Akhbar Fall 2009/Winter 2010

akhbar ‫أخبار‬ Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar Fall 2009/Winter 2010

Hala the bilingual

robot receptionist is on the job

Excellence. At Carnegie Mellon. + Business Administration + Computer Science + Information Systems

With more than a century of academic excellence and innovative research, Carnegie Mellon University is a global leader in education with real-world applications.

At the invitation of Qatar Foundation, Carnegie Mellon joined Education City in 2004. The campus is a key component of Carnegie Mellon’s continuing mission to provide students around the world with the highest level of knowledge and preparedness for a changing world.

To learn more, visit www.qatar.cmu.edu.

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akhbar‫أخبار‬ Features 10

Hala Carnegie Mellon Qatar’s robot receptionist reports to work.

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Engaging the Power of Art Carnegie Mellon Qatar incorporates art inside and outside its new building in Education City.

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Rolling...

Using filmmaking for computer science research.

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Dream Education A chance encounter leads student Ernest Appiah to his dream education.

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Advanced Learners Campus graduates are pursing master’s degrees.

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Remote Communication Sophomore Varun Arora takes his skills to the people of Niue.

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Departments From the Dean Growth is about imagination, intelligence and wonder.

Qatar News Read about all of the activities on campus.

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Pittsburgh Connection Gates and Hillman centers are as innovative as the people who work in them.

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Focus on Research Merging technologies: phones, computers and voice recognition.

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Spotlight on Business Administration Tepper students attend Asia Investment Banking Conference.

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Spotlight on Computer Science Promoting a culture of research.

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Spotlight on Information Systems Senior project aims to help treat diabetes.

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In Touch with Alumni Connect and reconnect for a lifelong relationship with Carnegie Mellon.

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Class Notes Find out what’s happening with alumni and current students.

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Around Education City Georgetown University is next to get its own building in Education City.

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akhbar‫أخبار‬

F

ormer U.S. President Ronald Reagan once said “there are no such things as limits to growth, because there are no limits to the human capacity for intelligence, imagination and wonder.”

Carnegie Mellon is very much an institution that believes just that. Our campus, as well as our university as a whole, continues to grow every day. The imagination and intelligence of our students, faculty and staff constantly bring new adventures to our campus.

Of course we’ve stopped growing physically: It’s a great relief to enjoy our building, and to enjoy staying in one place. I often point out that our building is as spectacular functionally as it is esthetically.

But we continue to grow in all the more important ways. As a member of the unique experience of Education City, Carnegie Mellon is always attracting new and diverse faculty; bringing in innovative speakers to talk with our students; and undertaking new projects in the community. At times it seems our capacity for growth is boundless.

More and more of our undergraduates are taking part in research.

It’s wonderful to see undergrads, grad students and post-docs side by side in our many research labs. That is what Carnegie Mellon is all about: acquiring and sharing knowledge.

It’s also great to see our faculty members continue their efforts in outreach programs for secondary school students. The interest from students and teachers grows every year. Our campus is beginning to reap the benefit of those programs as the number of applicants for Fall 2009 enrollment surged, and interest for Fall 2010 looks like another strong increase. We’ve also expanded our personal development programs to help our first-year students acclimate to university life.

The growth of our campus and our campus community is really obvious when you look at our students. They are honing their debating and discussion skills and learning how to present their research projects to a wide variety of audiences. Many students are applying their educations and skill sets in ways that help the less fortunate or those in need of better medical care.

We are continuing to see our Tartans transform from high school students to bright and talented young adults ready to conquer the world. Our alumni are taking on leading roles across various areas of the private sector as well as with the government, and we often see them back on campus as corporate recruiters. One of our graduates has earned recognition as a Top 30 Under 30: quite an accomplishment for a student only one year out of college.

A number of our students have decided their undergraduate degree does not quench their thirst for knowledge so they are pursuing graduate studies. Some chose to remain in the comfort of Carnegie Mellon and headed to our main campus to study, while others have applied to schools in other parts of the United States or in the European Union.

With our partners at Qatar Foundation, Carnegie Mellon Qatar’s intelligence, imagination and wonder grow more each day. Stay tuned.

My best wishes to you all,

Charles E. Thorpe, Dean 2 akhbar‫ أخبار‬Winter 2009/Spring 2010

A publication of Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar A member of Qatar Foundation P.O. Box 24866 | Doha, Qatar www.qatar.cmu.edu Dean Charles E. Thorpe, Ph.D. Marketing & Public Relations Department Director D. Murry Evans Departmental Coordinator Marissa Edulan Media Relations Manager Noha Al Afifi Web Manager Stephen MacNeil Manager of Special Events Kara Nesimiuk Publications Manager Andrea L. Zrimsek Editorial Board Chairperson Lynn R. Carter, Ph.D. Members Khaled Harras, Ph.D.; Starling Hunter III, Ph.D.; Gloria Khoury; Selma Limam Mansar, Ph.D.; Robert Mendelson; Charles E. Thorpe, Ph.D. Writers Darbi Roberts, Andrea L. Zrimsek Editor Andrea L. Zrimsek Photographs Shauki Alazzam, Khalid Ismail, Stephen MacNeil, Sylvie van Roey, www.photos.com Layout and design Andrea L. Zrimsek Mission Akhbar is the official publication of Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar. The mission of the magazine is to share the interesting and innovative stories that highlight the university and its role in the Gulf Region and the world.

For editorial inquires or reprints, contact the Marketing & Public Relations Department at +974 454 8492 Articles and photographs contained in this publication are subject to copyright protection.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission of the university.

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Tablet Technology

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hen the seventh-and eighthgrade students and their teachers at Qatar Academy were given Tablet PCs but no instruction on how to use them, school officials turned to Carnegie Mellon Qatar for help.

“The students and teachers were given the Tablets, but they didn’t have the technology to go along with them,” says Andreas Karatsolis, Ph.D., professor at Carnegie Mellon Qatar.

“If the students are given the technology, then the teachers need to learn how to use it to aid them in the classroom. That’s where we come in.

Carnegie Mellon has developed a lot of the types of applications used on Tablet PCs, so we are able teach the teachers to best ways to use the Tablet PCs to their advantage.”

Carnegie Mellon Pittsburgh is home to one of the leaders in Tablet PCs, computer science professor

Ananda Gunawardena, who has been developing Tablet PC applications such as MathWiz, Flashcards and Lemonsketch. These applications are free for the educational community, and Carnegie Mellon Qatar’s relationship with QA has expanded into trying to support them in using the applications in their classrooms.

So what makes a Tablet PC different from a regular laptop? Tablet PCs have screens that swivel around to lie flat like a tablet. The computer is equipped with a stylus and a screen that can capture ink strokes much like a pen to paper. Students can solve equations, draw and use most Microsoft Office tools. The computer can even decipher the most atrocious handwriting and turn it into text. But there is much more to what a Tablet PC can do.

“These machines can change the whole dynamic of the classroom.

They allow teachers to communicate constantly with students,” says Mark LeSurf, head of the technology department at QA. LeSurf says seventh and eighth grade is a good age to introduce this kind of technology because students are moving into a high level of thinking.

With a Tablet PC, there is no monitor blocking the student from the teacher’s line of sight, so students cannot be on Facebook or playing Halo during class.

Also, the Tablet PCs can be networked so assignments can be exchanged easily between teacher and students. QA has a wireless projector so teachers can project from their machine to the whole class, which LeSurf says keeps students more engaged.

The machine’s ability to capture information allows teachers to see what notes students take during a lecture, and monitor the progression of a student’s work on a math problem.

Capturing the math work is an important aspect of WeMath, a platform to help teachers and students collaborate on solving math problems instead of teachers just grading the final results.

Carnegie Mellon is trying to get funding for the WeMath project from Qatar National Research Fund. If a grant is secured in June, QA will be the site where Carnegie Mellon Qatar will do the background research – through collaborative design with the teachers – and evaluate the WeMath application over a three-year period.

“One of our goals is to integrate new technology into the classroom, and we are having positive responses from many teachers,” says LeSurf.

“With Carnegie Mellon’s help, many are already using the machines to change how they deliver their lessons.”

First-Year Programs Office

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reshman at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar now have a program to help them make the transition to university life and meet the rigorous demands of the curriculum.

The New First-Year Programs Office is developing a series of initiatives aimed at integrating new students into the university environment and ultimately becoming more successful at Carnegie Mellon.

“We are very excited about initiatWinter 2009//Spring 2010 akhbar‫ أخبار‬3

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ment to classroom learning. Through participation in research, student organizations, sports and community service projects, students learn cooperation, teamwork, responsibility, problem solving and communication.

Brain Bowl

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As part of the First-Year Experience Program, 71 first year students along with 24 faculty and staff members participated in a two-day event that focused on teambuilding and outdoor activities.

ing this new program to help first-year students get acclimated to their new life at university,” said Gloria Khoury, assistant dean for student affairs.

“First-year students encounter many first-time experiences – the first time living away from home, the first time in a coeducational environment, perhaps the first in the family to attend college. This can be overwhelming for some.”

One of the recent initiatives was the First-Year Experience Program, in which 71 first-year students and 24 faculty and staff participated.

The program was a two-day event focused on introducing the students to Carnegie Mellon and the student community, and establishing relationships with their professors and peer group through team building and outdoor activities.

“Not only was the program amazing, but it also strengthened the relationship between me and my classmates and professors. It was really helpful to get to know the others in case we were put into a group to work on a project — we would not need to 4 akhbar‫ أخبار‬Winter 2009/Spring 2010

take the time to introduce each other because we are now already friends,” says Hussain Hejji, a first-year business administration major.

Research has shown that such informal sessions outside the classroom enhance natural classroom learning, especially for first-year students. Students build trust with their professors, allowing them to feel more comfortable when interacting and participating in the classroom.

Another initiative launched by the New-First Year Programs Office is the Involvement Passport, a program that focuses on the importance of learning outside the classroom.

It encourages students to get involved in organizations, community service, health and wellness activities, leadership and professional development opportunities. When students complete an activity, they receive a passport stamp.

Carnegie Mellon Qatar’s curriculum emphasizes participation both inside and outside the classroom, encouraging student involvement in extracurricular activities as a comple-

tudents once again put their gray matter to the test at the fourth Brain Bowl competition. Started in the spring of 2008 by liberal arts and sciences professor Ben Reilly, Ph.D., Brain Bowl is a fun night of haphazard trivia for anyone at Carnegie Mellon Qatar.

“Trivia competitions are a fun thing to do at a university. As former head of the LAS department, I wanted to create aspects of college that exist at much older institutions,” Reilly says. “I also aim to raise the profile of LAS.” Brain Bowl questions came from a broad range of liberal arts topics including math, English, philosophy, history, foreign languages and the classics. Students answer questions as teams and as individuals. Reilly says the questions are posed in a Trivial Pursuit-style with the majority being open-ended and only a few being multiple choice.

Reilly comes up with the majority of the questions on his own or from scouring the Internet. Other LAS faculty members also submit questions in their areas of expertise.

The number of contestants as well as audience members has been increasing each term, with about 80 people attending in November. In addition to the competitive nature and academic aspect of the game, Brain Bowl, or the “eating of the minds” as Reilly calls it, also fosters community building across the student body.

And, since audience members also can get called on to answer questions, everyone present gets caught up in the action.

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Interest Increases

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arnegie Mellon Qatar experienced a huge surge in applications for Fall 2009 enrollment.

Applications for admission increased by 70% over last year. In total, 1086 applications were submitted for Fall 2009 enrollment, compared with a previous record high of 657 applications for Fall 2008 enrollment.

Ninety-nine students enrolled compared to 67 for the Fall of 2008.

Bryan Zerbe, director of admission, credits the dramatic increase to several factors including the addition of the Information Systems major, the opening of the Carnegie Mellon building in Education City and the steady growth of the high school outreach programs.

“Our pre-college programs such as BOTBALL, IbtikarQatar, Summer College Preview Program, CS4Qatar and the High School Programming Competition are very effective in introducing high school students to our programs and helping them understand what is required to gain admission,” says Zerbe. “We are beginning to reap the benefits.”

Applications were split almost 50/50 among men and women with 555 applications from women and 531 from men. Qatari nationals accounted for 398 of the applications while the remaining 688 were submitted by various other nationalities.

Applications for admission to Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar for the 2009-2010 academic year increased by

70%

A new focus on increasing academic quality is contributing to the excellence of applicants as well, Zerbe says. Unlike six years ago when Carnegie Mellon Qatar first hit the ground, more potential students now know about the SAT exam and when they need to take it. They also know more about the competitive admission process and the different majors offered.

Senior business administration major Saad Al-Matwi receives the Student Service Award from Carnegie Mellon University President Jared Cohon. Al-Matwi is the fourth Carnegie Mellon Qatar student to earn the prestigious award.

An increase in face-to-face contact played a pivotal role in 2009. The admission staff members are regularly making school visits, hosting campus visits, holding admission sessions, attending college fairs and talking with high school counselors.

“To be successful you have to adapt to the market. Direct mail is huge in the U.S. but it’s not an option here. Face-to-face contact is more important in Qatar than in the U.S.,” Zerbe says. Electronic communication also has been a much larger part of the equation.

The Office of Admission switched the interview policy in 2009 so that all potential students are given the opportunity to have an interview by March 1. This was done to match policy at Carnegie Mellon Pittsburgh.

Interest in Carnegie Mellon Qatar is branching out geographically as well. The undergraduate student body is now made up of 34 nationalities including students from Azerbaijan, Tunisia, Germany, Italy and Hungary.

More and more international students are applying for admission and moving to Qatar for the sole purpose of attending Carnegie Mellon.

As more and more graduates enter the workplace and Carnegie Mellon’s name recognition continues to grow, Zerbe expects the number of applications to continue to increase from Qatar and the entire region.

Student Service Award

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enior business administration major Saad Al-Matwi is the fourth Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar student to receive the Student Service Award. Presented by the Carnegie Mellon Alumni Association, Student Service Awards are given to no more than six students per year.

No more than two awards may be bestowed to students from any one college, and this year only five awards were granted throughout the entire University.

“What makes Saad extremely impressive is how he has combined a high level of academic accomplishment with strong involvement in all areas of campus life,” says John Robertson, Ph.D., assistant dean for academic affairs at Carnegie Mellon Qatar.

“Saad has always been a fine student, earning Dean’s List Honors in Winter 2009//Spring 2010 akhbar‫ أخبار‬5

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three semesters, while maintaining a high QPA as a business administration major.”

The criteria for winning the award are that the students possess a record of “an exemplary balance of outstanding academics and participation in extra-curricular activities - while providing exceptional service to the University, the student body and/or community.”

Al-Matwi began the 2009-2010 academic year as president of the Carnegie Mellon Business Association and was elected student body president. He was not only elected president but formed a party that ran and was subsequently elected to all open government positions.

Al-Matwi reinforces his leadership status with his willingness to work as an individual in such significant projects as Habitat for Humanity, says Robertson, who submitted Al-Matwi for nomination.

Al-Matwi views the award not as an honor for his past accomplishments, rather a reason to further drive himself to do more for the University, the community and the world as a whole. “Carnegie Mellon is really a great university that knows how to push its students beyond their boundaries in order to reach their full potential.”

In 2008 Mohammed Abu Zeinab (BA09) was the recipient of the Student Service Award, and in 2007 Noor Al-Athirah (BA08) and Jinanne Tabra (BA08) were both recipients.

Outreach Events Grow

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arnegie Mellon has always taken pride in leading outreach events that positively impact the local community. This tradition continues in Doha with the steady growth of IbtikarQatar and CS4Qatar.

IbtikarQatar is the Information Systems innovation competition for high school seniors and juniors, while CS4Qatar is the series of Computer Science workshops for computer science educators and students.

Ibtikar, the Arabic word for innovation, was created as a holistic approach to service learning where high school students solve a real-world issue using information technology.

The theme of this year’s competition is using information systems to help 6 akhbar‫ أخبار‬Winter 2009/Spring 2010

Participation in high school outreach events such as IbtikarQatar (pictured above) and CS4Qatar continues to grow.

diabetic patients better manage their chronic illness.

“We selected this theme because of the dramatic increase in the incidence of diabetes in Qatar and around the world in the recent years. We felt we could make a difference by raising young adults’ awareness on this health issue,” says Selma Limam Mansar, Ph.D., information systems program coordinator at Carnegie Mellon Qatar.

This year, 100 students from 11 schools attended Ibtikar. Teachers joined a separate workshop led by Randy Weinberg, director of the information systems program at Carnegie Mellon Pittsburgh. This is the second year for IbtikarQatar.

Interest in computer science also keeps growing. CS4Qatar for Teachers targets computer science educators in Qatar. The workshop focused on helping teachers develop computer science curricula for high school students.

Teachers discussed how to design curricula, increase engagement and raise the awareness level of technology and computer science.

“Most first computer science courses – both at the high school and university level – tend to focus on programming skills and not on enduring computer science concepts. This workshop discusses ongoing work at Carnegie Mellon and other institutions, as well as ways to inject more

computer science concepts into initial courses,” says Mark Stehlik, assistant dean for undergraduate education in the Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science.

The demand for such development workshops for teachers is steadily increasing across Qatar. There were 55 applicants from 27 schools, a significant increase over prior years.

The hope is that, by connecting with teachers and raising their awareness of the advances in computer science and technology, Carnegie Mellon will extend its impact further down to the students and ultimately transform their learning experience to better suit the future needs of Qatar.

Pizza & Politics

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ngaging in open dialogue about current events, world news and campus hot topics may be commonplace in the Unites States, but in Doha it’s still a relatively new idea. To encourage students to explore intellectual discussions, Student Affairs at Carnegie Mellon Qatar created Pizza and Politics in 2007. Held several times each semester, the lunchtime discussions are one of the most well-

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attended campus activities attracting undergraduates, faculty and staff.

“In a university setting, students are exposed to lots of different ideas.

Pizza and Politics is a good platform for students to learn and understand each others’ perspectives,” says Jill Duffy, student development coordinator at Carnegie Mellon Qatar.

Topics range from Arab women in the media and free expression to the bachelor ban in Doha and the 2008 U.S. presidential election. A facilitator kicks off the discussion by offering key points, then encourages everyone to offer opinions, ask questions or share experiences. Student Affairs typically comes up with the topics, however students do suggest ideas.

The aim is to keep a balance between global, local and campus issues.

With a student body of made up of 34 nationalities and faculty and staff from upwards of 25 countries, understanding what makes everyone different is extremely valuable. Duffy says students tend to come to discussions with a very black-and-white perspective but soon realize most issues are not so cut-and-dried.

“Pizza and Politics gives our students a chance to understand the intricacy of diversity. It’s not just about religion, nationality or skin color.

There are multiple layers of complexity and many things in each person’s life that influences their way of seeing things. These events allow students to see many other sides and they also encourage critical thinking.”

Between 40-70 people typically attend each event. While a few come solely for the free pizza, most come to engage in the discussion or just listen to what is being said. Sessions are limited to a tight hour due to the class schedule, however the conversation often keeps going on long after the hour ends.

Environmental Talk

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he entire freshman class at Carnegie Mellon Qatar treated sixth and seventh graders at Qatar Academy to interactive presentations on sustainability as the culmination of the Introduction to Academic Reading and Writing course.

The aim of the course is to engage first year students in creating and sharing knowledge with their com-

Bridging the Digital Divide “As an increasingly global society continues to bring us together, it is no longer the digital divide that separates us; rather, the language divide,” Alex Waibel told a packed lecture hall in Qatar.

Over the years, mobile and communication technologies have made it possible to get more and more people connected across the globe. People in rural villages now have cellular phones and Internet access, and free services such as Skype are making international calling routine.

However, all the technology in the world cannot help foster communication if there is no common language.

And speech-to-speech technologies enabling effective interpersonal communication among people who do not share the same spoken language are still being developed.

Waibel, a computer science professor at the Language Technology Institute at Carnegie Mellon and the Institute of Anthropomatics at the University of Karlsruhe, visited Carnegie Mellon Qatar to discuss technology solutions to communication challenges we face in today’s world where societies do not yet share a common global language.

“Forcing uniformity in language is neither realistic nor desirable with the beauty and individuality of each language and culture. There are technology solutions available that maintain cultural diversity while enabling the integration, communication and col-

munity and the world as a whole.

Reading and writing are at the core of creating that knowledge.

“For the purposes of the course, students needed to research a topic and craft a message for an audience based on what they learned. We wanted this to be more than just an academic task completed for the sake of practice, however,” says Dudley Reynolds, Ph.D., liberal arts faculty member at Carnegie Mellon Qatar.

“We asked our students, therefore, to focus on envi-

laboration of the modern world.”

The goal of the translation technologies Waibel discussed in his lecture is to overcome critical language barriers in the real world to enable effective collaboration and understanding.

Waibel presented some of these speech communication technologies including a computer dialog translator for laptops, a road sign translator and a system that translates academic lectures in real time. He also demonstrated an iPhone application where English language dialog was simultaneously translated into Spanish.

“Using technology to interpret the language is fundamental to bridging the language divide,” says Waibel. “We are developing tools to make language differences transparent in order to help human beings communicate better with each other.”

ronmental and sustainability issues because of the direct relevance to future generations; we then asked them to figure out a way to make these issues meaningful to a real audience of sixth and seventh graders.”

During the Fall 2009 semester, teams of students produced an interactive presentation related to various environmental sustainability topics that were assigned by their professors. The presentation had to include descriptions of references the QA students can use to learn more about specific aspects of the topic.

Winter 2009//Spring 2010 akhbar‫ أخبار‬7

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Working on the presentations required a lot of research and helped the 89 Carnegie Mellon Qatar students build many other skills needed for success in university life.

“I learned about communication, teamwork and how to collaborate on a final presentation,” says freshman business administration major Nahan Arif. “More importantly, I had to learn how to convey the message in a simple way so the students would understand the importance of sustainability and taking care of the environment.”

Teaching English

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nglish teachers from secondary and post-secondary schools in Qatar gathered for a networking event co-organized by Carnegie Mellon Qatar and Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar.

“English Teaching Excellence for Qatar: The Transition to College” was organized to focus attention on guiding students through the transition from secondary-to university-level English reading, writing and speaking.

ETE-Q 2009 featured a keynote address on Academic English by University of Maryland professor Jodi Crandall, Ph.D. Crandall is the former president of both TESOL, the largest international professional organization for teachers of English

to speakers of other languages, and the American Association for Applied Linguistics.

“It is crucial for us at the college level to know what English high school teachers are doing to prepare students for college and for them to know what the expectations, objectives and outcomes are at the college level,” says Silvia Pessoa, Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon professor.

The conference was organized around panel presentations by invited representatives from institutions at the secondary, pre-university and university levels as well as poster presentations on “ideas that work” at each level.

English teachers from the secondary and post-secondary levels, along with administrators and policy makers involved in English language instruction, attended.

“The event was designed to introduce all stakeholders interested in improving English language teaching in the State of Qatar to what other teachers are doing in different institutions,” according to Alan S. Weber, Ph.D., of Weill Cornell.

“Networking and professional development of English teachers in Qatar need more attention, and this conference will provide opportunities for teachers to discuss and debate best practices.”

Carnegie Mellon Qatar and Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar co-organized a networking event for secondary and post-secondary schools in Qatar.

8 akhbar‫ أخبار‬Winter 2009/Spring 2010

HR Tracker

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uman resources departments in Qatar have a wide variety of critical information to keep track of for their diverse employees. Most use spreadsheets, various systems and telephone calls to track dates for visa renewal, vehicle registration, residence permits and other key documents.

Knowing there had to be a better way, Carnegie Mellon Qatar’s HR department worked with business administration professor of entrepreneurship George White, Ph.D., to develop a technologically superior solution.

HR Tracker is a system that keeps track of all critical documentation and generates automatic e-mails prior to expiration dates. “This way, we can renew them in appropriate time,” says Erin Stewart, director of Human Resources at Carnegie Mellon Qatar.

“This systems allows us to be more proactive and not reactive.”

Which is important when a company’s employee base is mostly made up of expatriates.

In addition to the automated reminders, White says the main aspect that makes HR Tracker so appealing is that all data is stored in “the cloud.” This means instead of sitting on one computer (silo) or only being accessible on the university’s LAN, the information is housed on a server that can be accessed from any browser on any computer.

HR employees just need a password to retrieve information from any computer. The State of Qatar is moving more services online, which also is helping streamline the HR process at Carnegie Mellon Qatar.

White took the application to Qatar Foundation’s headquarters, where it was immediately recognized as a solution to their current situation of having two separate databases.

Having two systems made it hard to bridge and mutually update information before expirations occurred.

QF is not alone in its situation.

White says a lot of organizations in Qatar are set up with their information in silos rather than in clouds, and that many could benefit from the HR Tracker system.

Qatar The technology has been licensed to Carnegie Mellon, which is now using it for free. Additionally, Georgetown School of Foreign Service in Qatar has expressed interested in purchasing the technology. White has set up a local company in Qatar to begin selling HR Tracker to other companies in Qatar.

The Apprentice Year 3

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oney, money, money, money… money. Year three of “The Apprentice” was all about making money. And lots of it. In the third version of the American reality television program, students at Carnegie Mellon Qatar had one week to see if they had what it takes to succeed in business.

Instead of being given seed money as in past years, each of the 10 teams was given capital in the form of a bag containing calculators, markers and T-shirts. Teams sold some of the items; wore the shirts; and found other ways to generate revenue including selling food and making collages.

The four top teams made it to round 2, where they had to develop a three-minute silent video to promote entrepreneurship to children. The winning team realized children would have trouble grasping the idea of entrepreneurship, so they refrained from using the word and created a simple movie that incorporated the Cinderella theme. “‘The Apprentice’ is a great competition that challenges us to manage our time, multi-task and work with others to share ideas. We were able to learn new marketing skills, direct children in a movie and work in a diverse team,” says winning team member Maria Khan, business administration freshman. Other members of the winning team were Sara Abbas and Sarah Allouba, also first-year business administration majors.

The winning team took home QR 3000 ($822). The second place team split QR 1000 ($274). Carnegie Mellon Business Association organizes “The Apprentice” every year.

CMBA is a student organization that aims to cultivate the strongest business students in the region, immerse business minds in a business culture and establish long-term relationships with the business community.

Tom Emerson joins campus

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ost people probably can’t remember life before interactive voice response technology, which is when you call somewhere – your bank, for example – and touch-tone your personal information. The computer then detects your voice and keypad inputs and begins giving you information.

While the technology is so ubiquitous it feels like it’s always been there, it was actually the creation of Carnegie Mellon Qatar professor S. Thomas Emerson nearly 40 years ago. This technology is one of the many ideas Emerson developed during his 30-year career before joining the University in May 2000 as director of the Donald H. Jones Center for Entrepreneurship in the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon Pittsburgh.

Emerson joined Carnegie Mellon to share his vast knowledge of entrepreneurship with undergraduate and graduate business students. He also accepted the position to play a part in the rebirth of the City of Pittsburgh after the steel industry dried up.

In 2006 Emerson stepped down as director of the Jones Center to focus on teaching. In August 2009 he signed a three-year contract with Carnegie Mellon Qatar to teach entrepreneurship courses to undergraduate students in Doha.

“I helped to transform Pittsburgh in my years there, so I looked at Qatar and thought it would be an ever-bigger challenge. It’s a whole country,” says Emerson. “Plus the idea of living abroad seemed new and exciting and different.”

Even before signing on full-time in Qatar, Emerson was already a fixture in Education City. He has been one of the instructors in the Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program since its inception in the fall of 2007. Held in conjunction with Qatar Science and Technology Park, the CIEP teaches entrepreneurship to business professionals in Qatar.

Successful at starting new companies, Emerson holds three U.S. patents and a number of foreign patents. In 1973 he was named Inventor of the Year by the U.S. Patent Office, and, in 1986 was named an entrepreneurial fellow of the University of Arizona. He also was named Arizona’s High-Technology Entrepreneur of the Year By Inc. Magazine and was Arizona’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 1990.

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10 akhbar‫ أخبار‬Winter 2009/Spring 2010

Hala reports for duty

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he’s got blue hair, bright red lips and an attitude to match.

She’s Hala and she’s your bilingual robot receptionist.

While Carnegie Mellon Qatar’s newest employee may not be on the payroll, she is having quite an impact on campus.

“Hala is giving us a look into the future: at automation and technology,” says Yasser Masood, senior information systems major. “Robots are everywhere in the industrial world and now Hala is part of our regular life. You can’t buy her but you can interact with her.”

Dressed in a smart navy jacket and Carnegie Mellon scarf, Hala is ready to answer questions in both English and Arabic. You type a question, and she’ll say the answer aloud. She can give directions to an office or a classroom, tell you where to get a cup of coffee or just chit chat about her life in Doha.

When she is feeling bored, Hala even reaches out and tries to initiate conversations with passersby.

Hala is a robot receptionist designed to explore algorithms for human robot interaction in a mixed cultural setting.

She is not your typical robot; quite the opposite. She speaks formal Arabic and American English with no local dialect.

She has a personal background and personality unique to her.

Talk to her and you’ll learn about her travels, and perhaps something about Qatar and the Middle East in the process. But don’t waste her time with boring questions because rumor is she’s quite short-tempered.

Carnegie Mellon is the only place in Qatar to “employ” a robot, however se-

nior systems scientist Brett Browning, Ph.D., is hoping that will change. “As the technology matures, robots will have a profound impact on industry through helping those that need assistance such as the visually impaired.

At the Qri8 lab we are working on fundamental technology to make this vision a reality,” says Browning.

Hala, which means hello in all Arabic dialects, is the next generation of Marion “Tank” LaFleur, the roboceptionist at the Robotics Institute in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon Pittsburgh. Hala is built using the same foundations as Tank, but was given a bilingual element to make her culturally relevant.

Hala is a product of the Qri8 lab and is funded by a Qatar National Research Fund grant. The project is a collaboration between computer science professors Majd Sakr, Ph.D., and Browning in Qatar, and Robotics Institute Professor Reid Simmons in Pittsburgh.

Hala also involves three research staff – Imran Fanaswala, Ameer Abdulsalaam and Wael Al Ghazzawi – along with a number of undergraduate students.

The goals of the project are focused on improving Hala’s perception and dialogue capabilities. In the near future, Browning says Hala will have much more engaging conversation skills and may undergo Qatar’s first robot makeover.

So, next time you’re in the Carnegie Mellon Qatar Building, stop by and say hello or marhaba.

Winter 2009//Spring 2010 akhbar‫ أخبار‬11

“Tawila Al-Hasa” (left) is a permanent art piece outside the west entrance of the Carnegie Mellon Qatar Building. Created by Hassan bin Mohammed, “Tawila Al-Hasa” represents a currency used in the Gulf and neighboring areas linked by trade relations such an India. Its name was given because the pieces were minted in the town of Al-Hasa.

12 akhbar‫ أخبار‬Winter 2009/Spring 2010

Engaging the power of ART The intersection of art and technology is a powerful space where Carnegie Mellon University shines.

The University’s home campus in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. is home to numerous art installations and its public spaces attract high-caliber artists who employ various mediums. That concept carries over into Doha, even though academic art programs are not offered at Carnegie Mellon Qatar. continued on next page

Winter 2009//Spring 2010 akhbar‫ أخبار‬13

continued from previous page

Carnegie Mellon Qatar incorporates art inside and outside its building Above, Carnegie Mellon professor and artist Doug Cooper created a mural entitled “Memory Between Desert and Sea.” With assistance from artists Sarah Cooper and Nina Gorfer, Cooper developed the 3-D piece as a thank you gift to Her Highness Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, chairperson of Qatar Foundation. Above right, colorful pieces from artist Ali Hassan hang in the VIP majlis area.

At right, Arabic calligraphy peers through metallic windows of an art installation.

14 akhbar‫ أخبار‬Winter 2009/Spring 2010

Art was a critical part of the initial design concept of the new Carnegie Mellon building in Education City.

From the initial drawings, Mexican architects Legorreta+Legorreta were looking at places where art could enhance the surrounding.

Legorreta+Legorreta has incorporated art into several of its buildings all over the world, and Qatar would be no different.

“Our basic thinking was ‘how can we find ways to use art to enrich the environment for everyone in Education City,’” says Kevin Lamb, assistant dean for planning at Carnegie Mellon Qatar.

As a result, Carnegie Mellon’s building is alive with permanent art pieces and has plenty of space for temporary displays. The natural light that fills the building is ideal for viewing art, as are the colorful spaces, winding corridors and water features both inside and outside of the structure. A track lighting system has

been installed in various locations to highlight art and design pieces.

Near the east entrance of the building, Qatar Foundation commissioned artist Hassan bin Mohammed to create a piece he calls Tawila Al-Hasa or twisted hasa. This soaring green element represents a currency used in the Gulf and neighboring areas centuries ago.

Inside the building, a mural by Carnegie Mellon professor Doug Cooper spans several walls along one of the main corridors. Cooper’s mural, Memory Between Desert and Sea, depicts Qatar at this amazing time of transformation. The mural is a gift from the University to Her Highness Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, chairperson of Qatar Foundation.

The VIP Suite features several stunning displays including large colorful murals by artist Ali Hassan on one wall and metallic art featuring classic Arabic calligraphy on the other.

The majlis area of the suite features Baccarat crystal and art on loan from

the Arab Museum of Modern Art. The suite itself feels like living art, with various hues and woods fit for the dignitaries who visit.

Seeing that art was becoming a focal point of the new campus, in 2008 Lamb headed up the creation of an art committee to begin looking at art options for the building. The committee also set out to lay groundwork for interpreting art policies from the Pittsburgh to the community in Qatar.

Qatar Foundation is creating a rich environment of architecture in Education City. Each university building has elements of art reflective of home campuses in the United States but still culturally apt.

Each piece of art in the Carnegie Mellon building is thought of as an extension of the design of the magnificent structure, which Lamb says is a piece of art itself.

“Our intention is to respect the building and the community and use the spaces in a way that highlights the design of the building as well as featuring the unique pieces of art.”

Winter 2009//Spring 2010 akhbar‫ أخبار‬15

16 akhbar‫ أخبار‬Winter 2009/Spring 2010

ROLLING....

Filmmaking in computer science research

F

inding a way for his students to accurately gather data and represent it in a compelling way was a challenge for computer science professor Lynn Carter, Ph.D. “Data analysis is all about understanding the client’s needs and wants with data that is as accurate and complete as it can be. You then must be able to present those findings to the development team in a compelling way, or why bother with all of the analysis.”

When it came to his Software Engineering course, Carter decided to employ a new technique: film making. In the spirit of interdisciplinarity, Carter teamed up with independent documentary filmmaker Isabelle Carbonell to use ethnographic film techniques in his classroom.

“Print documentation is not the most compelling tool you can use, especially in this culture. So we’re trying new methods and techniques such as film,” he says. Web sites such as YouTube have made videography a part of daily life and an important means by which data can be captured and presented.

“Film provides a much more engaging way of getting information. In the course of talking to someone and asking them questions, you may hit on a whole new point. Film making can present information in a more dynamic and interesting way that has the potential to retain aspects of the ‘why’ as well as the ‘what’ of the core data,” says Carter.

This is where Carbonell comes in. Students in the class can benefit from her years of experience in documentary filmmaking in Vietnam, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, India, the United States and Qatar.

She is able to teach them how to capture data on film, how to communicate across cultures and how to ask probing questions that will yield good data. These are skills you can’t learn from a book, Carter says.

One student in Carter’s course came up with an idea to create an iPhone application to make

museum visits better. She reasoned that, by using the GPS function she could better guide the visitors. Along their tour, visitors could use a “favorite” tool to share their opinion and use the results from previous visitors to know which parts of the exhibition are currently popular. If time is short, visitors could let the tool know what interests them and let the tool propose a set of mini-tours within the museum.

The student set out with a camera to the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha to talk to its curators to see if the iPhone technology could help them. Following Carbonell’s instruction, the student also talked to patrons about their experiences and what would make their visit more enjoyable.

“A lot of background and research is needed before you can develop software. By interviewing real people, students can get answers to questions they may not have even thought of.

This method is very interactive and may take you away from your preconceived idea of what was needed,” says Carbonell.

“Sometimes you have to experience a moment several times and, then, only after repeated viewings does the real message come through.

Film makes it much easier for people to gain unexpected insights from interviews than is possible from written words in a notebook.”

After all of the video data was gathered, the students had to produce a short film to serve as the beginning of their analysis. Carbonell says this type of research is qualitative, not quantitative, the latter of the two being more typical in computer science research at Carnegie Mellon.

Carter originally came up with the ethnographic film idea last year while researching for a grant proposal and finding how effective the tool can be to enhance data gathering and understanding. “To the best of my knowledge, this has never been done in this type of course, at least not at the undergraduate level.”

His class is the pilot effort in the merging of computer science and ethnographic filmmaking, but Carter hopes to make it a standard part of the curriculum.

Winter 2009//Spring 2010 akhbar‫ أخبار‬17

DREAM EDUCATION A chance meeting helped make Ghanian student Ernest Appiah’s dream come true.

18 akhbar‫ أخبار‬Winter 2009/Spring 2010

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rowing up in western Ghana, Ernest Appiah dreamed of one day getting a master’s degree in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University.

However, being from a poor rural area of the peaceful African country, he thought it would never be more than a fantasy.

After high school Appiah, the oldest of six children, worked for many years to help his parents support the large family. With money from a job and several thousand dollars in scholarships, he was able to enroll as an undergraduate at Ashesi University in Accra studying computer science, a field he was always interested in. He was the first member of his family to go to college.

One day at university, the student affairs department asked for volunteers to share their stories with a group of university students who would be visiting on a service trip. So Appiah signed up.

“When the students arrived I saw one had a T-shirt that said ‘Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar’ so I asked him about it. He told me it was the same program as in the U.S., it’s just a branch campus,” says Appiah. “I had no idea Carnegie Mellon was in Qatar.”

Appiah had no idea that T-shirt would change his life. The 24-year-old spent time with the Carnegie Mellon Qatar students who were in Ghana to work with Habitat for Humanity.

He began to think about applying but knew he could not afford the tuition. Carnegie Mellon students assured him that Qatar Foundation could assist him financially if he were to gain admission, so he registered for the ACT and sent in his application.

“Then one day I got the admission letter. I was so happy,” says Appiah, though his family did not have the same reaction at first. “They asked where the university was and I told them Qatar. They did not know exactly where Qatar was but they were disturbed that it was in the Middle East.”

Appiah reassured his family, relaying stories Carnegie Mellon Qatar student affairs staff

members told him about life in Doha. “When I arrived here and called my parents, the first questions they asked were ‘How are the people?’ and ‘Is it peaceful there?’” He reassured them that Qatar was safe and peaceful, though it was much hotter than he expected.

Appiah was a rising junior at Ashesi, but transferred into the computer science program at Carnegie Mellon as a sophomore. He lives in a dormitory in Education City and has a parttime job on campus that enables him to send money to his family in Ghana so his younger siblings can stay in school. He is hoping to send enough money for his family to move from their rural farming village into the city, where there are more opportunities for work and school.

But sending money back home is not the only way Appiah wants to help his country. He has begun efforts to start a book drive to send books from Doha to Ghana to help foster education for young people in his country.

“Education is really important. Back in Ghana families didn’t used to understand that, but now they do. Those who have an education make a good living,” he says. “I want to do everything I can to help.”

Appiah got the idea for the book drive after witnessing students disposing of or even burning books at the end of semesters. He knew those books could be invaluable to students in Ghana who seek a better life. The challenge, he says, is not collecting the books; it’s finding an affordable way to ship them. He is seeking sponsors and hoping to enlist help from Qatar Foundation, which he credits for making his education possible.

When he finishes his undergraduate degree in Qatar, Appiah still hopes to fulfill his dream of earning a master’s degree at Carnegie Mellon Pittsburgh. After that, he is open to whatever the future holds. He would like to return to Ghana to start a business or perhaps use his degree to work in the oil industry.

Whatever field he chooses to work in, Appiah will remain committed to helping others get the same life-changing education he is getting.

“I had no idea Carnegie Mellon was in Qatar.”

Winter 2009//Spring 2010 akhbar‫ أخبار‬19

Advanced

Learners

Carnegie Mellon Qatar graduates pursuing masterís degrees

the Robotics Institute in the School of Computer Science. While leaving family and friends in Doha was difficult, Alismail knew the University’s flagship campus in Pittsburgh had a lot to offer.

“There are a lot of opportunities on a larger university campus. I have access to more faculty and more research. I can learn things in Pittsburgh and bring that knowledge back to Doha,” says Alismail, who is now considering continuing on to earn a Ph.D. Alismail is one of several of Carnegie Mellon Qatar’s 67 graduates to pursue and advanced degree.

Members of both the Class of 2008 and Class of 2009 have chosen to attend graduate school, some at Carnegie Mellon and others at universities around the United States and in the United Kingdom.

“Grad school is a great way to provide more specific knowledge and training in a field a student has identified as wanting to lean more about,” says John Robertson, Ph.D., assistant dean for academic affairs at Carnegie Mellon Qatar.

“I can learn things in Pittsburgh and bring that knowledge back to Doha.”

Hatem Alismail, pictured in the new Gates Center, is working on a master’s degree in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon Pittsburgh. Alismail graduated from Carnegie Mellon Qatar in May 2009.

T

oward the end of his sophomore year at Carnegie Mellon Qatar, Hatem Alismail (CS 09) began thinking about graduate school. “I took my first robotics course and began doing research. I knew right then I wanted to learn more about robotics and the only way to do that was to pursue more studies.”

His robotics professors M. Bernardine Dias, Ph.D., and Brett Browning, Ph.D., fueled his passion for pursing a master’s degree and even helped him navigate the application process.

Soon after graduating in May 2009, Alismail headed to Pittsburgh, where he is a master’s student at

20 akhbar‫ أخبار‬Winter 2009/Spring 2010

Anum Bashir (BA 08) also picked up and headed to Pittsburgh to earn a graduate degree. An American raised in Qatar, Bashir saw continuing her education as a way to pursue her interest in communication and information design.

“Grad school seemed like the obvious next step for me,” says Bashir, who recently completed a Master of Arts in professional writing, concentrating on communication and information design. “A master’s degree obviously juices up a resume. A combination of internships and further academic study allows an individual to gain expertise in their area of interest,” she adds.

Having support from their families was a crucial part in making the decision to attend grad school for both Alismail and Bashir. Alismail’s father was especially excited because he preferred his son take the path of continuing education instead of going to work right away. For Bashir, it was scholarship money that helped her parents warm up to the idea of heading to the United States to continue her studies.

“Graduate school was a great decision for me. I feel like I've grown as a person in that I have solidified my ideal of what I would like to pursue as a career.

The multicultural people I have met here have made my experience extremely memorable, enjoyable and rewarding,” says Bashir, who is planning on moving to New York City to pursue a career in advertising.

As the campus in Doha matures, more and more undergraduate students are expressing interest in attending graduate school, an idea Robertson says can never come too early.

REMOTE communication Sophomore Varun Arora lends his skills to the people of Niue

“We talked about going to a country where people are suffering and putting in technology to help. What can be better than that?”

Varun Arora (above right) information systems sophomore Carnegie Mellon Qatar

Winter 2009//Spring 2010 akhbar‫ أخبار‬21

Sophomore Varun Arora has been inspired by the “One Laptop Per Child” program for years.

S

ophomore information systems major Varun Arora has always been interested in the One Laptop Per Child program, a non-profit effort that seeks to create educational opportunities for the world’s poorest children by providing each child with a computer. The program was even the topic of his admission essay to Carnegie Mellon.

“Everything for me revolves around this,” says Arora. “Technology has reached great heights but it’s not being used in the right areas. It needs to be used in developing countries.”

While enrolled in the Global Issues, Local Solutions course, Arora’s interest in making a difference in a global problem increased even more. “We talked about going to a country where people are suffering and putting in technology to help. What can be better than that?”

So Arora signed up for a program in which students spend 10 weeks in a country underserved by technology and use their skills to make a difference.

Arora and a senior math major from Carnegie Mellon Pittsburgh were selected to spend most of their summer in Niue, a small island nation off the coast of New Zealand.

In 2008, an organization went to Niue and provided every student with a laptop, making it the first nation to achieve the One Laptop Per Child goal, although Arora reminds people – tongue in 22 akhbar‫ أخبار‬Winter 2009/Spring 2010

Above, a map shows Niue’s proximity to New Zealand. Above right, Arora poses with a Niuean man. On the preceding page, Arora and information systems professor Randy Weinberg enjoy the natural beauty of the island nation of Niue.

cheek – that it was only 500 children. There was one problem though: The organization provided the machines and a few workshops, then left.

“They set up a network but gave no support or guidance. It’s not just about providing technology; you have to make it sustainable. You need support

NIUE FACTS -1,400 residents - 270 square kilometers - 25 percent of the country is virgin rain forest - Smallest self-governing country in the world - Size of Washington, DC - 14 villages around perimeter - 1,500 miles from New Zealand - Native language is Niuean - One plane arrives from Auckland per week, stays one hour and goes back - Can drive coast to coast in 20 minutes, and entire perimeter in 2 hours - Can see airport runway on Google Earth - All supplies arrive via cargo vessel every few weeks

and maintenance, and you need to adopt it to the local culture,” says Arora. Adding to that, there is only one Niuean who knows how to repair computers and Arora is more skilled.

Working for the Ministry of Education, Arora networked all of the computers and set up an open-source blackboard systems called Moodle for teachers and students. Before this system, students would actually hand their laptops to their teachers to correct their assignments.

Arora says simple tools such as e-mail and flash drives were not being used and there was a problem with students misusing computers in the classroom.

Arora set up the network and ensured all points were working. He also established policies, as there were none in place.

Though many people assume Niueans live a secluded tribal life, Arora says they live a very modern existence enveloped in natural beauty. Homes are wooden huts situated in lush grass fields and the ocean views are beautiful beyond belief. Visually, Arora says Niue looks much like the island setting for the American television program “Lost.”

Niue people may live a slow life, with four cars creating a traffic jam, but they are as connected to the rest of the world as anyone else.

The only problem is that their Internet access is limited. Bandwidth on one computer in Qatar is greater than for the whole island of Niue. Niueans

have to use the Internet in creative ways since downloading a movie can use all the bandwidth.

“In these places you realize how important communication is. If you want to be connected to the world, you need the Internet. It’s hard for them since their Internet is limited. This little island is reaching out to the world; they just don’t have the knowledge and expertise.”

But that is where Carnegie Mellon comes in.

“This is an amazing learning opportunity students can’t get in the classroom or literally anywhere else.

In a small developing nation with limited resources, a couple of really bright CMU students can make a difference,” says Randy Weinberg, head of the Information Systems program, who spent one week in Niue overseeing the project.

“When you see what our students can do — the thinking, the energy and new ideas they bring — it’s powerful. In 10 weeks they learn to manage a project, understand a new culture, meet new people and see how their degree can benefit others.”

At the end of the project, Arora wrote a detailed report and agreed to provide two months of support to the schools in Niue, however, his involvement won’t stop there.

Arora plans to stay involved in this project for the foreseeable future and, upon graduation, he intends to pursue a career in bringing technology to underserved communities.

Winter 2009//Spring 2010 akhbar‫ أخبار‬23

Pittsburgh

Henry Hillman and Bill Gates cut the ceremonial ribbon to the new Gates and Hillman centers at Carnegie Mellon Pittsburgh. Gates was at Carnegie Mellon Qatar in April 2009 as the keynote speaker for the ICTD conference.

Gates and Hillman Centers

Innovative environment for innovative people

T

he newest additions to Carnegie Mellon’s home campus in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. are two buildings as innovative as the people who work inside them. The Gates Center for Computer Science and Hillman Center for Future-Generation opened just in time for the Fall 2009 semester.

Each one of the nine floors inside the new centers is uniquely shaped, offering students, faculty and staff their own comfortable “neighborhoods” with views both inside and out.

Each of the 310 offices and 10 classrooms has at least one window, and glass covers almost half of the buildings’ exterior walls, allowing natural light to flood the interior spaces.

Computer science student Victor Marmol says the

24 akhbar‫ أخبار‬Winter 2009/Spring 2010

layout of the 200,000-square-foot Gates and Hillman centers encourages “students to be able to meet, learn and cooperate while working on projects and other activities.” Marmol likes the collaborative areas placed throughout the building, especially the floor-to-ceiling whiteboards, which he says are “great to have while you’re working on programming problems.”

Designed to achieve silver LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, the Gates and Hillman centers make optimum use of recyclable and sustainable building materials and energy-saving technologies. Roof drains collect so-called “gray water” to be reused inside the buildings, while roof gardens offer both insulation and pleasing surroundings.

Four units of the School of Computer Science have moved into the Gates and Hillman centers, allowing the remaining three departments to expand in their existing space. The buildings were made possible in part by a $20-million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and a $10-million grant from Pittsburgh philanthropists Henry and Elsie Hillman.

The Gates Center also features a Planetary Robotics Center with a two-story, high-bay workspace made possible by a $4 million grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, while the Hillman Center includes the 246-seat Rashid Auditorium, made possible by a gift from former faculty member Rick Rashid and individual donations from faculty, alumni and other friends of the University.

focus on

Merging technology phones, computers and voice recognition

G

eorge White, Ph.D., has had a dream for many years of marrying phones, computers, and voice recognition. While iPhones and Blackberrys have everyone answering e-mails and updating Facebook via their mobile devices, the Carnegie Mellon Qatar professor believes merging the technologies could take everyone much further.

“It’s about having it all in one place,” says White.

“If our phones were hooked to our computers, we would have much more freedom and usability from both. It wouldn’t just be about connecting to the Internet from your phone. It would be about accessing the files and information on your computer via your phone.”

White began researching these ideas when he joined Carnegie Mellon Qatar in 2007 with the premise that the world’s knowledge is going on the Web, yet people are still bound to their computers to access it. Using mobile phones would be a great idea, but typing on a mobile phone is too hard. Speech recognition and the marrying of mobile phones and computers are a logical solution.

Imagine accessing a document from your desktop while stuck in traffic or logging into your office network from your home. Or using your home computer to access numbers, files and messages in your mobile phone. Another scenario could be a screen pop that would appear on your desktop with a photo and all

the information about the person calling your mobile phone.

White also began working on developing a “voice concierge” service. This would give users many options such as dictating e-mails and having this service send it out to one or more people in your e-mail directory. Or you could ask the concierge where to find Thai food, which roads have the most traffic or to send a message on Twitter.

It would be sort of like an old time operator only with a “sophisticated control panel containing all of your information plus the skills to conduct an efficient Internet search,” says White. Another option would be to call a concierge and submit a request as voice mail.

Your request would then go into batch queue and the concierge would do what is required. All of these options would be available for a very affordable fee.

Nobody is really doing this yet, according to White, who has had a successful career as an entrepreneur in addition to teaching. There are iPhone search applications and phone companies that can look up information but they charge a lot of money to do it. “We’re in a new market opportunity with good technology and good ideas,” White says.

White has been working with programmers in the United States who are skilled in computer telephony, and is looking to apply for QNRF grants to support the technology portion of his vision. He is also looking to partner with a wireless service provider.

Winter 2009//Spring 2010 akhbar‫ أخبار‬25

spotlight on

Tepper students attend Asia Investment Banking Conference

T

wo Tepper students spent their Eid break at the largest student-organized corporate finance conference in Asia. The Asia Investment Banking Conference set out to promote the development of the financial services industry in Asia by providing a platform for senior professionals and students to discuss critical issues and industry trends.

Organized fully by students at Singapore Management University, AIBC brought 350 students from 40 universities across the globe together with senior professionals within the financial services industry.

“My experience at AIBC was wonderful. I learned about the East Asian economies and about the business opportunities that are available in that part of the world,” says junior business administration major Saad Al-Matwi, who had never been to East Asia before. “I met very interesting people who introduced me to their cultures and their countries. Overall, it was a valuable experience and I enjoyed every moment.”

Al-Matwi and sophomore Benazir Anis were able to meet and network with industry professionals as well as peers from other business schools around the world. They participated in keynote speeches, panel discussions and interactive workshops over the course of the two-day conference.

This is the first time the AIBC was held, and also the first time business administration students at Carnegie Mellon Qatar attended a conference. Starling Hunter, Ph.D., coordinator of the business administration program at Carnegie Mellon Qatar, says conferences add a lot of value to the Tepper undergraduate education.

“Conferences give students exposure to other business students. They also assist our students in making contacts and expanding their peer networks. Attending also raises the exposure of the University,” Hunter says. Not to mention it’s also a valuable travel and cross-cultural experience.

Hunter and professor Jon Caulkins, Ph.D., accompanied Al-Matwi and Anis to the conference. A larger delegation was planned, however not all student visas were received in time to attend.

As a result of the AIBC conference, a group of students from Singapore Management University visited Carnegie Mellon Qatar and Education City in December. The Middle East trip to Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates was already planned, so Hunter extended the offer to come to the Carnegie Mellon campus for a tour.

26 akhbar‫ أخبار‬Winter 2009/Spring 2010

spotlight on

Promoting a culture of

research Building a research culture is a core part of Carnegie Mellon’s computer science program. A faculty robotics laboratory and a student robotics laboratory have already been bustling with activity in the new building in Education City.

Now a third academic research lab has been established. The Networking Systems Lab is a place to develop cutting edge computer networking and communications research.

“The NSL will give us a space to build different projects with networking systems,” says Khaled Harras, Ph.D., computer science professor and NSL director.

“This is a big step for the CS program and for campus. Now we have a place for research in other areas of computer science, not just robotics, and soon other areas will have their labs as well.”

Loosely defined, computer networking research involves enabling communication between different machines in different domains and environments. Harras and the lab staff will work on several aspects of this.

One area that can be researched is how to extend networking opportunities beyond the limit of the infrastructures we have through wireless technologies. This is an area known as multi-hop wireless or mesh networks.

Wireless devices are installed to extend the areas through which users can access the Internet without having to dig wires connecting these devices.

Post-doctorate Saquib Razak has installed has a mesh network in the CS department that is running as a test bed to study signal interference and propagation to improve the performance of these kinds of networks.

Harras’ field of expertise is building protocols for networking in extreme environments. “There are cases when devices should be able to communicate even if there is no

Faculty members, post-doctorates, graduate students and undergraduates all work in the new Networking Securities Lab at Carnegie Mellon Qatar.

“This is a big step for the CS program and for campus.” current path linking those two entities together,” says Harras.

Examples of applications where such a service is needed include cases where infrastructure has been destroyed due to natural disasters; gathering data from sensors attached to mobile entities, such as animals or cars; or providing Internet connectivity to disconnected rural areas that cannot afford to build new networking infrastructures.

All of these networks require a lot of infrastructure, which most people just take for granted are already in place and working. But, as Harras reminds, need to be constantly tested and improved.

“Carnegie Mellon is a research institution. Our strength is research.

It means a lot to Carnegie Mellon Qatar to have this lab,” says Harras.

“In Pittsburgh a big part of computer

science is having a research culture.

This lab helps us provide a similar experience to our students here and give them more opportunities to grow.”

The NSL lab got off the ground with faculty research seed money and a three-year, $1-million grant from Qatar Foundation’s National Priorities Research Program that was awarded in collaboration with visiting professor Nael Abu-Ghazaleh, Ph.D. Post-doctorates, graduate students and undergraduates all work in the NSL. “It is a great opportunity for the undergraduates to experience how research is done, and now some aspire to continue their education by pursing graduate studies,” says Harras.

A few undergraduate projects have been funded with UREP grants from Qatar Foundation and Harras is working on pursuing more grant funding.

Winter 2009//Spring 2010 akhbar‫ أخبار‬27

spotlight on

Senior project aims to help treat

diabetes

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iabetes cases are on the rise in Qatar.

According to available statistics, approximately 17 percent of the Qatari population is diabetic. The problem is especially troublesome in children, with some 40 percent being obese, which can be a direct link to diabetes.

Combine the number of diabetes cases with a system that does not readily allow information sharing between patient, doctor and diabetes specialist, and the level of care can be compromised.

Information Systems seniors at Carnegie Mellon Qatar decided to try to develop an application that could contribute to a solution to this mounting problem.

“The students picked Qatar Diabetes Association and ictQatar, the Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology in Qatar, because diabetes is an urgent problem in Qatar 28 akhbar‫ أخبار‬Winter 2009/Spring 2010

and worldwide,” says Selma Limam Mansar, Ph.D., head of the information systems program at Carnegie Mellon Qatar.

QDA’s main role is to provide advice on nutrition and healthy lifestyles and to support diabetes prevention in society. Right now, patients come to QDA via referrals and do not have their full medical backgrounds with them. Nothing is systematic, so QDA must rely on patients to provide full and accurate medical information. QDA is looking for an online system to increase information accuracy and care efficiency, perhaps something where doctors or nurses can enter diabetes parameters and lab results that would go straights to QDA. To help QDA, ictQatar’s e-health division has been working on implementing a national health strategy in which patient data and information are shared across health-care providers. For the transaction referral system, QDA would exchange information with physicians via an integrated system. All information would be stored on a server and accessible via a Qatari ID number. Everything would be streamlined and mobile.

Students met with ictQatar and QDA officials every week to figure out how they could assist.

“The students worked on a prototype to show how it could work. E-health is a huge project. They are working more from a research perspective, which is where they want to be. And they are starting from zero,” says Limam Mansar.

The system allows QDA to access patients’ diabetes history such as diabetes type, lab results and doctor’s recommendations for nutrition or fitness program. The history is then used by QDA to report back on the patient’s progress.

While implementing such a system could have many benefits, it’s not without controversy. There are privacy issues, such as what information should be available and to whom. In the context of diabetes, one could argue that patients should consent to their medical information being made accessible to QDA, after all, it’s a non-profit association and not a health center.

By completing this project, ictQatar got a first sense of how and what technology can be used to plug similar applications into an e-health system.

It made it possible to appreciate the usability and design challenges: The hardest part in developing applications is convincing users to actually use them and changing work habits.

In a broader context, it helped the reflection on patient data privacy. One can imagine that for a family clinic for example, finding out the gender of a baby before it is born is not typically done in this culture. So how can that information be filtered to those future parents who may not want to see it.

Students worked on this project as part of the IS senior project. The objective of the IS senior project is to enhance students’ skills in technology consulting, project management, communication, technology and the ability to work with a real client.

in touch with

CONNECT & reconnect

for a lifelong relationship with Carnegie Mellon

C

arnegie Mellon University’s 72,000 alumni are scattered all over the world. While focusing on making a difference in their chosen fields, it’s easy for many graduates to lose touch with their alma mater. As the director of international alumni relations for Carnegie Mellon, Aamir Anwar’s job is to make sure this doesn’t happen.

“My role is to develop alumni communities and strengthen existing chapters. I try to connect alumni for a lifelong relationship with the University and help them understand ways they can engage and what things they can do.”

Anwar is quick to point out that this means much more than writing a check once a year, although financial support is one important way of staying connected. “Being an advocate for your university is an important part of being an alumni. No matter where you are, you can show your commitment to Carnegie Mellon,” Anwar says.

This can be as simple as putting a Carnegie Mellon sticker on your car or wearing a lapel pin to work. It can also just be telling friends and colleagues how Carnegie Mellon impacted your life. “Every time an alumni advocates, it strengthens and conveys the brand.”

Another way to keep connected to the University is through engagement: Attend events, volunteer, plan events or take on leadership roles.

The third way of staying connected is giving back. This can include mentoring current students, planning internships with your company or attending events as a representative of Carnegie Mellon.

“Being an advocate for your university is an important part of being an alumni. No matter where you are, you can show your commitment to Carnegie Mellon.”

Giving back also includes financial donations, no matter how big or small. Anwar stresses that alumni should never be shy about what is affordable, because every dollar helps.

“What matters is the intention, not the amount.”

Publications including the U.S. News and World Report have published formulas that show when more alumni give back, it enhances the ranking and rating of the University.

Good intentions leads to good results, Anwar says.

Carnegie Mellon has 11 alumni chapters outside the United States: one each in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong; two in China; three in India; and the newest one in Qatar.

Despite having alumni all over the globe, the University did not create Anwar’s position until the summer of 2008. “As international as we are, we did not have this role. Very few schools have this position,” he says.

“Carnegie Mellon is in a pioneering role in this aspect. We realized the value of connecting and reconnecting with our alumni around the world.”

His role is especially vital in Qatar where the 2008 and 2009 graduates did not have an existing alumni chapter to join. “In Qatar we are starting from scratch and it’s already become a very dynamic chapter,” Anwar says.

In addition to reconnecting alumni of Carnegie Mellon Qatar with campus and the University as a whole, Anwar hopes to extend a net to all Pittsburgh campus alumni in the Gulf Region so they can take part in regional events in Doha.

If you’re a Carnegie Mellon alumni and want to get involved, contact Rana El Sakhawy, alumni coordinator, at rye@qatar.cmu.edu.

Winter 2009//Spring 2010 akhbar‫ أخبار‬29

class

Tepper alumna named

Top 30 Under 30

by CEO Middle East magazine

Jinanne Tabra, 2008 Carnegie Mellon Qatar alumna, realized there was a need for Arabic language books while growing up in Scotland. While an undergraduate business administration student, she founded Araboh.com to help fill that need.

C

arnegie Mellon Qatar alumna Jinanne Tabra (BA08) has been named to the 2009 Top 30 Under 30 list published by CEO Middle East magazine. The list, which recognizes the Arab world’s leading young entrepreneurs, selected Tabra for her entrepreneurial spirit and launch of Araboh.com.

Araboh.com is an online community for educational books with an Arabic theme that will allow future Arab generations to grow up reading, writing and thinking in their mother tongue.

The business was launched online so it can reach the Arab community around the world.

The site has hundreds of titles ranging from baby books to novels.

Tabra created Araboh.com while still an undergraduate business administration student

30 akhbar‫ أخبار‬Winter 2009/Spring 2010

at Carnegie Mellon Qatar. The idea grew out of her personal experience of growing up in Scotland and having only limited access to Arabic books, games, toys and other learning materials.

She knew first-hand that Arab kids growing up outside of their culture needed better learning tools if they were going to master their mother tongue. She saw the need and decided to do something to fill it.

“It’s very exciting to be recognized by CEO Middle East,” says Tabra. “It means that people value our efforts to promote the Arabic language and culture. It’s such an honor to be considered one of the Middle East's ‘Top 30 Under 30’ and although araboh.com is just over one year old, it tells me we’re on the right track.”

Tabra is the first Carnegie Mellon Qatar graduate to be named to the prestigious list.

class

2008

Fatima Albinali (CS) is working as a senior business analyst at Qatar Petroleum.

Mohamed Al-Mahmeed (BA) is working as a treasury coordinator at Qatari Diar.

Dana Haidan (BA) accepted a position as an events officer at QatarGas.

Nora Al-Subai (CS) is working at Qatar Petroleum as a business analyst.

Anirban Lahiri (CS) accepted a position as an IT specialist in assistive technology for ICTqatar.

Samiha Kamel (BA) is working as a research coordinator for Qatar Bid 2022.

Yasmine Abdelrahman (BA) is an investment banking analyst at HSBC. She also is enrolled in a self-study program to become a CFA.

2009

Sara Al-Asmalch (BA) accepted a position as a compliance and risk management analyst at Dohaland.

Noor Al-Jassim (BA) accepted a position as a marketing and public relations advisor for Total.

Hicham Nedjari (BA) has been accepted into the FMP (financial management program) at GE.

Maha Al-Hanzab (BA) is employed as a planning analyst at QatarGas. Bayan Taha (BA) is employed as a human resources officer at QatarGas.

Qabas Al-Warad (CS) accepted a position with Fuego.

Hend Gedawy (CS) accepted a position as a research assistant and teaching assistant at Carnegie Mellon Qatar.

Marriages

Maha Al-Hanzab (BA 09) and Ali Al-Hanzab

Mohammed Abu Zeinab (BA) has accepted a job in marketing and business development at Aspire.

Bodor Al-Mahmalji (BA 09) and Ibrahim Al-Rashafi

Anas Abu Qamar (BA) is working as a distribution and logistics coordinator at Vodafone.

Yusef to Bodor Al-Mahmalji (BA 09) and Ibrahim Al-Rashafi

Lina Agha (CS) is working as an engineer in systems reporting in Qatar Petroleum’s HSE Department.

Noor Al-Maadeed (BA) is working in strategy at Q-Tel. Maha Al Khulaifi (BA) accepted a position in product management with Q-Tel. Alya Bawazir (BA) is working for Vodafone as a customer care analyst.

Births

Class Notes publishes current news about Carnegie Mellon Qatar alumni. We will publish all pertinent and timely items, but we do reserve the right to edit all submissions.

Class Notes is interested in publishing employment changes, awards and recognitions, marriages, births and deaths.

Send your submissions or requests for coverage to Andrea Zrimsek at azrimsek@qatar.cmu.edu.

First alumni event is held Twenty-four Carnegie Mellon Qatar alumni returned to campus for “Movie Night Under the Stars” in December. Joining the alums, were a few alumni from Carnegie Mellon’s flagship campus in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. and several current students.

A movie on a giant inflatable screen, giveaways, a schwarma stand, snacks and fresh-popped popcorn created a casual atmosphere for everyone to meet and mingle.

More events for Carnegie Mellon alumni are being planned for 2010. To get involved or for more

information, contact Rana El Sakhawy, alumni coordinator, at rye@qatar.cmu.edu.

movie night under the stars Hosted by Alumni RElations & MPR

Reconnect with classmates Meet and mingle with new students Get some Carnegie Mellon Qatar swag for your offices class of ‘09 get your graduation gift boxes Enjoy shwarma, popcorn and ice-cream under the stars alumni

Date

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

time

7 pm -10 pm

place

outdoor assembly area next to library, Carnegie Mellon University

byob

bring your own blanket

rsvp here for more information contact rye@qatar.cmu.edu

follow Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar on

Winter 2009//Spring 2010 akhbar‫ أخبار‬31

around

Home

Hoyas

for the

G

eorgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar will be the next university in Education City to move into a new building. The 37,000-square-meter building will be home to Georgetown’s two programs offered in Qatar: International Politics & Culture and Politics & Foreign Service.

The design of the building will be in harmony with the Carnegie Mellon and Texas A&M facilities as the same architects, Legorreta+Legorreta, designed all three. “There are a lot of visual similarities to the other Legorreta buildings,” says Charles Nailen, director of public affairs at Georgetown University-Qatar.

“We’ve been working closely with Qatar Foundation to ensure the building fits our needs. “Having our own building will give us a sense of place and a sense of home.”

Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service started in Washington, DC, in 1919 as a way to foster and facilitate the creation of a “united nations.” The idea was that if nations can be brought together, a school was needed in which to teach them how to do so.

Having broadened from that original mission into providing a more international perspective in education, opening a campus in a different culture is a key component to the program.

“Georgetown is a global university that has been involved in the Middle East for a long time. We also are the first American university to have a research center dedicated solely to Arab studies. So opening a campus in this part of the world is a logical progression,” says Nailen.

32 akhbar‫ أخبار‬Winter 2009/Spring 2010

Legorreta+Legorreta, the architects of the Carnegie Mellon Qatar Building, designed the 37,000-squaremeter facility for Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar, as well as other buildings in Education City.

The Hoyas came to Qatar in 2005 with approximately 25 students in the inaugural class. In just over four years, the student body has swelled to 170. The first class graduated in May 2009 with 21 students receiving diplomas. Graduates have pursued jobs in various aspects of government and private industry including one who is working on the Qatar National Food Security Program.

Construction on the Georgetown building began in October 2008. The structure will be equipped with classrooms, offices, a library and other facilities to accommodate more than 200 undergraduate and graduate students. With construction 75 percent complete, Georgetown will have a home in Doha soon.

Carnegie Mellon University A proud member of Education City

Education City is a 2,500-acre multiversity that houses state-of-the-art learning and research facilities. Six top American universities have set up branch campuses, and more are planned.

A Member of Qatar Foundation P.O. Box 24866 Doha, Qatar www.qatar.cmu.edu

follow Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar on