the THE MAGAZINE OF CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY’S SCHOOL OF COMPUTER SCIENCE 60 YEARS IN THE MAKING CMU AI is Here SUMMER 2017 ISSUE 11.1 SUMMER 2017 cvr1 Iain Mathews Bhat, Matthews Win Academy Awards for Technical Achievement Computer Science at CMU School of Computer Science alumnus Kiran Bhat and underpins divergent fields and endeavors in today’s world, former Robotics Institute faculty member Iain Matthews all of which LINK SCS to profound received Oscars on February 11, from the Academy of advances in art, culture, nature, Motion Picture Arts and Science, for their work in capturing the sciences and beyond. facial performances. Bhat earned his doctorate in robotics in 2004, and helped design and develop the Industrial Light and Magic facial performance-capture solving system, which transfers facial performances from actors to digital characters in large-scale productions. The system was used in “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” to resurrect the role of Grand Moff Tarkin, played by the late actor Peter Cushing, as well as to capture Mark Ruffalo’s expressions for his character, the Hulk, in “The Avengers.” Matthews, a post-doctoral researcher and former faculty member in the Robotics Institute working on face modeling and vision-based tracking, was recognized along with his team for the design, engineering and development of the facial-performance capture and solving system at Weta Digital, known as FACETS. Matthews spent two years helping to develop the facial motion capture system for “Avatar” and “Tintin.” With Bhat’s and Matthews’ wins, Carnegie Mellon alumni and faculty have received nine Academy Awards to date. cvr2 THE LINK SUMMER 2017 1 The Link Summer 2017 | Issue 11.1 The Link is the magazine of Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science, published for alumni, students, faculty, staff and friends. Copyright 2017 Carnegie Mellon University. All rights reserved. Publisher Andrew W. Moore Editor Kevin O’Connell Contributing Writers Susie Cribbs (DC 2000, 2006), Meghan Holohan, Nick Keppler, Kevin O’Connell, Aisha Rashid (DC 2019), Mark Roth, Linda K. Schmitmeyer, Byron Spice Photography Chandler Crowell, Rebecca Kiger, Howard Korn contents Illustration Curt Merlo 4 Dean’s Message Design 6 How to Prepare the Next Generation Vicki Crowley (A 1996) for Jobs in the AI Economy Office of the Dean Gates Center 5113 10 What AI Means for Life, Carnegie Mellon University the Universe and Everything 5000 Forbes Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15213 15 The Untold History of Multitouch www.cs.cmu.edu 18 Busting Unconscious Bias Carnegie Mellon University does not discriminate in admission, employment, or administration of its programs or activities on the 22 Revolutionizing Assistive Devices basis of race, color, national origin, sex, handicap or disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, creed, ancestry, belief, 26 Drones Assess Aging Infrastructure veteran status, or genetic information. Furthermore, Carnegie Mellon University does not discriminate and is required not to discriminate in 28 These Are The Girls of Steel violation of federal, state, or local laws or executive orders. Inquiries concerning the application of and compliance with this 32 Research Spotlight statement should be directed to the university ombudsman, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 34 Alumni 15213, telephone 412-268-1018. Student Spotlight Obtain general information 38 about Carnegie Mellon University Commencement by calling 412-268-2000. 40 44 SCS In The News [email protected] 2 THE LINK SUMMER 2017 3 Dean’s FROM THE DEAN Message Where We’ve Been and Where We’re Going one of them, FarmView, in our winter students who are underrepresented in issue. In this issue, we introduce you to the field — whether socioeconomically Taking Stock Revolutionizing the Creation of Assistive or geographically — before they even Devices — using 3-D printing to create get to college. Through community more affordable, accessible artificial limbs partnerships, and summer and school for those who need them. programs (including the Carnegie ’ll celebrate my third anniversary I firmly believe that those of us One challenge all CS programs face is Mellon summer SAMS program, which as dean of the School of in positions in advanced technology diversity, and it’s been a huge, multidecade is introducing a computer science track Computer Science in August, organizations have an obligation to initiative in SCS to create an environment this year, and our partnership with the which I can barely believe. create technology that improves people's where no one would ever think of SCS Microsoft TEALS program), we hope to Wasn’t it yesterday when they lives, and our work in SCS over the past as a one-gender club. The class of 2020, identify and support students who have introduced me as the new dean? few years supports that vision. In this who just finished its first year with us, incredible CS potential, but may lack the At the same time, though, so issue of The Link alone, you’ll learn was nearly half women, and the class precollege resources to help them reach much has been going on that I’m not sure about how we’re amassing our artificial of 2021 boasts 49 percent women as that potential. how it’s only been three years. If you intelligence resources on campus to create well. We hardly consider our efforts to Using AI for good. Changing the Iremember, in the fall of 2014 you all an initiative that will ensure we use AI achieve gender parity complete, though. world through collaborative, risk-taking helped me out hugely in my onboarding for good. You’ll read it in a Q&A, but you To augment the work of organizations research. Striving for gender parity, “sponge” period, and then we wrote down can also read about how AI helps improve like SCS4All and Women@SCS, we now uncovering and dealing with bias, the things we needed to work on. Since our infrastructure and allows us to solve offer voluntary training for faculty and expanding CS to people underrepresented I’m more than halfway through my term, problems even when we don’t have all staff on recognizing and dealing with the in the field. Maybe it doesn’t seem like now seems like an appropriate time to the information we think we need. unconscious bias we all carry with us. much, but it keeps me running day in take stock. During that sponge period I talked This BiasBusters program is something and day out. Sometimes it even keeps By the way, I don’t say “we” accidentally. about, faculty members repeatedly told I’m incredibly excited about, and is me up at night. But I know that since I’m It’s not a typo. Everything we do in SCS me that SCS lacks the big, collaborative, featured in this issue. surrounded by the smartest people on the and all of our successes result from the world-changing research projects that in But all is not well here. The world of planet, changing the world for the better incredible faculty, staff and students I the past resulted in breakthroughs like computer science education also lacks won’t be nearly as hard as it seems. have the privilege to work with every day. the Andrew wired and wireless networks. economic diversity and the participation Now let’s get down to business. While times have changed and the sort of of underrepresented minorities. I don’t funding that enabled those big projects think this is acceptable. We are SCS and can be more difficult to find now, we’ve we need to lead the rest of the world here, Andrew W. Moore started an SCS Moonshots initiative that just as we are doing in so many other Dean, School of Computer Science highlights projects we think will have dimensions. One step we’ve taken in the the most wide-ranging implications for right direction is establishing the Hopper- humanity. These projects receive the Dean Computer Science Participation financial support and resources necessary Fund. Through the generosity of Heidi for the risk-taking, all-hands approach Hopper and Jeff Dean, the fund will we’re known for at CMU. You read about support our efforts to reach out to 4 THE LINK SUMMER 2017 5 AI FOR GOOD, AI FOR EDUCATION You might have noticed that SCS is making a full-court press on artificial intelligence these days. With the launch of CMU AI — a new initiative that marshals our AI work across departments and disciplines — we’ve created one of the largest and most experienced AI research groups in the world. While AI research is important, we also know that the future of the field rests largely in the hands of students who haven’t even reached college yet. As part of CMU AI, we’re vigorously expanding our outreach efforts in programs that introduce HOW TO PREPARE these elementary and high school students to AI topics and encourage their computer science curiosity. THE NEXT “We’re teaching and engaging with those who will improve lives through technology, and GENERATION who have taken responsibility for what happens in the rest of the century,” SCS Dean Andrew Moore said. “Exposing these hugely FOR JOBS IN talented human beings to the best AI resources and researchers is imperative for creating the THE AI ECONOMY technologies that will advance mankind.” At right is a reprint of a letter David Kosbie, Andrew W. Moore and Mark Stehlik Moore, Associate Teaching Professor Originally appeared in the June 2017 Harvard Business Review. David Kosbie and Assistant Dean for Outreach Mark Stehlik wrote for Reprinted with permission. Copyright 2017 by Harvard Business Publishing; all rights reserved. the Harvard Business Review on how we can train the next generation of computer scientists.