Engineering Magazine: Fall 2021

CARNEGIE MELLON ENGINEERING

FALL 2021 MAGAZINE

FEATURE

AN ATOMIC LOOK AT LITHIUM-RICH BATTERIES

This is a visualization of a lithium-rich cathode.

PHOTO SOURCE: CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY AND NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY

Batteries have come a long way since Volta first

The team set out to provide conclusive

stacked copper and zinc discs together 200 years

evidence for the redox mechanism utilizing

ago. While the technology has continued to evolve

Compton scattering, the phenomenon by which

from lead-acid to lithium-ion, many challenges

a photon deviates from a straight trajectory after

still exist—like achieving higher density and

interacting with a particle (usually an electron). The

suppressing dendrite growth. Experts are racing

researchers performed sophisticated theoretical and

to address the growing global need for energy-

experimental studies at SPring-8, the world’s largest

efficient and safe batteries.

third-generation synchrotron radiation facility, which

The electrification of heavy-duty vehicles and aircraft requires batteries with more energy density.

is operated by JASRI. Synchrotron radiation consists of the narrow,

A team of researchers believes a paradigm shift is

powerful beams of electromagnetic radiation that

necessary to make a significant impact in battery

are produced when electron beams are accelerated

technology for these industries. This shift would

to (almost) the speed of light and are forced to

take advantage of the anionic reduction-oxidation

travel in a curved path by a magnetic field. Compton

mechanism in lithium-rich cathodes. Findings

scattering becomes visible.

published in Nature mark the first time direct

The researchers observed how the electronic

observation of this anionic redox reaction has been

orbital that lies at the heart of the reversible

observed in a lithium-rich battery material.

and stable anionic redox activity can be imaged

Collaborating institutions included Carnegie

and visualized and its character and symmetry

Mellon University, Northeastern University,

determined. This scientific first can be game-

Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology (LUT)

changing for future battery technology.

in Finland, and institutions in Japan including Gunma

While previous research has proposed alternative

University, Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research

explanations of the anionic redox mechanism, it

Institute (JASRI), Yokohama National University,

could not provide a clear image of the quantum

Kyoto University, and Ritsumeikan University.

mechanical electronic orbitals associated with redox

Lithium-rich oxides are promising cathode material classes because they have been shown to have much higher storage capacity. But, there

reactions because this cannot be measured by standard experiments.

The research team had an “A ha!” moment when

is an “AND problem” that battery materials must

they first saw the agreement in redox character

satisfy—the material must be capable of fast

between theory and experimental results. “We

charging, be stable to extreme temperatures, and

realized that our analysis could image the oxygen

cycle reliably for thousands of cycles. Scientists

states that are responsible for the redox mechanism,

need a clear understanding of how these oxides

which is something fundamentally important for

work at the atomic level, and how their underlying

battery research,” explained Hasnain Hafiz, lead

electrochemical mechanisms play a role, to

author of the study who carried out this work during

address this.

his time as a postdoctoral research associate at

Normal Li-ion batteries work by cationic redox, when a metal ion changes its oxidation state as

Carnegie Mellon.

“We have conclusive evidence in support of the

lithium is inserted or removed. Within this insertion

anionic redox mechanism in a lithium-rich battery

framework, only one lithium-ion can be stored per

material,” said Venkat Viswanathan, associate

metal-ion. Lithium-rich cathodes, however, can

professor of mechanical engineering at Carnegie

store much more. Researchers attribute this to the

Mellon. “Our study provides a clear picture of the

anionic redox mechanism—in this case, oxygen

workings of a lithium-rich battery at the atomic scale

redox. This is the mechanism credited with the

and suggests pathways for designing next-generation

high capacity of the materials, nearly doubling the

cathodes to enable electric aviation. The design for

energy storage compared to conventional cathodes.

high-energy density cathodes represents the next

Although this redox mechanism has emerged as the

frontier for batteries.”

leading contender among battery technologies, it

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signifies a pivot in materials chemistry research.

FROM THE DEAN Greetings,

Follow Dean Sanders on Twitter at @SandersCMU

collective views and strengths and increase the College’s impact on engineering. We developed a new strategic DEI

I am happy to report that we are back in the classroom

plan this spring, and we’ll regularly review our efforts to

for the fall term. These days, when I see students walking

ensure that our culture enables students, faculty, and staff

across campus, I have a newfound appreciation for the

to reach their full potential.

vitality they bring to Carnegie Mellon, and I am struck by

In addition, Franz Franchetti, professor of electrical

how well our research and education activities have held up

and computer engineering, was recently appointed the

through the pandemic.

associate dean for research for the College. Our research

Many of you may not know that my research background

is expanding at a great pace, and his experience in leading

is in cyber resiliency. Despite technical failures or

large research groups will be invaluable. He succeeds Burcu

malicious attacks, a cyber-resilient system will complete its

Akinci, and the College is grateful for her six years of service

mission. I’m proud to say that the College of Engineering

in the role.

is also resilient, adapting to address the challenges and

Other indicators of our healthy state are the

opportunities we are presented with, while at the same

relationships we are forging with industry. With

time maintaining and enhancing our preeminence as a top

support from the Richard King Mellon Foundation, the

engineering college.

Manufacturing Futures Institute (MFI) was established,

To accomplish that, we have taken great care to create

with Gary Fedder as its inaugural director. Through the

a safe environment for everyone. This is exceptionally

MFI, Carnegie Mellon experts will connect with industry

relevant because this fall we have enrolled the largest

and government partners to advance manufacturing

incoming class in our history. We have about 500 new

technologies. (See page 27.) In an unrelated endeavor, we

first-year students, with 50% of them women, out of about

recently signed a memo of understanding with Wabtec

7500 applicants that listed Engineering as their first college

Corporation formalizing a joint aim to create technologies

choice at CMU! In Pittsburgh and Silicon Valley we are

that will decarbonize freight rail transport.

providing fully on-campus instruction, and with enhanced safety protocols in place, students have returned to the

As you can see, we are moving forward full throttle in our mission, and I hope you can find a way to join us.

labs. In Rwanda, we believe that we will be back to fully oncampus instruction by the start of the second mini course.

Another way we stay robust is by infusing the College’s

Sincerely,

leadership team with new voices. Alaine Allen joined us as the associate dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and distinguished service professor of engineering and public policy. We know that by recruiting and engaging everyone, including individuals from groups historically

William H. Sanders

underrepresented in engineering, we can harness our

Dr. William D. and Nancy W. Strecker Dean, College of Engineering

Contents

ALL PHOTOS TAKEN PRE-PANDEMIC

F E A T U RE

01

A N A T O M I C L O O K AT LITHIUM- R ICH BATTE R IE S

04

A I -F U E L E D B A T T E RIE S RE S E A R C H

07

IN T E R NE T P E R F O R M AN CE DUR IN G COV ID

08

A H O M E R U N F O R AR TIF ICIAL OR GAN R E S E AR CH

10

R E T H I NK I NG E P I L E PS Y TR E ATME N TS

12

O NE T H I NG L E A D S TO AN OTHE R

14

R E V I S I NG G L A C I E R PR OJE CTION S

16

S H O UL D S H I P S I N IN DIA S WITCH TO S HOR E POWE R?

18

A P L A T F O R M F O R PHY S ICAL AN D V IR TUAL

IN SIDE THE COLLEGE 34

PREPA RI NG T HE C HI P WO RKFO RC E O F T HE FUT URE

37

NSF C AREER GRANT S A WARDED

EDITOR

38

I NFRAST RUC T URE Q &A

SHERRY STOKES (DC’07)

40

A C A L L T O I NT EGRA T E AI AND ST EM EDUC AT I O N

42

BUI L DI NG REGI O NA L I NNO VA T I O N

CONTRIBUTORS

REMEMBERI NG HARO L D PAXT O N

•MADISON BREWER

43

C MU PO RT UGAL L AUNC HES BI L L I O N $ C O MPANY STU DEN T N EWS

20

C R Y P T O D E R I V A T I V E S M AR KE TS AR E BOOMIN G

22

TA I L I NG NE W I D E AS

24

FA B R I C F R I E ND L Y S E N S OR S

27

M A NUF A C T UR I NG F UTUR E S IN S TITUTE : BR IDGIN G

46

NI KA FI NKEL ST EYN’S VI SI O N O F T HE FUT URE

R E S E A R C H A ND I N DUS TR Y

47

T HI S I S HO W WE RO L L I N BUGGY

45

M A T E R I A L S C H A R ACTE R IZATION F ACILITY E X POS E S MATERIAL WORLD

29

A T O UC H O F S I L VE R

30

US I NG D NA F O R T IN Y TE CH

32

A D V A NC I NG P H O N E CAM E R AS

TIM KELLY (A’05, HNZ’14)

FUC HS T EST I FI ES I N WA SHI NGT O N O N

43

COLLABORATION

28

DESIGNER

•DAVID COCHRAN (PHOTOGRAPHY) •HANNAH DIORIO-TOTH •EMILY FORNEY (DC’12) •LISA KULICK

I NDUST RI A L REVO L UT I O N

•KAITLYN LANDRAM

DO NNA BL A C KMO ND: AL UMNA, EL EC T ED I NT O NAS

50

•DANIEL CARROLL

BRI NGI NG ST UDENT S I NT O T HE NEXT

ALU MN I 48

•KRISTA BURNS

SUC C ESS SUPPO RT S SUC C ESS

•RYAN NOONE •EMILY SCHNEIDER •LYNN SHEA •DANIEL TKACIK •SARA VACCAR

AI-FUELED BATTERIES

Machine learning is increasingly being used as a tool that helps researchers discover new materials and compounds for their unique design requirements. This novel approach cuts down the time researchers spend creating and experimentally testing various materials, so new discoveries can be made faster. At Carnegie Mellon University, Adarsh Dave applied this approach to batteries and made a surprising discovery.

Dave, a Ph.D. student in mechanical engineering and Tata Consultancy Services Presidential Fellow, was motivated by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, he said. Battery innovations are one easy way to reduce emissions. However, these innovations tend to happen very slowly because the chemistry is quite complex, so the team began looking for ways to speed it up. This research focused on aqueous electrolytes, which Dave says are well-suited for storing renewable energy.

“Designing high-performing aqueous batteries is an important process to solve,” Dave said.

“However, there is a staggering amount of possible formulations here to choose from—that’s where our design process comes in.”

Dave and his team built a robotic platform,

remained unknown to designers. This shows great

named “Otto,” to characterize battery electrolytes

promise for the future of machine learning in

by measuring properties that determine if it will

design processes. Additionally, Otto’s automation

be effective in batteries. The machine learning is

can speed up the testing and experimentation

integrated with Otto, and together they optimize

process, allowing scientists to focus on the big

electrolytes for batteries. The computer tells

picture research.

Otto which electrolytes to test, then Otto tells the

“While no robot or algorithm will replace a

computer the properties of those electrolytes. This

highly-trained chemist’s intuition for innovation,

back and forth between Otto and the computer

our system certainly automates and accelerates

helps the machine learning run an optimization

routine science and design tasks,” said Jay

to find the best electrolyte. Otto can mix and test

Whitacre, director of the Scott Institute for Energy

electrolytes about as fast as a human can, but

Innovation and professor of engineering and

unlike humans, Otto can run 24/7.

public policy and material science engineering. “I

“Most battery labs design electrolytes with

hope to see my colleagues in other labs automate

legions of graduate students making and testing

away the boring stuff, and really accelerate the

various electrolytes,” said Venkat Viswanathan, an

pace of battery innovation.”

associate professor of mechanical engineering.

This paper was published in Cell Reports Physical

“We’re just a team of three who’ve built a robot to

Science in November 2020. Other authors include

do most of this work for us.”

CMU Ph.D. students Kirthevasan Kandasamy, Han

The implications of their research are already

Wang, Sven Burke, and Biswajit Paria and Associate

apparent. In a recently published paper, Dave

Professor Barnabás Póczos. Materials Science

and his team present a “non-intuitive, novel

Research Staff Jared Mitchell also contributed to this

electrolyte” that the machine learning revealed.

project.

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Without their research, this electrolyte could have

@CMUEngineering

RESEARCH

INTERNET PERFORMANCE DURING COVID NOT AS GREAT AS MANY SAY, STUDY SHOWS In the Spring of 2020, after millions of Americans were

highly asymmetric, whereas complaints about the more

ordered to stay home, many wondered: will this massive

symmetric DSL Internet service barely changed.

uptick in online traffic break the Internet? “Internet

Perhaps the most surprising finding, Peha says, relates to

providers are handling coronavirus demand just fine,”

the usage of publicly available wireless Internet.

penned one of many in the media who claimed—after

“The neighborhoods whose residents had to resort to

Americans moved nearly all aspects of their lives online—

the most to highly inconvenient outdoor wi-fi during the

that the pandemic was no match for the almighty Internet.

pandemic were neighborhoods with the most students,

But Internet providers weren’t handling the increased

and not the neighborhoods with the fewest Internet

demand just fine, according to a study by researchers

subscribers,” Peha says. “Since the public libraries that

in Carnegie Mellon University published in the Journal of

supply this wi-fi have been closed, this means students

Information Policy.

are huddled up outside library windows just to access the

“While downstream Internet performance did not suffer much, upstream did,” says Jon Peha, a professor in Carnegie

Internet. This is important and concerning.”

The results of this study yield a number of

Mellon’s department of Engineering and Public Policy and

recommendations, Peha says. First, he says that the Federal

the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Communications Commission should require ISPs to be

who formerly served as the FCC’s Chief Technologist. “Our

more transparent about their upstream traffic speeds,

findings contradict what the industry is saying.”

so consumers can know which services meet their needs.

Downstream traffic refers to data that is received by an

Second, ISPs should offer less asymmetric speeds. In other

Internet user’s computer from the Internet, while upstream

words, the downstream and upstream speeds should be

traffic is the opposite—data that is sent from a user’s

closer to each other than they currently are.

computer into the Internet.

Upstream traffic speeds are less-commonly advertised, potentially because some Internet Service Providers (ISPs)

Peha also says that the definition of “broadband” as it relates to government subsidies needs to be revisited.

“We should not heavily subsidize services that are as

provide much lower upstream speeds. For example,

asymmetric as they currently are,” Peha says. “The current

Comcast’s “Performance” Xfinity Internet package advertises

definition of broadband is 25 downstream and 3 upstream,

up to 60 Megabits per second (Mbps) download speeds,

which is a ratio of 8:1. I think we need to reduce that ratio.”

paired with up to 5 Mbps upload speeds. Peha says highly asymmetric speeds can be a problem.

“With things like videoconferencing becoming more important, upstream speeds are essential,” Peha says. “If two Internet packages were advertised—one that was 200

Lastly, the fact that neighborhoods with heavy student populations are resorting to wi-fi provided by public libraries is a wake-up call, Peha says, and it’s something education programs need to address.

“If distance education matters post-COVID, and I think it

downstream and 3 upstream and one that was 20 down

will, these programs need to make sure their students have

and 20 up—I’d go for the latter, and I’m probably not alone.

access to good broadband, with adequate speeds in both

Our results show that people with highly asymmetric

directions,” he says.

whether they knew the rates they were getting or not.”

The study found that when the pandemic began, speed complaints nearly quadrupled for cable Internet, which is

The paper referenced in this article is “Lessons from Internet Use and Performance During COVID-19.” Carnegie Mellon researchers include Jon M. Peha, Shefali Dahiya, Lila N. Rokanas, Surabhi Singh, and Melissa Yang.

PA GE 07

Internet services were less satisfied during the pandemic,

A HOME RUN FOR ARTIFICIAL ORGAN RESEARCH 1) U N COATED GAS EXCHAN G E F I B E R S

Scanning electron microscope images depict blood flow over an artificial surface to mimic a lung, with and without clot.

For tens of millions of patients who battle

said Cook. “Our thought was that the PCB

chronic lung diseases, present-day care

surface coatings would serve as the first

options are mostly limited to short-term

line of defense, and the FXII900 inhibitor

drug and oxygen therapy. Biomedical

would take care of any residual activation of

Engineering’s Interim Department Head

clotting. By combining two technologies for

and Professor Keith Cook is working on

a greater effect, we move closer to a home-

innovative technologies to advance the long-

run scenario.”

term effectiveness and future use of artificial organs to address this worldwide issue.

In new research published in Biomaterials,

The tendency of blood to clot quickly in the presence of foreign bodies is the single greatest obstacle to the development of

Cook’s team combines two independent

blood-bearing artificial organs. Current state-

technologies, polycarboxybetaine (PCB)

of-the-art life support equipment is only able

surface coatings and the Factor XII Inhibitor

to provide one to three weeks of support,

(FXII900), to keep artificial lung devices

before thrombosis, or coagulation renders it

from failing due to clot formation, without

unable to function, sometimes failing sooner.

creating any negative side effects. This novel

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

combination provides a safer alternative

(ECMO) is one example of life support

to heparin, the current gold-standard in

equipment in use today, only available

anticoagulation treatment, which has been

in the intensive care unit of the hospital.

known to pose bleeding risks in patients.

ECMO requires that patients be prescribed

“Over time, our group has worked

anticoagulant medications like heparin,

on a number of these anticoagulation

which increase their risk of complications

technologies independently, but we always

due to bleeding.

believed in the back of our minds that they could also work together synergistically,”

To achieve effective anticoagulation without the associated risk of bleeding,

2 ) D O P A -P C B C O A T E D GAS E XCH ANGE F IBE RS

3 ) UN C O A T E D WE A V ING F IBE RS

the team built upon their collaborative

raise the possibility for extending the

research, focused on FXII900

lifecycle of artificial lung devices beyond

technology, that was published in Nature

their current limitations. An artificial lung

Communications last summer. Partnering

that can reliably last two to three months

with researchers from the University of

instead of weeks would greatly improve

Washington, Cook’s group was able to

patients’ quality of life, allowing them to

show that the combination of PCB surface

take the device home and return regularly

coatings and FXII900 could be an effective

to interchange it. Cook’s ultimate goal is

anticoagulant for artificial lung support.

to develop an artificial lung device that

As part of the Biomaterials study, subjects underwent three different means of anticoagulation for an hour, while

can function with enough longevity and reliability to allow for long-term treatment.

“The goal is to simplify care for these

researchers compared the effects of clot

patients,” explained Cook. “If you can support

formation and reduction. The combination

a chronic lung disease patient safely with an

of PCB surface coatings and FXII900

anticoagulation strategy that dramatically

infusion reduced coagulation by 94%

slows down clotting in the artificial lung/

when compared to the clinical standard of

device, while not causing the patient any

heparin anticoagulation, while maintaining

bleeding complications, then what we think

normal tissue bleeding times. Coagulation

we can enable, long-term, is permanent

is most active when blood first contacts the

respiratory support.”

surface, so while an hour may seem like a

This ongoing research is supported in part

short timeframe, it’s reasonable to conclude

by the National Institutes of Health, along with

that the process should work for longer

Carnegie Mellon University’s Bioengineered

terms as well.

Organs Initiative.

Fundamentally, technologies like these 4) DOPA-PCB COATED WEAVIN G FIBERS.

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SCALE BAR = 200U M FOR ALL PAN ELS.

Discovering and developing innovative, noninvasive solutions to advance medical technology and, ultimately,

RETHINKING IMAGING AND TREATING EPILEPSY

help people, is the driving force behind Bin He’s research.

His team’s latest work leverages noninvasive EEG technology along with the development of a novel machine learning algorithm to automatically identify and delineate concurrent high-frequency oscillations and epileptiform spikes, a key link related to epilepsy. In the near future, these findings may be harnessed to rethink imaging and treatment options for epilepsy patients.

More than 70 million people across the globe are affected by epilepsy, one of the most common neurological disorders. For people with epilepsy, brain activity becomes abnormal, causing seizures or unusual behavior, sensations, and sometimes loss of awareness.

The incurable condition affects men and women of all ages, races, and ethnic backgrounds.

While medication is an effective treatment option for some, nearly one-third of epileptic patients do not respond well to medication. Many of these patients undergo surgical removal of the epileptic tissues to stop their seizures, if such epileptic foci can be identified in the brain and safely removed. The go-to clinical process to observe and localize epileptogenic brain activity, known as intracranial electroencephalography (iEEG), is invasive and involves drilling holes in the skull or removing a part of the skull, to place electrodes on the brain. Furthermore, iEEG recording is also time-consuming, lasting from days to weeks, until a spontaneous seizure occurs and can be monitored.

New groundbreaking research led by Bin He, professor of biomedical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, in collaboration with the Mayo Clinic, combines clinical application and engineering innovation to present a safe, noninvasive, cost-effective, and quicker imaging option for patients with epilepsy. The work was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Other researchers have attempted noninvasive EEG studies; however, He’s work is unique in that it discovers and automatically records a novel link between high-frequency oscillations (HFOs) and epileptiform spikes. The link, in turn, identifies a unique biomarker by which the epileptogenic brain can be delineated and localized, thus offering extremely desirable means for noninvasive management of epilepsy, as well as aiding with treatment options.

“Over the years, HFOs have been identified as a promising biomarker for localizing epileptogenic brain tissues and potentially guiding neurosurgery correlated with the origin of seizures,” explained He. “Challenges exist in that there are

both physiological and pathological HFOs. Only pathological

“This technology, if it advances to hospitals and medical

HFOs are tagged with epilepsy and helpful for clinical

centers, could be life-changing,” said He. “It is completely

use, and unfortunately, differentiating between the two is

safe and noninvasive, and it occurs over a much shorter

highly-complicated using current practices and methods.

timeframe. It is a truly exciting development that brings with

Our team hypothesized and proved through morphological

it significant societal and financial implications.”

and source imaging evidence that pathological HFOs can

Looking ahead, the desire is to expand clinical studies

be identified by the concurrence of HFOs and epileptiform

and validate these findings in more patients, with the

spikes, all recorded noninvasively over the scalp.”

eventual goal of having the technology adopted worldwide,

The collaborative study observed and recorded 25 patients with temporal epilepsy. Using a novel technology,

across the healthcare industry.

“The whole point is to help others,” emphasized He. “I’m

the group was able to automatically identify the scalp

committed to going through all the hurdles to convince

recorded HFOs consistently co-occurring with epileptiform

medical centers, insurance companies, even the general

spikes and localize the corresponding cortical sources

public of the importance and value-add of non-invasive

generating these events using source imaging techniques.

techniques. This is how I wish to spend my time.”

In tandem, they also further validated the clinical value

This work is a part of an ongoing collaboration with Dr.

of using the identified pathological HFOs in determining

Gregory Worrell’s team at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, and it was

the underlying epileptic tissues responsible for generating

supported in part by the National Institute of Neurological

seizures, in comparison to clinical findings defined by

Disorders and Stroke, National Institute of Biomedical

epileptologists, and the surgical outcomes in the patients.

Imaging and Bioengineering, National Institute of Mental

Their results demonstrated significantly improved

Health, and National Center for Complementary and

performance of the new method in comparison to the

Integrative Health.

conventional spike imaging method.

Coming full circle, these findings suggest that concurrent

Other collaborators on the PNAS paper include the first author Zhengxiang Cai, a BME Ph.D. student in He’s lab; Abbas

HFOs and spikes reciprocally discriminate pathological

Sohrabpour and Haiteng Jiang, BME postdoctoral associates; Shuai

activities, providing a translational tool for noninvasive

Ye, BME Ph.D. student; and clinical co-authors Gregory Worrell,

presurgical diagnosis and postsurgical evaluation in

Boney Joseph, and Benjamin Brinkmann of the Mayo Clinic.

vulnerable epileptic patients.

THE GROUP’S WORK SHOWS ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL SOURCE IMAGING OF PATHOLOGICAL HIGH-FREQUENCY OSCILLATIONS OUTPERFORMS CONVENTIONAL SPIKE IMAGING.

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SOURCE: HE LAB

ONE THING LEADS TO ANOTHER and the society invites experts in particular topics to guest edit. The society helps shape the direction that the scientific community takes in terms of pursuing advanced materials research, and Jayan has a lot to add to the conversation. She’s made a breakthrough in our understanding of how microwaves, a form of electromagnetic radiation, affect materials chemistry, and it’s laying the groundwork for energy efficient methods to engineer tailor-made ceramic materials that have new electronic, thermal, and mechanical properties.

Most of the MRS Bulletin’s themes are emerging, and guest editors direct dialog on the theme’s importance. “This serves as a way to educate the community on new opportunities that they should explore,” says Jayan.

In fall 2019, when she and Luo agreed

Novel methods for making

to be editors, they reached out to fellow

ceramics could abate

researchers to brainstorm ideas for technical

environmental problems.

time was tight, but planning for the journal

articles. Jayan had just had her first child and was effectively coming together. However,

Last year, as the pandemic roiled through academia, B. Reeja Jayan quietly

that didn’t last.

“Things got very difficult because of the

contemplated how to manufacture new

pandemic. We had an international team

ceramic materials that could mitigate

of authors from universities in the United

environmental problems.

States, Asia, and Europe. When the lockdown

Jayan is an associate mechanical

happened last March, people had difficulties.

engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon

For example, one author had childcare issues

University, and her novel approaches

and couldn’t meet her original deadlines. We

to ceramics research has made her

had to work around a variety of problems

contemporaries take note. So much so

that Covid was creating internationally. It was

that Jayan and Jian Luo, a colleague from

a lot of work.”

the University of California San Diego,

Jayan admits that when she signed on for

were invited to guest edit the January

the project, she didn’t know the magnitude of

2021 issue of MRS Bulletin, the flagship

effort it would take, but saying no was never

journal of the Materials Research Society.

an option. “I’m knowledgeable about this

The issue examined the synthesis and

discipline and can direct trends for growing

processing of ceramics under electric and

it. Leadership is in realizing this goal, right?”

electromagnetic fields.

Each issue of MRS Bulletin has a theme,

In spite of Covid and working across multiple time zones, they produced the

theme issue for the journal. After editing the submissions, Jayan and Luo wrote an introductory piece that loosely summarized the collected articles. They stated their case for using electromagnetic fields to process and make materials, and they outlined the advantages, particularly for reducing energy usage for ceramic manufacturing processes like sintering. Then they put forward how this technology can mitigate issues related to environmental problems.

“To a large extent in the Bulletin, we’re talking about new frontiers. It is very fundamental,” says Jayan. “From the time humans started making materials, we always applied heat, but that process can be very wasteful. We need ways to manufacture materials that can couple energy directly into the lattice of the material so that we’re not wasting energy in high temperature processes. New techniques using electric and electromagnetic fields can thus help us make materials in a more energy-efficient manner.”

Grounded in science, Jayan’s vision grows bolder. “Something that is just coming up on the horizon is that applying electromagnetic fields can enable applications that enable solutions for sustainability and climate change. For instance, you can use microwaves to recycle plastics by converting them into hydrogen or other fuels.”

“This is a crisis we have: All across the planet, landfills are filled with plastics. So, applying external fields will help us create new processes, new technologies, which I believe will be key to solving aspects of our climate crisis. This is why I think we should invest in fundamental science in understanding the energy transfer relationships between electromagnetic driving sources and materials. This knowledge will influence how to make materials in the future and recycle or re-use

PA GE 1 3

existing materials.”

DAVID ROUNCE PURSUED HIS PH.D. FIELDWORK IN THE HIMALAYAS, IN PARTICULAR AT THE IMJA-LHOTSE SHAR GLACIER, LOCATED IN THE EVEREST REGION OF NEPAL. (SHOWN IS MOUNT EVEREST.)

REVISING GLACIER PROJECTIONS About seven percent of the world’s glaciers are covered in debris

Research has shown that a thin layer of debris can increase

such as rocks or gravel. As climate change continues to shift

melt rates, while a thicker layer can help insulate ice and lower

glaciers and the surrounding terrain, more debris adds to the

melt rates. However, the net effect for glacial melt in climate

expansion of these debris-covered glaciers, or “dirty glaciers.”

modeling has been a mystery. By modeling debris thickness

Despite covering a significant portion of the world’s ice, the

across the globe and comparing thickness to melt rate,

effects of changes in global temperature on these debris-

Rounce’s team has created the first regional melt estimates

covered glaciers have, to date, been poorly understood.

that account for these differentiations in glacier type, with

Climate scientists have little knowledge of the thickness of

major implications for glacier projections.

this debris cover—and by extension—the effect of debris thickness on how these glaciers melt at large scales.

However, Carnegie Mellon’s David Rounce, an assistant

Debris-covered glaciers are prevalent in areas of high elevation such as Eurasia and Alaska. For a region like central Europe, where ice has been melting at a rate of 90 centimeters

professor of civil and environmental engineering, has created

per year, Rounce found models would overestimate glacier

the first global estimates of debris thickness for dirty glaciers.

melt by 20 cm per year if they do not account for this debris.

In doing so, he and his fellow researchers made findings that

For the Himalayas, where glaciers have been melting at an

will change the way scientists understand glacial melt.

average of 44 cm annually, models would overestimate melt

DAVID ROUNCE, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

Debris cover also leads to significant differences in ice

the glacier. These processes gradually increase the area and volume of debris cover.

dynamics compared to clean glaciers. The debris insulates the

Dirty glaciers are one small but growing component of the

glacier, thereby preserving ice at lower elevations. While clean

world’s glacial ice, and can make up 20 percent of the glacier

ice glaciers would simply retreat to higher elevations, debris-

area in the mountainous regions where they’re commonly

covered glaciers remain at lower elevations where they’ll

found. Rounce’s newfound understanding of the effect of

continue to melt slowly. This affects both the way glaciers

debris cover on these dirty glaciers is vital for our future

move, as well as the underlying topology of the land. For

understanding of glacial melt and how it will be affected by

instance, as the glaciers slowly melt at lower elevations, they

our changing climate.

may form supraglacial lakes and become flood hazards.

The debris on these glaciers comes from the glacier

Sensing data for this research was contributed by researchers from University of Alaska Fairbanks; University of

scraping the ground as the ice moves and slowly transporting

Oslo, Norway; Ulster University, UK; Université Grenoble Alpes,

it to the surface of the glacier. Movement and melt also causes

France; Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg,

shifts in the surrounding land that can lead to avalanches

Germany; University of Innsbruck, Austria; University of

and landslides, which deposit more debris onto the top of

California, Irvine; and University of Washington, Seattle.

PA GE 1 5

by 26 cm per year—a 27 percent difference.

SHOULD SHIPS IN INDIA SWITCH TO SHORE POWER?

Engineering and Public Policy researchers have answered an important question about the shipping industry for a rapidly surprised by what they found. While one

modernizing India.

might assume a country with noted air quality concerns could benefit from a pollution mitigation technology like shore power, the authors found that there is actually little benefit for implementing shore shipping, leading to 250,000 early deaths

power technology in India.

The primary reason behind this is that,

annually. When in port, countries throughout

because power generation in India is still

Europe and North America require ships

so centered on fossil fuels, the difference in

to be attached to the shore-based power

emissions and greenhouse gasses created

grid, to prevent them from running their

by a cargo ship operating in harbor and

own engines and generating harmful

those created by the grid infrastructure

emissions right on the city’s doorstep. How

required to power a ship connected to the

effective could measures like these be for a

shore are negligible. While countries with

developing nation like India, with a history

cleaner grids like the U.S. do benefit from

of poor air quality and the public health

shore power regulation, those still reliant on

problems associated with it?

coal power may be better served investing in

This question was the impetus for a new study by Engineering and Public Policy’s (EPP) Ph.D. candidate Priyank Lathwal and

creating a cleaner grid than switching ships to shore power.

The team’s study did not take into account

his advisors, Parth Vaishnav, formerly of

cruise ships, which are not as prevalent in

EPP and now at the University of Michigan,

Indian ports as elsewhere in the world. This

and Granger Morgan, professor of EPP.

is important to note when considering the

As international regulation around the

utility of shore power in other developing

emissions created by shipping continues to

nations, where cruise ships may be more

tighten, India itself is also making a significant

frequent, as a cruise ship in port usually has

push for electrification and modernization

a significantly higher energy demand than a

in a host of technology fields. The possible

cargo vessel.

inclusion of shore power infrastructure in

As emerging economies like India

this initiative makes this question especially

continue to push ahead, research like this

vital for determining the best path forward

can help generate the greatest impact from

for a rapidly changing India.

the finite resources available. While shore

Leading the effort for data collection,

power may not be the answer for India’s

Lathwal spent a year braving the notoriously

air quality woes, another area the team

murky waters of data-sourcing in India. After

is interested in investigating is emissions

collecting information on shipping from

created by cargo-handling and the short-

every major port in India, they were able to

haul truckers working within and around the

calculate individual ship outputs of pollutants

port. Since these trucks only need to travel

and greenhouse gasses like PM2.5, SO2, NOx,

a short distance, they’re often the dirtiest

and CO2. From there they could determine

and least efficient trucks within a vehicle

the net effect on pollution and greenhouse

fleet. Studying key links like these in the

gas outputs for ships running on their own

supply chain presents new opportunities for

power versus connecting to shore power.

improving efficiency and public health as

Lathwal, Vaishnav, and Morgan were

nations like India chart the path ahead.

PA GE 1 7

Three percent of air pollution comes from

A PLATFORM FOR PHYSICAL AND VIRTUAL COLLABORATION Researc he rs from th e CO NI X r e se a r c h cent er ha ve m a de th e fi rs t o p e nsource ve rs i on of th e i r pl atf or m t ha t comb ine s a ugm ente d a nd vir t ua l realit y i nto a u ni fi e d spa c e .

Ask any remote worker and they’ll tell you, Zoom fatigue is real. However, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University think they’ve found a new way to virtually meet. The Augmented Reality Edge Networking Architecture (ARENA) is a novel networking platform designed by the CONIX Research Center.

The ARENA aims to change the way physical and digital entities interact, combining Augmented Reality (AR) with Virtual Reality (VR) into a single platform. Inside the ARENA, users can attend a virtual conference, hold meetings in a digital replica of their office, or even swing by a coffee shop to chitchat with colleagues—just a few of the many social interactions that have been lost to the remote work environment. These innovations are possible thanks to collaborative mixed reality technologies that link headsets and smart devices in a way that seamlessly blends the physical with the virtual.

While AR uses computing to enhance the real world, VR

work only accelerated the need for a virtual platform for collaboration. “Though our main goal was creating AR

replaces the real world altogether with a virtual one. ARENA

applications,” said Nuno Pereira, executive director of CONIX,

combines both AR and VR to allow remote participants in VR

“the current social distancing requirements and inability

to interact with AR users in a physical space. For example, if

to share physical space have made the ARENA and its VR

a surgeon in the ER needed to consult a specialist halfway

features a perfect virtual space for conducting our own

around the world about a procedure, the specialist could

meetings and events.”

be digitally teleported using VR into a live capture of the

The team is experimenting with several features using

operating room where the surgeon is using enhanced AR

dynamic audio and visual content to convey a more realistic

glasses. The surgeon could see 3D scan information overlaid

sense of presence and proximity in VR. Objects like a

on the patient and look up to see a hologram of the specialist

virtual presentation screen reliably mimic their real-world

interacting with them as if they were in the same room.

counterpart, allowing members to sit in an “audience”

While the foundation of the ARENA was in place before the Coronavirus pandemic landed, the transition to remote

to watch a presentation or lecture, even conveying a sense of distance by adjusting its volume based on an

individual’s proximity to the screen. The open-source, highly

AR/VR interaction. Some features are still in progress, such

customizable nature of the platform means that users will

as face tracking software, and tools to create more realistic

be able to create almost any feature they would imagine as

avatars and interactive virtual worlds. Other aspects, such as

a runtime loadable application. They can easily share their

those involved in augmented reality and indoor localization,

programs with other users.

will play a much greater role in the fully realized ARENA. The team is currently launching a network of ARENA

such as modeling how equipment may function within a

servers across the seven universities that are part of the

factory space or a wayfinding application to guide users

CONIX Research Center. The CONIX researchers are working

through spaces like a campus or airport,” said Anthony Rowe,

on transplanting the same virtual objects they’re creating in

professor of electrical and computer engineering and co-

different ARENAs in order to create a massive shared AR/

director of CONIX.

VR environment. In Rowe’s words, “In a way, it feels like the

The team anticipates most immediate interest will be

pioneering days of the Internet, as we roll out a platform

in VR applications; however, these developments are also

that we believe has explosive potential well beyond what is

crucial steps on the path to building a new architecture for

obvious to us today.”

You can experiment with ARENA yourself at https://arenaxr.org.

PA GE 1 9

“It’s easy to imagine numerous practical applications

CRYPTO DERIVATIVES MARKETS ARE BOOMING On a busy d ay , more th a n $100 bi l l i on in t he se der i v a t iv es are t ra ded, ri val i n g th e da ily vo lume t ra d e d in t he N ew York S toc k Exc ha nge .

Markets for cryptocurrency derivatives — contractual side-bets on the future price of cryptocurrencies — have exploded in recent years.

On a busy day, over $100 billion in these derivatives are traded, rivaling the daily volume traded in the New York Stock Exchange. What’s more, there is evidence that the activity inside these markets may affect the value of cryptocurrencies themselves.

These are a few of the findings of a first-of-its kind study by Carnegie Mellon University CyLab researchers, which were presented this spring at The Web Conference, held virtually in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

“On average, the traded volume in cryptocurrency derivatives markets exceeds the regular crypto spot markets by a factor of five,” says CyLab’s Kyle Soska, a Ph.D. student in electrical and computer engineering and the study’s lead author.

In their study, the researchers performed a comprehensive analysis of BitMEX, a derivatives exchange that initially launched in 2014 and would become one of most successful exchanges by volume traded. Performing analyses on publiclyavailable data from BitMEX, the researchers were able to put together the first comprehensive look into the massive amounts of activities that occur in these types of markets.

As a companion to their study, the researchers

Trading on BitMEX and other cryptocurrency derivatives

record of BitMEX and provides real-time access to their

markets is a high-risk, high-reward endeavor. First, traders

analysis platform for other researchers, economists, and

can use what’s referred to as “leverage,” meaning that they

interested parties.

can wager a much larger bet—commit to a much larger

“Derivative markets are important because their

position—than they can cover with the funds currently

behavior influences the price dynamics of cryptocurrencies

in their account. This can yield huge wins, but also

themselves,” says CyLab’s Nicolas Christin, a co-author of the

immediate losses.

study and a professor in the Institute for Software Research (ISR) and Department of Engineering and Public Policy (EPP).

Christin describes this as a bit like a chicken-and-egg problem. People could use derivative markets to hedge against certain price movements, he says, but in turn,

Adding to the risk is the fact that unlike traditional currency markets, all one needs to trade on cryptocurrency derivatives platforms is a valid email address, some cash, and a few minutes’ time.

“Our data show really small positions in these markets—

derivative markets with high leverage may create instability

likely held by people with not a ton of experience—being

cycles: volatility in cryptocurrency prices then causes more

disproportionately liquidated,” says Soska. “Our findings

liquidations in derivative markets, which results in volatile

suggest a familiar story in a relatively new and burgeoning

cryptocurrency prices.

market: that really sophisticated people show up and have a

An analysis of archived messages in BitMEX’s site-wide chat room illustrates a highly diverse population of traders.

significant edge over amateurs.”

Looking forward, Christin says that cryptocurrency

Most interestingly, messages in Korean—the vast majority

derivative markets are beginning to dwarf normal markets,

presumably originating in Korea, which encompasses a single

and this affects not just those steeped in the crypto world,

time zone—were almost time-invariant. In other words, while

but even those outside of it.

one would expect activity to occur during normal “daytime”

“These markets are becoming more mainstream,

hours, the chat analysis suggests that a large population of

whether we like it or not,” Christin says. “Even if you

Korean traders were active 24/7.

personally aren’t interested in cryptocurrencies, it’s possible

“There’s this quote, ‘Money never sleeps,’” says Christin. “…

But Wall Street mainly trades between 9:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.

In these cryptocurrency derivatives markets, we see data that

your financial advisor or a firm trading on your behalf will be soon.”

This study was a collaboration between researchers at

show people in the same time-zone trading every minute of

three different colleges at Carnegie Mellon University—the

the day.”

College of Engineering, the School of Computer Science, and the Tepper School of Business.

PA GE 2 11 5

built and released a public website that provides a live

TAILING NEW IDEAS From lizards to kangaroos, many animals with tails possess

CHEETAHS DEMONSTRATE TREMENDOUS PRECISION AND MANEUVERABILITY AT HIGH SPEEDS DUE, IN PART, TO THEIR TAILS.

The researchers found that an aerodynamic tail can

an agility that allows them to turn or self-right after a foot

allow the robot to rotate in air as well as an inertial tail,

slip. Cheetahs demonstrate tremendous precision and

but the aerodynamic tail is much lighter. They also found

maneuverability at high speeds due, in part, to their tails.

that the robot with a tail can accelerate faster than a robot

Translating this performance to robots would allow them to

without a tail, despite the increase in mass from the tail.

move more easily through natural terrain. However, adding

This means the robot has better control over its movements

a tail to a robot carries disadvantages like increased mass,

like slowing down, speeding up, or turning.

high inertia, and a higher energy cost.

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s

“Robotic tails have historically relied on high inertia tails because of their simplicity, but nature has already

Robomechanics Lab, in collaboration with the University of

figured out that there are better ways to stabilize agile

Cape Town, have found ways to overcome these challenges

motions,” said Joseph Norby, a Ph.D. student working

inspired by the cheetah’s tail. The findings were published

with Aaron Johnson, an assistant professor of mechanical

in IEEE Transactions on Robotics.

engineering. “This research suggests that following

The cheetah’s lightweight furry tail is known as an aerodynamic drag tail; that is, it acts sort of like a parachute. Most robotic tails have high inertia, but the

nature’s inspiration results in equally capable tails for a fraction of the weight cost.”

Ultimately, the research suggests that tails are effective

cheetah manages to retain low inertia. Inertia is a physical

for improving robot agility. They will be able to recover from

quality that describes an object’s resistance to changes

foot slips and decrease damage during a fall. When robots

in motion—high tail inertia means the tail can apply

move better, they are more effective.

high forces. Aerodynamic tails instead use a different

“Tails help to stabilize the robot, which is critical when

principle—aerodynamic drag—to achieve high forces

it is performing difficult maneuvers. We believe that

without a large inertia.

improving robot agility will make our robots better at aiding

In nature, aerodynamic drag tails are often used in reorientation tasks, such as turning and recovering after

people outside the lab,” said Norby.

Additional authors include former master’s students Jun

a foot slip, so researchers believe an aerodynamic drag

Yang Li and Cameron Selby. The University of Cape Town’s

tail will help solve problems of robotic mobility. The

Amir Patel collaborated on the project.

researchers compare aerodynamic and inertial tails in

The work was sponsored in part by the National Science

their paper, eventually constructing a tail to maximize

Foundation (NSF). Norby is also a fellow in NSF’s Graduate

effectiveness while minimizing inertia.

Research Fellowship Program.

AERODYNAMIC EFFECTIVENESS FOR VARIOUS TAIL LENGTHS AND INERTIAS.

PA GE 2 3

BELOW: TAILED ROBOT’S AGILITY DEMONSTRATED ON THE CARNEGIE MELLON CAMPUS.

FABRIC FRIENDLY SENSORS Sensors are part of modern-day technology. From contactless payment to key fobs, credit card chips to smart devices, nearfield communication (NFC) allows for humans to communicate with objects.

But what if we could use this technology so that everyday objects, like a pillow or a shoe, could sense and interact with us?

Researchers from Carnegie Mellon’s Laboratory for Emerging Wireless Technologies (WiTech) presented their findings at the ACM/IEEE Conference on Information Processing in Sensor Networks (IPSN). Their paper, “Locating Everyday Objects Using NFC Textiles” won Best Paper and Best Presentation Awards.

The paper was authored by Jingxian Wang, Junbo Zhang, and Swarun Kumar from the electrical and computer engineering department, Ke Li, an undergraduate summer intern, and Chengfeng Pan and Carmel Majidi, Clarence H. Adamson Professor, from the mechanical engineering department.

The paper develops fabric-friendly NFC antennas that can be woven into everyday surfaces for building smart environments.

Known as TextileSense, this near-field beamforming system can track everyday objects made of conductive materials, like a human hand.

“We achieved this by using multiple flexible NFC coil antennas embedded in ordinary and irregularly shaped surfaces, like furniture and carpets, we interact with in smart environments,” said Swarun Kumar, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering.

Imagine being able to control the television volume by waving your hand over a couch cushion, or turning lights on and off by touching a specific part of a pillow. The team designed and fabricated specialized textile coils that can be woven into the fabric of the furniture and easily hidden by acrylic paint. By developing a near-field blind beamforming system to efficiently detect surrounding objects, these coils can sense the position of an object, like determining if a human is sitting on the couch or laying down.

“It was a fun collaboration between material scientists who helped us with the textile-friendly antenna fabrication and a combination of wireless system development and signal processing,” said Kumar.

TextileSense opens new applications in device tracking and human body posture sensing. Using a data-driven approach to infer the locations of the objects, an experimental evaluation of TextileSense shows an average accuracy of 3.5 cm in tracking the location of objects of interest within a few tens of centimeters of the furniture.

“Our goal is to integrate these sensors in our everyday lives,” says Kumar. “Which will contribute to an overall smart environment.”

PA GE 2 5

Path-Breaking Innovation In The Making The most complex problems, the most diverse experts.

The race to digitize manufacturing is underway.

Frontrunners who optimize their operations will have the disruptive advantage.

Our heritage of breakthrough thinking and cuttingedge research has produced advanced intelligent systems ranging from autonomous vehicles to digital manufacturing processes.

In manufacturing, the problems we address come through our extensive network of corporate and government partners. In this vibrant community we boost progress at the intersection of innovative technologies, applications and ultimately, the scaling and transfer to manufacturing and operations.

For more information on the Manufacturing Futures Institute: engineering.cmu.edu/mfi

MANUFACTURE FUTURES INSTITUTE: THE BRIDGE BETWEEN RESEARCH AND INDUSTRY Inside the brightly colored solar-powered building tucked beneath a former steel mill superstructure, the Manufacturing Futures Institute (MFI) at Mill 19 is under the same roof where the forging of steel at the J&L Hazelwood Works once helped to make Pittsburgh a global economic powerhouse and leader of the U.S. steelmaking industry.

Today, generous support from the Richard King Mellon Foundation has established MFI as a sustainable, permanent institute that is advancing Carnegie Mellon’s global leadership role in the development of advanced manufacturing technologies that will bridge the gap between manufacturing research and industrial use.

By connecting industry and government partners to Amir Barati Farimani, an assistant professor of

manufacturing, materials discovery, product design,

mechanical engineering and one of the principal

robotics and automation, machine learning, policy,

investigators for the ARL program, embraces opportunities

workforce training, and education, MFI is uniquely qualified

to work alongside fellow researchers whose expertise

to create an ecosystem of manufacturing innovation that

informs and enriches his own work.

will address the complex challenges facing U.S. and global

“At CMU, we are leaders in artificial intelligence and

manufacturing and generate technology transfer, rapid

additive manufacturing, so we are able to work together to

commercialization, and successful start-ups.

tackle very complex challenges such as materials property

The $30 million grant for MFI, that was announced in May 2021, is part of a $150 million transformational investment in CMU science and technology from the Richard

prediction from additive manufacturing processes that machine learning can enable,” said Farimani.

The unique culture of Advanced Collaboration® at

King Mellon Foundation, which made an initial $20 million

CMU that drives the convergence of disciplines inside

investment in MFI in 2016.

the university and robust partnerships with industry and

“With this generous commitment, we will fulfill our longterm vision as a leader in advanced manufacturing research

government, extends to other partnerships at Mill 19.

Mill 19 is also home to the nonprofit Advanced

and development by giving our world-class experts more

Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute, with the

opportunities to work on interdisciplinary teams across

national membership-based consortium that promotes

campus and in the new Mill 19 facility that has progressed

the development and adoption of innovative robotics

to an industry relevant scale,” said director Gary Fedder.

technologies for advanced manufacturing. Catalyst

MFI is the primary point of entry for industry, non-profits,

Connection, a private not-for-profit organization that

and government to access the faculty and students who are

provides consulting and workforce training services to small

working in advanced manufacturing, machine learning, and

manufacturers in southwestern Pennsylvania, is also co-

robotics at Carnegie Mellon University.

located in Mill 19 and collaborates with both MFI and ARM.

A five-year cooperative agreement with the Army

Partnerships with ARL and others have contributed to

Research Laboratory (ARL) will provide up to $25 million in

the development of the metals additive manufacturing

funding for researchers from the College of Engineering and

laboratory at Mill 19, which has recently been outfitted

the School of Computer Science who are working together

with state-of-the-art 3D printers that expand the size and

to support machine learning-enabled 3D printing.

capacity of CMU’s additive manufacturing research. The

The program will address two main challenges facing

58,000 square-foot space at Mill 19 also features flexible and

additive manufacturing: 1) scaling up methods to enable

collaborative workspaces, a modern workshop, and high bay

part production while maintaining quality, and 2) improving

area for large-scale projects.

additive manufacturing equipment’s ease of use, which will

By attracting industry and public and private partners,

enable scaling out of manufacturing processes in varied

MFI is bringing the Pittsburgh region to the forefront of the

locations by non-expert users.

new American manufacturing renaissance.

PA GE 2 7

collaborative teams of CMU experts working in additive

LEFT: ULTRAHIGH CARBON STEEL ABOVE: MICRO METEORITES RIGHT: STUDENT USING MACHINE

M AT E R I AL S C HARA C T E R I Z A TI O N FA C I LI T Y E X P O SE S M AT E R I AL W O RLD Materials are all around us, from the ceramic coffee mug

In the X-Ray Lab users can determine the structure of

on our wooden kitchen table to the combination of metals,

their materials as well as analyze and quantify the phases,

glasses, ceramics, polymers and electronic materials

residual stresses and textures. With the addition of a new

that make up the cell phone in our denim pockets. Many

instrument equipped with a hot stage, researchers will be

technical innovations are directly tied to the discovery

able to observe structural changes with temperature in

or development of advanced materials. At Carnegie

various gas environments. Users of the Scanning Probe

Mellon University, researchers have access to world-class

Microscopy Lab can observe the surface topography of their

characterization tools, techniques and the expertise of

materials both in air and liquid environments in addition to

highly qualified technical staff members right on campus.

more advanced techniques probing electrical, magnetic, and

Located on the first floor of Roberts Engineering Hall, The Materials Characterization Facility (MCF) houses the

Raman signals.

At the heart of the facility is the Digital Microscopy

necessary instruments to structurally and chemically

Classroom which enables continuing education as users

characterize advanced materials. More than 220 internal

can remotely operate the facility’s microscopes and

and external researchers take advantage of the facility

diffractometers under the guidance of technical experts. The

each year resulting in the publication of nearly 80 research

classroom is often used for undergraduate and graduate

papers annually.

courses as well as training sessions and seminars.

Onsite users have access to the facility’s 13 (soon to be

Aside from onsite capabilities, MCF has enabled

14) state-of-the art instruments for electron microscopy,

researchers in 30 countries around the world the ability to

x-ray diffraction, and scanning probe microscopy. Users

quantitatively analyze their data through an open-source

can also prepare the surface of their samples or make

software package called EMsoft. EMsoft was created by

transmission electron microscopy samples in the Specimen

Materials Science and Engineering Professor Marc De

Preparation Lab.

Graef and consists of a library with core routines for

The facility’s equipment is divided into three “labs”—the

crystallography, symmetry, dynamical scattering, Monte

Central Electron Microscopy Lab, the X-Ray Lab, and the

Carlo simulations, plus a series of programs for different

Scanning Probe Microscopy Lab. The Central Electron

imaging and diffraction modalities.

Microscopy Lab provides a breadth of capabilities including

A leader in materials characterization, MCF plays a

microstructural and microchemical characterization

guiding role in addressing the fundamental and applied

and materials properties measurements; advanced

questions concerning the materials all around us.

electron microscopy techniques; computer analysis and instrumentation; and advanced education for students and investigators in the theory and application of electron optical techniques.

A TOUCH OF SILVER

POWER TRANSMITTED THROUGH THE CONDUCTIVE SILVERHYDROGEL COMPOSITE ACTUATED THE SHAPE-MEMORY ALLOY MUSCLE OF THIS STINGRAY-INSPIRED SOFT SWIMMER. SOURCE: SOFT MACHINES LAB

In the field of robotics, metals offer advantages like

conductivity and lowered compliance and deformability.

strength, durability, and electrical conductivity. But, they

Carmel Majidi and his team sought to tackle this challenge,

are heavy and rigid—properties that are undesirable in soft

building on their expertise in developing stretchable,

and flexible systems for wearable computing and human-

conductive elastomers with liquid metal.

machine interfaces.

Hydrogels, on the other hand, are lightweight,

“With its high electrical conductivity and high compliance or ‘squishiness,’ this new composite can have many

stretchable, and biocompatible, making them excellent

applications in bioelectronics and beyond,” explained Majidi,

materials for contact lenses and tissue engineering

professor of mechanical engineering. “Examples include a

scaffolding. They are, however, poor at conducting

sticker for the brain that has sensors for signal processing,

electricity, which is needed for digital circuits and

a wearable energy generation device to power electronics,

bioelectronics applications.

and stretchable displays.”

Researchers in Carnegie Mellon University’s Soft

The silver-hydrogel composite can be printed by

Machines Lab have developed a unique silver-hydrogel

standard methods like stencil lithography, similar to screen

composite that has high electrical conductivity and is

printing. The researchers used this technique to develop

capable of delivering direct current while maintaining soft

skin-mounted electrodes for neuromuscular electrical

compliance and deformability. The findings were published

stimulation. According to Majidi, the composite could cover

in Nature Electronics.

a large area of the human body, “like a second layer of

The team suspended micrometer-sized silver flakes in a polyacrylamide-alginate hydrogel matrix. After going

nervous tissue over your skin.”

Future applications could include treating muscular

through a partial dehydration process, the flakes formed

disorders and motor disabilities, such as assisting someone

percolating networks that were electrically conductive and

with tremors from Parkinson’s disease or difficulty grasping

robust to mechanical deformations. By manipulating this

something with their fingers after a stroke.

dehydration and hydration process, the flakes can be made

Ph.D. student Yunsik Ohm was first author on the paper

to stick together or break apart, forming reversible electrical

in Nature Electronics. Additional authors included Chengfeng

connections.

Pan, Michael J. Ford, Xiaonan Huang, and Jiahe Liao.

Previous attempts to combine metals and hydrogels PA GE 2 9

revealed a trade-off between improved electrical

USING DNA FOR TINY TECH When it comes to creating nanotechnology, one cannot

researchers from having to waste any time or materials on

simply build it with their hands. Instead, researchers need

faulty designs. In this project, Babatunde is merging shape

something nano-sized that is able to self-assemble. DNA

annealing with the fundamental way that DNA can be joined

origami is a method of creating nano-sized shapes by

and formed.

folding strands of DNA. This can be used to manufacture

DNA follows a set of simple rules that dictate which

nanomachines, sensors, and nanorobots for use in fields

compounds can pair up. Since the rules are well understood,

ranging from biophysics to physical computing.

researchers can take advantage of their predictability.

However, the design process behind these structures

Researchers start with a single strand of DNA and “staple”

requires the designer to conceive what the final product

it into a desired 2D or 3D shape. Once this process is

looks like in advance and design complex structures

completed, the DNA nanostructure acts as a scaffolding for

piece-by-piece from single strands of DNA. This process is

the final piece of nanotechnology.

extremely time-consuming and it limits the possible design space that can be explored.

In recent years, semi-automated tools have been released

In their paper, Babatunde and her team show that this design generation process works for a variety of shapes. In addition to using classic design shapes, the team showed

to assist the design process, and these tools have greatly

that their program works for the Stanford bunny, a complex

expanded user capabilities. However, no fully automated

shape used to show the flexibility of their work.

design tools existed to create the multilayer DNA origami

Next, Babatunde will make the algorithm more

structures that comprise the majority of DNA origami

generalizable. Future projects could include integrating more

designs used today.

constraints, like an outside coating or mesh. In addition, the

“There is a more efficient and powerful way to design

team could explore different types of algorithms for DNA

these structures,” says Rebecca Taylor, an assistant

origami. Babatunde, however, is most excited about creating

professor of mechanical engineering. “This lack of

a physical piece of nanotechnology from the DNA structure.

automated capability to generate multilayer DNA origami has been a major sort of need the field has had.”

“I look forward to not only using our approach to design nanostructures but to build them in the lab as well,”

A new approach to DNA origami design came from an

Babatunde said. “It is through building these innovative

interdisciplinary research team at CMU. Tito Babatunde,

structures that this technology will demonstrate impact

a mechanical engineering Ph.D. student, proposed a new

from responsive nanomachines for drug delivery to

way of generating and optimizing designs of DNA origami

nanomechanical sensors and nanolithography.”

nanostructures. Advised by Rebecca Taylor and Jonathan

This paper was published in Applied Sciences in 2021.

Cagan, she combined their expertise to tackle nanostructure

Other authors include MechE Ph.D. student D. Sebastian

design.

Arias Roldan. Research was funded by the Air Force Office

“We have a truly interdisciplinary approach here,” said Cagan, a professor of mechanical engineering. “We took two discrete fields and realized that they overlap and provide something that’s really unique and can advance capabilities.”

Cagan pioneered a generative computational approach called shape annealing. Shape annealing is used to design complex structures by investigating a wide range of designs before settling on the best one. This approach keeps

of Scientific Research (AFOSR) Young Investigator Research Program (YIP) award.

PA GE 3 21 9

G N I C N A ADV PHONE AS R E M A C that a camera would normally receive, producing noisier images. A bigger problem is that the camera photographs the scene through the openings in the display, like a mesh, which causes a large blur due to diffraction.”

The researchers looked at various aspects of the display design and realized that the display construction can be altered to improve the quality of the photographs.

“First, the openings in the display are in a regular grid,” said Sankaranarayanan. “As it turns out, perturbing this regularity in the tiling of display pixels and their openings provides a significant boost to the quality of photographs Every few months smartphone companies release a newly designed phone—one with a larger screen or a clearer camera. A selling point for many, the camera’s capabilities are an important factor for consumers and amateur photographers alike. In an effort to improve the aesthetics of the display by maximizing its area, the cameras are now beneath the screen which ultimately impact picture clarity.

Anqi Yang, an electrical and computer engineering Ph.D. student, and Aswin Sankaranarayanan, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, presented a paper titled “Designing Display Pixel Layouts for UnderPanel Cameras” at the IEEE International Conference on Computational Photography (ICCP). Winning the Best Paper Award, the research outlines how to redesign a cellphone display to make photographs clearer.

The border between the edge of the phone and display, known as a bezel, has decreased in size as the displays become larger. With smaller bezels, however, there is little room to place the camera, which has led to controversial alternatives like the “hole punch” and the “notch.” To solve this problem, cameras are now designed with under-panel camera, where the camera is placed beneath the display.

Openings in the display, between the light emitting diodes (LEDs) that are found at each display pixel, allow the camera to image the world. Unlike the hole punch or the notch, the camera is completely hidden and so the display can be seamless.

“Under-panel cameras have their own set of challenges,” said Yang. “The display blocks a large fraction of the light

that is obtained. Second, the shape of the openings matters and carefully re-designing their shape also permits photography of a higher quality.”

There are many benefits to designing under-panel cameras beneath the display; the aperture size of the front camera is no longer constrained; the location of the front camera can be optimized to generate a more natural gaze during video call; and multiple cameras can be deployed under the display to capture different viewpoints so that 3D images and videos are within reach.

Will under-panel cameras see mainstream adoption in cell phones? Sankaranarayanan is hopeful.

“Smartphones and their associated technologies often move at a dizzying speed,” said Sankaranarayanan.

“The quality of the display and the front-facing camera, especially when it comes to selfies, have always been an important distinguishing feature among phones. Underpanel cameras intersect with both. From the touch screen, curved and flexible displays, to embedded fingerprint sensors, displays have evolved significantly and are not just defined by the pixel density. In this sense, under-panel cameras are only the latest feature supported by displays in today’s phones.”

After all, it’s through the display that we see the world.

This work was supported by Samsung under their GRO program as well as by an NSF CAREER award.

T O D A Y ’S CAMER AS

CONV EN T I O N A L TO L E D D IS P L A Y

OUR T ECHN OL OGY FOR T OMOR R OW

O U R O P TI MI ZED DI SP L A Y L AYOUT

W H A T A R E TH E A DVA NTA GES O F REDESI GNI NG TH E C E L L P H O N E DI SP L A Y ?

An under-panel camera has to image the scene through the mesh-like openings in the display. The specific pattern of these openings directly influence the amount of blur in the captured photographs. Our key innovation is that we can redesign the display to have a pattern of openings that result in a favorable blur that is designed to be easily removable using standard image

PA GE 3 3

processing techniques. Users obtain higher quality images.

INSIDE THE COLLEGE

PREPARING THE CHIP WORKFORCE OF THE FUTURE

The field of electrical and computer engineering is broad

Students crave the satisfaction of making something,

and encompasses all aspects of software and hardware

which is part of the allure of writing a software program. And

engineering. Due to this breadth, students often find that

the maker movement is alive and well at Carnegie Mellon

they must choose between a career in software or hardware

in general, but the ECE department wanted to establish the

engineering. Over the past decade, it has become apparent

same level of gratification with creating an integrated circuit.

that many students are choosing to focus on software

To achieve this requires actually making the chips. “Industry

due to the lower barrier to entry and the phenomenal

partners are providing funding for the fabrication of CMU’s

career opportunities in areas of growth such as machine

Very Large-Scale Integrated (VLSI) Circuit course, and the

learning and artificial intelligence. As a university, it is our

design projects in the course support some of our Ph.D.

job to provide opportunities for students to find a path to

student research,” said Pileggi. “The idea is that the students

hardware engineering if that is their true calling.

in the class become trained in integrated circuit design,

But the challenge is daunting. While virtually no high

companies have more students to recruit for such jobs, and

school students or only a select few college undergrads are

our Ph.D. research mission is advanced by the systems that

qualified to design integrated circuits, software internships

are supported by these chips.”

are plentiful for undergraduates and high school seniors which establishes an early interest in the field for them.

Teenagers are able to work in industry to add value to real software products, which solidifies their commitment to a software engineering career. In contrast, before learning to design an integrated circuit, a student must first take several courses before she will have sufficient background to even participate in the design of a chip.

“The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

To encourage students to focus on hardware, CMU established an initiative with industry to fund scholarships and fellowships.

After one academic year of scholarships and a

(ECE) at Carnegie Mellon University has shown industry

reinvigorated VLSI design course, the department saw an

partners the trends that are occurring at all major

immediate spike in the number of students choosing the

universities regarding the decline in students who choose

integrated circuit design and hardware concentration for

hardware design as their specialty,” said Larry Pileggi,

their curriculum specialty.

department head of electrical and computer engineering.

“Our primary industry partner is so pleased with this

“And specifically, the trends for students who specialize in

initiative that they are expanding this offering to other

integrated circuit design.”

universities,” said Pileggi. “The department is further

To address this trend, and to encourage students to focus

exploring the access to materials for this course to be shared

on the hardware track, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU)

with selected institutions, most schools that would otherwise

established an initiative with industry partners whereby they

not offer such courses.”

fund scholarships and fellowships for students who follow

Carnegie Mellon University offers a broad and highly

the path of a hardware concentration. Companies recognize

flexible ECE degree program that is structured to provide

that providing a financial incentive toward hardware design

students with the smallest set of constraints with a rich and

is needed to give students the opportunity to consider that

comprehensive view of the profession. While graduates

option. Additionally, the industry partners share tangible

are well-rounded and trained in both specialties, this new

demonstrations of what such careers look like, and what

initiative showcases the hardware engineering opportunities

exciting opportunities await them.

and will ultimately strengthen domestic IC design workforce.

PA GE 3 5

NSF CAREER GRANTS AWARDED

VICTORIA WEBSTER-WOOD

GAURI JOSHI

MAYSAM CHAMANZAR

Four College of Engineering faculty members have been awarded CAREER awards by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The awards, which are part of the Faculty Early Career Development Program, DING ZHAO

are given to people early in their careers who are believed to play a part in furthering their area of science. The awards support their research and educational goals.

Maysam Chamanzar, an assistant professor in the

Victoria Webster-Wood, an assistant professor of

department of electrical and computer engineering, was

mechanical engineering, also received a CAREER award

awarded an NSF CAREER grant for his work on recording

for her work on robotic design. Her research will focus

neural signals. Chamanzar’s research will present a new

on creating actuators for biohybrid robots using living

kind of neural probe that uses graphene to convert brain

muscle and controlling these actuators with neurons.

signals to electromagnetic waves, or light. This will increase

Webster-Wood’s project uses animal-inspired designs to

the number of recording channels while keeping the size of

improve robotic mobility. She hopes that muscle-based

the probe small (a large probe could cause brain damage).

robots will be more adaptable and self-healing. Her award

Chamanzar says this research could reveal treatments for

also describes outreach programs to increase numbers of

brain disorders like epilepsy, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

underrepresented groups in robotics.

Gauri Joshi, an assistant professor in the department

Ding Zhao, an assistant professor of mechanical

of electrical and computer engineering, was awarded a

engineering, was awarded a CAREER grant for his work on

CAREER grant for her work on machine learning algorithms.

safety-critical applications of AI. Safety critical applications

Her project seeks to improve machine learning from all

include autonomous vehicles and healthcare, so it creates

angles, including computation, communication, and data

a difficult design challenge where failure is unacceptable.

constraints. Joshi hopes this will allow algorithms to respond

Zhao plans to create evaluation methods that will be used

and adapt to limitations within themselves or the data. The

for deep learning systems, reinforcement learning systems,

award also includes outreach programs to high-school,

and sophisticated systems comprising sub-modules. These

undergraduate, and graduate students and a collaboration

evaluation methods will ensure AI use in the physical world

workshop for women in STEM. Joshi will also collaborate with

is safe.

PA GE 3 7

Google’s federated learning team.

INFRASTRUCTURE Q&A Da vi d Dzom bak, the he a d of t he D e p a r t me nt of C ivil a nd En vi ron m enta l E ngine e r ing, sha r e s his op inio n o n o ur n a ti on’s i nfras tru c t ur e c ha lle nge s a nd how r e se a r c he r s in h i s de partm ent are add r e ssing t he m.

Q. With significant amounts of discourse

We have also been doing a great deal of

and potential investment being allocated in

research since the mid-2000s on bringing

proposed infrastructure plans, where will

advanced technologies into infrastructure

be the greatest challenges in modernizing

design, construction, operation, and

American infrastructure?

management. Akinci and Pingbo Tang, for example, have conducted research projects

A. The central challenges for cities and

on using technologies such as virtual

states planning for expanded investment

reality and building information modeling

in infrastructure are (a) prioritization, as

to enable improved building designs and

the needs are great and diverse within

more efficient construction processes. Mario

every sector of infrastructure, and (b)

Bergés, Katherine Flanigan, and Matteo

building infrastructure for the 21st century

Pozzi have been working on the integration

and not for the last century, i.e., “building

of sensors into buildings, pipelines, and

back better” in the lexicon of the current

other infrastructure for monitoring and

federal administration. Researchers in the

control purposes for improved infrastructure

Department of Civil and Environmental

performance. Sean Qian, Chris Hendrickson,

Engineering (CEE) have been contributing

and Samaras have been investigating

new knowledge and approaches to help

infrastructure needs and performance for

planners and engineers with these two

new modes of transportation and mobility.

critical challenges.

In addition to deployment of advanced technologies, another important aspect of

Q. What role does CEE’s research play in this

infrastructure design and renewal in the 21st

moment?

century is meeting goals for equity—serving all members of communities—and being

A. Some of the work of faculty like

sensitive to the disparities and impacts that

Costa Samaras and Destenie Nock, for

have historically been borne by low-income

example, is helping to inform decisions

communities in infrastructure development.

about priorities for energy infrastructure

Nock’s research on topics related to energy

investment. Burcu Akinci and Matteo Pozzi

equity is an example of our research in this

have conducted research on natural gas

important new component of infrastructure

pipeline distribution systems and how to

development.

use measurements of natural gas leakage in different parts of a system to prioritize segments for replacement.

Q. What role do developing factors like climate change and emerging technologies play?

A. The changing climate, which is changing in different ways in different locations, is an overarching factor that is influencing decision making about infrastructure at the local, state, and federal level in the U.S. In CEE, climate change adaptation has been a strategic area of focus for our research efforts since 2014 when we established the Center for Engineering and Resilience for Climate Adaptation (CERCA), led by Costa Samaras and involving numerous other department faculty members.

For instance, Samaras and his students have been studying how design and operation of stormwater management systems, including green infrastructure, needs to be modified to respond to changing storm amounts and intensity. Matteo Pozzi and his students have been combining the outputs of local and global climate models with satellite and ground-based sensing and probabilistic models to assess the risks extreme temperatures pose to urban populations.

Their analyses can be used to optimize cooling center and temperature sensor placements for cities. Jeanne VanBriesen and her students have studied the impacts of rising sea levels on the quality of groundwaters used for drinking water supply in coastal areas and the implications for treatment of such waters. Changing environmental conditions affect infrastructure design, construction, operation, and management in many ways, and CEE researchers are working to characterize and project these changes for localities and develop cost-effective and community-protective approaches for adapting to them.

THE DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING AT CARNEGIE MELLON. HE IS AN EXPERT IN WATER QUALITY ENGINEERING, WATER RESOURCE

To conduct infrastructure-related research, CEE partners with collaborators across Carnegie Mellon’s College of

SUSTAINABILITY, AND ENERGY-ENVIRONMENT ISSUES, AND HIS CURRENT

Engineering, School of Computer Science, Heinz College,

RESEARCH FOCUSES ON CLIMATE CHANGE FORECASTING BY REGION AND

School of Architecture, the Scott Institute, Traffic21, and

SUSTAINABLE MINING OF METALS.

Metro21.

PA GE 3 9

DAVID DZOMBAK IS THE HAMERSCHLAG UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR AND HEAD OF

A CALL TO INTEGRATE AI AND STEM EDUCATION While there’s debate on the definition

is a multifaceted question, but a good

that we’re developing in our students

of artificial intelligence (AI), it has,

place to start begins with broadening

who then go into the workforce?” asks

nonetheless, penetrated the job

the public’s awareness of what AI can

Tucker. More investigation, involving

landscape, and this is of great interest

do now. “We have algorithms that are

people from different fields of study

to educators. Science, technology,

able to solve specific tasks very well,

including the social sciences, is needed

engineering, and math (STEM)

but we’re far away from what scientists

to help us learn how AI may affect

education fosters innovation, which

are calling general artificial intelligence,

workforce development and how to

fuels the U.S. economy, and questions

where you’re able to have a single system

incorporate AI in an ethical manner that

are growing about the ability for AI to

solve every problem or have human

benefits society.

advance STEM education.

type of thinking and decision-making,”

Surprisingly, educators are

Another consideration is broadening

explains Conrad Tucker, professor of

the prevalence of AI in our work day,

discovering that a focus on knowledge

Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie

and this could happen by expanding

acquisition and the capacity to perform

Mellon University.

AI beyond the STEM fields. “We could

related tasks falls short when preparing

This point is important when

think of AI in the same way that we think

people for a lifelong career. Technology

addressing the inevitable concern that AI

of literacy or English comprehension,

advances nonstop, and in an ever-

will take over workers’ jobs. Jobs will not

where it is a skill set that will be used in

shifting environment, workers need

necessarily go away, but they’ll probably

multiple sectors beyond traditional STEM

to develop the capacity for lifelong

change. “One thing we can consider

fields and even in the arts. It would be

learning, including the ability to think

is changing compensation structures.

very advantageous as a society, if in the

critically and collaborate to identify

People may no longer perform every

same way that Excel and PowerPoint

problems and find solutions.

single task that they did previously in

have become synonymous with the

their jobs. And what does this mean

professional workforce, that students

for educators in terms of the skill sets

develop a basic AI competency that cuts

This said, how can STEM education benefit from AI advancements? This

apprised of current research and policies.

Tucker, who was the workshop’s lead organizer, explains that AI is believed to be accelerating the need for us to change how we teach engineering across K-12 and higher education. We

how people feel towards certain issues.

and other STEM subjects, and that

could really expand the awareness and

And if the public is ill-informed, then our

the workshop brought to light the

foundational understanding of AI,” says

research may be adversely impacted.”

disconnect between AI and STEM

Tucker.

All these matters affect the

Segments of our society have

education and the need to remedy this.

prosperity of our nation, and that is

“I am encouraged by the response

different ways of viewing AI, and our

why the National Science Foundation

from the federal government in realizing

incentives and reward structures are

(NSF) sponsored a two-day workshop,

the urgency of investments in this

not aligned. “How well do policymakers

“Artificial Intelligence and the Future

space,” says Tucker. “Over the past

and industry and academic researchers

of STEM and Societies” at Carnegie

few years, there have been executive

understand the connectivity of different

Mellon in December 2019. Experts and

orders and funding decisions that are

sectors? There definitely could be

nonexperts from academia, industry,

laser-focused on ensuring that the U.S.

opportunities for these groups to work

and government convened to explore

maintain and increase its dominance

together better so they can learn how

how integrating AI and STEM education

and expertise in this space because it is

one sector impacts the other,” says

could transform the U.S. workforce. The

the 21st century’s gold.”

Tucker. “As researchers in this space, we

workshop initiated formal discussion on

need to be cognizant of the fact that our

the topic, and now it serves as a model

policies are governed by emotions and

to replicate so that participants stay

This research is funded by the National Science Foundation NSF DUE #1941782.

We could think of AI in the same way that we think of literacy or English comprehension, where it is a skill set that will be used in multiple sectors beyond traditional STEM fields and even in the arts.”

CONRAD TUCKER

PA GE 4 1

professor of mechanical engineering

FUCHS TESTIFIES IN WASHINGTON ON BUILDING REGIONAL INNOVATION On June 9, 2021, Erica Fuchs testified to the U.S. House

Nationwide investments in the infrastructure of the future

Committee on Science, Space, and Technology on Building

hold promise to improve security, productivity, and equity,

Regional Innovation Economies.

and revitalize U.S. worker skills and manufacturing ecosystems

Fuchs is a professor in the Department of Engineering and Public Policy in Carnegie Mellon College of Engineering. Her

necessary to innovate and manufacture future products.

Third, the U.S. must invest in the intellectual foundations,

testimony came as the landmark science and technology bill,

data infrastructure, and analytic capabilities necessary to

the United States Innovation and Competition Act of 2021, left

inform technology investments.

the Senate and began its consideration by the House.

Fuchs’s testimony built directly on her July 23, 2020

“Research shows that inadequate data and analytic capability is weakening government decision-making regarding critical

testimony to the House Ways & Means Committee hearing on

technologies, supply chains, and infrastructure,” says Fuchs.

Trade, Manufacturing and Critical Technologies, opened with

Carnegie Mellon research by Fuchs, Valerie J. Karplus, Nikhil

the U.S. facing dual internal and external challenges.

Kalathil, and M. Granger Morgan demonstrated the possibility

“Over the last half a century, the global balance of scientific,

of using text processing of public information to substantially

economic, and production capabilities has shifted away from

improve the government’s real-time situational awareness

U.S. dominance,” says Fuchs. “Meanwhile, we face equal or

of medical supply chains during COVID. Fuchs concludes,

greater challenges on our home front: Economic inequality has

“The government needs access to and to be informed by

increased and social mobility declined.”

the data and analytics today’s technology and public-private

Fuchs underscored that central to both of these challenges

collaborations could make possible.”

are trends in trade and technology. She states, “While increased

Finally, the U.S. should create a nimble entity with the

and more evenly distributed science and technology funding is

objective of building national technology strategy that cuts

essential for national security, economic prosperity, and social

across missions. U.S. agencies are single-mission-driven.

welfare, realizing policy makers’ multiple goals for these federal

Regional investments in R&D, in infrastructure of the future,

investments will require institutional innovations to ensure our

and local economic development have the potential to have

investments realize the benefits we seek.”

their investments multiplied if thoughtfully linked.

To make her case, Fuchs presented four points.

First, science and technology can change the rules of the

Fuchs explains that when making technology investments, it is impossible to separate national security, economic

game: To regain and maintain global economic competitiveness,

competitiveness (including jobs), and social welfare (including

our priority should be making products that the world wants

health, environment, and equity) considerations. “Getting these

and that can only be made in the U.S.

investments right is non-trivial, but our research shows that

She offers electric vehicles (EV) as an example. Fuchs contends that countries that lead in battery recycling and the

win-win solutions exist,” she says.

Fuchs and her team from Carnegie Mellon Engineering, and

production of cobalt-free batteries have the potential to change

in partnership with the School of Computer Science and the

global market prices, the production location, and mitigate

Heinz School of Public Policy, are leading a moonshot on critical

single-country supply risks.

technologies to find those win-win solutions.

Second, to reap local, long-term economic benefits from research and technology investments, we need to invest in infrastructure now.

CMU PORTUGAL LAUNCHED ANOTHER BILLION $ COMPANY REMEMBERING HAROLD PAXTON Harold W. Paxton, former head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE), passed away on March 8, 2021 at age 94. Paxton, U.S. Steel University Professor Emeritus, had an incredible impact on MSE through his research, mentorship and leadership.

Paxton was an important part of the Carnegie Mellon University community for almost 70 years. He started his career at Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1953 as assistant professor of Metallurgical Engineering.

During his time at Carnegie Tech, now Carnegie Mellon, he served as head of MSE and director of the Metals Research Laboratory.

“Harry Paxton is responsible for much of what MSE is today — he was a student, faculty member and head of the department. His philosophy about Materials Science and Engineering research and education is carried on in all our department activities. He will be remembered as an influential leader of the MSE Department and a globally recognized metallurgist who made significant contributions to the field,” said Greg Rohrer, W.W. Mullins Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and former head.

After retiring from active teaching, Paxton worked as a consultant to government and industry. Some of his work was with United States Steel Corporation, where he served as vice president of research and eventually vice president of corporate research and technology

Feedzai, the first startup launched under the Carnegie Mellon Portugal Program, became the second unicorn company born under the partnership.

Feedzai is the fourth Portuguese company to obtain the title of unicorn after raising a $200 million growth investment by KKR, a leading global investment firm.

Joining Mambu, Feedzai is the second unicorn company launched under the CMU Portugal Program. Feedzai is now valued at well above $1 billion which confirms, according to the company, the support and confidence of Sapphire Ventures and Citi Ventures, who previously invested into the startup.

Feedzai is the market leader in fighting financial crime, providing an advanced cloud-based risk management platform that uses advanced machine learning techniques.

The new round of investment came a week after the company’s announcement of the award-winning ethical AI innovation Feedzai Fairband, the world’s most advanced AI fairness framework that allows financial institutions worldwide to make better and fairer decisions while protecting them from financial crime.

The success of the company born within the CMU Portugal Program framework and supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), is a clear acknowledgment of the program’s outcomes and a proof of the impact that the partnership has in supporting strong and innovative information and communication technologies initiatives.

assessment.

Paxton was often recognized for his impressive contributions to the field of physical metallurgy. He was a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and Fellow of the Minerals,

PA GE 4 3

Metals & Materials Society.

STUDENT NEWS

BRINGING STUDENTS INTO THE NEXT INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

When one thinks of the “Industrial Revolution,”

are those aforementioned emerging technologies:

they might think of a time long ago, marked by

things like IoT, vision as an interface, and even

steam trains and bustling factories. But that has

using robots for different services. MechE Ph.D.

changed. In fact, the Industrial Revolution of old

student Ethan Brownell agrees that these shifts truly

is actually considered the first of four different

represent emergent technologies we’ll be seeing

industrial revolutions, each one separately

more of soon.

marked by advancements such as manufacturing,

“The ‘new’ things we learn are often not the

the computer chip, and now the explosion of

newest method or technology anymore. Finding

technologies across physical, digital, and biological

out what is coming next is difficult, but that is

areas. Each individual advancement in this

the frontier that this course tried to tackle,” says

fourth revolution—from blockchain, to additive

Brownell.

manufacturing, to the Internet of Things (IoT)—has

Once they’ve researched a shift, students were

nearly limitless potential on its own. So, what could

then put into groups and tasked with combining

we make if we were to combine these different

their individual topics into one, fully-realized

technologies together?

product. They’d need to follow Cagan’s product

This is the question that Jonathan Cagan,

development methodology, which involves

professor of mechanical engineering (MechE) asked

aspects like identifying potential stakeholders

in his new course, Special topics: Design for the

and determining “value opportunities.” These

Fourth Industrial Revolution, first offered in Spring

are areas where a new product can supplant an

of 2021.

existing solution through ease of use, durability,

“Each of these technologies is bursting and

or emotions. He outlines this process in one of

accelerating innovation, but what I was very

the course’s required texts: his book, Creating

interested in is what happens if you combine them?

Breakthrough Products, co-authored by Craig Vogel,

So, what happens if you have blockchain and vision

former CMU School of Design professor. Most

as an interface and 3D printing? What could happen

importantly, an additional requirement asked

if the three of them were merged together and

students to ensure that their design innovation

exploding at the same rate?” asks Cagan.

could impact a real societal problem.

His students would be the ones to investigate

One group worked to combine the deep shifts

these questions throughout the semester. The

of IoT, blockchain, vision as an interface, and

course, which is open to both graduate students

robots for services. They decided to focus on

and upper-level undergraduates, is separated into

office ergonomics and how it could be used to

two main sections. First, they learn what exactly the

improve employee health and wellbeing through

Fourth Industrial Revolution is and select one of

their product. Their solution was an “ergonomic

23 different “deep shifts” to study in detail. These

ecosystem” entitled “Let’s [Er]go,” a setup consisting

of a smart lumbar support for a chair hooked into

from guest speakers about how they employed

an application analyzing your office space. The

similar strategies in their work. Guests included

support could detect whether or not you were

Matt Rogers and Drew Perkins—both College of

sitting correctly, and adjust itself to ensure you

Engineering alumni. Rogers went on to found Nest

were.

and Perkins is currently working on a means of

Another group chose a more macroscopic

developing “smart contact lenses” at Mojo Vision,

focus, instead looking at ways that underserved

where he is CEO. In other words, both apply the

communities could be transformed into “self-

skills Cagan’s students are learning right now,

sustainable smart villages.” They needed to

meaning the students will enter the workforce with

combine the shifts of smart cities, vision as an

an advantage. Cagan feels that this is part of what

interface, blockchain, and IoT, and focused their

makes this course so important.

efforts on the local Pittsburgh borough, Braddock.

“Part of the goal of this is that when our students

“Speaking with multiple people from Braddock, we

graduate and go into industry, they’re dealing with

identified housing infrastructure as a key challenge

these technologies that are exploding around them

that the community faced. From there, the product

and they need to be confident that they can use

design process took over to reach our final design

their skills to understand them enough to be able

solution of an autonomous home audit robot that

to think about how they could be used to solve

used near-range radio waves to scan a home and

hard problems, and how their combination can lead

identify issues,” Brownell explained. The robot,

toward really new markets and new capabilities,”

nicknamed “AHA,” could report those issues back

Cagan said.

to homeowners in the form of a secure webpage or app.

Another student in this group, Konomi Nakajima, found the process of learning a new product design methodology both challenging and rewarding. “I was uncomfortable at first in the beginning of this course because I was trained on a product development methodology that differs a bit. However, going through this new method helped me gain a new perspective in terms of how to approach a problem, which I hope to apply in my future career.” Nakajima is pursuing her master’s degree through Carnegie Mellon’s Integrated Innovation Institute.

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Throughout the semester, students heard

NIKA FINKELSTEYN’S VISION OF THE FUTURE This futuristic urban space was painted by Nika Finkelsteyn, who graduated from civil and environmental engineering (BS ’21) and minored in art.

The flying car and redesigned city bus underscore technology advances; however, Finkelsteyn explains that there are “small details that allude to big picture ideas that will be important in mitigating cities’ contributions to climate change and strengthening their adaptability to respond to inevitable changes in weather patterns.” She advocates for green infrastructure with better stormwater management, decreasing the heat island effect by delegating more space for trees and plants, and minimizing the volume of refuse going into landfills by introducing largescale, efficient recycling and composting operations.

“Much of what will greatly improve the sustainability of cities is just within our grasp (except for maybe light-speed flying cars). Our future cities are composed of concepts that we’re already familiar with, and now we just have to choose to invest in the changes that will improve all community members’ quality of living.”

THIS IS HOW WE ROLL IN BUGGY We are proud to report that Carnegie Mellon buggies rolled this spring.

A grand tradition, CMU’s Buggy Sweepstakes is a relay

To design a race-worthy buggy takes input from different disciplines across Carnegie Mellon. “I learned how to delegate and how to shift my expectations based

race where student teams compete against each other in

on other people’s backgrounds. Buggy helped me develop

motorless, torpedo-shaped vehicles that reach speeds up

nontechnical skills. I am a better leader now. Also, as a

to 40 mph.

woman engineer, Buggy was a welcoming experience

Thrills and spills? You bet. Typically, students and

and has helped with my confidence going into other

alumni crowd around Schenley Park’s Flagstaff Hill to

engineering environments,” says Elly Seiler, a senior in

watch the races. Pandemic restrictions nixed the fanfare

mechanical engineering.

this year, but there were modified Buggy heats on May

“The biggest career lesson I learned from Buggy is how

1-2. Buggy is engrained in the CMU psyche, and for some

much more there is to engineering than just CAD or what I

very committed students, passing on Buggy in 2021 was

think of as traditional mechanical engineering. Everything

not an option.

from manufacturing to process improvement to risk

“Even rolling for a little bit this year helps teams pass

management to team culture and history play a role in what

on the institutional knowledge that is associated with

the “right” design decisions are for your team,” says Baker.

Buggy,” says Conrad Zapanta, teaching professor of

Bringing people together is the magic of Buggy, and once it’s

biomedical engineering and the faculty advisor for the

in your blood, it doesn’t go away.

Fringe racing team.

From an academic perspective, Buggy symbolizes education in motion. The sleek, three-wheeled vessels are

“Buggy instantly bonds CMU alumni, no matter how big the age gap or major,” says Zapanta.

“Buggy is my favorite thing about Carnegie Mellon.

the byproduct of classroom and hands-on learning that’s

I cannot over stress how much it has taught me about

reinforced with legacy knowledge.

engineering. I love Buggy, and I love the friendships I have

“All my courses play into some aspect of Buggy,” attests

made from it,” says Seiler.

Jose Garcia, a junior in mechanical engineering. Recalling the merits of first-year physics, and now, more advanced courses in fluid dynamics, he can tie specific lessons to negotiating the 90-degree turn on the racecourse or how drag and lift factor into making a buggy aerodynamic.

Pride compels students to bring everything they have to the competition. They use modeling and advanced simulation tools to make the buggies faster and safer. “Like a lot of engineering projects, a buggy really starts with a 3D model,” says Sydney Baker, a senior in mechanical engineering and Chinese studies. “The cool part about Buggy is that you see this idea that you’ve only seen on a screen and you start making it real.”

The designs may look amazing, but optimizing them takes trial and error. When students run the buggies, an odd sound or vibration can indicate a problem.

“We diagnose the problem and fix it. And then you keep rolling. It’s so satisfying to see it roll right,” says Carl Young, a senior in mechanical engineering and

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biomedical engineering.

ALUMNI NEWS

DONNA BLACKMOND: ALUMNA, ELECTED INTO NAS, IS DOING ADVANCED WORK IN CHIRALITY Billions of years ago, the earth was wild and the building

These honors celebrate her accomplishments and reflect

blocks for life brewed in a primordial soup. Molecules

her passion for organic chemistry and capacity for practicing

combined, they replicated, and evolution ran its course.

engineering in her scientific pursuits.

DNA now provides the blueprint for biological life. But did it

Blackmond started her career as a chemical engineering

always? Was DNA the first molecule on earth to replicate or

professor at the University of Pittsburgh. In the early 1990s,

was it RNA or something else?

she was recruited by Merck & Co., Inc., which sought her

Even before Charles Darwin proselytized about evolution, scientists had been trying to figure out how nonliving molecules cohered and sparked to life. Depending on

engineering expertise to help them develop drugs such as Crixivan, an HIV drug.

“The AIDS epidemic was raging, and HIV was a death

whose research you read, we may be close to an answer.

sentence back then. Merck realized that scaling this drug

But what is verifiable now is that science and technology

was like nothing they’d ever done. Basically, somebody did

progress the more we probe into the origins of life.

a back-of-an-envelope calculation and said that if Merck

Donna Blackmond (Ph.D., ChemE ’84) delves into the

closed all their plants and only made their AIDS drug, they

origins of life as a direct offshoot of her groundbreaking

couldn’t make enough. So, for the first time, they started

work on chirality. (DNA is a chiral molecule.)

thinking about what engineers think about all the time,

This spring Blackmond was elected into the National Academy of Science, for “probing organic reaction

which is productivity,” says Blackmond.

Back then, chemists would put a number of different

mechanisms … and for investigations aimed at

catalysts “into the reactors, and go home. The next day,

understanding the origin of biological homochirality.” She

they would only have one piece of information from each of

is also a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

those catalysts, the end point,” she says.

I was once at an origins of life meeting at a hotel. I get in the elevator, and this guy looks at my badge and says, “Origins of Life?

Are you guys a religious group? ‘No, no, no,’ I replied, ‘we’re scientists.

DONNA BLACKMOND

Blackmond took a different approach and applied her training as an engineer to run experiments that allowed

over the other.”

“I wanted to figure out how that happened.” She

researchers to watch chemical reactions in their entirety.

collaborated with John Brown from Oxford University on

They then applied mathematical models to predict how

what’s called a reaction mechanism (the step-by-step process

to reach the end point faster. “Reactions have selectivity

by which a chemical change occurs.) “He was a chemist

where they can go towards A or B, and we could direct it.

with expertise in spectroscopy and examining molecule

We call it riding on reaction. We’re like riding on a racehorse

structures, and my expertise was monitoring the reaction

around the track. We’re not watching in the stands and

and doing mathematical modeling. It was great fun.”

taking snapshots.”

As she worked on scaling the production of Crixivan and other drugs, “It struck me how the collaboration between

Afterwards, she began receiving invitations to origins of life conferences, and ultimately, she was invited to join the Simons Foundation’s Collaboration on the Origins of Life.

chemists and engineers can really be fruitful. And from then

“Basically, we’re piecing things together from a crime

on, that’s what my whole career has been,” says Blackmond.

scene that has been walked all over for 3.5 billion years,

The blending of science and engineering continued after she left Merck, and returned to academia. She held

since life started,” says Blackmond.

“The collaboration brings in astronomers, who talk

positions in Germany at the Max Planck Institute and in the

about how planets form. Astrobiologists, astrochemists,

UK at Hull University and Imperial College London. In 2010,

geochemists are thinking about what kinds of rocks and

joined the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California,

minerals were on earth, while planetary scientists ask, ‘What

where today she’s the department chair of chemistry and

was the atmosphere like 3.5 billion years ago?’ Then there

holds the John C. Martin Endowed Chair in Chemistry.

are prebiotic chemists who think about ‘What were the

Blackmond pioneered Reaction Progress Kinetic Analysis

primitive reactions that could have first made the building

(RPKA), a method for streamlining chemical reactions that is

blocks for RNA and proteins?’ Some people in the RNA

now used by pharmaceutical companies. “A lot of our work,

world are saying, ‘I’m not too worried about how life started

whether or not it’s for pharmaceuticals directly, is geared

before. We’re just going to see if we can make it start again.’

towards green chemistry. It’s about being more sustainable

And, you know, they’re getting close.”

and having fewer waste products. Atom-economical is the

Whether and when they succeed remains to be seen, but

sort of wording that’s used—every atom that you put in

the more researchers dig into the mystery of life, the more

goes into your products and not into waste.”

knowledge they create, and this is helping people now. She

“We’re trying to solve longstanding problems in organic

explains that phenomena they discovered now enables

chemistry, like finding better ways to do certain reactions or

pharma companies to form solids from molecules that

transformations. The work is more fundamental.” Once the

selectively come out of solutions for applications in capsules

research hits a certain point, it is passed off to industry for

and tablets.

further development.

Blackmond’s other area of fundamental research, origins of life, began when she read what is now a very famous article about an autocatalytic reaction, a reaction where

“I had no background in this before we started working on it. Again, it was one of these things that we saw and didn’t understand why it was happening, so we probed deeper.”

“Chemists, engineers, astronomers, physicists,

the product actually catalyzes its own formation. “The

mathematicians, and biologists typically don’t talk to each

more product you make, the faster the reaction goes. The

other, but in this collaboration, we all talk to each other, and

other thing that it did was it made a chiral molecule. The

well, maybe we’ll get somewhere.”

article talked about left- and right-hand molecules, and this PA GE 4 9

autocatalytic reaction could over time amplify one hand

SUCCESS SUPPORTS SUCCESS

Nick Fiore (MSE ‘60, ‘63, ‘64) has had an impressive 50-year career in the manufacturing industry and in academic leadership. His work has taken him all over the world and has given him the opportunity to interact with business owners and thought leaders in his field. His beginnings, however, are much humbler and have served as the motivation for his own success and philanthropy.

Fiore grew up in the East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh with his large extended family. His father, a marble setter, had taken drafting classes at Carnegie Mellon University (then known as Carnegie Institute of Technology) and instilled the importance of technical training in him. From a young age, Fiore had set his sights on Carnegie Tech.

“Like most of us in that generation, you wanted to get the best technical education because that would allow you to get the best and most-secure job. And, there was a long-standing feeling on a part of our family that Carnegie Tech was a wonderful place to go.”

At Carnegie Tech, Fiore found that the student population fell into groups divided along socio-economic lines. He felt a strong sense of camaraderie with the other commuting working-class students. From industrial towns, many of these students came from immigrant families, like Fiore, and were the first of their household to go to college.

Fiore studied metallurgical sciences and spent much of his early career as a faculty member (and later, department chair) in the Department of Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Notre Dame. He was heavily influenced by the Carnegie Tech faculty that served as his mentors, including the late Harold W. Paxton, and he tried to emulate their actions.

“I was inspired by their caring, by their willingness to help, by their open door,” says Fiore. “Even as an undergraduate, we were invited to their homes. And after I was married, we had faculty at our homes. It was a great experience—the NICK AND SYLVIA FIORE VISITING CAMPUS TO MEET WITH DOMINQUE PETACH, THE RECIPIENT OF THEIR SCHOLARSHIP SOURCE: NICK FIORE

faculty effortlessly cared about you.”

These relationships also inspired Fiore’s generosity to his alma mater. Fiore and his wife, Sylvia, have given several gifts in support of students in the College of Engineering. They

NICK FIORE 1960

Through his career, he has seen the field of metallurgical sciences flex and grow into what now is called materials science and engineering. After the decline in the American metals industry, the field of metallurgy became focused on a broader range of materials by leveraging its foundational principles. Fiore sees this as an opportunity for future materials engineers: “The field automatically renews itself,” says Fiore. “The principles on which the field has been based are very general, and it almost doesn’t matter whether you’re dealing with a plastic, ceramic, metal—or using a miracle material discovered in some laboratory.”

Now retired, Fiore remains very involved in his field and in the Carnegie Mellon community. He predicts a bright future for the study of materials, and specifically for the students who study at CMU.

DRAFTING TOOLS FROM FIORE’S FATHER. A MARBLE SETTER, HE HAD TAKEN DRAFTING CLASSES AT CARNEGIE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND INSTILLED THE IMPORTANCE OF TECHNICAL TRAINING IN HIS SON. SOURCE: NICK FIORE

established a scholarship fund in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) and a fund in support of undergraduate research in the College. Because Fiore received financial aid to attend Carnegie Tech, he feels strongly that he should pay it forward to enable other young engineers to follow their dreams. “Well, it’s just that simple,” he explains. “I owe something back.” He refers to his gifts as “bootstrap gifts,” representing the climb he made from his modest beginnings to the success he has accomplished.

“The reality is that I couldn’t have gotten to where I am in life without Carnegie Tech, and therefore, I owe something,” says Fiore. “I am able to give opportunity to somebody, who might not have had the opportunity otherwise, to bootstrap himself or herself.”

Fiore says that he sees himself as a product of two worlds: his tough, hard-working, blue-collar upbringing and the strong training he received at Carnegie Tech. He attributes this combination of influences as the catalyst for success in his life, which includes being responsible for international operations of engineered products at Carpenter Technology Corporation and leading Cabot Corporation’s High-Performance Alloy and Advanced

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Ceramics divisions.

BUILDING OUR FUTURE. NE W SCA IFE H ALL, O PEN IN G 2023.

ANDRE AND N I C O L E S UTA N TO W I T H T H E I R C H I LDRE N C ON R A D A N D E M I L Y OU T S I DE O F A N S Y S HA L L

“ I T H I N K I N VE STI NG I N E DUC A T I O N I S THE B E ST IN V E S T M E N T W E CA N M A KE F OR T HE F UTUR E. ” - A N DR E S U T A N T O (M e c h E ‘ 1 3 ) As a student at Carnegie Mellon University, Andre embraced the collaborative nature and strong community of the College of Engineering. The relationships he built with faculty, staff, and students continue to have a lasting impact in his personal and professional lives.

Andre and his wife Nicole are active volunteers and generous donors to Carnegie Mellon.

Andre has served as a mentor to Engineering students and is a dedicated member of the Mechanical Engineering Advisory Council. Passionate about supporting students, Andre and Nicole gave a gift to the renovation of Hamerschlag Hall and the construction of ANSYS Hall through the Sutanto Collaborative Space.

G I VE ST R AT E G ICA LLY, S UPPO RT GEN ERO US L Y Learn how you can achieve your philanthropic vision at Carnegie Mellon by visiting engineering.cmu.edu/waystogive.

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