PIPER11/09 Issue 3 Hollywood Alums Come Home 6 Building Projects Earn Accolades for Sustainability and Design Lighting His Legacy 9 Nobel Laureates Made Stops at Carnegie Mellon 10 Students Serve as Tech Consultants Faculty Win Stimulus Funding B ROAD RANGE OF RESEARCH S UPPORTED ■ Bruce Gerson More than 50 research projects at Carnegie Mellon have received nearly $30 mil- lion in federal funding through President Barack Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, a massive effort aimed at revitalizing the U.S. economy by supporting university research. “This is just the fi rst wave of stimulus funding that will play out over the next two to three years,” said Associate Vice President for Government Relations Tim McNulty, who noted that $30 million is ap- PHOTO BY TIM KAULEN proximately 10 percent of the university’s W ITH ITS ABSTRACT PENGUIN CUTOUT AND DAZZLING LED-LIGHT DISPLAY, THE PAUSCH BRIDGE WAS DEDICATED annual research budget. “Our faculty are DURING HOMECOMING AND NOW CONNECTS THE PURNELL CENTER TO THE GATES AND HILLMAN CENTERS. TO READ winning stimulus proposals in a nice mix MORE ABOUT THE BRIDGE AND DEDICATION, SEE PAGE EIGHT. of potentially high-impact areas, and the stimulus funding is helping to enhance our burgeoning life sciences efforts.” McNulty also noted that several Presidential Refl ections: A Q&A with Jared Cohon Carnegie Mellon faculty members are part of pending research funding proposals ■ Heidi Opdyke cated we are to the task at hand. There’s response already from people. I’m cer- submitted by the Pittsburgh Public Schools very little time for celebration and taking tainly looking forward to that. In late October, the Piper sat down C ONTINUED ON PAGE FIVE a breath. We just keep moving forward. We’ll see what the future holds. with President Jared L. Cohon to talk We have regional campaign events You never know what great inventions about the start of the academic year, coming up in India, Singapore and our colleagues will come up with or the impact of the G-20 Summit, his role Washington, D.C., and those will be who just might stop by. W E WANT YOUR as chair of a National Academy of exciting. We’re getting tremendous C ONTINUED ON PAGE TWO F EEDBACK! Sciences committee that worked to un- cover hidden costs of energy and more. Is the Piper helping to keep This academic year started with the you informed of campus news opening of the Gates Center for Com- and events? In our ongoing puter Science and the Hillman Center effort to keep you posted, for Future-Generation Technologies, we want to know how we’re visits by Australia’s prime minister doing, so be sure to check out and Bill Gates, and more. What’s next? the back page of the Piper Sleep! It was a very exciting begin- ning of the semester. You know, one for a readership survey. of the things I admire about Carnegie Mellon is how unassuming and dedi- O NE Presidential Refl ections C ONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE Did Carnegie Mellon benefi t from Having the prime minister of than the national average. We continue the G-20 Summit being in Pittsburgh? Australia on campus was certainly a big to grow in certain areas, including at There was the direct and immediate plus for us. We’ve already followed up Carnegie Mellon, Pitt and UPMC. So benefi t the students got from it. There with meetings with some of his minis- the knowledge industries and the role were the seminars, the webcasts and the ters. As most of the readers will know, the universities play in that, I think are daylong symposium we had with the we have a campus in Adelaide, Austra- absolutely crucial to Pittsburgh’s success Atlantic Council. I think the symposium lia, and having government support for to date and will be perhaps even more so was quite valuable and well attended that is important. in the future. by students, which I was pleased to see. Finally, because of all of this, more And it’s a cool thing to hear a head of people know about Carnegie Mellon — Carnegie Mellon was recently state. I doubt too many of our students and that it’s in Pittsburgh — than knew named a Top 25 “Best Neighbor” would have ever had the chance to hear before the G-20. university for its economic and the Australian Prime Minister speak. social impact on Pittsburgh. Is Carnegie Mellon’s success tied to As for the color and hoopla, and Up next, Pittsburgh is hosting the Pittsburgh and vice versa? protestors and security that came along United Nation’s World Environment We’re proud of that. We’re proud of the with the G-20 — I don’t think any of us Day on June 5, 2010. With a theme PHOTO BY KEN ANDREYO fact that the University of Pittsburgh was could have imagined what that would of “Biodiversity: Connecting with J ARED COHON high on that list. I think among uni- have been like without seeing it, and Nature,” what type of role do you envision Carnegie Mellon playing? versities, Pitt and Carnegie Mellon are our students and all of us got to see that Probably even a more central role than Carnegie Mellon played a very big especially committed and active to local fi rst hand. with the G-20. Local institutions will part in this. Not only did I chair it, but economic and artistic vitality. Much of Less direct, but even more lasting, play an active role in planning and Scott Matthews, a professor in Engineer- that we do together through organiza- was the tremendous media coverage delivering the event. We’re already in ing and Public Policy and Civil and tions like the Life Sciences Greenhouse that Pittsburgh got, and Carnegie Mellon conversations with the University of Environmental Engineering, was a and through the many technology and as well. Pittsburgh, West Virginia University member, and there were non-member research collaborations that we have We learned that when the G-20 and other organizations. We’ve got consultants like Mike Chester, who created. It’s been very good, and we’re comes to town so do 2,000-3,000 jour- some good ideas, and I expect Carnegie received his Ph.D. from Carnegie pleased it’s been recognized. nalists. Every one of them had to fi le Mellon will be prominently featured Mellon and is a post-doc at Berkeley. What’s good for Pittsburgh is a story answering the question, “Why in that. Mike played a very valuable role in good for us. It certainly helps us with Pittsburgh?” Carnegie Mellon was Pittsburgh is turning out to be the doing some of the modeling for the recruitment and retention of faculty generally a featured part of the answer. place to be. report. Carnegie Mellon fi ngerprints and students. It’s a great story, and we’re proud of the are all over this report, and it’s some- role that we have played in Pittsburgh’s A National Academy of Sciences thing to be proud of. Will our impact on the city change as rebirth and transformation. committee that you chair recently we become a more global university? reported that the hidden cost of Do you see Carnegie Mellon hav- I don’t think our relationship with Pitts- energy on human health was $120 ing a hand in some of the research burgh will change at all. If anything, it billion in 2005. How do you see this recommended in the report? will get richer in the sense of what we data and the 350-page report outlin- Indeed, we are already. There were can contribute to Pittsburgh’s success. ing the details affecting U.S. energy topics in those recommendations that policy and research? I hope and expect that the university’s we were working on, and others were PIPER It’s going to be quite infl uential. The global footprint and our activities around too, even before we made the 11/09 Issue report was released Oct. 19, and the the world will yield more benefi ts recommendations. There are lots of P UBLISHER Friday before that the committee spent directly to Pittsburgh by bringing people Teresa Thomas opportunities for Carnegie Mellon to the day briefi ng White House, agency and jobs from other countries here. E DITOR make more contributions. Bruce Gerson and Congressional staffs. There was a What were some of your key messag- lot of interest, which was good to see. M ANAGING EDITOR What are some of the ways the es to alumni during Homecoming? Heidi Opdyke There’s no news in the fact that American Recovery and Reinvest- One thing that is certainly on their minds energy has external effects and costs. W RITERS ment Act of 2009, also known as the is the economy, how Carnegie Mellon Bruce Gerson What’s new is our success in quantifying stimulus bill, has impacted campus? Heidi Opdyke has fared during the recession and how some of those impacts as we indicated, Shilo Raube The most direct way is through increased we’re doing now. Abby Ross although there was a lot we couldn’t. funding for research. Carnegie Mellon Byron Spice Recessions are never good for To have virtually all of the impacts one received about $30 million more in anybody, including us, but we weathered D ESIGNER could think of collected in one place is Melissa Stoebe sponsored research that we probably the storm and we’re doing OK.