NEWS
& ANNOUNCEMENTS
Collaboration Agreement Signed Between ICES And The University of
Santiago
Professor Cristina Amon had a successful
visit to the University of Santiago in Chile (USACH) on July 30 of this
year. She was invited by the department of Mechanical Engineering and
by the vice-provost of research and development of USACH. During her visit,
Professor Amon signed a collaboration agreement between ICES and USACH.
The main objective of the agreement was scientific and technological cooperation
between the University of Chile and ICES at Carnegie Mellon. In addition,
she gave two talks. The first one was titled "Cooling Techniques
in Microelectronics" and the second one was titled "Centers
and Institutes: Carnegie Mellon University Experience".
During
the trip, Professor Amon also met with the vice-president of research
and development of Codelco, the Chilean Copper Corporation, which is the
biggest Copper Mining Company in the world. The objective of this talk
was to establish mechanisms of cooperation among Coldeco, USACH and CMU,
and to help develop technological projects of interest for the Chilean
corporation.
ICES
Welcomes New Graduate Students
On
September 7, ICES held an orientation to introduce new graduate students
to ICES. We are pleased to welcome the following new graduates to our
institute: David Romero, Yang Wang, Wei Zhang, Carlos Gomes and Sarah
Petricca. We wish you the best during your graduate work here at Carnegie
Mellon.
Graduate
Tuition Benefit Tax-Free Status Reinstated
(As reported by the CMU 81/2 x 11 News sheet)
Effective Jan. 1, 2002, Section 127 of the Internal Revenue Code, which
affects taxation of graduate tuition, will be reinstated, including the
yearly $5,250 limit. However, the reinstated law only applies to graduate
courses that begin on or after Jan. 1, 2002. As a result, any graduate-level
tuition benefits you receive for courses that begin before Jan. 1, 2002
must be subject to normal taxation.
Section
127 permitted Carnegie Mellon to provide tax-free graduate tuition benefits
to employees up to $5,250 per calendar year. Section 127 expired on June
30, 1996, and Carnegie Mellon could no longer provide tax-free graduate
tuition benefits. This reinstatement will once again allow the tax-free
benefit after Jan. 1, 2002.
Rich
Hoff Joins ICES as Industrial Liaison
Rich Hoff has been named Industrial Liaison of ICES effective
August 13. He replaces Georgette Demes, who is left the university earlier
this year to pursue other opportunities. Hoff earned his bachelor's degree
at Pennsylvania State University in Chemistry and his master's degree
in Public Management - Financial Resources from the Heinz School in August
of 1999. Hoff has also completed course work at the University of Pittsburgh
Graduate School of Public Health in Chemical Hazard Assessment.
Prior to joining ICES, Hoff worked in the engineering/consulting field for more than 16 years. He was employed with Michael Baker Corporation from 1992 until this past August. When asked why he decided to accept the position with Carnegie Mellon, Hoff replied "I love Pittsburgh and southwestern PA and I wanted to play a bigger role in helping to change the perception of this area. CMU-ICES is poised to play a bigger role in helping Pittsburgh continue the metamorphosis from 'smokey city' to a recognized technical center of excellence. ICES can do this by supporting existing industries and greenhouses and by creating and attracting a critical mass of high-tech businesses based on new technologies and applications."
Hoff currently resides in Crafton with his wife MaryAnn. She is employed by PPG Industries and has just completed her master's degree in Public Management. In his spare time, Hoff likes to golf, hike and fly fish. He and his wife have a weekend home in Prince Gallitzin State Park and that is where they spend most of their leisure time. Hoff is a native of Altoona, Pennsylvania.
PITA
Year 5 Awards To Be Announced
Funding
for Year 5 PITA has been provided to ICES by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
In late July, the institute sent out a call for proposals for research
or educational/outreach projects. The proposals were due on September
14. Over 40 proposals were submitted. Approval memos for selected projects
are expected to be issued around the 15th of October. Projects may begin
as soon as October 1, 2001.
ICES
Rogues Gallery Photos Set For September 28
On
Friday, September 28 rogues gallery photos will be taken in the 1202 Hamburg
Hall general area. All ICES faculty, staff and grad students who have
not yet had their photo taken for the display out front -- or anyone who
would like to have their photo retaken -- should stop by. The photographer
will be here from 12:30 until 3:30pm.
HONORS
& AWARDS
Cristina
Amon, Professor and Director of ICES, ME, BHE
Cristina Amon, Director of ICES and professor of Mechanical,
Biomedical, and Health Engineering has recently received the Raymond
J. Lane Distinguished Professorship in Mechanical Engineering. Dr.
Amon is internationally known in her fields of computational fluid dynamics,
concurrent thermal design, and heat transfer in electronics.
The professorship was endowed by life trustee Raymond J. Lane in memory of his father, a graduate of Carnegie Mellon's Mechanical Engineering Department. Upon receiving the endowed professorship, Dr. Amon said, "I am very grateful to Mr. Lane for his generosity in establishing this professorship in memory of his father. I am also grateful to the university leadership for bestowing this great honor on me and to my good fortune of having outstanding students and colleagues to collaborate with over the years. The Lane name is well known to all within the high tech community, and I carry the title of Lane Professor with great pride."
Dean
Anderson will host a ceremony to officially award the professorship to
Dr. Amon on Wednesday, October 17 at 4:00pm in the Singleton Room in Roberts
Hall.
Ramayya
Krishnan, Professor, Heinz
Danny Fernandes, Graduate Student, Heinz
Krishnan and Fernandes won a best paper award for
their entry entitled "ServiceNet: An Agent-Based Framework for One-Stop-E-Government
Services" at the Americas Conference on Information Systems
in Boston on August 3, 2001.
Asim
Smailagic, Research Faculty, ICES
This past July, Smailagic was invited to attend Microsoft's
Top US Faculty Summit in Redmond, Washington. Microsoft Chairman Bill
Gates attended the summit and Smailagic was lucky enough to get a front
row seat.
Click here for photos,
including one of Bill Gate's house!
In
The Spotlight
Rhonda
Moyer
Rhonda Moyer joined Carnegie Mellon in July 1994 when ICES
was known as EDRC. She is currently the Administrative Manager for the
Institute and handles everything from the financial responsibilities to
the day-to-day operations. Before joining ICES, Rhonda was a college student
at Pitt working on her bachelor's degree in Speech and Hearing. Rhonda
just recently completed her master's degree ('01) in Public Management
at the Heinz School.
Her
personal interests include all types of art, but mainly sketching and
creating watercolor paintings. She and her husband Steve both enjoy touring
historical sites and collecting and watching horror flicks. They recently
combined their love for both by spending the weekend at a haunted bed
and breakfast in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The ever-daring Rhonda also
loves to hunt for unusual items at flea markets around town. Recently,
Rhonda's love of reading inspired her to start her own book club called
the "Booksie Chicks". Rhonda can be contacted for proposal submission,
accounting issues, human resource information, and of course for a recommendation
of a good scary movie.
~Upcoming Events -- Mark Your Calendars!~
Poster
Making Workshop
Friday, September 28, 2001
11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
1202 Hamburg Hall
Attention all students, faculty and staff: If you think you will ever need to make a poster for a conference, class, etc., this workshop is for you. We will discuss many helpful poster making tips, overview the ICES graphic standards, and have an open discussion for questions and/or comments about creating, printing and displaying posters - basically all topics except the technical content specific to your research. After all, you want your poster to best represent all of the hard work you have done! Lunch will be served during the session. If you are interested, please RSVP to Donna Yocum at donnay@andrew.cmu.edu by Thursday, September 27, 2001.
Staff
Appreciation Days Coming in October
ICES staff, please mark your calendars.
On October 19 and 22, the institute will hold its very first staff appreciation
days to thank its employees for all of their hard work and effort. Look
for invitations to be sent out in late September. Here is a sneak-peek
of activities scheduled for the event: yoga, self-defense workshop, movies
& popcorn, lunches, ergonomics, games & prizes and much more.
Suggestions can be sent to Rhonda Moyer at rm7q@andrew.cmu.edu.
We hope to see all of the ICES staff there!
~Recent Events~
ICES
Baseball Outing at PNC Park
~Event Photos
On Monday, September 17, ICES hosted an
outing at PNC Park.
The Pittsburgh Pirates played against the New York Mets. However, the
homefield advantage was no help to the Pirates who lost the game. Over
75 ICES members signed-up for tickets. Click
here for photos of the event.
Engineering Your Future Workshop
This
past summer, the College of Engineering held its annual workshop "Engineering
Your Future" which started on July 9 and ended on July 20. Its aim
is to promote engineering fields as possible career opportunities to inner-city
girls. Approximately 150 students attended.
Dr.
Kacey Marra introduced the girls to the field of Biomedical and Health
Engineering. She discussed topics such as artificial organs, tissue engineering,
and the use of metal, ceramics, and polymers in the body. Other faculty
including Cristina Amon, Gary Fedder, and Annette Jacobson discussed their
respective areas of engineering. The students then performed experiments
in the related engineering fields. All of the all the girls became familiar
with new technologies that may one day become their desired area of study.
NEWSMAKERS
The
Observer Reporter - Kacey Marra feature story
May 21, 2001,
"Houston Polymer Chemist on Cutting Edge of Bone Research" by
Kristin Sette http://www.observer-reporter.com/276757221566177.bsp