Carnegie Mellon in Qatar celebrated its eighth graduation ceremony, the largest in the Doha campus' history, this past Monday. One hundred and four graduates representing 19 countries were awarded their diplomas in front of family, friends and the university community.
 
The Class of 2015 included 54 business administration students, 29 in information systems, 17 in computer science, and four in biological sciences. The ceremony was held in the CMU-Q building in Education City.

"It is with great pride that I extend my congratulations to the Class of 2015. You have exemplified Carnegie Mellon's traits of hard work, collaboration across disciplines and innovation," said Dean Ilker Baybars. "As Carnegie Mellon graduates, we are confident that you are prepared for your future - in Qatar and across the world."

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Krzysztof Matyjaszewski, the J.C. Warner University Professor of Natural Sciences, has won the 2015 Dreyfus Prize in the Chemical Sciences.

The international prize awarded by the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation is given every two years to recognize accomplishments in different areas of chemistry. This year's prize, which consists of $250,000, a medal and a citation, is being presented for excellence in "Making Molecules and Materials." Matyjaszewski will receive the award at a ceremony and lecture held on campus in the fall.

Matyjaszewski is best known for developing atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), a process cited by the Dreyfus Foundation as being the most important advance in polymer synthesis in half a century.

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Venture capitalists, angel investors and CMU alumni entrepreneurs will assemble in Silicon Valley on May 12 for another installment of LaunchCMU, a showcase for tech startups, innovations and research.

This year's theme, "The Business of Learning," will feature efforts in improving education, including initiatives for technology-enhanced learning.

The schedule includes demos of new products and services, talks by founders of successful startups and CMU faculty members. Pitching their companies will be founders of Acrobatiq, Digital Dream Labs, Expii, Inc., Interstacks and Simcoach Games. Faculty members Emma Brunskill and Vincent Aleven will be revealing some of their groundbreaking research in educational technologies.

"LaunchCMU provides an exclusive opportunity for the startup companies from Carnegie Mellon to connect with investors and entrepreneurs in our innovation ecosystem," said Farnam Jahanian, vice president for research and provost-designate.

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Site preparation for the Tepper Quad project is scheduled to begin two days after commencement on Tuesday, May 19.

The work will entail digging a 28-foot deep trench across Forbes Avenue to bring utility lines from main campus to the Tepper Quad site at the Morewood parking lot.

The work will last through the summer causing traffic restrictions
along Forbes (one lane in each direction between Morewood Avenue and the Robert Mehrabian Collaborative Innovation Center) and pedestrian detours. Bus stops also will be affected.
 
Learn more about the site preparation
Find out more about the new Tepper School building

With one month to go before the DARPA Robotics Challenge finals, June 5- 6 in Pomona, Calif., CMU's Highly Intelligent Mobile Platform robot, or CHIMP, is in the final stages of training to compete against machines from 25 of the top robotics engineering centers around the world.

Standing 5 feet, 2 inches tall and weighing 400 pounds, the Tartan Rescue team's CHIMP, developed at the National Robotics Engineering Center, is preparing to navigate the physical tasks it must complete better and faster than its competitors to win the $2 million top prize.

In the finals, tethers will not be allowed to keep robots from falling, wireless communications between the robots and remote handlers will be reduced and a surprise task will be added just prior to the competition.

Cheer on CHIMP via Twitter @TartanRescue using #CMUteamCHIMP.

Find out more about CHIMP