending human trafficking.

On Sept. 9, Garrett announced the creation of a new campus-wide Sustainability Initiative. The initiative will be led by a steering committee co-chaired by David Dzombak, Steven Guenther and Sarah Mendelson. 

MPM Program Hosts Information Session for CMU Employees

Heinz College's Master of Public Management (MPM) program will host an information session for CMU employees from noon to 1 p.m., Oct. 3 in Hamburg Hall 1214. 

The MPM part-time program imparts management skills and policy understanding, forging leaders of the future with the same Heinz College formula used in its full-time programs: Technology + Analytics + Leadership Practice = Career Impact. The part-time curriculum is flexible and accessible to busy professionals, allowing you to earn your master’s degree in the evening in as little as two years. And because it’s an on-campus program, you enjoy the vibrancy of learning with seasoned professionals from CMU and Pittsburgh's major sectors, allowing you to build diverse networks.

Is MPM the right fit for you? Join this relaxed session to learn more about the program curriculum, admission process and hear from current CMU employees in the program. A light lunch will be provided. Please RSVP.

Center for Machine Learning and Health Seeks Proposals

The Center for Machine Learning and Health (CMLH) has announced an internal call for Carnegie Mellon faculty-led projects.

The CMLH is looking for compelling science that creates value for stakeholders including patients and caregivers, providers, payers and health care institutions. The CMLH is technology agnostic! Enabling technology from computer science, biology, engineering, policy, operations, design, behavioral/social sciences and the arts are all possible drivers or components of novel, interdisciplinary digital solutions that address unmet needs in health care. We are open to all ideas that faculty deem relevant from disciplines across the university.

CMLH funding provides for one-year applied research projects anticipated to have budgets in the low six figures (including university overhead). After one year, projects may attract more funding to refine the technology and/or its development for commercialization.

Full proposals are due on October 22. Complete details for the Call for Proposals, including templates and the Intent to Propose Tool can be found at https://www.cs.cmu.edu/cmlh-cfp under the “Fall 2019 Call for Proposals” section.

Contact the CMLH with any questions at cmlh@cs.cmu.edu.

EH&S Offers CPR/AED Training Courses 

Environmental Health & Safety is offering several CPR/AED training courses for facullty, staff and students. All courses will be from 10 a.m. – noon in the EHS conference room.

Upon successful completion of the course, attendees will receive a CPR/AED certificate through the American Heart Association. Interested participants can register through BioRaft at https://cmu.bioraft.com/node/284547/sessions.

The training dates are:

• Monday,  Sept. 30;
• Wednesday,  Oct. 9;
• Monday,  Oct. 28;
• Wednesday,  Nov. 6; and
• Monday, Nov. 18.

Community Day a Time to Connect, Reflect and Have Fun

Carnegie Mellon’s inaugural Community Day, designed to bring together students, faculty, staff and alumni to connect, reflect, restore and have fun, will be Friday, Oct. 25.

All classes will be canceled in Pittsburgh to allow the community to take part in a variety of activities, including a fireside chat with one of CMU’s famous alumni, a presentation about lessons learned from the Life@CMU Project and opportunities to join discussions about the CMU experience. There also will be a free community picnic lunch, a showcase of Tartan talent with performances throughout the day, and plenty of other fun events and activities.

Community Day was initiated by the Task Force on the CMU Experience, which was convened in 2016 to closely examine the Carnegie Mellon experience and take action to enhance a community in which all members can engage, build resilience and thrive. Celebratory days like Founders Day and the Presidential Inauguration galvanized the Task Force’s commitment to shape an annual tradition the entire campus community could adopt. 

John “Jay” Marano says he’s afraid of heights, but the evidence suggests otherwise.

The director of trademark licensing at CMU — and a two-time skydiver — Marano boldly climbed the career ladder and created the university’s Trademark Licensing Office along the way.

Back in the mid-1990s, Marano was looking to expand his career opportunities by building on his background in retail and higher education. Self-taught on the topic of trademark licensing — he spent an entire beach vacation memorizing a how-to book on the subject — Marano landed his first job in the field as a licensing coordinator for CMU. The rest, as they say, is history.

“I’ve been blessed to work for two wonderful supervisors these past 24 years who have allowed me to learn on the fly and grow the program,” he said.

Marano has made a career out of protecting and promoting the university’s trademarks, ensuring they are correctly displayed on merchandise.

“If you’re going to put CMU’s name or the Scotty dog on merchandise, it has to be produced by a trademark licensed supplier. That means the supplier has signed a contract with me as a representative of the university, and that I will have an opportunity to see the artwork and approve it before the merchandise is produced,” he explained.

Marano’s office is stuffed to the ceiling with CMU-branded merchandise he has either paid for out of his own pocket or been given by someone as a “thank you” or to add to his collection. Most of the items feature the Scotty dog because Marano is the one who submitted the original proposal in 2006 to select, create and authorize the official mascot for the university.

Two of the items in his collection, however, serve as reminders for him to remain humble.

“They’re my mistakes,” Marano said, pointing to a Tepper School mug and a College of Engineering Christmas tree ornament. The mug features a stock ticker going in a downward direction instead of upward, and Hamerschlag is misspelled on the ornament.

Those two experiences have influenced how Marano approaches others who make mistakes, such as when a student group used an artist’s licensed image on their t-shirts. Marano involved the artist, who wrote the students a letter to explain they had to ask his permission before using copyrighted images. Rather than demanding a monetary payment, the artist requested they send him two dozen of the t-shirts.

“I used it as a teachable moment, and the students learned something about trademark licensing,” he said.

Marano earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration and master’s degree in public administration from West Virginia University. He has been a member of the International Collegiate Licensing Association for 24 years, serving twice on its board of directors. He serves on the Total Compensation Committee, CMU’s liaison to the Fair Labor Association and the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC). He has served on the WRC’s board of directors and was chair of CMU’s Staff Council twice.

Marano said one of his proudest moments at CMU was when domestic partner health benefits were approved at the university. Today, he and his partner, Mike, live a quiet life in their home in Green Tree Borough — a home that, he assures people, looks completely the opposite of his office — and are appreciative of CMU’s inclusive environment.

“One of the things I like best about working at CMU is I can be myself here, and I’m accepted,” he said.

When he’s not at work, Marano devotes his time to the pastoral council of his parish and as ritual adviser to the undergraduate chapter of his Greek fraternity. He enjoys photography, hot air ballooning, collecting pottery, attending Pittsburgh Ballet Theater productions and football. Marano is a third generation Steelers season-ticket holder; his grandfather watched the Steelers play at Forbes Field.

But if there is one thing he would like to do more of, it's skydiving.

“I’m afraid of heights. No one believed I would ever leap out of a plane,” Marano said. “So, on my 50th birthday I just decided to do it.”

Ramayya Krishnan, dean of the Heinz College, has been named a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration in recognition of his years of public administration service and expertise. Krishnan was recognized for his role in helping to create innovative partnerships across the public, private and university sectors. His experience working on the IT and Services Advisory Board chaired by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and his service on the policy advisory board of the Government Accountability Office  also were honored. In addition to serving as a NAPA fellow, Krishnan serves on the advisory board of the President of Asian Development Bank, and he is an invited member of a Royal Society and National Academies convening on Artificial Intelligence and its consequences. He is the president of INFORMS and an INFORMS Fellow, and he previously served separate terms as president of both the INFORMS Information Systems Society and the INFORMS Computing Society. He is a former member of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Data Driven Development. Find out more.

Ph.D. Student Nianyi Chen has received the John Peoples, Jr. Research Fellowship in Physics. The fellowship is named after Carnegie Mellon alumnus John Peoples, Jr., a physicist who directed the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. It provides graduate students in the Department of Physics with a stipend and $1,000 for education-related expenses to allow them to focus on their research. A member of Associate Professor of Physics Hy Trac’s lab, Chen is working to simulate the Epoch of Reionization — the time in the early life of the universe when the first stars and galaxies formed and started to ionize neutral hydrogen. "Our simulation aims at understanding the history of the early universe when direct observations of this epoch are limited," Chen said. Her simulations will show how the observed cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation of the universe is affected by reionization and will provide researchers working on future observational surveys of the CMB with a better idea of how and when reionization happened. 

Daniel Teadt, an assistant professor of voice in Carnegie Mellon’s School of Music and an internationally acclaimed vocal artist, recently gave a TEDx talk in Youngstown, Ohio, focusing on the power of our authentic sound and what our voices may be trying to tell us. In his talk, Teadt explores three key concepts that work to unleash our most authentic selves through the power of the human voice. Teadt works with classical singers and public speakers to find their most authentic sound that allows them to be voice leaders in their field. Watch his TEDx talk.

CMU’s NROTC Program Welcomes New Leadership

Carnegie Mellon’s Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) has welcomed two new top leaders. 

U.S. Navy Captain William McKinney is a new CMU faculty member who aims to develop close working relationships with members of the campus community to enhance the visibility of the NROTC program and its students’ participation in campus life and events. “I have been extremely impressed with CMU, especially with the incredible faculty and their dedication to the students’ success, and the fundamental commitment to cross-campus collaboration,” McKinney said. McKinney is a career Submarine Warfare Officer in the Navy, having commanded two submarines. His last duty station was as the chief of staff for the Plans and Policy Directorate at the United States Strategic Command in Omaha, Nebraska. As a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and having served there as an instructor, mentor and coach, McKinney brings a new perspective to CMU’s NROTC unit and a wealth of experience developing students into Naval Officers.

U.S. Marine Corps Major Robert Paugh, the NROTC program’s new executive officer, is committed to raising awareness of the unit’s functions and developing a sense of duty and compassion in future Navy and Marine Corps officers. Paugh has traveled the world supporting Marine Corps operations as a helicopter pilot. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of San Diego and a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Marshall University. His last duty station was as the Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463 Aircraft Maintenance Officer and Director of Safety and Standardization.

Applications for ULS Co-Sponsorships Due Nov. 1

The University Lecture Series (ULS) is inviting applications for spring 2020 co-sponsorship events that complement and enhance the vibrancy of campus conversations on salient issues crossing disciplinary boundaries. ULS co-sponsorship aims to amplify important conversations occurring in departments, centers and student groups at Carnegie Mellon.

Due to high demand and limited funding, ULS co-sponsorship is shifting from a rolling application process. The submission deadline for spring co-sponsorship applications is Nov. 1. The ULS Committee will review and notify applicants of their co-sponsorship status no later than Dec. 1. Spring co-sponsored lectures will be announced in a campus-wide e-mail at the start of the semester with additional communication support of lectures provided by ULS.

Find out more information and apply for co-sponsorship on the ULS website.

Schatz Grand Opening Celebration Friday

Join Dining Services for the Schatz Dining Room Grand Opening Celebration from 4 – 6 p.m., tomorrow, Friday, Oct. 4. During this open house event, you can explore the updated space, meet Chartwells’ chefs and registered dietitian, and enjoy a taste of the new menu highlighting local, sustainable and diverse cuisine. The sampling menu will include:

• Butternut Squash Bisque;
• Kale and Beet Salad with a Citrus Vinaigrette;
• Coconut Curry Chicken over Basmati Rice;
• Beyond Bratwurst on Pretzel Bun with Cauliflower Cheese Sauce and Red Cabbage Slaw; and
• Cheesecake Tart with Pumpkin Spice Whipped Cream.

At 4:30 and 5:30 p.m., experience the new built-in Teaching Kitchen with Chartwells’ chef Sarah and chef Taty, and learn how to carve a pumpkin, transform your pumpkin seeds into honey-toasted pepitas and whip up pumpkin spice whipped cream.

This event is free and open to all members of the Carnegie Mellon community. Find out more.

University Libraries Extend Hours of Operation

The University Libraries have expanded hours at the Mellon Institute Library, and the Roger Sorrells Engineering & Science Library to better serve the CMU community.

The Mellon Library, located on the fourth floor of Mellon Institute, is now open 24 hours, seven days a week to CMU affiliates with photo identification. Mellon Library visitors not affiliated with CMU can access the library Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. To visit the library, sign in at the Mellon Institute security desk, located inside the Bellefield Street entrance.

The Sorrells Library, located on the fourth floor of Wean Hall, is now open 24 hours, five days a week. When the library opens at noon on Sunday, it will remain open until Friday night at 9 p.m. without interruption. Saturday and Sunday hours can be viewed online. Around-the-clock library access is limited to CMU affiliates. A valid CMU ID is required to enter Wean Hall and Sorrells Library after midnight.

These extended hours are part of the Libraries’ mission to ensure  the services and physical spaces of the Libraries enhance the quality of the student experience, allowing the community to interact with new technologies; to access collections; to engage with and learn from librarians; and to do their work, alone or in groups.

Please refer to the Libraries website for detailed building hours.

Today: MPM Program Hosts Information Session for CMU Employees

Heinz College's Master of Public Management (MPM) program will host an information session for CMU employees from noon to 1 p.m., today, Oct. 3, in Hamburg Hall 1214. 

The MPM part-time program imparts management skills and policy understanding, forging leaders of the future with the same Heinz College formula used in its full-time programs: Technology + Analytics + Leadership Practice = Career Impact. The part-time curriculum is flexible and accessible to busy professionals, allowing you to earn your master’s degree in the evening in as little as two years. And because it’s an on-campus program, you enjoy the vibrancy of learning with seasoned professionals from CMU and Pittsburgh's major sectors, allowing you to build diverse networks.

Is MPM the right fit for you? Join this relaxed session to learn more about the program curriculum, admission process and hear from current CMU employees in the program. A light lunch will be provided. Please RSVP.

Last Call for Faculty and Staff Benefits Survey; Deadline is Oct. 4

Each year, Carnegie Mellon reviews and updates its benefit programs based on faculty and staff feedback, market practices, competitive data and other factors. This input is used to inform CMU’s faculty and staff benefits strategy.

To get your vital feedback on the programs and benefits that mean the most to you, the Office of Human Resources is asking all domestic, benefits-eligible faculty and staff to complete a confidential CMU Faculty and Staff Member Benefits Survey by Friday, October 4. 

All domestic, benefits-eligible faculty and staff received an email with instructions on how to access the online survey. The survey will take about 15 minutes to complete. As an added incentive, Aon, an independent consulting firm, will randomly select 25 survey participants to receive a $25 Amazon gift card. 

If you haven’t already done so, please complete the survey today. If you have issues accessing the survey, please contact the Human Resources CMUWorks Service Center at 412-268-4600 or cmu-works@andrew.cmu.edu.

EH&S Offers CPR/AED Training Courses 

Environmental Health & Safety is offering several CPR/AED training courses for facullty, staff and students. All courses will be from 10 a.m. – noon in the EHS conference room.

Upon successful completion of the course, attendees will receive a CPR/AED certificate through the American Heart Association. Interested participants can register through BioRaft at https://cmu.bioraft.com/node/284547/sessions.

The training dates are:

• Wednesday,  Oct. 9;
• Monday,  Oct. 28;
• Wednesday,  Nov. 6; and
• Monday, Nov. 18.

Dedicated, passionate, innovative and collaborative. Those endearing staff attributes were in abundance at Carnegie Mellon University’s 25^th annual Andy Awards ceremony, Oct. 4, when 40 nominees — 28 individuals and 12 teams — were honored and five winners were selected for their exceptional commitment, spirit, creativity and teamwork.

The university-wide staff recognition program, named for Andrew Carnegie and Andrew Mellon, pays tribute to staff for their outstanding performance in five categories — Commitment to Excellence; Commitment to Students; Spirit; Innovative and Creative Contributions; and Teamwork and Collaboration. Winners are selected by a panel of their peers.

In front of a standing-room-only crowd in McConomy Auditorium, President Farnam Jahanian praised the far-reaching, significant contributions staff make every day to the success of the university. Last year’s winners presented this year’s nominees and recipients.

The envelope, please. And this year’s winners are …

Commitment to Students
Queenie Kravitz
Associate Director, Human-Computer interaction Institute Ph.D. Program

Queenie Kravitz is the heart, soul and MVP of the Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII) Ph.D. program. Just ask the students, faculty and alumni. 

“When I talk to alumni, they all mention Queenie as the top aspect of our program,” wrote Assistant Professor Geoff Kaufman in his nominating letter.  “They usually mention the top quality faculty and research second. She is featured in almost every one of our graduating Ph.D.’s dissertation acknowledgement sections.”

Kravitz goes above and beyond her administrative duties as associate director of the program to advise, mentor, nurture and care for students, faculty and staff on a personal level. She takes Ph.D. classes to help her better advise students, creates social events to promote collaboration and togetherness for all members of the department, and co-designs interactive workshops to reduce unconscious bias and foster diversity.

“It’s been one of the most gratifying parts of my life at CMU to work with Queenie on designing and implementing programs within the department to encourage ‘human-human interaction’ and to make the department a warmer and inclusive place,” Kaufman said. 

HCII Ph.D. student Julia Cambre called Kravitz a wonder woman and angel with superhuman powers of patience, generosity and fierce dedication.

“Like so many other students, I’ve relied on Queenie to guide me through countless difficult situations no matter what the topic or circumstances — she always seems to know exactly the right thing to say,” Cambre wrote in a supporting letter. “She epitomizes warmth, wisdom and trust and has believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself.

“It goes without saying that I would not be who I am today or where I am today without Queenie, and I’m so deeply grateful to know her and have her in my life,” Cambre said.

Ph.D. candidate Tianying Chen called Kravitz “the ray of sunshine in HCII” and said she played a big role in her deciding to attend CMU. She telephoned Kravitz after receiving her acceptance letter.

“I felt so comfortable and reassured through our conversation that I knew if I came to CMU, I would always have someone that has my back, in not only my academic life but also my personal life,” Chen wrote in a supporting letter. “Queenie really embodied everything that CMU stands for: inclusivity, genuineness, dedication, empathy and compassion for students.”

Commitment to Excellence
Carrie Nelson
Associate Vice President for Finance and Controller

Carrie Nelson (fourth from left) with colleagues (l-r) Sara Stone, Christine Murray, Kathy Proch, Mark Gambone, Angela Blanton, Liz Kaciubij, Sandra Moses and Ashley Ferenczy.

Carrie Nelson’s outstanding work ethic and financial knowledge have been instrumental in putting Carnegie Mellon on the global stage.

Since joining the university in 2003, Nelson has been a vital partner to CMU leadership and its schools and colleges. She helped establish the CMU-Qatar campus through negotiations with the Qatar Foundation; she created the International Finance (IF) Office to handle all aspects of CMU’s international business; and in collaboration with Heinz College and the College of Engineering assisted in establishing CMU’s campuses in Australia and Africa. The IF Office also played a key role in launching academic programs in Singapore, Portugal, Japan, India and China.

Nelson and her team also have taken care of business in Pittsburgh, updating policies and accounting applications, and streamlining processes for efficiency. As controller, she serves on CMU’s Board of Trustees and is a member of the President’s Task Force on Campus Climate.

Despite Nelson’s hectic work schedule, she always takes time for her staff. 

“Carrie thanks her hardworking staff regularly. She visits departments, interacts with staff and host staff meetings to include all individuals to ensure open communication and collaboration,” wrote Kathy Proch in a nominating letter.

“She is the true definition of excellence as illustrated by her dedication, commitment and integrity. Her leadership and genuine appreciation of her employees ensures people exceed their capabilities,” said Proch, senior director in the Controller’s Office. 

In a supporting letter, Vice President and General Counsel Mary Jo Dively said Nelson is a trusted colleague of the highest integrity and a specialist in doing new things. She said she’s tough and smart.

“Her work ethic is typical of the best CMU people: when confronted with new challenges or things she doesn’t fully know, she digs in and keeps digging until she gets the best, right answer for CMU,” Dively said.

Dively applauded Nelson’s leadership skills.

“As a supervisor, Carrie is outstanding. She develops the people under her and helps them to grow and shine. In short, Carrie is ‘so CMU’ in all the best ways,” she said.

Associate Vice Provost Georgia Giatras said Nelson’s management expertise and commitment to excellence is apparent every day.

“Carrie is truly a professional that encourages, motivates and engages across all dimensions of the university,” Giatras wrote in a supporting letter. “Essentially, she is the kind of person you wish everyone could be like in your work environment.”

Innovative and Creative Contributions
Stephanie Wallach
Assistant Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education
Director, Undergraduate Research Office (URO)
Director, Scholarships and Fellowships Office (SFO)

Stephanie Wallach’s vision and vigor has helped to enhance undergraduate research and the student experience at Carnegie Mellon.

By creating new initiatives and funding programs, Wallach has greatly increased research opportunities for undergraduates. During her tenure, the number of students involved in research has grown consistently. Last May, a record 709 students participated in Meeting of the Minds, CMU’s annual undergraduate research showcase organized by her office. 

“Her creative efforts in her role as URO (Undergraduate Research Office) director have provided unique and transformative student opportunities and experiences,” wrote her nominator Annette Jacobson, associate dean and teaching professor in the College of Engineering. “Dr. Wallach has a unique university-wide vision and the rare ability to recognize student needs as well as create and execute programs to meet those needs.”

The new student programs Wallach developed are the International Student Undergraduate Research Fellowship, which provides students with opportunities to conduct research abroad; the Student Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship, which allows students to perform research alongside a faculty member for course credit; and the Small Undergraduate Research Grant-Flex program, which enables students to apply for research funding for course credit outside of the normal application cycle.

“In Stephanie’s mind it will never be enough until every student who wants to do research over the summer, either on campus or abroad, can do so,” said supporter Karen Stump, teaching professor and director of undergraduate studies and laboratories in the Mellon College of Science. “Every year, Stephanie sets out to visit with every department head on campus to seek feedback on the effectiveness of their efforts, ensure all students are connected with the [Undergraduate Research] office, and provide information on new initiatives and ideas for creative partnerships.”

Wallach also established the Speak Up! Seminar Series in which students attend summer workshops to help them enhance their communications skills to explain their research. The series culminates with students giving a three-minute presentation about their work before a panel of judges.  

As director of the Scholarships and Fellowships Office (SFO), Wallach is diligent in identifying and mentoring students for prestigious scholarships and fellowships. Last year, Carnegie Mellon students won Schwarzman, Marshall, Fulbright, Boren, Goldwater, Hertz and Soros scholarships.

Richelle Bernazzoli, assistant director in the URO and SFO, said Wallach has consistently adapted to meet the intellectual and professional needs of students.

“Dr. Wallach has made an indelible mark on the undergraduate experience at Carnegie Mellon,” Bernazzoli said.

Spirit
Michael Harding
Associate Director, Corporate Relations, University Advancement

Michael Harding celebrates his Andy Award with his nominator JIll Berger.

In his professional role, Michael Harding enthusiastically builds and fosters connections between Carnegie Mellon and the corporate world, but he may be best known for connecting with his co-workers.

In a nominating letter, Jill Berger, executive director of Advancement Operations, said Harding exudes the qualities of the Spirit Award every day. She praised him for his care, attentiveness and friendliness to corporate visitors and co-workers alike. 

“He ensures that corporate visitors have an outstanding and memorable experience on campus, and one tailored to their interests. His hardworking diligence and his enthusiasm for all that CMU offers have resulted in strengthened connections with industry partners new and old,” Berger said. 

Within days of joining the university, Harding became a member of the team that plans and organizes divisional gatherings and brings together staff to grow camaraderie in the workplace.  

“He is especially concerned to welcome new staff members to the division and is the friendly go-to guy for their questions and concerns,” Berger said. “His gift is to create personal connections among his colleagues and co-workers, which he does with a sense of fun and a deep belief that everyone counts.”

Jen Weidenhof, program coordinator in the Undergraduate Research Office, calls Harding the “Mayor of CMU.”

“He’s the guy that brings donuts to the office for no reason. He can have a conversation with you and then a few weeks later, come by and follow up with caring questions,” Weidenhof said in a supporting letter. “Mike’s personality is inviting and his laugh is contagious.”

Weidenhof and Berger noted a lunchtime cooking contest Harding started called “Tartan Chef Cook-off,” which brings together staff from several departments. 

“Because of this event, my staff and I are now connected to other groups on campus, and we’ve formed personal and professional relationships,” Weidenhof said.

Mark Nolan, associate vice president for institutional partnerships, said Harding’s genuine warmth, friendliness and ability to engage with others make him a “terrific colleague.”

“He is one of the people who make working at CMU a special experience,” Nolan said in a supporting letter. “He clearly loves working for the university, and his enthusiasm and passion for this place and its mission truly set him apart.” 

Teamwork and Collaboration
Student Activities Maker Support Team

Rebecca Cicco, workplace safety manager, Environmental Health & Safety Department;  Elizabeth Koch, associate director, Student Leadership, Involvement & Civic Engagement (SLICE); Charlie Gaglione, TechSpark managing director, Mechanical Engineering Department; and Kaycee Palko, senior coordinator, Student Leadership, Involvement & Civic Engagement (SLICE).

The Student Activities Maker Support Team is committed to fostering a safe workplace environment for students and student organizations involved in building things, specifically the longstanding traditions of booths and buggies.

Leading up to Spring Carnival, the team conducted safety training for students and worked with external partners to ensure equipment was properly serviced and maintained. They taught students how to safely design and construct booths, and conducted inspections and provided recommendations for process improvements. They attended buggy practice sessions at 4 a.m. and were present during the buggy race days to ensure students and spectators remained safe. They also acted as student advocates, requesting investments to improve spaces and facilities on campus to enhance a safe working environment for building activities.

Melanie Lucht, associate vice president and chief risk officer, commended the team for stepping up their level of engagement this past year.

“As a result of this team’s tireless efforts, renovations will be occurring in student activities maker spaces that will provide students the opportunity to conduct maker activities in a centralized space that will ensure the continuity of these traditions for years to come,” Lucht wrote in her nominating letter. “The legacy that this team leaves will be one that future students will benefit from and demonstrates the commitment that CMU has made to the student experience.”

Shailendra Singh, director of Environmental Health & Safety, said the team’s efforts in supporting Spring Carnival activities go above and beyond their regular job responsibilities.

“These traditions and activities would not be possible without the support and utmost dedication of this team,” Singh wrote in a supporting letter. “Their extraordinary commitment teaches our students not only the culture of safety, but also prepares them for the next phase of their lives in terms of best safe practices.”

Elizabeth Vaughan, associate dean of Student Affairs, said the team — made up of members from Operations, the College of Engineering and Student Affairs — exemplifies teamwork and collaboration.

“Not only did the staff from across these disparate areas need to learn to speak each other’s language and how to most effectively leverage their varied expertise, they simultaneously needed to do the same with the student leaders,” Vaughan wrote in a supporting letter. “The union of their expertise, persistence, commitment to the team, and shared desire to find a solution for our students offered a compelling vision for university leadership.

Staff Honored for Years of Service

Michael Steidel received a service award for his 45 years at CMU. With Steidel is Staff Council Chair Bryan Koval (left) and President Farnam Jahanian.

In addition to the Andy Award presentations, Staff Council Chair Bryan Koval presented service awards to 73 staff members celebrating their 30, 35, 40, 45 and 50 years at CMU. See the list of this year's service award recipients.

Ignacio Grossmann, the Rudolph and Florence Dean University Professor of Chemical Engineering, has received two prestigious honors. He was selected to receive the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award for his career longevity and lasting contributions to society, and was named a Marquis Who’s Who Top Educator for his dedication, achievements and leadership in the field of chemical engineering. With a focus on applying mathematical optimization to engineering problems, Grossmann has amassed 40 years of experience in education and research. He was director of the Center for Advanced Process Decision-Making from 2004 to 2016, and head of the Department of Chemical Engineering from 1994 to 2002. During his tenure at Carnegie Mellon, he has authored over 600 publications, and collaborated extensively with industry through research projects. The recipient of seven honorary degrees, Grossmann was named one of the “One Hundred Engineers of the Modern Era” by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers in 2008, and “One of the Most Influential Scientific Minds” by Thompson Reuters in 2015.

University Professor Vivian Loftness, the Paul Mellon Chair in the School of Architecture, has been appointed to two national boards for 2020.  She was named to the American Institute of Architects National Board by AIA 2020 President Jane Frederick, and to the International Living Futures Institute (ILFI) Board by CEO Amanda Sturgeon. Both of organization have made visionary commitments to addressing climate change through design innovation in the built environment. Loftness, former head of the School of Architecture, is an internationally renowned, award-winning researcher, author and educator focused on environmental design and sustainability, climate and regionalism in architecture, and the integration of advanced building systems for health and productivity.

Daniel Nagin, the Teresa and H. John Heinz III University Professor of Public Policy and Statistics at the Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy and Stockholm Prize-winning criminologist, spoke at a Congressional briefing on the topic of countering mass shootings in the United States. Nagin and his colleagues addressed leaders on Capitol Hill regarding measures to reduce the occurrence of and damage caused by incidents of mass violence. Nagin provided the closing remarks for the day along with a summation of the panel’s policy recommendations, which included: staunching the growth of high capacity firearms; curtailing access to the large existing stock of firearms in the U.S. for individuals who are a danger to themselves or others; improving threat detection systems; creating protocols to reduce fatalities as a result of mass shooting events; and formally tracking and researching mass violence at the federal level. The briefing was co-organized by Heinz College and George Mason University with the support of the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation. Find out more.