3.0 spring/summer 2008 A November to Remember Calendar of Events All events to be held at the Carnegie Mellon University campus in Pittsburgh unless otherwise noted. news from the school of computer science at carnegie mellon university April 9 June 24-27 The Link provides a mosaic of the School of Robot Hall of Fame CS4HS: Weekend workshop for high Computer Science: presenting issues, analyzing 2008 Inductions school computer science teachers > Carnegie Science Center, Pittsburgh > Throughout campus problems, offering occasional answers, giving exposure to faculty, students, researchers, staff and April 10 interdisciplinary partners. The Link strives to June 28 encourage better understanding of, and involve- Katayanagi Prize Lectures SCS/ECE Alumni Luncheon Research Excellence: Christos Papadimitriou, UCBerkeley > Museum of Science, Boston ment in, the computer science community. Emerging Leadership: Erik Demaine, MIT Editor-in-Chief > Wean Hall, 7500 Randal E. Bryant July 4 SCS/ECE Alumni Fourth of July Managing Editor/Writer May 18 Dinner Cruise and Fireworks Joanna Steward SCS Breakfast > Town Lake, Austin, Texas Contributing Writers > Perlis Atrium Tina Carr, Byron Spice, Anne Watzman July 18 Photography Carnegie Mellon Commencement SCS/ECE Alumni Picnic Ken Andreyo, James Bell, Glenn Brookes, > Geisling Stadium > Rengstorff House, Tartan Racing, Brian Staszel, Adam Weintraub Mountain View, California Design Adaptation SCS Diploma Ceremony Photography & Graphic Services > Carnegie Music Hall, Pittsburgh July 26 SCS/ECE Alumni Picnic Office of the Dean May 24-27 > Lincoln Park, Seattle 4305 Newell-Simon Hall RoboCup Carnegie Mellon University > Carnegie Science Center, Pittsburgh 5000 Forbes Avenue August 2 Pittsburgh PA 15213 SCS/ECE Alumni Brunch Randal E. Bryant, dean June 6-8 > Tavern on the Green, New York Tina Carr, director of alumni relations Volunteer Forum for Alumni Cindy Chemsak, administrative assistant > Throughout campus Byron Spice, co-director of public relations October 24-26 Joanna Steward, publications writer/editor June 21 Homecoming 2008 Anne Watzman, director of public relations Turing Award Presentation > Throughout campus ACM Awards Banquet > San Francisco 412-268-7884 [email protected] Carnegie Mellon University does not discriminate and Carnegie Mellon University is required not to discriminate in admission, employment, or administration of its programs or activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex or handicap in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 or other federal, state, or local laws or executive orders. 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Contents ) From the Dean / Boss Wins Urban Grand Challenge * Creating the Revisit Tartan Racing’s historic achievement New SCS Complex in the California desert. An update on the construction of the newest buildings on campus. + On Campus Personal robots, the Cascades algorithm and CMU lectures () Universal Digital online. Library & the . In the Loop Million Book Spend a few moments with Mary Shaw, the Alan J. Perlis professor Project of computer science. The one that started it all. (+SCS Alumni Relations (,Alumni Snapshots (-SCS in the News Cover Image: Boss crosses the finish line at the DARPA Urban Grand Challenge in Victorville, California. From the Dean I continue to be amazed by the pace of activities and achievements by members of the Carnegie Mellon University School of Computer Science. So much has happened and so many of our faculty have been honored for their achievements over this past academic year that it’s diffi cult to know where to begin. Fall highlights include the launch of the GigaPan robotic camera and software, fi eld testing of the “Anti-phishing Phil” online teaching game, and, of course, the winning performance by Tartan Racing’s Boss in the DARPA Urban Grand Challenge. The top vehicles in this competition were all quite impressive and if it weren’t for the empty driver seats, one could easily believe they were being driven by humans. When Boss didn’t leave the starting line in the pole position it had earned, a sinking feeling came over those of us watching from the sidelines. Hats off to the Tartan team for quickly identifying the source of the sen- sor interference problem and getting Boss out on the course. A special thanks also goes out to our corporate sponsors for their support. Each of them brought unique strengths to the endeavor—strengths such as Continental’s puncture-sealing run-fl at tires, which likely saved Boss from a disastrous fl at tire (at the end of the race, the team discovered a screw still embedded in one of the tires). Turn to page eight to read more about Tartan Racing and Boss’s tremendous achievement. Over the winter months of 2007-08, SCS computer scientists published pioneering research results on two algorithms, one used to identify specifi c brain activity in MRI images and another that helped discover the genes that control human cell division, and the Hillman Foundation made a generous gift towards the construction of the new SCS research building. It is an honor and privilege to have such a prominent Pittsburgh name associated with our new complex. During the spring season, the general public enjoyed a “hands-on” demonstration of a haptic interface using magnetic levitation, the Robot Hall of Fame inducted its fourth class of both fi ctional and functional robots, and the Universal Digital Library portal opened its virtual doors with over 1.2 million books (see the story on page 12). The most exciting development of the academic year, however, may have been the announcement of Ed Clarke winning the Turing Award. He and two other researchers were recognized for their pioneering work on model checking, an automated method for fi nding subtle design errors in both computer hardware and software. Summer is now in full swing. The plethora of internships, sabbaticals and other collaborations that this time of year affords will further strengthen the SCS community and serve us well for the coming year. > Randal E. Bryant, dean 2 > THE LINK Creating the New SCS Complex The second building in the new SCS Complex now has a name, thanks to a generous $10 million gift from the Henry L. Hillman Foundation. “This magnificent gift exemplifies Henry Hillman’s personal and lifelong interest in science and technology,” said Carnegie Mellon President Jared L. Cohon. “Some of the most important and “ Research and technology developed at forward-looking research at the university—and in the world—is Carnegie Mellon that at one time seemed going to take place in this building.” like science fiction have created essential The Hillman Center for Future-Generation Technologies will everyday tools for business, medicine and face Forbes Avenue and serve as the main entrance to the School of Computer Science. It will be a place where research groups working countless other applications that we now on some of the field’s most challenging projects can collaborate almost take for granted. Our hope is that in state-of-the-art flexible lab spaces and where the SCS commun- the Center for Future-Generation Technolo- ity can come together in the 250-seat Rashid Auditorium. The gies will seed new efforts to continue building will be connected on all four levels to the Gates Center for Computer Science, the other half of the new SCS Complex. and accelerate this cycle of innovation The footers for the Hillman Center have been poured and the and progress.” foundation should be complete soon. The complex is scheduled to —Henry Hillman open in the summer of 2009. Visit SCScomplex.blog.cs.cmu.edu to view the live Web cam or click on the daily movies link to watch a time-lapse recap of the entire day’s progress. The two buildings of the SCS Complex, the Hillman Center for Future-Generation Technologies (left) and the Gates Center for Computer Science, will be surrounded by a pedestrian-friendly, natural landscape. K?<C@EB < 3 On Campus Psst! Want a Robot? No problem. TeRK’s got the recipes to get you started.