September 3, Vol. 26, No. 9                                                                   
CMU Shines Among Most Powerful in Pittsburgh
President Subra Suresh
Pittsburgh Magazine's annual listing of the city's "50 Most Powerful People" includes many with CMU ties, led by President Subra Suresh who comes in at number 8.

"You don't get this high on the list without an astounding resume, and few can match that of Suresh," the magazine states. "His leadership and connections - in Washington, D.C., and internationally - will further leverage CMU's world-renowned reputation."

James Rohr
James Rohr, chairman of CMU's Board of Trustees, is number 15, followed by School of Computer Science Dean Andrew Moore at number 29. Entertainment Technology Center Professor and founder of Schell Games Jesse Schell is number 35. Computer Science Professor and alumnus Luis von Ahn is listed as a "future power broker."

Alumni among the top 50 include Rich Fitzgerald (#4), Rich Lunak (#11), Heather Arnet (#22), Joel Adams (#41), Scott Bricker (#42) and Andy Masich (#50). CMU grads listed among "future power brokers" are John Bares, Dan Gilman, Julie Pezzino and Luke Skurman.

Find out more.
Large Contingent Heading to Summer Davos
With 15 faculty members, several robots and Big Data demos, Carnegie Mellon will have one of the largest delegations of any university at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting of the New Champions, Sept. 9-11 in Dalian, China.
 
School of Computer Science Dean Andrew Moore will lead an IdeasLab on Machine Learning for Health on the opening day of the conference, often called Summer Davos. Justine Cassell, associate vice provost of technology strategy and impact and a member of the WEF's Global Agenda Council on Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, will moderate and participate in several panel discussions during the week.

Andy will be driven remotely from China.
Participants in a "Meet the Robots" exhibition will be able to remotely drive CMU's lunar rover, Andy, across the moon-like landscape of the LaFarge quarry in West Mifflin, Pa.

They also will see demos of CMU's dynamically balanced Ballbot and of virtual peer technology used to study social skills and learning methods.

The Robotics Institute's CREATE Lab, led by Illah Nourbakhsh, will make 20 presentations of its technology for visually exploring large databases, using a specially constructed, glass-enclosed room with a nine-screen video hyperwall.

Michael Tarr and Sophie Lebrecht, co-founders of CMU spinoff Neon Labs, will be recognized as 2015 Technology Pioneers. And Louis-Philippe Morency, assistant professor in the Language Technologies Institute, will be honored as a WEF Young Scientist, joining four previous CMU winners.

Find out more.
Alumni Ted Danson (left) and Patrick Wilson star in "Fargo."
Alumni Pack Primetime Punch This Fall

Nearly two dozen School of Drama alumni will play roles from superheroes to secretive interns in this fall's primetime TV lineup.

Some shows are packing a punch when it comes to alumni power. For instance, the new season of FX's award-winning series "Fargo," which premieres on Oct. 12, features three generations of Drama School alumni: Rachel Rye Keller, Patrick Wilson and Ted Danson.

Sutton Foster
and Dan Amboyer both star in the sitcom "Younger" and James Cromwell and Gaius Charles have roles in NBC's "Aquarius."

Get 7 Hours a Night; Your Health Depends on It 

Scientists have long associated sufficient sleep with good health. Now they've confirmed the connection.

Recent research by CMU's Sheldon Cohen and researchers from UC San Francisco and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center show that people who sleep six hours a night or less are more than four times more likely to catch a cold, compared to those who sleep more than seven hours in a night.

"It goes beyond feeling groggy or irritable," said Aric Prather of UCSF. "Not getting enough sleep affects your physical health."

Cohen's lab is renowned for using the common cold virus to safely test how various factors affect the body's ability to fight off disease.



Robots Star in National Geographic Documentary

HERB, the robot butler.
Carnegie Mellon's HERB, the robot butler, and CHIMP, the semi-humanoid that was one of the top finishers in the DARPA Robotics Challenge in June, share the silver screen with such robots as Honda's ASIMO and Boston Dynamics' Atlas in National Geographic Studio's latest film, "Robots."

The giant-screen documentary opens at the Rangos Omnimax Theater at the Carnegie Science Center on Sept. 4. HERB will be at the science center for a 21+ Nights Robots program on Sept. 18 and a day-long, all-age Robots Celebration on Sept. 19.

The movie features a dozen robots. It explores the state of the art of robotic design and engineering for human-like robots while addressing philosophical questions about how humans and robots will interact in the future.

Find out more.

See something? Say something. Help ensure the safety and well-being of the CMU community by calling:

University Police: 412-268-2323
Ethics Hotline: 1-877-700-7050

Priya Narasimhan spoke at the Connect Sports Marketplace in Pittsburgh last week.

Shelley Anna has received an NSF grant to explore ways to optimize capsules.

Albert Presto (above) and Laura Kelly (below) have been named to Pittsburgh Magazine's 40 Under 40 list.


10 faculty members have earned Google Research Awards

Obituary:

Joseph Traub was the former head of the Computer Science Department. 
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