Suresh Sprouts Proseed Initiative

CMU hosts third annual ProSEED program a Student models work the healthcare conference • A4 welcome intiative • A7 runway at Lunar Gala • B8 SCITECH FORUM PILLBOX thetartan.org @thetartan February 17, 2014 Volume 108, Issue 18 Carnegie Mellon’s student newspaper since 1906 Professors share life lessons in Mortar Board lecture Students speak on dining concerns LILAH BUCHANAN Junior Staffwriter A Facebook group called “To Dining, With Love” that allows Carnegie Mellon students to voice concerns or complaints to CulinArt has gained ground, especially among first-year students. The group, hosted by Stu- dent Dormitory Coun- cil’s Housing and Dining Committee now has 803 members. The group advertises itself on the page as a place to “talk about what dining does right and what it does wrong” and a place to “pitch ideas you think [dining services] should try out.” Dan Evans, Student Dor- mitory Council Housing and Dining Services repre- sentative and first-year biol- Michelle Wan/Art Editor ogy major, answers many of Professors Robert F. Culbertson (left) and David Kosbie (right) imparted wisdom to students at “The Moral of the Story: Life Lessons from Professors.” the concerns voiced by students. According to Evans, BRIAN TRIMBOLI Kosbie, assistant teaching pro- cational Service, presented I realized ‘don’t drink the yel- they will struck her the hard- the idea for the Facebook News Co-Editor fessor in the School of Com- by the Dietrich College of Hu- low vodka.’ ” est. “I really took that away be- page came from president puter Science; John Mackey, manities & Social Sciences, “For two to three weeks we cause I think that a lot of the of the Housing and Dining “Don’t drink the yellow teaching professor and asso- called her talk “Life Advice knew nothing of what hap- time, especially students at Services Committee and se- vodka” was one of many les- ciate department head of the and Wisdom ... Or, Don’t Do pened in the world,” Nugent CMU tend to make decisions nior computer science ma- sons distilled during “The department of mathematical What I Did.” Nugent broke her said. “You realized how much thinking, ‘Oh how will this jor Milan Desai. Knowing Moral of the Story: Life Les- sciences; and Robert F. Culb- life up into discrete lessons, noise there is all the time, impact my future? This will be that many students have sons from Professors,” a lec- ertson, adjunct assistant pro- like “don’t drink the yellow and you’re just quiet for a few so crazy. I’m going to end up strong opinions about the ture presented by the senior fessor of entrepreneurship in vodka,” an adage Nugent drew weeks,” she added. “If you let completely in the wrong place dining system, the Com- honor society Mortar Board, the Tepper School of Business. from a trip to Antarctica. yourself be overloaded, just go because of this,’ ” Unnava said. mittee wanted to facilitate last Thursday. Each professor talked In Antarctica, Nugent said, be silent. That’s what I learned “But making decisions for just conversation between ven- The lecture, which filled about the lessons they learned the researchers they visited on the Antarctica trip.” yourself right now is a really dors and students. As Evans McConomy Auditorium to throughout their life that they had distilled their own dubi- Vaasavi Unnava, a first- amazing thing.” explained, the committee capacity, consisted of talks thought would be most valu- ous, yellow-colored vodka af- year economics and statistics The next speaker, Kosbie, “trusted the student body by four professors, including able to Carnegie Mellon stu- ter running out of what they major, said that Nugent’s proc- winner of the 2012 Herbert to post reasonable requests, Rebecca Nugent, associate dents. Nugent, who won the had brought with them. “He lamation that the decisions A. Simon Award for Teaching and for the most part that teaching professor in the de- 2012–13 Elliott Dunlap Smith took the shot, as I watched his students make now don’t have has been the case.” partment of statistics; David Award for Teaching and Edu- brain cells melt out of his ears, as much clout as they think See LESSONS, A3 Knowing that many students Suresh sprouts Carnegie Mellon announces have strong opinions about ProSeed initiative partnership with Yahoo, Inc. the dining BRENT HEARD Vice Provost for Educa- system, the Contributing Editor tion Amy Burkert character- committee ized ProSEED as an umbrella Last Wedensday, Universi- containing seed funding wanted to ty President Subra Suresh an- programs such as the Simon facilitate nounced the creation of the Initiative Seed Grants and ProSEED program by email. Crosswalk, and others in the conversation The email described Pro- future. SEED as “intended to create Burkert said that ProSEED between new mechanisms for con- is “meant to seed new ideas, vendors and necting and coordinating new initiatives, to bring to- other seed-funding programs gether various parts of cam- students. available at CMU, so that pus, various opportunities to our community can be bet- really be synergistic.” Housing and Dining ter positioned to apply for The Simon Initiative is Services hosts a meeting sustained support for their providing seed money for at the Residence on Fifth ideas.” “faculty to develop technol- Abhinav Gautam/Staff Photographer once a month during which Seed funding is the money ogy-enhanced courses or Randy Bryant, Dean of the School of Computer Science, spoke about the potential advances in computer sci- representatives from the provided by an organization course modules, or other re- ence that could result from Carnegie Mellon’s newly announced partnership with Yahoo, Inc. Housing and Dining Ser- to a group working to devel- search projects that use data- vices Committee have the op a novel product for future driven learning technolo- ALVIN MATHEW use some of the company’s ex- search support to members of opportunity to learn about use or commercialization, to gies,” according to President Staffwriter perimental mobile software, the university’s computer sci- new dining initiatives and help with product develop- Suresh’s email. which will allow researchers ence community. Individuals receive student feedback. ment, prototyping, testing, The administration of this Carnegie Mellon and Ya- to access more data and make in the fellowship program will Suggestions posted on the and marketing. program will be conducted hoo, Inc. recently announced swift improvements to exist- be given the opportunity to Facebook group are now ProSEED addresses one of through The Eberly Center a five-year partnership worth ing technolgies. research fields like “machine brought to these dinners as President Suresh’s five theme for Teaching Excellence and $10 million. The partnership, “We’re thrilled to be part- learning, mobile technolo- well. areas that he identified ear- Educational Innovation. named Project InMind, will nering with the exceptional gies, human-computer inter- Although the Facebook lier in the academic year as Burkert clarified that the allow researchers at Carnegie faculty and students at Carn- action, personalization, novel group is still less than a part of his listening tour of program has two key focuses Mellon to use Yahoo’s data egie Mellon, which has estab- interaction techniques, and month old, changes sug- campus. of learning and application- services collection, giving lished itself as a premier insti- natural language processing,” gested in the group have ProSEED responds to based developments and them an opportunity to “test tution for machine learning according to the press release. already been instituted. Suresh’s identified need to more research-oriented ones. new ways that machine learn- and user interface technolo- Under the terms of the After students requested increase the seed funding for According to the email, ing and interface technolo- gies,” said Ron Brachman, partnership, the university that napkins be more read- new ideas, which according Crosswalk will provide fund- gies can improve personalized chief scientist of Yahoo and will have ownership over all ily available in the Schatz to Carnegie Mellon’s leader- ing to “empower ideas for user experiences,” according head of Yahoo labs, in a press intellectual property created Dining Room, the changes ship webpage, “is especially new connections and collab- to the official press release. release. through it, but Yahoo will be were implemented, and critical in light of the budget orations across campus, on Project InMind will allow “By creating a way for given ownership of anything there are now napkins on uncertainties and attendant any number of dimensions.” Yahoo and Carnegie Mellon Carnegie Mellon University developed with the company every table. delays associated with gov- Crosswalk money will be researchers and students to researchers to work directly and will be able to license Larger issues, like that ernment funding.” used to improve the student develop new methods that with Yahoo software and property owned by Carnegie of the block system, which The webpage states from and campus experience and will improve machine intel- infrastructure, we hope to Mellon. many students consider to Oct. 1, “[Suresh] will soon be will focus on the domains of ligence and the personaliza- speed up the pace of mobile “This is a one-of-a-kind be expensive and inconve- announcing new models and student research, quality of tion of smartphone applica- and personalization research opportunity for our students nient, will take longer to mechanisms for seed funding life, courses, student compe- tions, among other things. It and create a better user expe- and faculty to work directly address. “The problem with that will leverage resources titions, community service will allow researchers to use rience,” Brachman continued. with a team of leading-edge some of these requests is from a number of on-campus learning, and symposiums algorithms and analyze them Project InMind will also researchers from Yahoo Labs that it takes time,” Evans stakeholders and external and strategic workshops.

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