CARNEGIE MELLON ENGINEERING
SPRING/SUMMER 2022 MAGAZINE
BRINGING ROBOTICS INTO EVERYDAY LIFE.
An engineering revolution is underway in soft machines and robots to assist people in new ways through nextgeneration systems. In Softbotics, our vision is to create a step change in moving robotics from large industrial scale to smaller human scale and thereby entering households, workplaces, hospitals and aspects of the environment to provide new solutions. One day people around the globe will be touched by the enhanced performance these technologies will offer. Learn more about partnering with us: softbotics.org.
REBECCA TAYLOR
MOHAMMAD ISLAM
SARAH BERGBREITER
CARMEL MAJIDI
VICTORIA WEBSTER-WOOD
In Softbotics, we are engineering machines and robots
We are creating multifunctional materials that have
that are human centric and are designed for everyday
integrated sensing, actuation, and intelligence, and they
life.
are soft and lightweight. We are making advances in
At the heart of this are bio-inspired materials and how
integrated microsystems and exploring new architectures
we think about their mechanics and deformability and
for interfacing these novel materials with biological
how they will enable this new generation of soft robots.
tissue. We are creating materials that are compatible with
For the most part, materials are passive. The materials found in athletic clothing or in a cane assist us, but
human tissue, like our skin and muscles. Yet materials are just one component of softbotics.
they don’t have the functionality that we associate with
To realize the potential of softbotics, we need to sense
computers and robotics.
and actuate on a fine-grained level with embedded
If we want to introduce active functionality into
microsystems. We have demonstrated that by combining
material systems, we must introduce motors, computing
the tiny features from microfabrication with soft
devices, bulky hardware, and energy sources, and
materials, we get sensors akin to the sensors we have in
this makes these systems cumbersome to use. With
our own skin. One way we are making tiny actuators is by
softbotics, however, we can have a new generation of
combining 3D printing with traditional micro-fabrication
robotic systems comprised of flexible, self-healing, and
processes to create structures with conductive metal
energy-harvesting materials that allow these systems
coatings. And we are doing much more.
to be worn, deployed in our environment, or applied in boundless human-machine interactions. This work is inspired by the adaptability, agility, and resilience of organisms in nature.
The ability to engineer sensors and actuators at small scales and embed them into soft, lightweight robotics is a key component to expanding the functionality of softbotic systems to ultimately make our lives better.
FROM THE DEAN Greetings, I am In 1993, happy three to report quarters that of we theare people backininAfrica the had never heard a phone ring. That changed in classroom the 2000s, for when thethe fallmobile term. These phonedays, revolution when Iswept see across the continent, bringing access to students the internet. walking As part across of the campus, Government I have aofnewfound Rwanda’s strategy to establish itself as a center for
BILL SANDERS
appreciationand Information for the Communications vitality they bring Technology to Carnegie (ICT) in Africa, they partnered with us to create CMUMellon, Africa inand 2011. I am Since struck then, bythe howCollege well our of research Engineering has created successful programs to educate and education African leadersactivities and innovators have held in ICT, up through electricalthe and computer engineering, and more recently in AI. pandemic. We are pleased to tell you that the Government of Rwanda has extended its commitment to CMUAfrica Many forof another you may 10not years know to 2032. that my research background We have ambitious is in cyberplans resiliency. for CMU-Africa, Despite and we have a team in place that’s committed to our technicalOn success. failures January or malicious 1, 2022, Allen attacks, Robinson a cyberwas named the director of CMU-Africa. Previously, resilient system Robinson servedwill as head complete of the itsDepartment mission. I’m of Mechanical Engineering, where he revitalized the proud toexperience student say that the and College built aofstrong Engineering facultyisand staff base. A prominent educator and researcher, also the he’s resilient, founding adapting director to address of the Environmental the challengesProtection Agency-funded Center for Air, Climate and Energy opportunities Solutions. we are Robinson presented succeeds with, Vijayakumar while Bhagavatula, who leaves a legacy of high-
ALLEN ROBINSON
at the same growth and strategic time maintaining programand development. enhancing Gbemi our Disu, who joined CMU-Africa in 2021, is the preeminence location’s executive as a top director. engineering She provides college. administrative and strategic leadership to expand the program’s To accomplish global impact. that, we have taken great care to create As youawill safe read environment in this issue, forthere everyone. are exciting This developments happening throughout the College. is exceptionally Keith Cook has been relevant selected because to lead this the fall Department we have of Biomedical Engineering. Serving as the enrolled the laIn department’s interim Rwanda, headwe since believe earlythat 2021, wehe willhas be demonstrated a capacity for leadership by back to fully steering the formation on-campusofinstruction the Transforming by the start Transplant of Initiative in partnership with the Mayo Clinic. theWe second have mini established course.our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion team that’s led by Alaine Allen. As a world-class Another way engineering we stay robust school,iswe bymust infusing recruit theand engage a diverse global community, where College’s leadership everyone belongs and team is equipped with newto voices. succeed. Alaine Allen Expanding joined uson asthe thenotion associate of success, dean foran diversity, inimitable way we prepare students for what lies ahead
VIJAYAKUMAR BHA GAVATULA
equity, is our deliberate and inclusion focus (DEI) on the andstudent distinguished experience. service We have captured our students’ definition of the professor of engineering undergraduate experience and in public Engineering, policy.and We mapped how it impacts them and continues to know thatthem influence by recruiting long after and they engaging graduate. everyone, In the following pages, you will find stories that show how potential. the student experience Other indicators is brought of ourtohealthy life. state The College of Engineering is acclaimed for graduating technically strong engineers, and our emphasis on equity, the student experience, and other components of our culture readies our graduates to thrive wherever their careers may take them. are the relationships we adecarbonize freight Sincerely, GBEMI DISU
William H. Sanders Dr. William D. and Nancy W. Strecker Dean, College of Engineering
C ON T E N T S RE S E A R C H
IN SIDE THE COLLEGE
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SOFTBOTICS
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EPP C O NT I NUES 50-YEA R L EGA C Y
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T A NT A L I Z I NG T AN TALUM ACTUATOR S AN D S E N S ORS
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C O ST A SAMA RA S APPO I NT ED T O O ST P
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R E S E T T I NG T H E S TAN DAR D IN OR THOPE DICS
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C RO SSRO ADS FO R DA T A
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I M P R O VI NG A G R ICULTUR AL E F F ICIE N CY WITH
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VA NBRI ESEN J O I NS NSF’S C BET
NA NO P A R T I C L E S
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KEI T H C O O K NA MED HEA D O F BI O MEDI C AL ENGI NEERI NG
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M O NI T O R I NG C OW MO O V E ME N T
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MAYO C L I NI C JO I NS US T O I NNO VA T E O RGAN T RANSP LANT AT I O N
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D A T A -F R U GA L D EE P LE AR N IN G S AV E S TIM E
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BO SC H A ND C MU FO C US O N SPA T I AL C O MPUT I NG
A ND M O NE Y
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C I SC O PART NERS WI T H C YL A B
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B R E A K I NG B A R R IE R S IN DIAGN OS TIC TE S TIN G
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MA KI NG ENVI RO NMENT AL SC I ENC E AC C ESSI BL E
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UNC O VE R I NG A PR OMIS IN G US E F OR E X OS OME S
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I NT EGRA T ED I NNO VAT I O N I NST I T UT E O FFERS
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C L E A NI NG U P A N OIL S PILL
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S E NS E A ND S I G N AL F OR BR AIN H E ALTH
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AN I MMERSI VE C YBER FO RENSI C S C O URSE
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W H A T I S NO R M AL IN TE R N E T BR OWS IN G?
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A PL A C E O F BEL O NGI NG
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O P T I M I Z I NG P O WE R GR ID S IMULATION
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A PERSPEC T I VE O N PA N-AFRI C AN C UL T URE
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A MA ST ERC ARD SC HO L A R’S BO UNDL ESS C A PAC I T Y T O CO NT RI B U T E
EDITOR
ENGI NEERI NG, DESI GN, AND BUSI NESS EDUC A T I O N O N LI NE
DESIGNER
SHERRY STOKES
(DC’0 7 )
TIM KELLY
STU DEN T N EWS
(A’05, HNZ’14)
CONTRIBUTORS
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O UR ST UDENT EXPERI ENC E
•KRISTA BURNS
•RYAN NOONE
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T HE PO WER O F ST UDENT O RGA NI ZA T I O NS
•DAN CARROLL
•RYAN SCARPINO
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C L ASSMA T ES AND C HEC KMA T ES
•DAVID COCHRAN
(PH OTO GRA PHY)
•EMILY SCHNEIDER
•HANNAH DIORIO-TOTH
•LYNN SHEA
•EMILY FORNEY
•DANIEL TKACIK
(DC’1 2 )
ALU MN I
•LISA KULICK
•SARA VACCAR
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•KAITLYN LANDRAM
•KAYLA VALENTINE
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ENGI NEER, ENT REPRENEUR, I NVEST O R, SA I L O R A HANDS-FREE, HANDS-O N A PPRO A C H
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.
Research
TANTALIZING TANTALUM A C T UA T O RS A ND SE NSO R S
Accelerometers in mobile phones, microprocessors in laptops, and gyroscopes that balance drones each rely on microelectromechanical systems, or MEMS for short. Within these small systems are even smaller devices, called actuators and sensors, that perform various physical functions. One type is a thermal actuator, which transforms energy into motion by the expansion and contraction of materials due to temperature changes. You’ll find MEMS thermal actuators inside computer disk drives, scanning probes, and microengines. Currently, these thermal actuators rely on polysilicon, a material that requires high temperatures and consumes a considerable amount of power during the fabrication process. While working on related research, investigators at they had found an efficient substitute. Led by Maarten de Boer, professor of mechanical
WE ARE INVESTIGATING IF TANTALUM CAN BE A SUBSTITUTE MATERIAL IN MEMS THERMAL ACTUATORS AND SENSORS
between them. This will result in more efficient devices
engineering, the team created microelectromechanical
made with less material, which will cost less to manufacture
thermal actuators with tantalum instead of polysilicon.
and result in higher performance.
This lowered both the operating temperature and energy
Although other researchers have explored ways
consumption that would be necessary for a given amount of
to eliminate the second chip, they found the high
actuation. The results were published in Nature Microsystems
temperatures needed to fabricate MEMS to be a roadblock.
& Nanoengineering.
De Boer’s team has solved this issue.
Tantalum is a rare, refractory metal, often used in
An additional paper published in the Journal of
alloys to increase strength and durability. The researchers
Microelectromechanical Systems explored the use of
theorized that tantalum thermal actuators—due to the
aluminum nitride to maintain a low temperature during the
metal’s large coefficient of thermal expansion compared
MEMS fabrication process. This could increase the viability
to the silicon substrate on which it is made—would require
of developing both MEMS and CMOS on the same chip in
less than half the power input for the same force and
a “MEMS-last” approach that may be of interest both to
displacement than those made with polysilicon.
foundries and to so-called fabless MEMS companies.
Operating at a lower voltage than other thermal
“Regarding the CMOS integration, it would be quite
actuators, the tantalum ones are directly compatible with
exciting as it lends itself to use of full CMOS under the
complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) circuits.
MEMS,” observed Gary Fedder, a professor of electrical and
The tantalum devices could also be processed nearly at
computer engineering. “Tantalum density is about seven
room temperature.
times larger than silicon, so it will be excellent as a proof
“In principle, this work demonstrates the viability of using tantalum not only to fabricate thermoactuators but also many sensors for use in a wide range of integrated nanoelectronics,” said de Boer. During the fabrication process of a microprocessor,
mass. That is a big deal as a similar sensitivity transducer can be seven times smaller!” The results could have future impact on a range of industries that require sensing technologies, like aerospace, healthcare, optical networks, and robotics. De Boer and his
phone, or other device, manufacturers typically place
students have filed three provisional patents in the areas of
a MEMS component on one chip and electronic CMOS
processing tantalum for MEMS.
components on a second chip.
Additional authors on the technical papers and
De Boer’s team believes that tantalum as a MEMS
provisional patents include Longchang Ni and Ryan
structural material can eliminate both the need for two
Pocratsky, both Ph.D. students in the Department of
separate chips and the extra wiring that sends signals
Mechanical Engineering.
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Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Engineering realized
RESEARCH
RESET T I N G T HE STA ND A R D IN O R T H OPE DI CS Each year roughly 6 million Americans break a bone and head to their doctor for a plaster or fiberglass cast. After six long weeks of trying not to get the cast wet, and resisting the urge to scratch the itchy skin underneath, the patients return to their doctor to have the cast removed and tossed into the trash, unable to be used again. Mohammad Islam, Lining Yao, and Carmel Majidi have created a new material system that could change this standard in orthopedics: ExoForm. ExoForm is a compact, customizable and semi-rigid wearable material with self-fusing edges for immediate, adjustable, and repeatable use. It offers the unique ability to specifically conform to individual bodies without dependence on medical professionals. The idea for ExoForm originated in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, as a facemask that could be 3D printed and self-molded to fit the wearer perfectly. Shortly after, the team realized the material’s application could be more broadly utilized and the cast was created. The ExoForm cast distinguishes itself from the orthopedic materials currently available at local pharmacies such as finger splints and wristbands, in that it can successfully support a variety of complex body parts and adjust its stiffness throughout the healing process. It is also breathable and can be submerged in water, allowing for a more comfortable
as the body begins to heal, the wearer can remove parts of the
wearing experience.
cast to loosen the material, allowing for increased mobility and
ExoForm begins as a flat structure and requires heat— between 70-80 degrees Celsius—to mold. To protect the wearer from burns, users must initially wrap three layers of gauze
ultimately a faster healing time. Once fully healed, the user can remove the cast on their own. With self-fusing edges, any pieces of the material removed
around their skin where they intend to wear the cast. The cast
during the molding and healing process can be added back
features a sensing and control system that can trigger a white
on by pressing the edges together. This enables repeat usage.
LED light to indicate when the material is at a safe handling
Within hours of the edges coming into contact, ExoForm
temperature. Once heated, the material takes a standardized
pieces self-fuse to the original flat form. This flat packing saves
shape around the body to initialize the rough fit. Users can
nearly 95% of the volume taken up by the assembled cast
then manually sculpt the material into their own perfect fit. The
making it easy for storage in case one day a friend or family
white LED light glows brightly and dims as the wearable
member needs a cast of their own. All in all, ExoForm’s level of
is tightened.
accessibility means that future wearable devices can be tailored
Existing plaster and fiberglass casts remain stiff throughout the course of healing and limits the user’s ability to move. This limitation delays the body’s natural healing time. With ExoForm,
to fit users’ needs without leaving anyone behind. This research was published in Association for Computing Machinery Computer Human Interaction 2021 (ACM CHI).
I M PR O VI NG A G R I CULTUR A L E F F I CI E NCY W I TH NA NO PA R TI CLE S Professor Greg Lowry of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) has received two grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) totaling $2.2 million to improve agricultural efficiency using nanoparticles (NPs) for targeted delivery of nutrients and plant protection products in crop plants. The first award of $1.7 million will explore the potential of NPs as a nitrogen delivery system, a vital nutrient for plant growth and the primary agent in fertilizers. According to Lowry, replacing traditional fertilizer application to soil with foliar NP delivery would be a massive leap ahead for agriculture, significantly improving the efficiency of nitrogen uptake, lowering energy inputs, and reducing harmful runoff. This task comes with many challenges however, not least of which will be scaling up their NP manufacturing process and utilizing a sustainable and readily available source of nitrogen. Joining Lowry in this project will be CEE’s Assistant Professor Jerry Wang, Chemical Engineering’s Professor Bob Tilton, and researchers from the University of Kentucky and University of California, Riverside. Lowry’s second award of half a million dollars from the NSF will fund the creation of nano-enabled materials for targeted delivery to chloroplasts, capable of turning plant chloroplasts into “ubiquitous solar powered molecular factories for personalized biomanufacturing devices.” This is a collaborative project with researchers from the University of California, Riverside and University of California, San Diego. This team will converge principles of nanotechnology and plant biology to modify these organelles, usually dedicated to capturing sunlight to produce energy, to create an engineered mRNA vaccine. These tools could provide a cheap and accessible alternative to currently expensive vaccine manufacturing processes, and hopefully help alleviate global inequities in vaccine availability. This project will also be conducted in partnership with the University of California, Riverside. Lowry and Tilton have filed a patent on their novel NP delivery materials and their upcoming work on nitrogen delivery and environmentally responsive polymers holds huge promise for an agriculture sector threatened by a rapidly changing climate. “We are essentially doing targeted ‘drug delivery’ in plants, which has never been attempted before,” says Lowry. “We hope that these projects will ultimately provide disruptive technologies for both agriculture and democratizing vaccine production.”
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the agrochemical industries, making agriculture more sustainable and
RESEARCH
Animal agriculture is a growing field and
electrical and computer engineering at
has only intensified over the past several
Carnegie Mellon, will join the research
decades. Large livestock, like cows,
team led by Virginia Tech and share
horses, and bison, are typically managed
his extensive background in wireless
in herds and require massive expanses
devices.
of pasture. While this group-based
The team has developed a 5-cm
management has significantly increased
sensor ear tag that can monitor
productivity, it makes continuous
biometrics, acceleration, and location
monitoring of animal health and well-
of animals. Powered by solar energy
being labor-intensive and challenging.
harvesting, the tags will not need to be
To address this problem, researchers
recharged or replaced. Attached to the
from Carnegie Mellon University and
animal’s ear, the tag is consistent with
Virginia Tech have developed a versatile,
existing ear tags used in the industry and
reliable, and attack-resistant wireless
will not harm the animal.
sensor network for smart animal
Although solutions exist to implement
monitoring. The team has received an
these monitoring technologies in
NSF grant from the Division of Computer
concentrated animal housing facilities,
and Network Systems, and they are
equivalent solutions for pastured animals
currently demonstrating its operation
are not available because of the energy
and practicality on real farms.
draw associated with transmitting data
Swarun Kumar, associate professor of
long distances between animal pastures
m o o vement
and the nearest traditionally connected
“Our lab is developing the wireless
environment. Popular technologies like
protocols for these devices to efficiently
WiFi and ZigBee are optimized for use
coexist, communicate, and last for
on intensive, barn-based confinement
years,” says Kumar.
pastoral systems. This innovative sensor network
Kumar brings depth to the project, especially in terms of the LP-WAN devices. Carnegie Mellon’s WiTEch
will leverage low-power, wide-area
Lab, led by Kumar, seeks to develop
networking (LP-WAN) to enable animal
and apply wireless technologies to
care personnel to monitor the behavior
improve daily life. Current research
and health of cattle remotely. LP-
projects using LP-WAN technology
WAN devices aim to provide wireless
include sensors to track wild fires,
connectivity at extremely low data rates
fabric-friendly sensors that respond to
over distances of several miles.
human touch, and automotive sensors
The biggest challenge in developing these networks is scale. Building a
to monitor tire wear. “Low-power, wide-area networking
network where thousands of devices are
devices are extremely versatile and
communicating at the same time will
can be adapted to endless fields,”
lead to interference and prevent signals
says Kumar. “I am excited to apply
from reaching a base station several
this technology to increase agriculture
miles away.
productivity.”
PA GE 1 1
operations and do not translate well to
RESEARCH
DA T A - F RUG A L D E E P L E A R N I NG SA VE S TI ME AN D M O NE Y
Most often, we recognize deep learning as the magic
their model using only 30-50 microscopy images. “It’s
behind self-driving cars and facial recognition, but what
like learning how to read,” Holm explained. “Once you’ve
about its ability to safeguard the quality of the materials
learned the alphabet you can apply that knowledge to
that make up these advanced devices? Elizabeth Holm
any book. We are able to be data-frugal in part because
and Bo Lei have adopted computer vision methods for
these systems have already been trained on a large
microstructural images that not only require a fraction
database of natural images.”
materials researchers an abundance of time and money. Quality control in materials processing requires
In collaboration with German institutes, Holm and Lei, a doctoral student in materials science and engineering, tried different deep learning approaches of laith-bainite
the analysis and classification of complex material
segmentation in complex-phase steel. They achieved
microstructures. For instance, the properties of some
accuracies of 90%, rivaling segmentation performed by
high-strength steels depend on the amount of lath-
experts. As part of this collaboration, Holm received a
type bainite in the material. However, the process of
grant from the German Research Foundation (DGM) that
identifying bainite in microstructural images is time-
supports her German collaborators visiting Pittsburgh in
consuming and expensive as researchers must first use
early 2022 to work alongside her team.
two types of microscopy to take a closer look and then
Additionally, the team is focused on developing an
rely on their own expertise to identify bainitic regions.
even more frugal deep learning method that would
“It’s not like identifying a person crossing the street
require only one image to get the same results.
when you’re driving a car,” explained Holm, a professor
Aside from steel, Lei has been working with a variety
of materials science and engineering. “It’s very difficult
of experimental groups that study deep learning
for humans to categorize, so we will benefit a lot from
characterization on a variety of materials.
integrating a deep learning approach.” Their approach is very similar to that of the
Holm believes, “With such promising results, we’ll hopefully be able to introduce this method to a broader
wider computer-vision community that drives facial
community in materials science and microstructure
recognition. The model is trained on existing material
characterization.”
microstructure images to evaluate new images and
This research was published in Nature
interpret their classification. While companies like
Communications and conducted in collaboration
Facebook and Google train their models on millions
with Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials,
or billions of images, materials scientists rarely have
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, University of Freiburg,
access to even 10,000 images. Therefore, it was vital
Saarland University, and Material Engineering Center
that Holm and Lei use a “data-frugal method,” and train
Saarland.
ANNOTATION PERFORMED BY AN EXPERT (LEFT) VS. DEEP LEARNING PREDICTED ANNOTATION (RIGHT).
PA GE 1 3
of the data deep learning typically relies on but can save
RESEARCH
A team of Carnegie Mellon University
concentrations of target molecules since
mechanical engineering researchers has
most of them would float by without
pushed the limits of diagnostic testing to
interacting. To push that limit, the
a level never before seen.
electrode’s detection area would have
The researchers, led by Rahul Panat,
to move into the third dimension to
an associate professor of mechanical
help “catch” the molecules as they move
engineering, have developed a sensor
through it.
system that was able to successfully
To achieve this, the team used a
detect levels of the neurotransmitter
technique known as aerosol jet 3D
dopamine down to femtomolar
nanoparticle printing, allowing them
concentrations. They have published
to build tiny micropillars using silver
their findings in Nature Communications.
nanoparticles. Each droplet was added
To put that into perspective, imagine
atop the previous and sintered together
pouring less than a gram of dopamine in
until a hollow pillar was formed. Then,
Oregon’s Crater Lake, the deepest lake in
they were covered with small flakes of
the U.S. This sensor could detect it.
graphene oxide, which further increased
“We have broken a fundamental barrier to the limit-of-detection for
the pillar’s surface area and helped to detect dopamine.
biomolecules,” explained Azahar Ali, the
But why dopamine? It’s an important
lead author of the paper. In other words,
signaling molecule in the brain and body,
this is the smallest concentration of
commonly associated with controlling
dopamine to ever be reliably detected.
your mood. However, it also plays a role
This incredible breakthrough was
in multiple neurodegenerative diseases,
achieved by leveraging the power
including schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, and
of additive manufacturing and
addiction. It can be found in the blood,
nanotechnology to create an incredibly
but at very low levels.
sensitive detection system, consisting of
This device’s high sensitivity could
a three-dimensional electrode placed into
allow a physician to draw a small drop of
a microfluidic channel, where samples
blood and test for dopamine’s presence,
are pumped through.
creating a minimally invasive diagnostic
Earlier electrodes consisted of a two-
method. This could allow for earlier,
dimensional detection surface, which
easier testing for these afflictions, which
were unable to detect increasingly small
could potentially save lives. Panat
Mechanical engineering researchers have used additive manufacturing and nanotechnology to detect the smallest concentration of dopamine to ever be reliably detected.
believes that advancements like this are far overdue. “I believe that the biomedical device industry has fallen behind in catching up with the progress in miniaturization and advancements in microelectronics. And we in academia can help change that,” he says. In 2020, his team used a similar micropillar system to develop a rapid Covid-19 antibody test. The device’s
B R EAK I N G B AR R I E R S IN DI AG N OS T I C TE STI NG
relative simplicity, however, means that it can be adapted to detect a wide variety of different molecules, from antibodies to neurotransmitters to many things in between. The future directions for this system are nearly endless. Several electrodes could be placed into one device to create a multiplex system, capable of detecting several different biomarkers at once. Or, it could be integrated into a new form of wearable technology, capable of detecting electrolyte levels. Regardless of where we see this technology implemented, however, it was made possible by using engineering tools and strategies to address an existing problem from a different discipline. The result is an innovative solution that will help define the future of medicine.
UNCO V E R I N G A PR O MI SI NG US E F O R E X OSO ME S Extracellular vesicles, or exosomes as they are more
key manner. In other words, for a growth factor to effect
commonly known, continue to be a curious research
cell behavior or have a therapeutic benefit, it must initially
focus for the scientific community. Once assumed to
bind to it a receptor, which is found on the cell’s surface.
be waste materials secreted by cells, exosomes have
Over the course of the group’s study, they found that
recently been identified as mail carriers, serving an
when BMP2 was engineered into exosomes, this lock and
essential role in cell-to-cell communication by acting
key mechanism could be bypassed. “While this may seem trivial at the outset, the discovery
Carnegie Mellon University and UPMC explores a new use
holds promise to change our current understanding of
case for exosomes: delivering growth factors like bone
signaling processes of growth factors,” according to Phil
morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) for bone healing.
Campbell, research professor of biomedical engineering.
Exosomes resemble nano-sized bubbles and are
To date, few growth factors have been approved for
secreted by every cell in the body. Functionally, they
clinical use by the FDA. This is due in part to the generally
carry messages from one cell to another, for example,
high concentration of growth factors that are required
proteins, DNA, RNA, and other biomolecules that can help
for therapeutic benefit in humans. BMP2 delivered via
determine how cells behave and function. In simple terms,
engineering exosomes, however, was found to produce
if exosomes are produced by bad cells, such as cancer
a therapeutic effect with an extremely low concentration.
cells, they will carry bad messages, and vice versa, they
This finding offers hope for future clinical applications of
will carry good messages if produced by healthy cells.
growth factor deliveries via exosomes.
Exosomes are now being explored as biomarkers and for various therapeutic-specific applications. “In thinking through the evolutionary role of exosomes,
“Beyond pursuing the biological aspects of extracellular vesicle-cell communication, we also plan on expanding the exosome-based delivery approach to other growth factors
we started wondering whether or not we could extract
that could potentially help in regenerative medicine and in
and load them with growth factors, and use them as
controlling diseases such as cancer,” said Campbell.
trojan horses for carrying therapeutic cargo,” said
This study was funded by the National Institute of Arthritis
Saigopalakrishna “Sai” Yerneni, postdoctoral researcher at
and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, and the Bioengineered
Carnegie Mellon University. “We focused our initial efforts
Organs Initiative and Dowd Fellowship at Carnegie Mellon
on one type of growth factor, BMP2. BMP2-engineered
University. Additional study authors include the late Lee Weiss,
exosomes could be used for bone healing and aiding
a professor emeritus and founding member of Carnegie
people who have traumatic bone injuries.”
Mellon University’s Robotics Institute, and Juraj Adamik,UPMC
Growth factors as proteins have a significant effect in altering cell behavior and typically behave in a lock-and-
Division of Hematology and Oncology.
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as delivery vehicles between cells. New research from
RESEARCH
C L E A N I NG UP A N O I L SPI LL After thousands of gallons of oil poured into the Pacific
While booms have been effective in this most recent
Ocean following the October 2021 oil spill at Huntingdon
spill, previous larger spills have called for additional
Beach, Calif., agencies and volunteers worked around the
mitigation techniques such as the use of dispersants or in
clock to mitigate the damage and stop the spread.
situ burning.
To do this, crews employed booms, physical floating
After the Deepwater Horizon spill, Carnegie Mellon
barriers that help contain the oil from extending outward.
Chemical Engineering Professors Shelley Anna and Lynn
Skimmers are then used within the perimeter of the boom
Walker joined the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative’s
to remove the oil from the water before soaking it up with
(GoMRI) effort to better understand the impact of both the
a sand-like mixture.
spill and the techniques used to limit the devastation on
The Huntingdon Beach spill is just one of many over the past 30 years, and its estimated 24 to 131 thousand gallons
wildlife and wetlands. At the time, Anna and Walker were already developing
is relatively small compared to the nearly 134 million
a tool called a microtensiometer to measure the interfacial
gallons that affected the Gulf of Mexico following the
and transport behavior of surfactants, chemical substances
Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.
used to create dispersants. When applied to a liquid, the
Anna and Walker’s research also considered more
them to disperse large oil collections into smaller droplets.
sustainably sourced surfactants. Their early work
A common household example of this is dish detergent,
characterized rhamnolipids, a surfactant produced by
which helps break up the grease collected on pots and pans
oil-eating bacteria, and the water-resistant properties
during cooking.
of hydrophobin, a protein found on the surface
“Dish detergent, like Dawn®, is an example of a
of mushrooms. While the alternatives have less
surfactant that isn’t harmful to skin or feathers, so it’s often
environmental impact than their synthetic counterparts,
used to clean the oil off birds and other wildlife following a
the economic feasibility will likely hinder adoption for
spill,” said Walker.
this application. Walker and others are now working on
Not only can the use of surfactants help prevent oil slicks from forming, but according to Anna, they also allow
more efficient ways to incorporate sustainably sourced surfactants in different applications.
oil droplets to be pushed down into the water column so
According to Allen Robinson, director of CMU-Africa and
that natural oil-eating microbes can begin breaking down
former head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering,
the contaminant. As the oil droplets become smaller,
the environmental damage of an oil spill goes far beyond
their surfaces become more accessible to these microbes.
just affecting the ocean’s water. While many people don’t
However, even though the process seems to be a more
realize its massive impact on air quality and pollution,
natural alternative to burning the oil off the water’s surface,
the oil evaporated following a spill directly contributes
Anna says all mitigation techniques come with drawbacks
to particulate matter. When oil is burned off the water’s
and can significantly impact the ecosystem and environment.
surface, the effects on the atmosphere become even more
“When you disperse oil in the ocean, you also promote
significant, as the thick black smoke is evidence of very low-
the growth of the bacteria that eat it,” said Anna. “For example, if you eat unhealthy food, you change the
quality combustion. “The solutions that are out there are generally
makeup of your gut microbiome, and it can have many
complicated, in the sense that they have an impact in
different long-term direct and indirect effects. In the case
both negative and positive ways,” said Anna. “The best
of an oil spill, we have a huge complex system where you
solution is to try and prevent these spills from happening
might think it’s a good thing that bacteria are eating the oil,
in the first place, so we don’t have to grapple with these
but is it? It is also upsetting the bacterial ecosystem.”
types of decisions.”
FIRE BOAT RESPONSE CREWS BATTLE THE BLAZING REMNANTS OF THE OIL RIG DEEPWATER HORIZON OFF THE LOUISIANA COAST IN THE GULF OF MEXICO, APRIL 21, 2010. SOURCE: UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT WORKS
PA GE 1 7
properties of surfactants reduce surface tension, enabling
RESEARCH
SENS E A N D S I G N A L F O R B R A I N HE AL TH A novel brain-computer interface will allow the severely paralyzed to send email messages and perform daily tasks like online shopping and banking with their minds.
P A G E XX
A person suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
for restoring functionality in patients in this study and for
(ALS) endures the progressive loss of muscle function
future BCI applications.” Detecting brain signals with a sensor placed inside a
to control their limbs, to swallow, and even to speak.
blood vessel represents an emerging new sub-discipline
Their inability to communicate becomes a particularly
of medicine. “By using the blood vessels as the natural
devastating symptom of the illness. Other diseases can
highway into the brain, we can access all areas, which
cause similar, debilitating impairment.
traditionally required open surgery and removal of skull in
Restoring functionality and well-being to these individuals requires an innovative and collaborative approach. Carnegie Mellon University is leading a multidisciplinary
multiple areas,” said Thomas Oxley, chief executive officer, Synchron. The system detects electrical signals generated by
consortium of researchers to develop and test a minimally
neurons in the motor cortex when the person thinks about
invasive, brain-computer interface (BCI) in six patients with
moving their body, and these signals are transmitted
severe paralysis from ALS, stroke, and injury, among other
wirelessly to an external interface connected to a computer.
causes. The system will enable these patients to operate
Users will be trained to perform computer-based tasks to
computers and send digital communications, such as email
control cursor position and BCI outputs to control discrete
and text messaging, by sensing and interpreting signals in
actions, such as letter or menu-item selection and zoom.
the brain that express the user’s intent.
The technology will facilitate better communication between
The $9.33M project, funded by the National Institutes
patients, caregivers, and medical professionals. In addition,
of Health (NIH) Brain Research Through Advancing
it will empower these patients to experience functional
Innovative Neurotechnologies® (BRAIN) Initiative, will
independence in performing daily tasks like online shopping
evaluate the BCI’s safety and efficacy in providing a
and banking.
measurable improvement in independence and quality
“This technology has the potential to revolutionize our
of life. Collaborators include Mount Sinai Health System
ability to care for patients by solving health challenges
(New York), Synchron, Inc. (New York), and the University
that have previously been insurmountable including
of Pittsburgh Medical Center (Pennsylvania). The team
communication with patients with certain types of
combines expertise in engineering, medicine, neuroscience,
paralysis,” said David Putrino, director of rehabilitation
and biomedical device technology.
innovation for the Mount Sinai Health System (one of
The BCI, called the StentrodeTM, is the only BCI system
the sites involved in the trial) and associate professor of
that can be implanted in the brain without opening the skull
rehabilitation medicine at Icahn School of Medicine at
or penetrating brain tissue. Instead, it is implanted through
Mount Sinai.
blood vessels that provide a natural and safe passageway
Another site, UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh’s
for accessing the motor cortex, the portion of the brain that
Rehab Neural Engineering Labs (RNEL), will work together
controls movement in the body. It is being commercialized
to recruit patients. RNEL will run tests and functional MRIs
by the company Synchron, Inc.
to determine which patients selected by a neuromuscular
Carnegie Mellon researchers bring additional expertise
specialist and pulmonologist meet the entry criteria for
in brain-computer interface to the project. They will explore
implantation. A vascular neurologist will perform the BCI
machine learning methods for processing and decoding
implantation surgery and physicians will monitor the
brain signals to detect the user’s intended actions and a
subject’s clinical status.
haptic feedback interface for improving speed and accuracy of BCI control. “The human body is an amazing machine, but it cannot
BCIs have previously been limited to people involved in research studies, and only for the duration of their enrollment in the study. At the end of this trial, however, the
heal itself from many diseases and injuries. This is where
six patients involved will retain use of the BCI technology.
combining multidisciplinary expertise with emerging
The aim is to make the technology broadly accessible.
new technologies can make a significant impact,” said
In the future, those suffering from a range of medical
Doug Weber, professor of mechanical engineering and
conditions such as limb amputation, multiple sclerosis, and
neuroscience who is leading the collaboration. “Our team of
Parkinson’s disease might benefit from this research.
engineers and neuroscientists will be working together with Synchron to evaluate and enhance capabilities of its BCI
The project is funded by the NIH BRAIN Initiative (NS120191-01).
PA GE 1 9
throughout their body. Eventually, they lose the ability
RESEARCH
W HA T I S NO R MA L I N T E RNE T B R O W SI NG ? It’s 7:15 a.m. on a Friday morning, and Jordan
websites, pornographic websites, and
wants to download an application to their
gambling websites,” Crichton says. “Therefore,
laptop. They know the app by name, or so they
we assume that they were generally behaving
think; they open a new tab in their Internet
as they normally do.”
browser and mistype the app’s name. The
So what does “normal” browsing look like?
error brings them to a malicious website
Lots of browser tab usage—some use just a
that looks like a legitimate site, only it isn’t,
few and some use a ton—and the most time is
causing Jordan to download an app containing
spent on the top 1% of websites.
malware. Jordan’s computer is now infected with malware. Jordan is a real person, although their name
“People spend most of their time on a small number of websites,” says Crichton. “Fifty percent of people’s browsing time is spent
isn’t really Jordan. They were a participant in
on roughly 30 websites, among millions of
a new study by CyLab researchers that aimed
websites.”
to learn what ‘normal’ Internet browsing looks
Occasionally, Crichton says, people end up
like. Such datasets didn’t previously exist, but
at what he refers to as “the periphery” of the
now that one does, researchers can better
Internet—relatively low traffic websites that
understand how people like “Jordan” are led to
are commonly associated with riskier content.
download malicious content and come up with
These sites are often adware, gambling,
ways to prevent that from happening again.
pornography, and potentially illegal streaming
Their study, titled “How Do Home Computer Users Browse the Web?” was
websites. “We observed a lot of people who started
published in the February 2022 issue of ACM
out at a popular streaming service like Netflix
Transactions on the Web.
or Hulu, and they must not have found what
“The goal for this paper was to be a foundation that other researchers could use,” says CyLab’s Kyle Crichton, a Ph.D. student in
they wanted, then they’d jump out to the periphery,” Crichton says. While the study may serve as a foundation
Engineering and Public Policy and the study’s
for other researchers to use, it’ll do so only
lead author. “Now that we know what normal
until people’s browsing behavior evolves
behavior looks like, we can start to identify
enough to necessitate recording a new
anomalous behavior and begin to address any
baseline, which Crichton says is inevitable.
number of security challenges.” To create their dataset, the authors of the
“When Google came out in the late 90s, people’s way of finding content quickly
study observed the browsing behavior of
changed,” he says. “People’s browsing
257 willing participants through the Security
behavior shifted again when tabbed browsing
Behavior Observatory, a group of participants
was introduced in the mid-2000s. It’s these
consenting to have their daily computing
gamechangers that are introduced, and things
behaviors observed. One might think
rapidly evolve.”
consenting to being monitored may lead one to act a bit different than they normally would,
Authors of the paper, include: Kyle Crichton,
but Crichton says he doesn’t believe that
Lorrie Cranor, and Nicolas Christin, all from
happened here.
Carnegie Mellon.
“In general, there was a substantial number of visits to potentially pirated streaming
O P T IM I Z I N G PO W E R GRID S I M U L A T I O N Energy is one of the most valuable resources in the world, and we depend on it for our daily lives. Power grid networks are the main source for electricity delivery; without power grids, society loses electricity, with natural gas and water failing soon after. Much like anything else, these grids are subject to disturbances and errors, leading to costly problems needing fast solutions. To find these solutions, Aayushya Agarwal and his team, Amritanshu Pandey and Larry Pileggi, introduced an algorithm to quickly facilitate highly accurate simulations and optimizations of these grids, ensuring energy is never found in short supply. The power grid in Texas failed in February 2021, leaving millions of people without power in the middle of unexpected severe winter storms. “The Texas grid is a worst-case scenario,” says Agarwal, a Ph.D. student in electrical and computer engineering. “A lot of engineers are trying to prevent such situations by doing an analysis beforehand and seeing what kind of corrective measures they could take to prevent these failures.” These analyses, however, have shortcomings that they seek to improve. Currently, methods to locate disturbances in a grid involve reworking their entire mathematical problem from the beginning, leading to longer–and therefore, more costly–waiting periods before a solution can be found to restore a power grid. Instead, methodology crafted by Agarwal and his team uses prior information about the grid as a starting point to find the solution, efficiently translating a previously known network configuration into a new one without the disturbance. What disturbances can affect a power grid? According to Agarwal, they can be simple, such as a line going down or a generator being switched off. However, more complex issues, such as severe weather, require even faster solutions. “The grid itself is a very dynamic system that requires constant observance,” explains Agarwal. “As a result, we need our analyses to be very fast. Power grid engineers are trying to analyze all of these aspects beforehand, to ensure that their grid is actually stable.” The challenges being combatted are two-fold: finding a solution and implementing it in a feasible amount of time. Their research on simulation and optimization will affect both industry and academia, having a place in the operational engineering used to monitor the energy grids, as well as pushing the boundaries of “what-if” scenarios in other forms of research, including large-scale transmission resiliency and planning studies. Through these studies, the new methodology has the potential to solve problems before they ever
PA GE 2 1
occur, saving valuable time and money.
Inside the College
Ove r it s 5 0 - y e a r hist o r y , t he E P P d e p a r t me nt ha s a w a r d e d d ip lo m a s t o ove r 1 , 0 0 0 und e r gr a d ua t e s, a n d ne a r ly a s ma ny gr a d ua t e d e gr e es . The d e p a r t me nt c ur r e nt ly e nr o l l s hund r e d s a c r o ss a minor o r d u a l - m a j o r b a c he lor ’ s p r o gr a m, t w o ma st e r’ s p r ogr a ms, a nd a Ph. D. p r o gr a m .
M. GRANGER MORGAN
EP P C ON T I N UE S 50-Y E A R LE G A CY The year 2021 marks the 50th anniversary of the program now
achieving a fully decarbonized energy system by the year
known as the Department of Engineering and Public Policy (EPP)
2035. And Department Head Peter Adams is helping to create
at Carnegie Mellon University.
air pollution analysis tools and train decision-makers in their
known in 1971) reflected the pressing issues of its time,
implementation. The College recently formalized an agreement to conduct
coming one year after the creation of the US EPA. Today’s EPP
future research with Wabtec, as the company showcased its
department continues that legacy, combining education and
world’s-first heavy-haul electric locomotive in a collaboration
research in policy and social sciences with core engineering
led by Professor Jay Whitacre. Meanwhile, Professor Jeremy
skills to solve ever-emerging challenges in our physical, virtual,
Michalek is studying electric transportation and how new
and social environments.
transportation technology could change our impact on the
The Dean of Engineering at the time, Herbert L. Toor, worked
environment. He often works with Associate Professor Costa
with Professor Ed Rubin and colleagues like Professor Robert
Samaras, who is currently coordinating federal activities in
Dunlap to advance what Rubin describes as, “a double-major
energy research and policy in his new position as principal
program that had a vision of training ‘a new breed of engineer’
assistant director for energy and chief advisor for energy policy
who could work at the interface between the social and
in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s
engineering sciences to address critical problems in a genuinely
first-ever energy division.
interdisciplinary curriculum.” Rubin is the longest-serving member of the department,
At the intersection of engineering and socioeconomics, Assistant Professor Destenie Nock is studying energy systems
having joined CMU in 1969. He has made pioneering
and exploring how to best utilize energy resources to ensure
contributions to energy and environmental education and
social equity for the people being served. Other faculty, like
research, including highly influential work on acid rain, global
Professor Erica Fuchs and Associate Professor Valerie Karplus
climate change, and technology innovation.
are leading a national initiative at CMU that’s creating tools
On the origins of EPP, Rubin reflects, “The transition to a full-
and innovations to help policymakers realize their objectives
fledged department was a strong recognition of the success and
on government investments in science, technology, and supply
importance of EPP to the college and the university. Today, EPP
chain infrastructure. And the work of Professor Katie Whitefoot,
has grown to be a prominent and widely acclaimed program of
a leader in the public policy sphere, touches many areas
which we’re all extremely proud.”
including supply chain management, manufacturing, energy
Hamerschlag University Professor Granger Morgan joined Carnegie Mellon in 1974 with a charge to help coordinate the development of EPPs graduate activities. He went on to serve
and the environment, transportation, and smart city policy, often through cooperation with her colleagues in EPP. On the data side, Associate Professor Alex Davis is using
38 years as EPP’s first department head. His research on policy
machine learning algorithms to do everything from create
problems in science and technology has earned him deep
techniques that aid experts guiding the 3D printing process, to
respect in myriad energy and climate-related domains and
analyzing medical data and patient responses for predicting
other disciplines. Most recently he led a third National Academy
health risks. Associate Professor Pedro Ferreira is analyzing
of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) consensus study
large datasets of consumer information to understand the
on the Future of Electric Power in the United States. Morgan
future of the media industry in a field known as medialytics.
directs the NSF Center for Climate and Energy Decision Making
And Professor Jon Peha is helping confront challenges in
and co-directs with Professor Jay Apt the university’s Electricity
modern information networks such as increased strain on
Industry Center.
internet service created by work-from-home conditions.
Morgan observes, “We are so proud of our more than 350
EPP is also represented within Carnegie Mellon’s CyLab
doctoral graduates in engineering and public policy who are
Security and Privacy Institute, including Director Lorrie Faith
making remarkable contributions in science technology and
Cranor, a pioneer of online privacy, security, and usability.
public policy both in the public and private sectors here in the
Professor Nicolas Christin’s research has provided crucial
United States and in many other countries all around the world.”
insights into the workings of opaque markets like the dark
Newer faculty continue this mission, like Professor Paulina Jaramillo, who’s modeling the effects of climate change on
web and cryptocurrencies. In the words of Department Head Peter Adams, “In EPP
energy systems and air quality, providing vital information for
our overarching goal is to augment conventional engineering
policymakers. Likewise, Professor Paul Fischbeck is creating
with interdisciplinary skills—often in collaboration with social
research and tools that will facilitate the nation’s goal of
scientists.”
PA GE 2 3
The Program in Engineering and Public Affairs (as it was
INSIDE THE COLLEGE
COST A S A M A R AS AP P O I N T E D T O WH I T E HO U S E OS T P
CR O SSR O A D S F O R D A TA
Carnegie Mellon University’s
Ask an electrical and computer engineering student and they
Costa Samaras has been
will tell you that FPGAs, or Field Programmable Gate Arrays, are
selected to serve in the Biden-
an essential asset to their curriculum. These integrated circuits
Harris Administration in the
can be reprogrammed by a user into different digital logic
White House Office of Science
circuits after it has been manufactured. FPGAs are widely used
and Technology Policy (OSTP).
in many applications; from military and aerospace applications,
He will serve as principal
to video and telecommunication equipment, and nowadays
assistant director for energy
in datacenters. This popular technology is an essential
and OSTP chief advisor for
cornerstone to modern-day electronics.
energy policy in OSTP’s firstever energy division. In this role, Samaras will work with the president’s
FPGAs have been undergoing rapid and dramatic changes fueled by their expanding use in computing. The new Intel/ VMware Crossroads 3D-FPGA Academic Research Center, an
science advisor, the OSTP director, and other senior OSTP
Intel and VMware co-funded, multi-university, multi-disciplinary
and White House officials to coordinate federal activities
effort involving students and faculty from Carnegie Mellon
in energy research and policy to ensure a transition to a
University, the University of Toronto, and the University of
clean, equitable, affordable, and resilient energy system
Texas-Austin (UT-Austin), has been formed to determine the
and advance American technological leadership in clean
role of FPGAs in extending the performance and efficiency of
energy solutions.
future datacenters.
Samaras will provide senior-level policy advice
“Crossroads is guided by both the demands of modern
to analyze, recommend, and implement the energy
networked, data-centric computing and the new capabilities
technologies needed to meet the Biden-Harris
from 3D integration,” states James Hoe, lead PI of the research
Administration climate goals of a net-zero emissions clean
center and professor of electrical and computer engineering.
energy economy no later than 2050.
“The Intel/VMware Crossroads 3D-FPGA Academic Research
As a senior-level expert, Samaras will formulate policy
Center will investigate a new programmable hardware data-
initiatives, assemble policy teams, brief administration
nexus lying at the heart of the server and operating over data
leaders, provide leadership on interagency science
‘on the move’ between network, traditional compute, and
policy activities in energy-related sciences, and identify
storage elements.”
opportunities for clean energy research, development, and deployment. At CMU, he is an associate professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering and the director of the Power Sector Carbon Index. “Science and technology policy, as well as clean energy
Named after creating an active crossroads for data in a server, the research center focuses on accelerating data movements and inline processing of data as they move between different points in the server. While FPGAs have been around for years, the center’s focus on 3D integration adds a new dimension to what is possible.
solutions to address the climate crisis, require systems
Besides making more transistors available in the same
thinking, which is at the heart of Carnegie Mellon’s
packaging footprint, the 3D die-stacking integration allows for
approach to research and education. I’m honored to work
more options in the tradeoff between performance, power,
with the Biden-Harris OSTP team to help further energy
and manufacturing costs than a single layer device.
innovation and a transition to a clean and equitable energy system,” said Samaras.
“By investigating how to use this technology in the architecture of the Crossroads FPGA, this 3D architecture,
VA NB R I E SE N J O I NS NSF ’S CB E T Jeanne M. VanBriesen, the Duquesne Light Company Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), has been appointed to lead the Division of Chemical, unlike traditional FPGAs, is a heterogenous system of
Bioengineering, Environmental
many elements that include not only a compute-dedicated
and Transport Systems
programmable logic fabric but also hardened fixed accelerators
(CBET) at the National Science
and programmable cores.”
Foundation (NSF).
A number of research projects are already underway,
“This role has a direct
including “Pigasus: FPGA-Accelerated Intrusion Detection
parallel to my work over the past decade leading faculty
and Prevention System.” CyLab faculty Justine Sherry, Vyas
teams and collaborating to advance science and the
Sekar, and James Hoe have been selected among the winners
mission of NSF,” said VanBriesen.
of Intel’s 2021 Outstanding Researcher Award for their collaborative work. As cyberattacks become more and more commonplace,
VanBriesen’s research focuses on biodegradation and thermodynamics of microbial systems, and she has published more than 70 journal articles over the course
intrusion detection systems (IDS) play a crucial role of
of her career. She emphasizes the importance of aligning
scanning network data, looking for any hints of one of the
this research with environmental concerns in the region, in
tens of thousands of cyberattacks the systems know to look
particular, improving water systems. “When there’s a new
for. To keep up with increasing Internet speeds and data
water problem in the region, I often say, ‘That’s interesting
flows, IDS footprints have grown, driving up energy costs for
and complicated. I’m in.’ ”
organizations that rely on them.
“I am delighted that Jeanne VanBriesen will be
Faced with this challenge, Sherry, Sekar, and Hoe led the
bringing her remarkable experience and expertise to
development of “Pigasus,” an IDS that achieves speeds of 100
the National Science Foundation,” said CMU President
gigabits per second using a single server by capturing most
Farnam Jahanian. “Jeanne is a thoughtful leader and
of the processing on an FPGA-based smart network interface
extraordinary collaborator who embodies all of the talents
card. A comparable software-based system would consume
needed to thrive in this important leadership position.
hundreds of processor cores.
This appointment is another expression of the critical role
Other projects include redesigning network interface cards for direct application process, designing space exploration in the FPGA-as-a-system era, and Crossroads architecture template in Fluid, to name a few. “This is Intel’s first center-scale funding on Field
our faculty play as thought leaders and her public service brings pride to our entire community.” The mission of the CBET Division is to support innovative research and education in the fields of chemical engineering, biotechnology, bioengineering and
Programmable Gate Arrays,” states Hoe. “The center is special
environmental engineering, and in areas that involve
due to being jointly supported by both Intel and VMware. The
the transformation or transport of matter and energy by
commitment to open-source all research artifacts is a new
chemical, thermal or mechanical means.
model to encourage broad collaboration and engagement
PA GE 2 5
beyond the center.”
INSIDE THE COLLEGE
KEITH COOK, FAR RIGHT.
K E I T H C O OK NA M E D HE A D O F B I OM E DI C A L E NG I NE E R I NG After a rigorous and extensive search domestically and
founding director of the Bioengineered Organs Initiative,
internationally, Keith Cook has been selected to be the
and more recently, he has taken the lead to form the
next head of the Biomedical Engineering Department
Transforming Transplant Initiative.
(BME) at Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Engineering. Keith Cook joined Carnegie Mellon as a faculty member in 2013 and has been an outstanding researcher, as
Looking ahead, Cook is focused on helping students and faculty succeed and growing the reputation of the department. “First, we need to maintain our status as thought
well as a strong advocate to build and advance the BME
leaders in neural engineering and tissue and organ
department.
engineering,” explained Cook. “Next, we need to build
“Idea sharing between faculty, and thus the
upon CMU’s position as the world leader in artificial
efficiency and creativity of new ideas is excellent here
intelligence by expanding the department’s teaching and
in the College of Engineering,” said Keith Cook. “BME
research in AI applied to biomedical challenges. We also
faculty are regularly engaging with faculty from other
plan to grow our interactions with clinicians. We have
departments and colleges, and new ideas are exchanged
strong, ongoing relationships with the Allegheny Health
that challenge the confines of individual disciplines.
Network and UPMC and a growing relationship with
Biomaterials experts are collaborating with machine
the Mayo Clinic that are a benefit to our research and
learning experts, neural engineering experts are
education. Lastly, we want to have stronger connections
collaborating with cognitive psychology experts, tissue
with our alums, who are driving innovation in our field in
engineering experts are collaborating with computational
industry and academia and could help our new graduates
device design experts, and so on. This generates
to do the same.”
wonderful, creative innovation.” Previously, Cook held the position of associate
The College community greatly appreciates the effort of the search committee members, and especially
department head for graduate education, and he also
Peter Adams who served as the committee chair. The
served as the interim head of BME since February 2021,
committee members included: Adam Feinberg, Matthew
adeptly advancing department priorities and skillfully
Smith, Elizabeth Wayne, Keri Baker, Maryia Rakach, Byron
navigating the challenges of the pandemic. He has
Yu, Conrad Zapanta, Jessica Zhang, and Siyang Zheng,
demonstrated his leadership skills by serving as the
with Deb Scappatura providing administrative support.
M AY O C L I N I C J O I NS US T O IN N OV AT E O R G A N T R ANS PL A N TA TI O N Carnegie Mellon University’s
the innovation being driven through
collaboration with the Mayo Clinic,”
Department of Biomedical Engineering
our unique engagement with CMU,”
Cook shared.
is teaming up with the Mayo Clinic to
says Guojun Bu, associate director of
According to Bill Sanders, dean of the
transform organ transplantation. The
the Center for Regenerative Medicine
College of Engineering, “This agreement
institutions will bioengineer innovative
at Mayo Clinic in Florida. “This
exemplifies the creative partnerships
approaches to address current barriers
initiative will accelerate our mission in
CMU engages in to solve complex
in organ transplantation via a three-
transforming the practice of medicine
problems. It’s through these types of
year research agreement.
through biotherapeutic technologies
collaborations that we continue to
that make organ transplantation more
impact society in meaningful ways.”
“The Mayo Clinic is the preeminent medical center and the largest organ
accessible, affordable, and available to
transplant provider in the United States,
a broader population.”
and CMU is a leader in innovating and
Both institutions will also participate
CMU’s commitment to organ bioengineering is ongoing through its Bioengineered Organs Initiative,
applying cutting-edge technologies
in ongoing seminars focused on the
which facilitates collaborative research
to real-world problems,” said Keith
challenges facing organ transplantation
focused on designing, creating, and
Cook, department head and professor
and the development of new
testing a new generation of long-term
of biomedical engineering at CMU.
technologies to address them.
replacement organs that are fully
“We are excited to bring these leading institutions together to create real
“This seminar represents a first step in what we hope is a deep educational
biological, artificial, or a combination of both.
improvements in the access to and effectiveness of organ transplantation.” As part of the collaboration, Mayo Clinic biomedical researchers and Carnegie Mellon University faculty will focus on four core areas: • Biofabrication • Organ repair • Organ monitoring using sensor systems • Artificial intelligence to optimize transplant processes “This relationship with the esteemed CMU Biomedical Engineering team is a very important step in Mayo Clinic’s Transforming Transplant strategic initiative,” says Burcin Taner, chair of the Transplant Center at Mayo Clinic in Florida. “Research and innovation breakthroughs resulting from this initiative will address challenges and limitations that have historically existed for transplantation and subsequently unmet patient needs.” “Mayo Clinic’s Center for collaborate with Transplant Center colleagues at Mayo Clinic to support
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Regenerative Medicine is excited to
INSIDE THE COLLEGE
BOSC H A N D CMU F O CUS ON S PA T I A L CO MPUTI NG Future computing in industrial environments is likely to
research related to the industrial applications of spatial
include a tight coupling between the real world and digital
computing and the use of tools such as safe and real-time
content that enhances the real-world experience. Through
digital twins in manufacturing. This would include examining
a combination of technologies such as augmented reality
how an XR-instrumented factory of the future could have
(AR), virtual reality (VR) and extended reality (XR), this
workers, machines and manufactured elements all with a
area of research known as spatial computing will change
digital counterpart.
the interaction between the physical and digital worlds
“A broad range of new infrastructure and tools are
through the overlay of virtual content on top of physical
needed to reach the level of robustness required to truly
environments.
shift VR, AR and XR from advertising and entertainment to
Bosch in North America established a new collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) to further research
standard practice in the industrial domain,” said Christopher Martin, president of the Carnegie Bosch Institute.
in spatial computing. As part of the collaboration, Bosch Research will invest $3 million in a joint research effort
Combined Industry 4.0 and digital twins expertise
with CMU, and Professor Anthony Rowe will join Bosch
Bosch is a leading player in Industry 4.0 and IIoT
as part of the Bosch Research team, where he will serve
applications as the company has demonstrated with
as chief scientist. Rowe is currently the Siewiorek and
factory of the future concepts and application of AI and
Walker Family Professor in CMU’s Electrical and Computer
data science in its factories around the world. New Bosch
Engineering Department. He is a renowned expert in the
factories such as the semiconductor plant in Dresden have
field of embedded systems, and his research has focused
digital twins, and Industry 4.0 products from Bosch such
on localization, spatial computing and networked real-time
as the new control technology ctrlX Automation provide
systems for sensing and control applications.
customers with various different ways of using digital twins.
“While the vision for spatial computing is promising,
Meanwhile, Rowe has been a key part of the Carnegie
the reality is that these complex applications are difficult
Mellon Augmented Reality Edge Networking Architecture
to create and remain largely decoupled from the physical
(ARENA), a unique networking platform designed by the
world,” Rowe said.
Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC)-sponsored
The goal of the international team is to design and demonstrate an architecture for XR applications in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) context designed around safety, reliability and real-time performance. “The Bosch Research and Carnegie Mellon collaboration
CONIX Research Center with the goal of making mixedreality digital twin systems easy to program. Carnegie Mellon has also built a digital twin for Mill 19, which is known for its historic role as one of the Pittsburgh region’s most productive steel mills and has now been
in the area of spatial computing will examine how to better
transitioned into a collaborative innovation space for the
enable blended virtual and real-world applications in
Manufacturing Futures Institute and the nonprofit Advanced
areas such as industrial and mobility,” said Thomas Kropf,
Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM).
president, Bosch Research and Advance Engineering. “This is an important step to further strengthen the longstanding international collaboration with Carnegie Mellon and to advance the central field of spatial computing.” Together, Bosch and Carnegie Mellon will conduct
This article is reprinted with permission from Bosch in North America.
C I SC O PA R T NE R S W I TH CY LA B As cyberattacks continue to plague
says Kompella. “After a few conversations
but for partners, and Cisco fits that role
our world’s critical infrastructure,
with the lab directors and faculty, we
ideally,” says Bauer. “I’m excited to see
researchers at Cisco are constantly
decided to join the consortium as we
how our collaboration will shape the
looking for ways to up their game.
found amazingly talented research teams
research that we will do as part of the
conducting research in areas of strategic
Future Enterprise Security Initiative.”
“Cisco’s products are foundational technologies that power today’s digital infrastructure,” says Dr. Ramana
interest to Cisco.” Kompella says that their goal in the
The initiative aims to bring together innovative CMU cybersecurity, privacy,
Kompella, Distinguished Engineer and
new partnership is to fund research
artificial intelligence, computer science,
the Head of Research in the Emerging
teams in solving some of the most
engineering, and human-factors
Tech and Incubation group at Cisco.
important technological challenges in
research with world-leading industry
“Cybersecurity is not just nice to have,
cybersecurity with a view to achieve
expertise and engagement.
it’s critical to have, as our societal
technology, business, and societal impact.
dependence on digital infrastructure only continues to increase.” The mission of Cisco Research,
“We want to be plugged into some of the cutting-edge research activities around cybersecurity at CMU to inform
“We are tackling a grand challenge problem,” says Sekar. “This is ecosystem-scale research.” “Enterprises are some of our main
the research arm of multinational
new, innovative, and transformative
customers and we have decided to
tech leader Cisco Systems, is to foster
solutions for our customers,” says
sponsor this initiative as we look into
research collaborations with “the best
Kompella.
innovative technologies that can protect
university researchers in the field.”
Cisco will be a founding sponsor of
our customers and small, medium and
Thus, the company has announced a
the Future Enterprise Security Initiative
large enterprises from emerging digital
new partnership with Carnegie Mellon
(FutureEnterprise@CyLab). The new
threats,” says Kompella.
University CyLab.
research initiative, co-directed by CyLab
To learn more about partnering with
faculty Lujo Bauer and Vyas Sekar, will
CMU CyLab and the Future Enterprise
cybersecurity research collaborations, we
focus on creating the knowledge and
Security initiative, contact Michael Lisanti,
explored a partnership with CMU CyLab,
capabilities to build and implement
Director of Partnerships, at mlisanti@
which is one of the most prestigious
secure enterprise systems.
andrew.cmu.edu or (412) 268-1870.
cybersecurity institutes in the country,”
“We are looking not just for sponsors
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“As we started to build our
INSIDE THE COLLEGE
MAK I N G E N V I R ONME NTA L SCI E NC E AC C E SS I BL E T O A LL STUD E NTS “In order to do sustainability right, you
Claire Chiang, a biological sciences
environmental systems to life.
first have to understand how natural
major, didn’t get the chance to take
environmental systems work,” explained
environmental courses in high school, so
in social and political history and
Ryan Sullivan, a professor of mechanical
she was eager to enroll in the fall 2020
environmental and sustainability studies
engineering and chemistry. His new course,
semester. “I really enjoyed talking about
was able to tie the course material
“Environmental Systems on a Changing
the chemistry side of environmental
into both of his academic pursuits, “My
Planet,” offers students these fundamentals.
science. It was very interesting as a
research areas are in fracking policy, air
The course, offered for the first time in fall
biologist to branch into chemistry and
pollution, and environmental justice issues,
2020, welcomes students of all disciplines
think about how chemicals I cannot see are
so I knew the class would be incredibly
to dive into the fascinating connections
so apparent in my daily life,” she said.
supplementary.”
between the oceans, atmosphere,
Sullivan’s goal was to make the class
Nicklaus Smith, double majoring
Sullivan plans to teach Environmental
continents, biology, ecosystems, and people
interactive, “In order to understand the
Systems on a Changing Planet each
that provide our planet with resources that
importance and wonder of environmental
fall for years to come and to introduce
all life depends on.
science, students need to experience it.”
in-person environmental field trips as
In the fall of 2020, he intended to take
soon as they are safe. He hopes that by
courses offered through the College of
students on fieldtrips to places like Phipps
creating an accessible introductory course
Engineering, Environmental Systems
Conservatory and Biological Gardens and
in environmental science that students
on a Changing Planet focuses more on
the Frick Environmental Center, and tree
will be inspired to take further courses
understanding the function of natural
planting along the Allegheny River as part
in the area, and to enroll in the minor or
environmental systems instead of
of the Pittsburgh Redbud Project, but the
additional major in Environmental and
engineered systems, and the foundational
pandemic forced the class to be taught
Sustainability Studies that is facilitated
science and engineering concepts required
entirely virtually. Sullivan improvised with
by the Steinbrenner Institute for
to understand these complex and vital
individual self-guided student fieldtrips to
Environmental Education and Research.
environmental systems. The course
locations the students proposed. Students
explores how solar and biochemical energy
watched documentaries including Our
students to enroll believing that the course
moves through the Earth’s interconnected
Planet (which Netflix made freely available
offers a bit for everyone, “It lightly touches
systems, recycling nutrients; how
on YouTube) before class so that during
upon multiple topics in environmental
complex environmental systems function
class discussions they could examine how
science with a huge focus on how students
to produce critical resources such as
the show brought course concepts and
can make an impact.”
Unlike other environment-focused
food, water, and materials; and how human activities interfere with and impair environmental systems in the Anthropocene geological epoch. Students that want to go into more technical science and engineering depth are invited to enroll in a supplementary three-unit course taken together with this course. Although Environmental Systems on a Changing Planet serves as the required foundational science course for the new additional major and existing minor in Environmental and Sustainability Studies, it was designed to be accessible to all Carnegie Mellon undergraduate students who have an interest in environmental science and understanding environmental and sustainability challenges. P A G E XX
Both Chiang and Smith highly encourage
I N T E G R AT E D I NNO VA TI O N I N ST I T UT E O FF E R S EN G I N E E R I N G, D E SI G N, A ND BUS I N E S S E DUCA TI O N O NLI NE professionals who are passionate about developing,
on-campus program. The certificates were carefully developed to ensure that
designing, and launching new products and services have
individually they would give students an option to expand
come to Carnegie Mellon University’s Integrated Innovation
a specific skill set and provide a credential that could lead
Institute to earn a master’s degree in product and service
to a job, raise, or promotion. And, when combined with the
innovation. The distinctive program cross-trains students in
capstone course, the stacked certificates deliver the same
engineering, design, and business at a university that has a
high-quality training that has enabled past MIIPS graduates
world class reputation in all three disciplines.
to have advanced their careers.
The growing demand for the institute’s innovation
Two certificates, New Product Management and Technology
training, as well as a dramatic uptick in the popularity
for Product Management, will be offered in the spring of 2022;
of online education compelled Integrated Innovation
courses for the remaining two certificates, Methods & Tools
leadership to create a flexible and accessible alternative for
for Product Innovation and Product Design Innovation, will
professionals who want to expand their technical, creative,
come online in the summer of 2022.
and organizational skill set—without disrupting their life. Four online certificates, composed of the core elements
Prospective students have been enticed by the option to stack the certificates to earn a master’s degree, but there
of the residential master’s degree, will be offered in 2022.
are also those who recognize the value in the individual
They can be taken individually or stacked and combined with
certificates.
a final capstone course to attain the Master of Integrated Innovation for Products and Services (MIIPS) degree. Until now, the tried-and-true methodologies developed
Chinmay Bhagat, who has been admitted to the program, exemplifies the type of professional who can benefit from either option. He has an undergraduate
at the Integrated Innovation Institute were only available to
degree in engineering and five years’ experience in a
those students who were able to attend classes in Pittsburgh
job that has recently thrust him into a stronger business
for nine months or more.
management role.
“By stacking these certificates, working professionals
“I chose the certificate option because of the flexibility
who live anywhere can advance their education and career
it offers. It’s been a while since I graduated, and I wanted
by gaining these highly sought after skills,” said Peter
to ramp up slowly into a regular coursework routine. This
Boatwright, director and co-founder of the institute and a
online certificate option would also allow me to possibly earn
professor of marketing and new product development.
a master’s degree at my own pace while managing
“It’s a very attractive option for those who may not have the
my professional commitments,” said Bhagat.
flexibility in their work or family lives to commit to a full time,
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For 18 years, engineers, designers, and business
INSIDE THE COLLEGE
R OT E M G U T T M A N’S C Y B E R F O R E NSI CS C OU R S E I S A N I M M E R S I V E E XPE R I E NCE
The Ambrosian national government was victim to a crippling cyberattack over the weekend, sending government officials into a frenzy to get their systems back online and figure out how their network was penetrated. Graduate students in Carnegie Mellon’s Information Networking Institute (INI) have been recruited to help solve the case. If the country of Ambrosia sounds made up, it’s because it is. INI students in Rotem Guttman’s “Cyber Forensics and Incident Response” capstone course are thrown into this fictional world to figure out what exactly happened in the cyberattack, and how. “By the end of the course, I want my students to be able to say that they are experienced in building a cyber incident case,” says Guttman, a researcher at the Software Engineering Institute and faculty at the INI who teaches the course.
realistic immersive experience, Guttman
build a case, and present it to a panel of
says, was having real-life network data
judges. Thus, students were thrust into
from an actual cyberattack for students
the Republic of Ambrosia, where the
to be able to analyze in search of clues
national government tasked them with
and evidence. Without that data, the
investigating a massive data breach.
realism of the investigation would have
Throughout the investigation,
been missing and students wouldn’t
student teams regularly met with a cast
have been able to practice on and
of characters related to the incident
analyze real, actual data. To pull it off,
over Zoom, all played by Guttman
Guttman launched an attack on a cluster
himself. The teams asked questions and
of servers that his SEI colleague Will
requested various data that might serve
Nichols had assembled.
as helpful evidence in their case. Guttman says that everything in the
“This course would not have been possible without Will,” says Guttman.
course ties back to its specific learning
Nichols says that the “garbage
objectives, the main one being to “give
cluster,” a nickname both he and
students the opportunity to actualize
Guttman use, is the culmination of a
the technical skills they have acquired
multi-year long process involving the
during the prerequisite courses in such a
Lion Surplus store at Penn State, which
way that they can utilize them in the real
sells non-functioning servers and other
world,” according to the course syllabus.
parts “for basically scrap value.” He’d
Other valuable lessons are sprinkled into the course as well, some of which
look for additional deals online. The result is a server cluster with
might be commonly classified as “things
around one-third of a terabyte of RAM
they don’t teach you in school.” But
and 128 cores. For comparison, the
Guttman does.
laptop used to write this story has 16 GB
“When I’m role playing as the vice president, I’m acting as one of the worst bosses you’re ever going to have,”
“If there’s a cyber incident on their first
Crucial to the execution of this highly-
investigation on a fictional cyber incident,
of RAM, twenty thousand times less than the “garbage cluster.” “The total amount I’ve put into this
Guttman says. “Everyone has a bad boss
cluster is about $1,800 after all is said
at some point in their careers, and you
and done, which I think is pretty good,”
need to know how to deal with that and
says Nichols. “I think the going rate right
protect yourself.”
now to build a cluster like this, new,
At the end of the semester, teams
would be around $100,000.”
day of work, I don’t want the deer-in-
presented their cases to a panel of CTOs,
headlights reaction. I want them to be
CEOs, and other industry professionals
Guttman says that the INI has invested
like, ‘Yeah, I’ve got this.’”
that Guttman brought in to be guest
in significant infrastructure upgrades
judges.
so future instances of the course will be
Guttman has been teaching the
Thanks to the success of the course,
course since 2015, but it wasn’t until the
“This report was the exact type of
hosted on new equipment on a CMU-
COVID-19 pandemic sent students home
report—same requirements—as if they
hosted datacenter. On top of that, the
to learn remotely that the course rapidly
were literally submitting it in a civil trial
course itself garnered lots of attention
evolved into its current form. Previously,
in the United States,” Guttman says.
from the University. Guttman received
most of the course was taught in a
“And now they get to present that work
an Andy Award for “innovative and
traditional lecture-based style. Once
in front of the same people they’re going
creative contributions.” (CMU’s Andy
remote learning became the new
to be looking for jobs from.”
Awards recognize staff members for
normal, Guttman swiftly adapted. “I know from my research what
Guttman says that the final grade
outstanding performance and work
students receive is based on the
that has had a significant impact on the
works teaching-wise, but I’ve never had
students’ work and how it fulfills the
university.)
the freedom to just go wild,” Guttman
learning objectives, not on whether they
“The course is the outcome of a
says. “When the COVID shutdown began,
convicted or acquitted the right people.
decade of my research combined with
everyone was asking, ‘How do we make this transition?’ I was like, ‘I’ve got ideas.’” The idea: immerse the students
“One of the things we’re trying to
Will’s ability to make infrastructure
evaluate them on is: how well can
materialize out of nothing,” says
you express yourself? How well can
Guttman.
into a highly-realistic scenario where
you convey material?” Guttman says.
they must, over the course of a single
“Communication is so important.”
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semester, conduct a formal forensic
an
ce d
Coll
ra t
Ad v
ion
ing er
Colle g
n E g f ine o e
o ab
A P LA C E O F B E LO NG I NG The College of Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University
Recently, the DEI team has been expanded. The team,
is committed to recruiting and engaging a diverse and
which is led by Alaine Allen, associate dean for DEI,
connected global community, where everyone belongs and
includes Bridget Elliot-Keenan, senior administrative
is equipped to succeed.
assistant; Katherine Felts, program coordinator for DEI;
The Engineering Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) aims to foster an inclusive and equitable environment
Stefanie Garcia, outreach coordinator for DEI; and Lauren Greenwald, graduate intern for DEI.
and a welcoming culture to advance academic and professional excellence for all students, faculty, and staff,
Spotlight on Cultural Humility
regardless of background. The team works closely with Engineering department leaders and their DEI committees,
To advance diversity, equity, and inclusion for all, we
supporting DEI initiatives and developing anti-racist
embrace the tenets of Cultural Humility. Cultural Humility
practices that aim to create a culture free from bias.
incorporates a lifelong commitment to self-evaluation and self-critique to recognize and mitigate power imbalances,
Some ongoing activities the DEI team facilitates include:
as well as to maintain a respectful community and strong partnerships through institutional accountability.
· Cultural Humility sessions
In the spring of 2022, the Engineering Office of
· DEI advocacy and coaching
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion launched a new virtual
· Intergroup dialogue sessions
workshop focused on Cultural Humility for students,
· Mentorship programs
faculty and staff. Community members were invited to
· Outreach events with local schools
attend to learn more about our Cultural Humility program and how to incorporate it into daily life.
(LEFT TO RIGHT): BRIDGET (“BEE”) ELLIOT-KEENAN, ALAINE ALLEN, LAUREN GRE ENWALD, STEFANIE
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GARCIA, KATHERINE FELTS
SANDRA MALAIKA
A PERSPECTIVE ON PAN-AFRICAN CULTURE When Sandra Malaika joined Carnegie Mellon University Africa in 2016, the site was pulsing with excitement along with a heightened sense of purpose. CMU-Africa had just partnered with the Mastercard Foundation, and an ambitious goal was set—educate 125 brilliant young Africans. For seven years, Malaika has managed the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program. The program provides generous financial, social, and academic support for students whose talent and promise exceed their financial resources. In the beginning, five students were enrolled in the program. Today, CMUAfrica reached that early goal of 125 students who represent 22 nationalities, and the ongoing program continues its focus on developing leaders who are transforming their communities. We’ve asked Malaika to share her thoughts on how the Mastercard Scholars Program supports students at CMU-Africa.
Q: How has the Mastercard Scholars Program enriched
Q: Does the Mastercard Foundation support help
the academic culture?
students who are not enrolled in the Scholars Program?
Malaika: Sometimes we hear people talking about the
Malaika: Yes. We have enhanced mental health support
African culture, but Africa is made up of many different
and comprehensive student services and career services
countries. When you look at the countries represented
for the entire student population.
at CMU-Africa, you see that we are a real melting pot. Students engage and work in teams with peers from
Q: You have been working with the Mastercard Scholars
different countries. This exposes them to people with
for a long time. Looking forward, how do you see your
different personalities, leadership styles, and work ethics.
job evolving?
This helps us make sure that we are nurturing leaders who
Malaika: We have a lot of different things to achieve,
can engage in diverse groups.
right? There is more to do than just ensuring that the
Beyond the classroom, Scholars engage in community
Scholars learn and get an enriched experience during
services projects. Giving back to the community is
their time at CMU-Africa. We now have more diversity,
essential to the Mastercard Foundation because they
so we need to extend more individualized support to our
believe that to whom much is given, much is expected.
students. It would be wonderful to have all the 54 African
Scholars are required to give back to their communities.
countries represented at our campus in the coming years!
This might mean working on projects back in their home
And we must make sure that we are extending some
countries or CMU. It depends, but we’ve seen engagement
of the support provided to the Scholars to the rest of
increasing in our community, and it’s becoming more
the student population. I see a lot of opportunities for
of a culture. So, it’s now normal to go out and work on
creating cultural changes at CMU-Africa that will benefit
community outreach projects at CMU-Africa. It’s normal to
all our students.
give back. There has been a clear shift that resulted in an
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institutional culture change.
A MASTERCARD SCHOLAR’S BOUNDLESS CAPACITY TO CONTRIBUTE
As a computer engineering student in Nigeria, Ayobami Esther Olanrewaju knew about Carnegie Mellon University’s great reputation. But when her search for a graduate school led her to the Mastercard Foundation Scholars program, she got one of the best surprises of her life—Carnegie Mellon University was also located in Rwanda. “I always wanted to go to CMU, and when I saw that students in Africa could take the same courses, I knew it was a perfect match,” said Olanrewaju. She was surprised again when shortly after submitting her application, someone from CMU-Africa reached out to ask if she needed any help or more information. “They are so wonderful! Everyone in this community cares about your progress and success.” The Mastercard Foundation Scholars program provides
Whether it’s women who are unsure how to balance career with family committments or students who arrive in Kigali unfamiliar with their new home, Ayobami Esther Olanrewaju understands the challenges African students face, and she is eager to help them.
financial, social, and academic support for students whose talent and promise exceed their financial resources. Through partnerships with select universities, the foundation supports students who have exceptional academic records, leadership potential, a desire to give back to their community, and a demonstrated commitment to transforming Africa. Olanrewaju was an ideal candidate and has since proven to be a model scholar. She will complete the Master of Science in Information Technology (MSIT) degree in May. In addition to maintaining a nearly perfect GPA, she has conducted research, completed an internship, and helped others as an active member and leader of several student groups. She is president of the CMU-Africa Women in Tech club, whose members work to engage young women in information and communications technology. The club hosts an International Women’s Day celebration, which they promote by sharing stories of African women who have had successful information technology careers. She also served as the International Student Affairs Minister helping new CMU-Africa students adapt to the campus, make friends, get to know Rwanda, and share any concerns with university leaders.
Olanrewaju, who is expecting her first child just weeks before she graduates, understands the many challenges African students face and is eager to help them. Whether it’s girls who are afraid to pursue the information technology field, young women who are unsure how they will balance career ambitions with family commitments, or new students who arrive in Kigali unfamiliar with the language and culture of their new home, they all benefit from her inspiration and encouragement. “I love working with people,” says Olanrewaju, who is grateful that the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program has given her opportunities to mentor others. Last fall, she and the other Mastercard Foundation Scholars presented a two-day virtual Information and Communication Technology (ICT) bootcamp for more than 300 undergraduate students who want to improve their skills in Python programming, data analytics, and Microsoft software. An internship with Assak, a Ugandan company, made good use of her data analytic skills. The company makes small loans to African entrepreneurs and farmers, who otherwise would not have access to capital they need to form or grow their business. Such programs will be a key to economic development on the continent. Assak was initially formed to provide loans via mobile phones to boda boda (motorbike) drivers based on data, such as the number of trips completed on mobility apps like Uber. The company sought help from Olanrewaju to build models that could determine how to ensure the greatest likelihood of repayment when they expand their loan offerings to other types of entrepreneurs. Olanrewaju is currently conducting research using COVID-19 pandemic data to estimate the impact future pandemics could have on retail businesses in Africa. She is committed to work that is beneficial to Africa, and she is particularly interested in applying data science to solve problems in African healthcare. Her hard work has presented her with many opportunities, but also difficult choices. Although earning a Ph.D. is her ultimate goal, she is considering job offers that would allow her to continue for now, she says this might be a better option for her own growing family as well.
PA GE 3 9
helping African families who rely on their small businesses, and
Student News
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Carnegie Mellon University
College of Engineering
P E R S P E C T I V E F R O M O U“IRlearned ST UDENTS to manipulate
cells, design with CAD software, and operate 3D printers. The hands-on work helped me better understand the underlying “I learned to manipulate cells, design with CAD software, and operate biology. Doing is what 3D printers. The hands-on work helped me better understand the really pushes me.” underlying biology. Doing is what really pushes me.” Jared Cohen MSE, BME
“I love the support I get from NSBE. It creates cultural responsibility, helps me succeed academically, and led me to two incredible internships at Microsoft.” Rama Hassabelnabi ECE, President, National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE)
Jared Cohen MSE/BME
“I love the support I get NSBE. It creates cultural responsibility, helps me succeed academically, a “Covid threw us into the led me to two incredible deeper side of friendship, but internships at Microsoft we got through the tough Ramabut Hassabelnabi ECE timesthrew together foundside of friendship, “Covid us intoand the deeper we got President, National Soc through thematter tough times together and found that no matter what that no what challenges we faced, we were great experiences here.” (NSB Black Engineers challenges we faced, wegoing to haveof “It’s been tricky addin Meena were Sundrum going to have great MechE, EPP double minors to my experiences here.” Meena Sundrum schedule. But I believ MechE, EPP classes in entreprene (LEFT OF PHOTO)
minors to my schedule. But I believe that classes in entrepreneurship, Chinese calligraphy and hot glass will actually help make me a better materials science engineer.” Caroline Barkman MSE
Chinese calligraphy a glass will actually he me a better material engineer.”
Caroline Barkman “I admit that IMSE had to
“I admit that I had to seek help and set boundaries to
seek help and set boundaries to handle the Ryan Rusali challenging courses, but CEE, EPP, Integrated Masters it was possible because everyone was super handle the challenging courses, but it was possible
because everyone was super welcoming and helpful.”
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“It’s been tricky adding two double
STUDENT NEWS
TH E P OW E R O F STUD E NT OR G AN I Z AT I O NS They came to Carnegie Mellon from different places and dissimilar backgrounds, but for four College of Engineering seniors and one recent graduate, the student organizations they joined, and went on to lead, brought them similar measures of success and satisfaction. They agree that their investment of time and energy was payback for the many positive experiences they’ve had with the groups.
NSBE Rama Hassabelnabi, a senior Electrical and Computer Engineering major and president of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) has gotten as much from the group as she has given to it. The elected position entails coordinating outreach events for local school-age students, fundraising for attendance at national conferences, and planning campus events, including the popular back-to school multi-cultural barbecue. When she joined as a freshman, she was struggling to meet expenses not covered by the generous support she received from scholarships and Pell grants. “Can I even go home for Thanksgiving?” she wondered as she faced unexpected expenditures like the need to buy winter clothes that had never been a part of her wardrobe while growing
During her sophomore year, a friend from NSBE alerted her that Microsoft was on campus. She got an on-the-spot interview with a recruiter who was impressed with, among other accomplishments, her work with NSBE. She landed a virtual software engineering internship that paid well, reduced her summer housing expenses, and eased her financial woes. “I love the support I get from NSBE. It is such a great community, and the resources and opportunities are invaluable. Being a part of this organization has been so fulfilling and I would not be where I am today without it.”
up in Texas.
Carnegie Mellon Racing Mason Sanfilippo is president of Carnegie Mellon Racing, whose members design and build a fully electric Formula 1 style race car to compete with university Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) teams around the world. Sanfilippo says he knows of no other group that prepares students as well for their engineering careers. His portfolio of work with the team helped him land internships with IAM Robotics, Tesla, and Space X, which he will join as a design engineer when he graduates this spring. But it was the incredible mentoring he got from an upper classman as a new member of the group that set him on that successful path. “It was a huge boost to my confidence that an older member of the group was willing to put as many as five to ten hours a week into helping me,” said Sanfilippo, who explained that you get as much out of the team as you put into it.
SHPE Jackie Godinez, who served as the president of the Society of Hispanic Engineers (SHPE) for two years before graduating in May 2021 with degrees in mechanical and biomedical engineering, overcame hardship and frustration to build an impressive number of accomplishments for both herself and SHPE. Godinez, whose parents are from Mexico and Columbia, is the first member of her family to attend college. Her New Jersey public high school didn’t offer the engineering related courses she says would have better prepared her for the rigorous first year classes at CMU. She even considered transferring to another school but joining SHPE during her freshman year connected her to the Hispanic community on campus. The group gave her a sense of belonging that shored her confidence and helped her cope with feeling ostracized. A fellow student once asked when she crossed the border. Godinez retorted, “I am a U.S. citizen!” She worked tirelessly for SHPE and under her leadership, the CMU chapter won the “Blue Chip Award” for Region 4 in 2019 and was named “Region Chapter of the Year” in 2020. In 2019, the group fully funded 25 members’ trips to the SHPE national convention in Phoenix. “We wanted to acknowledge any disadvantage that could prevent
SWE Dilara Ozdoganlar and Rachel Hagani, who are president and vice president of the Society for Women Engineers (SWE), also plan events and help fund conferences they and other members attend. But running outreach programs has been especially rewarding. Showing elementary aged girls how to code or convincing high schoolers they can pursue engineering is powerful.
members from participating,” said Godinez. Her struggles haven’t kept her from achieving her goals. As a senior, she won the 2021 George Washington Prize from the Engineers’ Society of Western Pennsylvania. And she’s now working as a Reliability and Equipment Engineer for Dupont. If anything, having felt marginalized motivated Godinez to work hard on behalf of SHPE to help ensure that other LatinX students have a place where they feel included and empowered to succeed.
“We’ve been moved to tears by their stories of feeling unsure about their interest in computers, being fearful that technology was too nerdy, or believing that engineering was only for boys,” said Ozdoganlar, a Materials Science and Engineering and Biomedical Engineering major who was raised in Pittsburgh by academics and never doubted that she could study engineering. Hagani, on the other hand, attended a private liberal arts high school in Connecticut, and wasn’t exposed to engineering concepts until she took a physics class in 11th grade. At CMU, deciding on an engineering major was a challenge but guidance from SWE upperclassmen helped her determine that mechanical and biomedical engineering were the best fit. “As a women’s organization we feel free to be more
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vulnerable about what we don’t know,” said Hagani.
Alumni
EN G I N E E R , EN T R E P R E N E UR , INVESTOR, SAI L OR Internships are an eye-opening experience for many Carnegie Mellon University students. They can spark interest in a career path and build professional relationships that last a lifetime. For ECE alumnus Will Lee (’94), his sophomore year internship helped him discover something a little more unexpected: a passion for sailing. Now, Lee has more than 20 years of sailing experience that has taken him all over the world. He recently competed in the Singlehanded Transpacific Yacht Race (SHTP), where he sailed 2,200 miles—by himself. As an intern at Motorola, Lee got the opportunity to go sailing in a small catamaran on Lake Michigan. It was at that moment that he fell in love with the sport and the feeling of freedom that came with being on the water. Although Lee knew that the sport was out of his reach as a student, he promised himself that one day he would call himself a sailor. “Sailing gives you a sense that you can go anywhere, you are the master commander of your vessel and your soul. You can live aboard anywhere in the world from off-thegrid exotic South Pacific islands or historical villages in the Mediterranean Sea,” says Lee. After graduating from Carnegie Mellon, Lee earned his master’s degree in computer science from Cornell
space than have raced single-handed from San Francisco
University before beginning a career in software. A
to Hawaii.”
passionate technology entrepreneur turned investor, Lee
“For me, the race is the culmination of everything
went on to found several companies and serve on the
I learned as a human being, including leveraging
board of many others. However, it wasn’t until he sold
the problem-solving skills from my Carnegie Mellon
his first company (about 10 years after his first sailing
engineering and computer science education,” says Lee.
experience) that he was able to shift his focus back to the
Lee sees many similarities between his time on his boat,
open water. Lee spent two years sailing full time, learning
Sea Wisdom, and his undergraduate days. During both, he
everything he needed to know to sail solo. This meant
was challenged to push himself further than he realized
juggling sailing, navigating, trouble-shooting, cooking,
he was capable. For example, he remembers working with
purifying water, and sleeping on his own.
a group of classmates to build a microprocessor in one
Lee put his solo sailing skills to the test this year when
of his ECE classes. Because creating software came much
he spent 18 days sailing from San Francisco to Hanalei
easier to Lee than building hardware, he was intimidated
Bay, Hawaii as part of the SHTP. The race only included 11
by the project and didn’t know that they would succeed. He
vessels, placing Lee among an elite group of sailors. In fact,
remains so proud of tackling this challenge that he still has
the SHTP boasts that “more people have made it to outer
the microprocessor framed in his office.
“I have to attribute a lot of the confidence and
kindness of the financial aid office and a particular piece of
determination I have to CMU. They were throwing us
advice they gave him: remember his experience and when
problems and when I saw those problem sets, I thought,
he had the means, give back to Carnegie Mellon students.
‘That’s impossible. How am I going to do this?’ And then a week later I realized, ‘Oh, you know what? I solved it.’” Lee says that confidence is about believing that you can
Lee has heeded that advice, and he is a generous donor and volunteer at the university. He and his wife, Chloe, created a fund to support student-initiated undergraduate
achieve a dream. For him, this meant pushing through an
research at Carnegie Mellon. Most of all, Lee enjoys talking
engineering degree despite financial hardships, creating and
with students and young alumni about their dreams.
investing in companies even in different fields, and sailing
“Carnegie Mellon students can really do anything. After an
solo regardless of the challenges. When Lee looks back on
education from CMU, they don’t have to be afraid to start a
these experiences, he says he reached his goals because,
company, be a professor, or do the best in their field.”
“well, I was foolish enough to think that I could do it.” Lee credits much of his success to those who helped him along the way. At Carnegie Mellon, he relied heavily on
Lee is looking forward to experiencing his alma mater through a new lens: parent. His daughter Colette started her first year as a student in the Mellon College of Science.
financial aid and sometimes found himself struggling with
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paying for basic necessities like food. He is thankful for the
Alumni
A HAN D S - F R E E , HAND S - O N AP P RO AC H Carnegie Mellon University opens new avenues to its students, encouraging innovation and problem solving, ultimately preparing them to face their futures head-on. When asked what advice alumna Katie Ricciardi would give current students, both current and prospective, she says “challenge yourself and always try new things.” She emphasizes the importance of having a broad skillset in engineering and continuing to expand it even when it feels like all avenues have been explored. Ricciardi has been working as an innovation engineer with Nike for nearly six years. Her daily tasks include working with other designers and developers to bring new footwear solutions to life—everything from testing new technologies to new materials, and so much more. She works to engineer these new designs first by brainstorming on paper, then by bringing her ideas to life, stitching the shoes together by hand. After testing the shoes on athletes, gathering data, and making refinements, the footwear is released into the world. “Having a combination of both biomedical engineering and materials science engineering was really helpful. It gave me two different approaches to engineering, two different
Engineering the shoe focused on more than its mechanics: Ricciardi and her team also needed to consider how the shoe would interact with the actual foot and user activities. Her experiences at Carnegie Mellon, both academic and
industries to learn, two types of problems to solve. And,
extracurricular, were the inspiration behind her career. “I’m
with footwear especially, I really got to see where these
a maker and an athlete. I enjoy many forms of art, have a
things mesh.”
love for sports, and spend my free time working on DIY (do
Ricciardi and the Nike team’s most recent project is a shoe that is completely hands-free. It is part of their FlyEase program, which caters to both athletes and nonathletes, and makes mobility more accessible for everyone. The project was nothing like traditional shoemaking, challenging Ricciardi’s skills and knowledgebase. “I was asked to help with engineering the upper portion
it yourself) projects. Engineering footwear is the perfect combination of my studies, my talents, and my interests.” She first became interested in working with products through her biomedical engineering capstone course, “it was the first time I really saw an opportunity in engineering consumer goods as a possibility,” she says. That, along with her place on the volleyball team, kickstarted her passion for
of the shoe, how we could integrate it into the hands-free
athletic footwear. During the capstone course, Ricciardi and
design,” she says. “The shoe needed to have a secure fit
her group wanted to test orthotic solutions to help athletes.
without having to tie laces, and be able to stand up on
So, they teamed up with ActivAided Orthotics—a startup that
its own to aid in sliding the foot in and out. It definitely
resulted from the capstone the previous year—and doctors,
tested my problem-solving abilities, as to how we could put
to find solutions for ankle injuries in athletes.
something together that worked seamlessly—how we could get the shoe to split apart and come back together.” Using a hinge, the shoe removes the need to bend down,
Ricciardi graduated from CMU in 2014 with a dual degree in biomedical engineering and materials science and engineering. During her time, she founded the Women’s
allowing users to instead step on the heel with their opposite
Club Volleyball team and was the executive officer of the
foot, slide inside, and release the heel to encase their foot.
Society of Women Engineers.
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STUDENT NEWS
C LAS S M AT E S A ND CHE CKM A TE S The Herbert B. Jacklyn Program Scholarship is aimed at a
sure what kind of engineering I wanted to pursue,”
particular kind of student: someone between the ages of 18
Eisenman shared. “But I knew I liked chemistry and
and 21 who is attending college, has a sustained history of
thought materials science sounded cool. I’m in the intro
participating in UC chess events, and has been rated by the
class, and it’s really interesting.”
US Chess Federation (USCF) between 1500 and 2000. Chess
Eisenman said that she was lucky to be able to visit
players in this score range have a high level of ability but
campus in person before attending. She visited multiple
are not yet considered experts.
universities in 2019 as a junior in high school, before the
This perfectly describes engineering first-year Katie
pandemic made travel impossible. After two long years,
Eisenman from Saint Louis, Missouri, which is considered
she is happy to finally be able to study here. “I just fell in
the epicenter of chess in the United States due to its
love with the vibe at CMU. I could just really picture myself
thriving chess community. Eisenman learned to play chess
here. There seemed to be a lot of opportunities that were
from her father at the young age of five years old. She
interesting to me.”
started going to tournaments at around ten years old and has been participating in them ever since. Eisenman was one of four recipients of the Herbert B.
Eisenman is excited to learn more about materials science and engineering policy while keeping active in Chess Club and other student organizations like the
Jacklyn Program Scholarship this past year and the only
Society for Women Engineers, CMU Solar Racing, the
woman. She remarked that women are underrepresented
Tartan Wind Ensemble, and FEMME (Feminists Engaged
in chess, “making up less than 14% of the US chess
in Multicultural Matters and Education). Having only been
players.” Eisenman also recounted, “When I have gone to
on campus a few months, she recognizes that she may
tournaments, there are not many girls or women at all.”
find new interests and retire old ones as she grows as a
As she grew older, it seemed like the number of interested
student. But scholarship and chess will continue to be top
girls dwindled each year, both in chess tournaments and
priorities no matter what.
in STEM activities. However, Eisenman is now in good company with fellow female engineers, as 51% of the most recent class of engineering students are women. While Eisenman currently has a chess rating around 1623, she hopes to reach 2200 by the time she graduates from Carnegie Mellon in 2025. Despite taking a full course load, Eisenman thinks she can achieve her goal by practicing with the CMU Chess Club and by participating in tournaments. Conveniently, tournaments often take place online instead of in-person, meaning she does not need to travel. “Online chess has grown a lot, especially during the pandemic. These chess sites were there before the pandemic, but now there are even more people participating in online tournaments,” explains Eisenman. The CMU Chess Club offers weekly opportunities to practice with fellow members. Not only do students face off in traditional chess games against one another, but they can work through chess puzzles and tactics together, honing their skills in the same way that sports players would run a particular drill in between scrimmages. While Chess Club may have been a factor in her decision to attend CMU, Eisenman was originally drawn here by the College of Engineering’s reputation as an academic powerhouse. Eisenman applied without a particular major in mind, but after taking introductory courses, she is leaning toward materials science and engineering and considering a minor in engineering and public policy. “I applied as undecided and wasn’t really
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