SCS News [More]
NVIDIA Names SCS Students 2017 Graduate Fellows
Byron Spice Wednesday May 17, 2017
Two School of Computer Science students are among 11 recipients of 2017 NVIDIA Graduate Fellowships. The company sponsors the annual program to recognize and support excellence in computing research using graphics processing units.Adams Wei Yu, a Ph.D. student in the Machine Learning Department, and Xiaolong Wang, a Ph.D. student in the Robotics Institute, were named 2017 fellows.Yu's research lies in large-scale optimization, deep learning, statistical machine learning and their applications. He has interned with the Google Brain team and the Microsoft Research machine learning group. He... Shaw, Garlan Receive IEEE Software Engineering Awards
Joshua Quicksall and Byron Spice Tuesday May 16, 2017
Institute for Software Research (ISR) professors Mary Shaw and David Garlan will receive IEEE Computer Society Technical Council on Software Engineering (TCSE) awards at the International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE), May 20–28 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.Shaw will accept the 2017 TCSE Distinguished Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Leadership Award, which recognizes outstanding and/or sustained leadership in the software engineering community, particularly for encouraging women to explore science and engineering career paths. Garlan will receive the 2017 TCSE Software... Carnegie Mellon Offers New Master's Degree in Product Management
Byron Spice (SCS) and Mara Falk (Tepper) Tuesday May 16, 2017
A new master's degree program at Carnegie Mellon University aims to teach computer scientists and engineers to become product managers, the much sought-after specialists in technical organizations who shepherd new products to market.A joint program of the university's School of Computer Science (SCS) and Tepper School of Business, the Master of Science in Product Management (MSPM) program will start January 2018.The 12-month master's degree program provides the technical skills and business acumen students need to be successful in this high-demand area. A required internship and capstone... Hebi's Six-Legged Daisy Joins "Robot Revolution" Exhibit
Byron Spice Friday May 12, 2017
Daisy, a six-legged robot built by a Robotics Institute spinoff company, is one of several new robots featured in "Robot Revolution," an exhibit at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry that runs through Feb. 4, 2018.Daisy is a hexapod robot that moves with a spider-like gait over rough terrain. It was created by Hebi Robotics, a company founded by Howie Choset, professor of robotics, and some former members of his Biorobotics Lab. Hebi produces modular robotic components that make it possible to create custom robots quickly. It builds on the Biorobotics Lab's expertise in modular snake-... Cassell To Speak at U.N. Event on Innovation and Connectivity
Byron Spice Friday May 12, 2017
Justine Cassell, associate dean of technology strategy and impact for the School of Computer Science, will present a keynote address on Wednesday, May 17, at a United Nations event on emerging technologies.Cassell will join fellow keynoters Astro Teller, SCS alumnus and chief executive officer of Google X, and Peter Diamandis, chairman of the XPrize Foundation, at the Sustainable Development Goals Action Event on Innovation and Connectivity. The meeting at U.N. Headquarters in New York City was convened by H.E. Peter Thomson, president of the U.N. General Assembly, to help member states and... Internet of Things Made Simple: One Sensor Package Does Work of Many
Byron Spice Wednesday May 10, 2017
Ubiquitous sensors seem almost synonymous with the internet of things (IoT), but some Carnegie Mellon University researchers say ubiquitous sensing — with a single, general purpose sensor for each room — may be better.The plug-in sensor package they've developed monitors multiple phenomena in a room, including things such as sounds, vibration, light, heat, electromagnetic noise and temperature. With help from machine learning techniques, this suite of sensors can determine whether a faucet's left or right spigot is running, if the microwave door is open or how many paper towels have been... New Meter Will Change How Users Create Passwords
Daniel Tkacik Monday May 08, 2017
One of the most popular passwords in 2016 was "qwertyuiop," even though most password meters will tell say it's a weak choice. The problem is that no existing meters offer any good advice to make it better — until now.Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Chicago have unveiled a new, state-of-the-art password meter that offers real-time feedback and advice to help people create better passwords. To evaluate its performance, the team conducted an online study in which they asked 4,509 people to use the meter to create a password."Instead of having a meter say, 'Your... CMU Researchers Create Touchpads With a Can of Spray Paint
Byron Spice Monday May 08, 2017
Touch sensing is most common on small, flat surfaces such as smartphone or tablet screens. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, however, can turn surfaces of a wide variety of shapes and sizes into touchpads using tools as simple as a can of spray paint.Walls, furniture, steering wheels, toys and even Jell-O can be turned into touch sensors with the technology, dubbed Electrick.The "trick" is to apply electrically conductive coatings or materials to objects or surfaces, or to craft objects using conductive materials. By attaching a series of electrodes to the conductive materials,...