Mentions

2024

December

Koopman receives Industry Legend Award

ECE’s Phil Koopman received the Industry Legend Award at Cars of the Future’s 2024 Self-Driving Industry Awards. The ceremony celebrated excellence in automated mobility in the UK and internationally.

Zhao quoted on robot dogs
bullitin

MechE’s Ding Zhao was quoted in bullitin about how robot dogs are more likely to be used than humanoid robots because of their versatility and affordability. “For many applications, they represent the most practical and scalable robotic form,” said Zhao.

Fakhreddine named rising star in engineering and science
American Academy of Environmental Engineers & Scientists

CEE’s Sarah Fakhreddine was named one of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists 40 under 40 Rising Stars in Engineering and Science. Fakhreddine’s research focuses on solving water quality and quantity issues.

Nock named a 2024 Science Defender
Union of Concerned Scientists

CEE/EPP’s Destenie Nock was named a 2024 Science Defender by the Union of Concerned Scientists. The title is bestowed annually on “individuals and groups who use science to improve the world and help people, including those who have taken a stand to protect science and scientists from political or other interference.” Nock was selected for her ongoing work in affordable energy and energy justice as both a researcher and a startup founder.

Grover and Weber awarded research funding to study female pain
Pitt CTSI

ECE’s Pulkit Grover and MechE’s Doug Weber won $50,000 for research from a contest by Pitt CTSI, Magee Women’s Research Institute, and the Magee-Womens Summit. The Women’s Pain research challenge offers three $50,000 awards to be used for researching pain primarily experienced by women.

Samaras quoted on Washington State’s Climate Commitment Act
NPR

Scott Institute Director Costa Samaras spoke to NPR about Washington State’s Climate Commitment Act. “A law like Washington State’s law gives a model, gives results, and gives quantifiable benefits to say to other states and other institutions that are thinking about this that it both works and that voters approve of it,” said Samaras.

Zhang receives 2025 ASME Van C. Mow Medal
ASME

MechE’s Jessica Zhang was recently selected to receive the 2025 ASME Van C. Mow Medal, which is bestowed upon an individual who has demonstrated meritorious contributions to the field of bioengineering through research, education, professional development, leadership in the development of the profession, mentorship to young bioengineers, and with service to the bioengineering community. Zhang was selected “for pioneering contributions to developing novel algorithms of image-based geometric modeling, isogeometric analysis, multiphysics and data-driven modeling to simulate neuron material transport, traffic regulation and growth, cardiovascular systems, as well as leadership in the computational bioengineering profession.”

Gomes quoted on ChatGPT
Nature

ChemE’s Gabe Gomes was quoted in Nature about how large language models like ChatGPT can help overcome language barriers in scientific writing. “It democratizes writing and it helps folks that have English as a second language,” said Gomes.

Zhang awarded AWM-SIAM Sonia Kovalevsky Lecture Prize
AWM and SIAM

MechE’s Jessica Zhang was recently awarded the prestigious 2025 AWM-SIAM Sonia Kovalevsky Lecture Prize, which is awarded annually by the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) and SIAM to highlight significant contributions of women to applied or computational mathematics. The lecture is normally given at the SIAM Annual Meeting. The citation from the award selection committee notes, “Dr. Yongjie Jessica Zhang is a distinguished scholar renowned for her pioneering work in computational geometry and finite element methods, with profound impacts across biomedical and engineering applications. As a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, she has advanced meshing techniques that enable precise simulations in complex domains that appear in medical imaging and biological modeling. Dr. Zhang’s innovative research on isogeometric analysis has set new standards in numerical accuracy and computational efficiency. Her numerous publications, leadership roles, and accolades, including her status as a fellow of several scientific societies, underscore her dedication to advancing the field and inspiring the next generation of computational scientists.”

Marom uses machine learning for semiconductor research
Mellon College of Science

MSE’s Noa Marom used machine learning to identify potential crystallizable organic semiconductor materials. Using machine learning allowed her to narrow the pool of candidates from several hundred thousand to 44.

CMU researchers land grant funds for exosome research
Charles E. Kaufman Foundation

BME’s Phil Campbell and Charlie Ren will be co-investigators on a recently announced grant from the Charles E. Kaufman Foundation. The Foundation recently announced $2 million in grants for faculty at Pennsylvania institutions conducting innovative, fundamental scientific research in the fields of biology, chemistry, and physics. Campell and Ren will collaborate with Mellon College of Science’s Luisa Hiller, who will lead of the funded projects. The group’s research seeks to understand the immune consequences of the uptake of extracellular vesicles from the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae by mammalian cells.

Niepa honored as Rising Star of Mechanical Engineering

ChemE/BME’s Tagbo Niepa received a Rising Star of Mechanical Engineering award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). The award honors early-career researchers recognized through prestigious awards such as NSF CAREER, ONR YIP, AFOSR YIP, DARPA YFA, and NIH New Innovator Awards. Niepa has received the NSF CAREER award and the NIH New Innovator Award to support unconventional approaches to major challenges in biomedical and behavioral research.

November

Gomes quoted on large language models
Chemistry World

ChemE’s Gabe Gomes spoke to Chemistry World about the potential of using large language models instead of humans to answer chemistry questions. “This is incredibly well thought out and well-done work,” said Gomes. “I believe strongly that the way forward for making the models more powerful and capable is by having proper reasoning in them. But if we cannot measure that, we will keep seeing mirages that they seem to be improving when they are not.”

Qian quoted on New York congestion pricing
Smart Cities Dive

CEE’s Sean Qian was quoted in Smart Cities Dive about how New York City congestion pricing could disproportionately affect different groups based on their access to public transportation. “Certain groups will feel the impact of [congestion pricing] more than others, raising considerable equity concerns,” said Qian. “It may be worthwhile to explore ways to equitably allocate [congestion pricing] revenue to support various communities,” he said.

Chase featured in PNAS Journal Club
PNAS

Research from BME’s Steve Chase was recently highlighted in PNAS Journal Club. Chase and his Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition colleagues are exploring why people “choke” under pressure and what exactly happens in the brain when they do.

Whitefoot quoted on EV metrics
Fast Company

EPP/MechE’s Kate Whitefoot was quoted in Fast Company about why EV manufacturers emphasize certain metrics like range in their advertising. “If you can advertise that EVs do have longer range, like up to 300 miles, then consumers are much more willing to purchase EVs and value them equally to gasoline vehicles,” said Whitefoot.

Michalek quoted on rideshare economics
Marketplace

EPP/MechE’s Jeremy Michalek spoke on Marketplace about how commuters are increasingly using rideshare instead of owning a car. “Because people work hybrid, work from home some of the days of the week, that changes the economics,” said Michalek.

Tang quoted on how AI can improve flight schedules
Fast Company

CEE’s Pingbo Tang was quoted in Fast Company about Odysee, a new AI tool used to optimize efficiency and revenue when creating flight schedules. “This is a very reasonable solution for Alaska Airlines,” said Tang.

Koopman discusses Tesla Cybercab
Business Insider

ECE’s Phil Koopman spoke to Business Insider about how Tesla will need to gain permission from the federal government to sell its Cybercab. Shortly after, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced it will probe the ability of Tesla’s software engineering controls to detect and respond appropriately to reduced visibility conditions.

Allen named to Women of Excellence Awards Class of 2024
New Business Courier

Alaine Allen, associate dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the College of Engineering, was named to the New Pittsburgh Courier’s Women of Excellence Awards Class of 2024. This award recognizes women who inspire others through their vision and leadership, exceptional achievements, and participation in community service. An awards celebration is planned for December 12, at the Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh Downtown Hotel.

Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. student receives $49k grant award
National Institutes of Health

BME’s Dhruv Bhattaram, a second-year Ph.D. student, received $49k from the National Institutes of Health to advance his research, which centers around the development and application of lung epithelial organoids called apical-out airway organoids (AoAOs). Bhattaram has been part of BME’s Charlie Ren’s Engineered Morphogenesis Group since spring 2023. As principal investigator on the NIH project, he will partner with ChemE’s Coty Jen, MechE’s Amir Barati Farimani, and University of Pittsburgh’s Kong Chen to present AoAOs as a next-generation theragnostic platform targeted towards airway health and cilia pathophysiology.

Test bed builds up robotics research at Carnegie Mellon
Modern Machine Shop

Manufacturing Futures Institute researchers use a robotic test bed where AMRs deliver Lego bricks to robot arms for assembly to study AI, multirobot collaboration, assembly, safety, and more.

October

Samaras quoted on nuclear energy
floodlight

Scott Institute Director Costa Samaras was quoted by floodlight about increased interest in nuclear energy as domestic electricity needs increase. “There’s never been more activity and excitement for advanced nuclear in the United States,” Samaras says.

Samaras quoted on how electric vehicles can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions
The Public's Radio

Scott Institute Director Costa Samaras spoke on The Public’s Radio about the importance of transitioning to electric vehicles to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “The transportation sector, how we move around, how we get our things delivered, is the largest portion of US greenhouse gas emissions right now,” Samaras explained.

Samaras quoted on greenhouse gas emissions
Scientific American

Scott Institute Director Costa Samaras spoke to Scientific American about how Kamala Harris’ proposed policy to incentivize building affordable housing could reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “There’s a lot of the greenhouse gas emissions in the economy that are wrapped up in where people live,” Samaras says.

Samaras presents on the future of clean energy
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Scott Institute Director Costa Samaras visited the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace to engage on questions about new energy technologies and the decarbonization of industry in the United States in a session called Leaping Ahead: U.S. Innovation and the Future of Clean Energy.

Karplus quoted on nuclear energy for AI
The Hill

EPP’s Valerie Karplus was quoted by The Hill on major technology companies using nuclear energy in order to power their AI systems while being conscious of the environment. “Nuclear energy is really emerging back on the scene in a big way and in part because we’re now talking about a world where we’re going to see load growth, and we haven’t seen that in over a decade, about two decades actually,” explains Karplus.

Bockstaller quoted on flame retardants
Live Science

MSE’s Michael Bockstaller spoke with Live Science regarding a recent study that detected high levels of flame retardants in some toys, kitchen utensils, and other household items made from recycled black plastic. Bockstaller noted, “The impact of these materials depends on the type of chemical, concentration, type of exposure, and individual circumstance.”

Krause awarded Robert L. Coble Award
American Ceramics Society

MSE’s Amanda Krause was awarded the Robert L. Coble Award for Young Scholars by the American Ceramics Society. The award recognizes an outstanding scientist who is conducting research in academia, in industry or at a government-funded laboratory.

CMU-Africa students develop spaceborne AI algorithm
Space in Africa

CMU-Africa students participated in a collaborative project, STAR.VISION, as reported by Space in Africa. Under the mentorship of Rwanda Space Agency (RSA) engineers, students developed algorithms for the project’s inaugural AI Algorithm Rideshare Programme 1.0.

Samaras discusses drone deliveries
NBC News

Scott Institute Director Costa Samaras spoke with NBC News about the advancement in drone delivery technology. “I think after what has been about a decade of a slow start, drone delivery seems to be accelerating both in its technological capabilities as well as the policy and regulatory environment in the United States,” Samaras says.

Michalek discusses ride-hailing discrimination
Associated Press

EPP/MechE’s Jeremy Michalek spoke with the Associated Press about racial discrimination in ride-hailing technology. “The technology is mitigating a social issue, which is pretty rare,” Michalek explains. “Discrimination is having little effect on average wait times, at least in part because these apps are able to quickly rematch when somebody cancels. Whereas with taxis, it was a very hard problem to solve.”

Samaras quoted on nuclear power
Yahoo! News

Scott Institute Director Costa Samaras was quoted by Yahoo! News about nuclear power being a source of electricity for the U.S. “There’s never been more activity and excitement for advanced nuclear in the United States,” Samaras explains.

Karplus quoted on the uncertainties and potentials of green hydrogen
Axios

EPP’s Valerie Karplus was quoted in Axios on “green hydrogen,” which refers to hydrogen that is created by splitting water molecules with renewable electricity rather than the more usual way of heating carbon dioxide. A new Harvard study has cast some doubt on green hydrogen’s viability due to its cost to distribute and manufacture. However, the study doesn’t discredit green hydrogen as an idea. Karplus noted, “If we look longer term, the potential for both technological innovation and clever business models to bring down some of those costs is enormous.”

Kurchin receives Simons Foundation award
Materials Science and Engineering

MSE’s Rachel Kurchin received the Scientific Software Research Faculty Award from the Simons Foundation’s Mathematics and Physical Sciences division. “This award is exciting for me, both personally and professionally, as it shows that funders are beginning to recognize the importance of sustained work on building and maintaining scientific software,” Kurchin explains.

Chase team discovers why people choke under pressure in high-stakes situations
Scientific American

BME’s Steve Chase and a team of collaborators from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh, studied what happens in people’s brains as they “choke” in high-stakes situations. By investigating the brain activity of rhesus macaques while the monkeys completed certain tasks, the researchers isolated a certain population of neurons in the monkeys’ motor cortices. These neurons’ activity decreased when the researchers presented the monkeys with rare opportunities to win a large reward, which resulted in the monkeys failing to succeed. This work was also covered in New Atlas, where Chase said, “Now that we understand a little bit about how the brain is failing under these high reward situations, we want to try and correct it. One way to do this would be to design techniques that leverage our combined brain-computer interface (BCI) experience to encourage the brain not to do those things and ultimately, rescue the behavior.”

Koopman weighs in on the viability of robotaxis as a sustainable business model
Yahoo!Finance

ECE’s Phil Koopman recommends caution for investors excited about robotaxis expanding their scope into new cities. Waymo, a subsidiary of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, recently partnered with Uber to offer driverless taxi rides in Atlanta and Austin, which will begin early next year. Koopman notes, “The question is what kind of growing pains they'll have as they start operating in new cities.” He also expects that, while these companies are confident that the technology is safe, there will be “more surprises,” saying, “the reality is nobody knows how this will turn out.”

Jayan discusses solid-state batteries
MSN

MechE’s Reeja Jayan spoke with MSN about the potential of solid-state batteries being used in electric vehicles. “Cons currently include higher manufacturing costs associated with the way the solid electrolyte is made and pressurized into the cells,” Jayan explains.

Carley discusses how misinformation can spread
Associated Press

CyLab’s Kathleen Carley was quoted by the Associated Press about the dangers of misinformation, particularly pertaining to false claims of election fraud and how that may impact overseas voters. “Laying the groundwork for a conspiracy theory means that you need to weave many claims together,” Carley explained. “In that sense, this story about UOCAVA lays the groundwork for, and would help substantiate, a conspiracy theory around Democrats stealing the election.”

Spotte-Smith quoted on AI ethics
Nature

ChemE’s Evan Spotte-Smith spoke with Nature regarding the ethics of AI, specifically pertaining to intellectual property. “Removing peoples’ names from their work can be really damaging, especially for early-career scientists or people working in places in the global south,” Spotte-Smith explained.

Donahue discusses chemical detectors in regards to 2023 train derailment
Associated Press

ChemE and EPP’s Neil Donahue spoke with the Associated Press about last year’s East Palestine train derailment in Ohio. He discussed how it is customary to report chemical levels that exceed chemical detectors and their reliability.  

Samaras and Chester quoted climate change challenging public infrastructure limits
ASCE Civil Engineering Source

CEE’s Costa Samaras, along with CEE undergraduate alumnus Mikhail Chester, were quoted in an article by the American Society of Civil Engineers on the effects of rising temperatures on civil infrastructure. Engineers will have to determine how to strengthen current infrastructure, such as road networks, electricity systems, coastal levees, and more, to deal with environmental systems they were not originally designed to withstand, or else determine if compensating those affected would be more worth it than undertaking massive projects. Regardless, engineers must act as conditions worsen even in cooler locations. “You start adding all of this up, and you’re losing 5%-10% or more of the amount of electricity you thought you were going to have – all on a day when people need it to be safe from extreme heat,” Samaras said.

CMU hosts high schoolers for National Manufacturing Day
Several Outlets

The Manufacturing Futures Institute hosted more than 100 high school students in honor of National Manufacturing Day, as reported by CBS News, PittsburghInno, and WESA. Throughout the day, students participated in a number of hands-on robotic activities.

September

CMU startup tapped to help plan the electric grid of the future
Electrical and Computer Engineering

ECE Head Larry Pileggi’s startup, Pearl Street Technologies, was recently named Startup of the Year by MerCom Capital Group at RE+. Pearl Street Technologies, co-founded by Pileggi, will help Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) speed up interconnection studies.

Koopman weighs in on the safety of autonomous vehicles
TheNationalDesk.com

ECE’s Phil Koopman spoke of his skepticism in robotaxi company Waymo’s assertion that 85% fewer car crashes have been reported in areas where autonomous vehicles are present than in areas where they are not. “Most of those 70 million miles had a safety driver. So, if something goes wrong, there was a person to stop the bad thing from happening. The number of miles without a safety driver to intervene is much less…[The vehicle] has no intelligence. It doesn’t think like a person. It just is trained. And when it hits something it hasn’t been trained on, it just guesses. And sometimes it’s right, sometimes it’s wrong.”

Koopman discusses the road-readiness and safety of Tesla’s autonomous vehicle capabilities
AP

ECE’s Phil Koopman spoke with AP about questions and doubts surrounding how prepared Tesla’s autonomous vehicles are to deal with real-world situations. The vehicles are equipped with AI-assisted “Full Self-Driving” software to control the car, while passengers are meant to supervise the vehicle’s performance. Tesla CEO Elon Musk says that “Full Self-Driving” vehicles will operate more safely that human drivers by the end of this year or next year, but some experts are still not convinced; Koopman believes it will take years for the technology to become that advanced. “Machine learning has no common sense and learns narrowly from a huge number of examples,” he said. “If the computer driver gets into a situation it has not been taught about, it is prone to crashing.”

Koopman speaks about the future for autonomous vehicles
The New York Times

ECE’s Phil Koopman spoke with The New York Times about how Alphabet’s robot taxi service Waymo has been expanding, and what the future may hold in store for it. He said that even though Waymo currently has the trust of the public in places where it operates, such as in San Francisco and Phoenix, that trust is not guaranteed, especially when it comes to safety: “Waymo has not had the big crash yet,” he said. “I don’t know if they will have a big, embarrassing, problematic crash, and based upon the data, they don’t know, either.”

Lightman meets with regional leaders about safety in healthcare
PGH Biz Times

Metro21’s Karen Lightman attended a gathering of researchers, healthcare workers, entrepreneurs, and government leaders from southwestern Pennsylvania to discuss ways to improve safety in healthcare. One of the themes the meeting was making sure that data are available that are accurate and comprehensive in order to improve transparency around safety. “Data can play a really important role, where using AI to move the data that without bias can shine a light where it’s been dark,” she said. “That transparency is really critical because that will hold people accountable.”

Niepa comments on synthetic polymer that mimics barnacles
Chemical & Engineering News

ChemE’s Tagbo Niepa was quoted by Chemical & Engineering News about a recent study that developed a synthetic polymer that can mimic the ways in which barnacles clean surfaces. Niepa explained the potential benefits this development could provide, explaining, “you can think about a way of cleaning a catheter, for instance, that is fully infected with bacteria.”

Zhang delivers two keynotes in Eurpoe

MechE’s Jessica Zhang recently delivered keynote lectures in two workshops in Europe. She presented her latest research, “Generative Manufacturing: AI + IGA, Digital Twins and Reduced Order Modeling for Applications in Additive Manufacturing" in “MAThematical CHallenges to and from new technologiES (MATCHES),” in Rome, Italy on September 5-6, 2024. She also talked about “Investigating Neurodevelopmental Disorders Using Innovative IGA, Dynamic Domain Expansion, Local Refinement and Deep Learning” in “Finite Elements for Cell and Tissue Morphogenesis” in Fréjus (French Riviera), France on September 9-13, 2024.

Apt discusses smart meters in Pennsylvania
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

EPP’s Jay Apt was quoted by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about the new smart meters replacing old parking meters in Pennsylvania. “People used to have to go out and look for streetlights that are out or other indications, but now it has greatly decreased the time it takes to restore power,” he said.

Brumley discusses social security number breach and cybersecurity
Time

ECE’s David Brumley spoke with Time about the hack in April that resulted in SSN data from the NPD being leaked. “We are not talking about a startup here,” Brumley said. “Looking forward, we have to have higher standards for the custodians of our data.”

Webster-Wood quoted on a new mushroom based biohybrid robot
CNN

MechE’s Vickie Webster-Wood was quoted by CNN about a new robot developed by researchers at Cornell University that uses a mushroom’s mycelium in its hardware, allowing the robot to respond to the environment. In regards to fungi, Webster-Wood says, “If they are more robust to environmental conditions this could make them an excellent candidate for biohybrid robots for applications in agriculture and marine monitoring or exploration.”

Combemale discusses study on EV powertrains
The Guardian

EPP’s Christophe Combemale spoke with the Guardian about his study investigating the labor time of EV powertrain production processes and the impact that might have on the upcoming election. “We can say very strongly at the moment the evidence suggests it takes as many or perhaps more labor hours to produce [an EV powertrain],” Combemale explains.

Gomes work featured in The New Yorker
The New Yorker

ChemE’s Gabe Gomes’ work with large language model Coscientist was mentioned in a The New Yorker story about how scientists discover and develop new medicines to combat antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria, along with how these scientists integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into this process.

Tucker discusses deepfakes
Medium

CMU-Africa DIrector Conrad Tucker spoke with Medium about his work and strategies for the public to protect themselves against deepfakes and disinformation. “Policies need to be established to protect users so that they can be confident that the content they are consuming can be trusted,” Tucker says.

Congratulations to our Andy Award Nominees
Carnegie Mellon University

Congratulations to the following College of Engineering Andy Award Nominees. Cheer them on at the event on Tuesday, October 15 in McConomy Auditorium.

Commitment to Excellence: Rookie

• Amber Dworek (INI)
• Eric Mrock (MechE)
• Patricia Musiime (CMU-Africa)
• Geena Provenzano (CEE)
• Lauren Smith (College Offices)

Commitment to Excellent: Veteran

• Melissa Brown (MechE)
• Andrea Cohen (College Offices)
• Allison McLachlan (CEE)
• Kristyn Williams (MechE)
• Emma Zink (III)

Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

• Jessica Tomko (ECE)

Commitment to Students

• Jeannette Daly (ECE)
• Mika Inamahoro (CMU-Africa)
• Jennifer Spirer (College Offices)
• Ed Wojciechowski (MechE)

Innovative and Creative Contributions

• Brian Belowich (CEE)
• Monica Submit (CMU-Africa)
• Anthony Talotta (MSE)

Spirit

• Abraham Darriel (CMU-Africa)
• Christa Jones (INI)
• Melissa Ritchie (CEE)

Teamwork and Collaboration (Standing Teams)

• CMU-Africa Student Induction Program: Jacqueline Bangirana, Nancy Biwott, Gikundiro Buki, Nick Carney, Abraham Darriel, Reginald Donkor, Gisele Gihozo, Mika Inamahoro, Rosine Kamahoro, Lucy-Anna Kelly, Sandra Malaika, Ines Manzi, Mugire Flavia Mugwaneza, Irene Munene, Johnson Nziza, Marie-Ange Rukundo, and Monica Sumbi.
• Chemical Engineering Academic Team: Maria Barnes, Heather Costello, Chelsea Lee, Nora Sieworiek

Sioshansi quoted on battery energy
Marketplace

EPP’s Ramteen Sioshansi spoke with Marketplace about using battery energy as an alternative, sustainable source of energy. Sioshansi specifically discussed how batteries currently cannot completely replace fossil fuels. “The handful of hours when the wind and solar is not producing enough, well, we still have gas generators that can basically fill that gap,” he said.

August

Jen interviewed on particle research
Department of Energy

ChemE’s Coty Jen spoke with the Department of Energy about her research on atmospheric nucleation driven by sulfuric acid. Jen specifically covers the recent testing her research team conducted on a device they built that measures the precursor gasses in seed-particle formation. 

Donahue quoted on air purifiers for pets
U.S. News

ChemE and EPP’s Neil Donahue was quoted by U.S. News on the benefits of HEPA air purifiers for pets. “HEPA air filters are extremely effective at removing fine particles. This includes pet dander, viruses like COVID, smoke particles from cooking, and dust of all sorts,” he says.

CMU’s Safety21 leads inaugural Future of Transportation Summit
Carnegie Mellon University

Transportation safety experts from CMU’s Safety21 partnered with the DOT’s University Transportation Centers to lead the inaugural Future of Transportation Summit in Washington, D.C., from August 13th to 15th. CMU faculty showcased their research and innovations to improve transportation safety.

Michalek speaks about autonomous grocery delivery
SupplyChainBrain

MechE/EPP’s Jeremy Michalek spoke about a recent survey on how customers prefer to have their groceries delivered. He found that most customers do not care whether or not their groceries are delivered by an autonomous vehicle, such as a driverless car, a sidewalk robot, or a drone. A sizeable minority are willing to “compromise” if it means that their groceries are delivered quickly. Michalek also spoke about current concerns with autonomous grocery delivery, as it it currently most feasible in urban areas where it may contribute to traffic congestion.

Abbott discusses pros, cons of lab-grown meat
Eating Well

As interest rises in meat alternatives, BME’s Rosalyn Abbott was tapped to discuss the safety, sustainability, and innate challenges associated with the trend. “Future generations will want to know where their meat is coming from and will feel empowered by choosing options that protect animals and our environment,” she said. In her lab, Abbott is co-leading a project to produce meat without sacrificing an animal.

Zhao weighs in on whether AI will be able to act without human oversight
Forbes

MechE’s Ding Zhao spoke with Forbes about the need for humans to oversee AI in higher order AI applications. “For personal entertainment on a small scale, we have likely built a certain level of confidence,” he said. “The key is to clarify liability—who should be responsible for decisions, the user or the machine—the enterprise behind the technologies?"

Fanti and Sowon suggest improving the way governments regulate technology
Atlantic Council

ECE/CyLab’s Giulia Fanti and CyLab’s Karen Sowon were among the co-authors of an article in Atlantic Council suggesting ways in which governments could more effectively regulate new technologies while avoiding setbacks. They detail efforts of governments around the world that have had unintended consequences affecting millions of people, and argue that these consequences may have been avoided had policymakers had approached the problems like products designers do, and balanced security, privacy, and usability.

Zhao demonstrates LocoMan at landslide site
Carnegie Mellon University

The dog-like robot, already known for helping around the house, can climb steep hillsides and use its paws to place sensors on difficult terrain, making landslide monitoring safer for humans.

CMU preparing industry and students for future of AM with AI
Additive Manufacturing Media

Work underway at Carnegie Mellon is helping industrial additive manufacturers achieve success today, while applying artificial intelligence to designing AM alloys, optimizing AM parameters, lowering AM’s skills barrier and addressing a fundamental AM problem—spatter.

Zhao quoted on humanoid robots for retail
PYMNTS

MechE's Ding Zhao was quoted in an article by PYMNTS about the most effective ways to automate industry.

Chase lends insight to Olympic athletes folding under pressure
Washington Post

BME’s Steve Chase weighed in on the phenomenon of choking under pressure in the latest “Brain Matters” column in The Washington Post, drawing from ongoing collaborative research he’s part of with University of Pittsburgh’s Aaron Batista. 

July

Zhang receives IACM Fellows Award
IACM

MechE’s Jessica Zhang received the International Association for Computational Mechanics (IACM) Fellows Award during the the 16th World Congress on Computational Mechanics and 4th Pan American Congress on Computational Mechanics in Vancouver, Canada from July 21-26, 2024. Conferred every two years, the IACM Fellows Award recognizes up to eight individuals with a distinguished record of research accomplishment and publication in areas of computational mechanics and demonstrated support of the IACM through membership and participation in the Association, its meetings, and activities.

McComb investigates potential application of Large Language Models in material selection
Autodesk

MechE’s Christopher McComb recently investigated the potential application of Large Language Models (LLMs) in material selection. His paper analyzes the responses obtained by prompting several LLMs to rate the appropriateness of various materials in certain design scenarios. McComb’s team found that, compared to ratings by human experts, the LLMs tended to overestimate the appropriateness of most materials, with less variance across different scenarios. The paper underscores current challenges in the direct application of LLMs for highly nuanced tasks, while highlighting specific areas of improvement and demonstrating the potential ability of LLMs to provide accurate assistance in material selection.

Abbott mentioned in biomedical engineering career piece
Healthcare Degree

BME’s Rosalyn Abbott was consulted as a subject matter expert for Healthcare Degree's spotlight on careers in biomedical engineering. Asked if there was something she wished the general public understood about the field, she responded, “Biomedical engineering is a unique field where engineers from many different disciplines come together to solve health-related problems. In the same field, you can have biomedical engineers designing biomaterials to develop better implants, testing the strength of tissues using biomechanics, growing cells to engineer tissues, and working on brain-computer interfaces for improved prosthetics. There’s something for everyone.”

Fanti receives Angel Jordan professorship
Department of Computer and Electrical Engineering

ECE’s Giulia Fanti has been named the new Angel Jordan Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. She researches how to design systems that can cooperate even if there is no trust, such as in privacy in social networks. She is also a co-founder of CyLab-Africa.

Faculty award winners announced

Congratulations to the 2024 faculty award winners who represent six departments across the College of Engineering. The recipients were recognized for their achievements as researchers and educators. The winners include: Benjamin Richard Teare Teaching Award: Jon Peha (EPP); David P. Casasent Outstanding Research Award: Gregory Lowry (CEE); Distinguished Professor of Engineering: Lorenz Biegler (ChemE); George Tallman Ladd Research Award: Amanda Krause (MSE) and Akshitha Sriraman (ECE); Outstanding Mentoring Award: Alan McGaughey (MechE); Outstanding Service Award: Jonathan Malen (MechE); and Steven J. Fenves Award for Systems Research: Carl Laird (ChemE).

Jaramillo weighs in on the rules surrounding hydrogen production
Heatmap

EPP’s Paulina Jaramillo spoke with Heatmap about the Treasury Department’s proposed “three pillars” rules around tax credits for hydrogen production in the U.S. A group of senators cited a CMU analysis, led by Jaramillo, in a letter criticizing the proposed rules for artificially hindering the environmental benefits of green hydrogen. Jaramillo argued that the Treasury should subsidize electrolytic hydrogen regardless of how it’s powered. “We need to deploy this infrastructure,” Jaramillo said. “We need to deploy it now so it’s available later.”

Sioshansi quoted on durability of the national power grid
Marketplace

EPP’s Ramteen Sioshansi was quoted in Marketplace on the durability of the national power grid. Hurricane Beryl recently left hundreds of thousands of Texans without power for multiple days. Experts warn that the country’s decades-old power infrastructure will be more vulnerable to storm damage as global temperatures continue to rise. “At the end of the day, someone has to pay for these types of investments to make electricity supply more reliable,” Sioshansi said. “And so, there’s always this trade-off.”

Seven Engineering faculty awarded grants from Scott Institute
Carnegie Mellon University

Seven faculty from the College of Engineering received funding from this year’s Scott Institute Seed Grants to pursue projects advancing dacarbonization research and energy equity. This year’s winners include: CEE’s Gerald Wang, researching plastics decarbonization; MSE’s Paul Salvador and Mohammad Islam, researching carbon dioxide air capture with aerogels; EPP’s Ramteen Sioshansi and Granger Morgan, researching mitigating electric supply disruptions; ChemE/EPP’s Neil Donahue, upgrading an equipment’s ability to detect particles at low temperatures; and MSE’s Mohadeseh Taheri-Mousavi, repairing an induction furnace melter to study the effects of hydrogen on metal alloys.

Taheri-Mousavi receives Scott Institute Seed Grant
Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation

MSE’s Mohadeseh Taheri-Mousavi was featured by the Scott Institute for research that was awarded one of this year’s Scott Institute Seed Grants. She will study the interactions between hydrogen atoms with high-strength metallic alloys; these interactions are called hydrogen embrittlement and they reduce the service life of the alloys. “This research is important because the production of metals contributes a significant portion of CO₂ emissions, e.g., about 28% of industrial emissions just come from steels and aluminum productions,” said Taheri-Mousavi. “Even if we optimized everything in the production process, we still wouldn’t be able to hit the 2050 CO₂ goal. The only way to achieve this goal is by reducing metal production, and H embrittlement is a hurdle as it is the most critical life limiting factor of high-strength metals.”

Grossmann receives honorary doctorate from Argentina’s Universidad Nacional del Sur
Universidad Nacional del Sur (in Spanish)

ChemE’s Ignacio Grossmann was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Universidad Nacional del Sur in recognition of his 30-plus years of collaboration with that institution. “It is a privilege to receive this title, I am deeply grateful for it but above all for having a close relationship with groups in this country since 1982,” he said. “The reason for the success of this very fruitful relationship in the last 30 years has undoubtedly been the great talent that are the professors, researchers and scholarship holders of the Universidad Nacional del Sur. And not only talent, but also motivation, technical preparation and high scientific quality. It has truly been a huge pleasure for me to work together.” This is his ninth honorary doctorate.

Lucia’s company named a startup to watch
Pittsburgh Business Times

ECE’s Brandon Lucia is the co-founder and CEO of Efficient Computer Corp., which was recently recognized as one of 10 Pittsburgh-area startups to watch in 2024 by Pittsburgh Business Times. They have developed a general-purpose computer processor chip, which is 100 times more energy-efficient than other leading processors. “Efficient’s Fabric architecture enables significantly more energy-efficient chips, bringing computing capabilities to use cases that were previously impossible due to limited energy availability,” Lucia said. “Transforming these use cases with Efficient’s category-defining technology is exciting, but what is even more compelling are the uses that haven’t been imagined yet and are only now becoming possible with the availability of our technology.”

Weber weighs in on first Neuralink clinical trial
Scientific American

MechE’s Doug Weber was asked about brain-computer interfaces and Neuralink’s first human trial. He compared recording neuron activity to trying to record two people talking in a crowded stadium, and on plans to improve the second trial’s performance by implanting it a bit deeper into the brain, said: “It’s a strategy worth testing, assuming it doesn’t change the safety profile.”

Samaras speaks about green infrastructure opportunities in the region
Pittsburgh Business Times

Scott Institute Director Costa Samaras spoke at a PNC Brunch & Learn and Networking Event about opportunities for the region as a result of funding from the Inflation Reduction Act. He expects western Pennsylvania to benefit from the legislation, which uses “carrot” or reward-based incentives to lead to sustainable changes. Samaras expects that “no place in the country” is better poised to benefit, and, speaking about Pittsburgh’s ability to incorporate green infrastructure, said, “Twenty years ago, green buildings were exotic. Now, they’re just commonplace.”

Weber comments on a new paralysis treatment
Axios

MechE’s Doug Weber was asked by Axios to comment on a treatment for spinal cord injuries resulting in arm and hand paralysis. The treatment was developed by a team from the University of Washington, and it has shown in clinical trials that it can improve patients’ ability to move and complete tasks with their hands, which they previously could not do. Weber said, “It is noteworthy that this study tested 60 people, which is a fairly large sample of people having a range of motor deficits due to spinal cord injury.”

Koopman comments on the role of current driver monitoring systems in prevention of road fatalities
Bloomberg

ECE’s Phil Koopman comments on the role of current driver monitoring systems (DMS) in the prevention of road fatalities. Some of these systems include features such as eye trackers and steering wheel sensors to detect signs of impaired driving. However, Koopman explains to Bloomberg that, while the U.S. and the U.K. once had similar road fatality rates, the U.K.’s rate is now less than half of that of the U.S., indicating that technology is neither the sole cause nor the perfect solution for road fatalities.

Carley discusses new tools designed to curb the spread of disinformation online
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

CyLab/EPP’s Kathleen Carley spoke with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about the need to improve detection of inaccurate or misleading content online. In recent years, digital spaces have seen a significant increase in the spread of disinformation and the use of deepfake technology. New detection tools such as Trustnet and MUSE aim to help users spot inaccurate information, but the process still depends on the trustworthiness of intermediate messengers. “There has been an increased use of deepfakes and disinformation in every election this year around the world,” Carley said. “It’s not only a U.S. problem.”

Whitacre featured for entrepreneurial endeavors
NPR

MSE’s Jay Whitacre was featured on “Midwest Moxie” on NPR affiliate WUWM 89.7, as he spoke about his entrepreneurial endeavors, most recently with Stratus Materials.

Akinci quoted on the use of drones for utility inspections
WESA

CEE Head Burcu Akinci was quoted in WESA on the use of robots to conduct utility inspections. Duquesne Light Company’s new Skydio drone, for example, uses high-resolution cameras and thermal sensors to detect signs of damage that would be difficult for humans to catch, making it easier to keep workers safe in the field and prevent power outages before they happen. With drones, “you get this bird’s eye view with data and imagery,” Akinci said. “And data that is very difficult to get in any other way.”

Koopman discusses the safety of robotaxis
Market Watch

ECE’s Phil Koopman was quoted by Market Watch on the safety of robotaxis, specifically mentioning how there is currently not enough data on robotaxis to guarantee public safety. “In the U.S. human drivers might see one fatality per 100 million vehicle miles. Companies who have a small fraction of that number of miles—7.1 million in the latest Waymo study—are nowhere near knowing how fatalities will turn out,” Koopman stated.

Sullivan quoted on household product safety
Daily Mail

MechE’s Ryan Sullivan was quoted in the Daily Mail about the safety of household cleaning products like air fresheners. “To a chemist ‘really clean’ would actually be no scent because the scent is caused by a chemical,” Sullivan first told the Washington Post. “Truly clean means very low levels of chemicals.”

Koopman quoted on AI’s role in autonomous vehicle development
Axios

ECE’s Phil Koopman spoke to Axios about AI’s role in the development of autonomous vehicles. “Learning-based AVs can be taught driving skills more quickly, but the black-box nature of machine learning-based behavior makes it more difficult to validate safety,” Koopman told the outlet.

Whitacre’s start-up reaches notable milestone
Green Car Congress

 The company announced that its LXMO-containing pouch cells surpassed 1,000 full depth-of-discharge cycles while maintaining greater than 80% of their initial capacity, a common goal across the EV battery industry. “The Stratus team looks forward to building upon these strong technical results as we improve, commercialize, and scale production in the coming quarters,” said Whitacre.

June

Lee has been named a Wimmer Faculty Fellow
CMU Eberly Center

CMU-Africa’s Kwan Lee has been named a 2024–2025 Wimmer Faculty Fellow by CMU’s Eberly Center, which helps CMU educators design and implement more effective teaching methods. Lee will be revising his course, “Advanced Academic Skills for Engineers,” to teach through workshops on designing presentations, identifying research gaps, improving writing skills, and more.

Bockstaller speaks about developments in plastics recycling
American Recycler

MSE’s Michael Bockstaller spoke with American Recycler about his lab’s research into improving plastic recycling by addressing complications due to the pastics’ chemistry. “‘Recycling’ as sub-category to the broader theme of ‘sustainable polymer engineering’ has become the topic of national academic center-scale research efforts and focus of industrial efforts,” he said. “My group is pursuing yet another strategy: the development of polymers that can ‘heal’ themselves,” Bockstaller said. “The idea is to design materials that can recover their structure and properties after damage events—thus reducing the amount of material that is discarded due to malfunction.”

Pistorius weighs in on a new, green method of producing steel
Canary Media

MSE’s Chris Pistorius spoke with Canary Media about a new method of preparing iron using electricity rather than with fossil fuels. This method is being developed by Form Energy, which is also trying to develop batteries that store clean energy using similar technology. “[The method is] efficient both from the point of view of energy use and cost,” Pistorius said. But Form Energy may run into challenges when it comes to making their method cheap due to the cost of electricity. “The main electricity consumption is breaking the bonds between iron and oxygen. That’s a fixed baseline that you can’t get below.”

Three MSE faculty win Scott Institute grants
Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation

MSE’s Mohammad Islam, Mohadeseh Taheri-Mousavi, and Paul Salvador have received seed grants from Carnegie Mellon’s Scott Institute for Energy Innovation. These grants support cutting-edge research in sustainable energy solutions, and these faculty members are three of seven university-wide awardees who are together being granted almost $400,000.

Sioshansi speaks about the risks to the electric grid during heat waves
Marketplace

EPP’s Ramteen Sioshansi spoke with Marketplace as electricity demand soars in the summer, and the strain may challenge electric grids, with less-prepared grids possibly even facing a shortage. He said that the challenges facing electric grids are changing as the extreme heat creates more risks to generating electricity. “Thirty years ago, was they were looking at, OK, on occasion, you know, a handful of the generators are going to fail,” but now they’re more likely to be knocked out.

Combemale comments on the effects of tariffs on Chinese-made semiconductors
Marketplace

The Biden administration has set tariffs on semiconductor parts made in China in order to create more semiconductor engineering jobs in the United States, though some experts are doubtful that the tariffs will have that effect. EPP’s Christophe Combemale said that “we don’t actually have a good sense of who’s available” to fill jobs in the currently-tight market, and that the industry should do more work to recruit new workers from places like engineering schools, other industries, and abroad.

Koopman discusses GM’s robotaxi tests in Phoenix
The Associated Press

ECE’s Phil Koopman spoke with the Associated Press about the robotaxi testing by GM’s Cruise autonomous vehicle unit, which will begin in Phoenix, Arizona. These tests had begun in San Francisco, but were suspended after safety concerns and issues. According to Koopman, Phoenix was a good place for Cruise to restart its tests due to wider roads and fewer regulations. “Good for them for being conservative,” he said. “I think that in their position, it’s a smart move.”

Wahby quoted on cryptocurrency companies and technologies pioneered by professors
BNN Bloomberg

ECE’s Riad Wahby spoke with BNN Bloomberg about cryptocurrency technology developed from academics’ research. Two cryptocurrency startups founded by academics have recently received millions of dollars in funding from venture capitalists as interest in “professor coins” increases. These companies, founded by Sreeram Kannan of the University of Washington and David Tse of Stanford University, use technology that utilizes Etherium or Bitcoin’s security infrastructure. Wahby weighed in on the interest, saying this technology, called restaking, is “coming out of research from David and Sreeram. They’ve thought about a lot of these kinds of restaking technologies. I mean, that’s sort of their baby, so it kind of makes sense. And I think more and more of this technology is going to come from research.”

Koopman comments on Tesla’s Autopilot recall
BNN Bloomberg

ECE’s Phil Koopman was quoted in BNN Bloomberg about two probes launched by the National Traffic Safety Administration into several companies creating driverless-car technologies to see how these systems have been performing and if they will need to be more stringently regulated. In the case of Tesla’s driver-assistance system Autopilot, it is “plausible” that the administration will find it unsatisfactory and demand that it is deactivated, says Koopman. “Tesla dug this hole themselves and now they have to deal with it.”

Kurchin discusses research retractions and blame
MIT Technology Review

MSE’s Rachel Kurchin spoke with the MIT Technology Review concerning a number of retractions made by physics journals. Kurchin commented on the question of who should be blamed for the problematic articles that are published.

Koopman discusses Tesla lawsuits and safety concerns
Fast Company

ECE’s Phil Koopman spoke with Fast Company about Tesla’s recent settlement involving a deadly crash involving their autopilot feature. “For a while Tesla was winning all the lawsuits. But given the recent settlement we might see other pressure from pending lawsuits for Tesla and other self-driving or robotaxi companies to up their safety game,” Koopman stated.

Koopman quoted on Tesla safety issues
Daily Mail

ECE’s Phil Koopman was quoted by Daily Mail about an incident in which a Tesla owner nearly drove into a moving train while using Tesla’s Full Self-Driving mode. “People are dying due to misplaced confidence in Tesla Autopilot capabilities. Even simple steps could improve safety,” Koopman said.

Samaras quoted on Colorado’s transportation system
The New York Times

Scott Institute Director Costa Samaras was quoted by the New York Times on Colorado’s decision to cease the expansion of highways in an effort to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. Samaras discussed, “the scale of the challenge to getting a net-zero transportation system,” would be huge taking into consideration both the resources needed and accommodating the day-to-day transportation needs of the general public.

May

Rajkumar comments on the climate benefits of self-driving trucks
Scientific American

ECE’s Raj Rajkumar spoke with Scientific American about how self-driving trucks can be programmed to travel routes that save fuel.

Presto quoted on inequality of air pollution exposure
The Guardian

MechE’s Albert Presto was quoted by the Guardian on how people of color are historically more likely to be exposed to harmful air pollution. “People of color are more likely to be living near an industrial area or highway, and therefore have higher exposure.

Jaramillo comments on the US exporting natural gas
Public Source

EPP’s Paulina Jaramillo spoke with Public Source about how natural gas is not the solution to the climate crisis. Jaramillo claims that “getting rid of coal and reducing all your other fossil fuel combustion,” is what is necessary to effectively decarbonize.

Karplus interviewed on decarbonization and women in STEM
Global Women Asia

EPP’s Valerie Karplus was interviewed by Global Women Asia about her work concerning the intersection of energy innovation and decarbonization. As founder and director of the MIT - Tsinghua China Energy and Climate Project, Karplus’ work has influenced her role as a faculty member at CMU.

Samaras quoted on OSTP’s recent work in reducing carbon emissions
ClimateWire

Scott Institute Director Costa Samaras spoke with ClimateWire about the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and their ongoing efforts in combating climate change. “There was an emphasis at OSTP that we are delivering the speed and scale needed to net-zero emissions.”

Samaras speaks at the Climate Group’s Climate Action Summit 2024
The Climate Group

Scott Institute Director Costa Samaras spoke at the Climate Group’s US Climate Action Summit 2024. From April 22-28, global climate leaders across government, private and public sectors gathered in Washington, D.C. to discuss the current state of our climate challenges and paths forward.

Niyizamwiyitira quoted on AI in the classroom
CNBC Africa

CMU-Africa’s Christine Niyizamwiyitira was quoted by CNBC Africa on the benefits of AI in classroom settings. Along with lessening the workload for teachers, AI could become a valuable resource for students with special needs in Africa.

Sioshansi comments on wildfire prevention power shut offs
Scripps News

EPP’s Ramteen Sioshansi spoke with Scripps News about the potential negative consequences of shutting down power lines which have been the main source of wildfires in recent years. Sioshansi discusses the predicament of people being completely reliant on electricity, while also being in danger of those electrical sources.

Whitefoot quoted on the MPG Illusion in the US
Vox

EPP/MechE’s Kate Whitefoot was quoted in Vox on the EU’s more transparent gas measurements in comparison to the US. The EU’s liters per 100 kilometer driven method being “directly related to energy use and directly related to emissions” providing researchers with more precise data on fuel economy.

Michalek quoted on the pros and cons of electric cars
Living Planet Podcast

EPP/MechE’s Jeremy Michalek was quoted on the Living Planet podcast on how the electricity source that electric cars use can greatly alter their environmental benefits. Michalek compares electric cars using renewable energy sources and electric cars using energy sources from coal-fired power plants.

Khair and Tilton gave invited lectures at the Howard Brenner Memorial Symposium

ChemE’s Aditya Khair and Robert Tilton were invited to speak at the Howard Brenner Memorial Symposium, held May 19–21 at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC. The symposium was held to commemorate 10 years since the passing of Dr. Howard Brenner, a renowned expert on fluid mechanics and former faculty member at CMU’s Department of Chemical Engineering from 1966–1977. Khair spoke about the dynamics of emulsions made of fluids with low electric conductivities, and Tilton spoke about surface tension synergy in mixtures of surfactants. The conference also included a keynote address by National Academy of Engineering President John Anderson, former department head of ChemE and former dean of the College of Engineering at CMU.

Zajdel and Singhani interviewed about amateur radio
WESA

ECE’s Tom Zajdel and Anish Singhani were interviewed on WESA about amateur radio and the CMU amateur radio class that has been taught each spring since 2022. Singhani is a recent graduate and past president of the Carnegie Radio Club.

Abbott lends expertise in discussion of the future of healthcare
Lab Manager

In an extensive Q-and-A piece, BME’s Rosalyn Abbott recently discussed the current landscape of biomaterials research and how it is opening new horizons for personalized and more effective healthcare solutions. “This is an exciting time for biomaterial research as fundamental understandings of biomaterial interactions on the body can drive innovation to develop better biomaterials for diverse applications,” she expressed.

Kurchin selected as MoISSI Faculty Fellow
MoISSI

MSE’s Rachel Kurchin has been selected to participate in the inaugural class of Molecular Sciences Software Institute (MolSSI) Faculty Fellows. MolSSI is a multi-university collaboration designed to serve and enhance the software-development efforts of the field of computational molecular science.

Samaras talks “clean” ammonia as an energy alternative
Scientific American

CEE’s Costa Samaras spoke to Scientific American about ongoing efforts to support the production of “green” ammonia, seen as an alternative energy source with less impact on the carbon footprint. “We’re now on this glide path to net-zero in 25 ½ years,” Samaras told the outlet. “So we need the types of clean manufacturing to deliver the speed and scale of clean equipment, so that we’re realizing the emissions reductions within the time frame that we have.”

Sioshansi ranked on ScholarGPS
ScholarGPS

EPP’s Ramteen Sioshansi ranked #26 in the energy storage specialty on ScholarGPS. Highly Ranked Scholars™ are identified by career productivity levels (number of publications), as well as the quality and impact of their work.

Lisanti listed as an innovative connector for tech in the Pittsburgh region
Technical.ly

CyLab’s Michael Lisanti has been recognized as one of Pittsburgh’s 20 RealList Connectors—people who bring together innovators, educators, and locals to help them make personal and professional connections. Lisanti was recognized for his connections between tech companies and the University in his role as director of partnerships for CyLab.

Gueye comments on the rise in electronic payment fraud in Business Day Nigeria
Business Day Nigeria

CMU-Africa’s Assane Gueye comments on the rise in electronic payment fraud in Business Day Nigeria. Over the past five years, Nigerian bank customers have lost N59.33 billion, showing the desperate need for increased regulations and security measures. “We should be more intentional that these technologies will bring more good and not harm,” Gueye says.

Koopman talks Waymo incident
MSN

ECE’s Phil Koopman, speaking to MSN, commented on a recent incident in which Waymo’s self-driving robotaxi broke traffic laws while navigating through San Francisco. “We’re seeing a lot of loose ends that the technology isn’t quite there,” said Koopman. “The companies are claiming it’s safer, but things like driving the wrong way down the street, as long as there is no crash, they would say don’t count for unsafe.”

Koopman quoted on Tesla recall
Yahoo!Tech

ECE’s Phil Koopman was quoted in Yahoo!Tech about a recent investigation into how Tesla fixed a recall that affected more than two million vehicles equipped with its Autopilot feature. “It’s pretty clear that Tesla tried to do the least possible remedy to see what they could get away with,” Koopman told the outlet.

Muller quoted on the economic and health effects of air quality standard changes
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

EPP’s Nick Muller weighed in on the effects of a change the Environmental Protection Agency recently made determining acceptable standards for air quality. The old standard allowed 12 micrograms of pollutants per cubic meter of air, while the new standard only allows nine micrograms. This means that several areas of Allegheny County that were previously within the standard are now “out of compliance.” Muller said, “Reducing [the standard] makes good economic sense, if we define economic sense to include the health and well-being of the citizens, but also workers, and the ability to attract new young workers who value environmental quality to the area.”

Michalek quoted on Tesla Supercharger adapters
The Atlantic

EPP/MechE’s Jeremy Michalek was quoted on the potential benefits of adapters for Tesla Superchargers. The company’s Superchargers, which charge electric vehicles (EVs) much more quickly than other chargers, are being expanded to be compatible with non-Tesla EVs through the use of adapters. Michalek tells The Atlantic that, if implemented successfully, these adapters could help drivers feel more assured that their EVs could make long road trips, potentially helping to boost EV sales.

Donahue ranked on ScholarGPS
ScholarGPS

ChemE/EPP’s Neil Donahue ranked #20 in the aerosol specialty on ScholarGPS. Highly Ranked Scholars™ are identified by career productivity levels (number of publications), as well as the quality and impact of their work.

BME alumna selected for next simulated Mars journey
NASA

Piyumi Wijesekara, a CMU BME alumna, has been selected by NASA to be one of four participants taking a simulated mission to Mars within a habitat at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Beginning May 10, the team will live and work like astronauts for 45 days and exit the facility on June 24 after they “return” to Earth. Wijesekara earned her M.S. and Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 2017 and 2022. While pursuing her Ph.D., she focused on stem cell and organ engineering, with a particular emphasis on lung engineering, to investigate human respiratory pathophysiology in Charlie Ren’s lab.

Fischhoff remembers late mentor Kahneman
Science

EPP’s Baruch Fischhoff wrote a retrospective for Science on the late Daniel Kahneman, Nobel prize-winning psychologist and author of works including Thinking, Fast and Slow. Kahneman, who was Fischhoff’s graduate advisor along with Amos Tversky, was awarded an honorary degree from CMU in 2012. “The imprint of Danny’s thinking and counsel have been lasting—and made EPP the most natural home in the world,” Fischhoff said.

Celebrating CMU-Africa Week 2024
CMU-Africa

Carnegie Mellon University welcomes College of Engineering students from Kigali to celebrate CMU-Africa Week 2024. The annual event brings together students from both Kigali and Pittsburgh with the aim of building a stronger connection between the two campuses. “Welcoming CMU-Africa students to campus for the exchange program and this annual event is a wonderful experience for not only the visiting students, but the entire Carnegie Mellon community,” says Jennifer Spirer, director of graduate affairs in the College of Engineering.

Samaras discusses climate change
ABC News

Scott Institute Director Costas Samaras discusses climate change with ABC News. As greenhouse gasses accumulate in the earth’s atmosphere, extreme weather events become increasingly common. “Climate change makes things such as extreme heat and extreme storms worse, which can be dangerous to people, especially folks in vulnerable communities,” Samaras said.

Pileggi discusses new interdisciplinary AI-opera course
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

ECE Head Larry Pileggi talks to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about a new interdisciplinary AI-opera course. The class, now in its second semester, is led by Jocelyn Dueck, an assistant professor of collaborative piano, and aims to use AI software to study a brain state called flow. “Our students love when there’s any kind of real world application. And for many of them, the crazier the better,” he says.

April

Dickey researches a new class of metal nanoparticles
Mellon College of Science

MSE Head Elizabeth Dickey is researching a new class of metal nanoparticles. She will obtain high-resolution images of metal nanoclusters and their assemblies, with the aim of developing nanoclusters that contain multiple elements and have a precise atomic count and composition. Dickey is collaborating with Chemistry’s Linda Peteanu and Rongchao Jin, who recently received a New Initiatives research grant from the Charles E. Kaufman Foundation.

Whitefoot quoted on labor involved in electric vehicle production
NBC News

MechE/EPP’s Kate Whitefoot was quoted in NBC News on the amount of labor involved in electric vehicle production. Amid arguments that a nationwide transition to electric vehicles would result in mass job losses, Whitefoot’s recent study found that electric vehicle production would actually lead to an increase in working hours required to manufacture automobiles. The idea that electric vehicles require less labor “has to do with this really simplistic view that if you have fewer parts, you have less labor,” said Whitefoot. “And that is just not the case.”

Koopman quoted on Tesla’s robotaxis
Forbes

ECE’s Phil Koopman was quoted in Forbes on the feasibility of Tesla’s robotaxis. Thus far, Tesla’s robotaxis still require drivers to maintain attention on the road, and if an accident occurs while the self-driving technology is active, the driver will be held responsible. “This is a multi-year problem. Any claim of ‘we are going to solve it right away, even though we clearly haven’t solved it, but in less than 12 months it will be solved and then ready to scale,’ is just not a credible claim by anyone,” said Koopman. “I see no evidence that that is achievable by anyone anytime soon.”

Cranor quoted on “broadband nutrition labels” for internet service
Marketplace

CyLab Director Lorrie Cranor was quoted on the introduction of “broadband nutrition labels” for internet service. The FCC now requires large internet service providers to post a snapshot indicating what users are paying for and what they're getting, mimicking nutrition labels on food products. Cranor notes that users may still struggle to understand these labels. “Don’t just give me numbers, tell me how good is this? If I want to play video games, if I want to stream movies,” Cranor said.

Tucker speaks on Africa’s adoption of AI regulations with Communications of the ACM
Communications of the ACM

CMU-Africa Director Conrad Tucker speaks on Africa’s adoption of AI regulations with Communications of the ACM. With the increasing usage of programs such as ChatGPT, governments all over the world are figuring out how to regulate AI so that users can interact with them safely. Tucker describes the current state of AI there as “quite fragmented,” varying in “different perspectives and policies across African countries.”

Bergés talks battery-powered home appliances
Wall Street Journal

CEE’s Mario Bergés talked to the Wall Street Journal about the potential benefits and drawbacks of battery-powered home appliances. While these appliances would be costly and difficult to standardize, they would provide a way to modulate demand on the electric grid, protecting against severe weather and preventing rolling blackouts. “This future is definitely in view for many of us,” said Bergés. “This is a technology that could provide us with an additional way of making the grid more robust, more amenable to integrating more renewables and to better deal with the shocks that we expect, like higher temperatures and storms.”

New grant weaves a silk-based partnership
NIH

BME’s Charlie Ren and Phil Campbell have received a five-year, $3.5 million Bioengineering Partnerships with Industry (BPI) grant from the NIH, in partnership with David Vorp of the University of Pittsburgh. The group is exploring regenerative medicine applications using “click chemistry,” a chemical process that functions similarly to Velcro®. Relatedly, the group is working together on a Collaborative Sciences Award from the American Heart Association (AHA).

Koopman talks to U.S. News about Tesla’s focus on self-driving robotaxis
U.S. News

ECE’s Phil Koopman talks to U.S. News about Tesla’s focus on self-driving robotaxis. After canceling its plans for a new low-cost car, Tesla will be shifting its efforts to the robotaxis for its unveiling. “Everyone else has found out that what they thought was a two or three-year project turns out to be a 10 or 20-year project. Tesla’s found that out too,” he says.

Carley discusses the rise of “pink slime” websites
Financial Times

CyLab/EPP’s Kathleen Carley discusses the findings of her research on the rise of “pink slime” websites. These sites look similar to legitimate local news outlets, but are heavily tied to a dark network of lobbying groups and political operatives, pushing highly partisan stories on as many platforms as they can reach. Carley recently found that pink slimes have been receiving more and more money ever since the 2022 midterms. “A lot of these sites have had makeovers and look more realistic,” Carley explained to Financial Times. “I think we’ll be seeing a lot more of that moving forward.”

Qian quoted on collapse of Francis Scott Key Bridge
The Business Journals

CEE’s Sean Qian was quoted on the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. A cargo ship struck the bridge while departing from the Port of Baltimore in late March, halting the flow of transportation indefinitely until the debris can be cleared. “This is going to impose a lot of burdens on our supply chain systems,” Qian told The Business Journals. “You can anticipate a lot of containers will accumulate at the port, and it will have a ripple effect on the roadways because the trucks won’t be able to unload and unload a lot of containers, and that has implications on the railway network as well.”

Bockstaller quoted on safety of food storage containers
Buy Side from WSJ

MSE’s Michael Bockstaller was quoted in Buy Side on the safety of certain brands of food storage containers. Pyrex’s containers, originally made of borosilicate glass, are now made with cheaper but similarly durable soda-lime glass; Bockstaller explained that both types of glass are safe for food storage. Regarding plastic food containers like those produced by Rubbermaid, Bockstaller said that certified BPA-free polycarbonate (PC) plastics are the best bet since they’re more resistant to high temperatures than polyethylene (PE) or polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

Rajkumar talks flying cars
USA Today

ECE’s Raj Rajkumar spoke with USA Today about how flying cars could make waves in the future for both travel and industry. “It would reduce congestion by removing some traffic on the road and create a new aviation sector, with new jobs,” he told the outlet.

Sullivan shares thoughts on fragrance products in Yahoo
Yahoo

MechE’s Ryan Sullivan shares his thoughts on fragrance products in Yahoo. Currently, the industry lacks regulations for companies to disclose the ingredients in their products, potentially exposing consumers to harmful chemicals when lighting a candle or spritzing a room with room spray. “Products can contain dozens of chemicals, and all it shows up as is one word on the ingredient list: fragrance,” he says. This story was also covered in The Guardian.

Kumar Receives ACM SIGMOBILE Rockstar Award
SIGMOBILE

ECE’s Swarun Kumar has been awarded the ACM SIGMOBILE 2024 Rockstar Award in recognition of outstanding contributions to the design of novel techniques to extend the range of low-power networks and the development of the area of programmable targeted wireless energy delivery. The award recognizes an individual who has made recent outstanding research or product contributions to the field of mobile computing during the early part of their career.

March

He presents Earl Bakken Lecture at 2024 AIMBE annual meeting
AIMBE

BME’s Bin He was selected to be the 2024 Earl Bakken lecturer at the AIMBE Annual Meeting in Washington D.C., on March 24-25, 2024. The prestigious lecture series honors Bakken’s commitment to improving human welfare through application of biomedical engineering innovation. He has made significant research and education contributions to the field of neuroengineering and biomedical imaging, including functional biomedical imaging, noninvasive brain-computer interface, and noninvasive neuromodulation.

Carley warns about online disinformation, its role in public health crises, and its sources
Forbes

CyLab/EPP’s Kathleen Carley recently led a study investigating the origins of conspiratorial tweets, and she spoke with Forbes about the study’s findings: 82% of the more than 200 million tweets analyzed were driven by bot activity, which resembles possible state-sponsored disinformation. She says: “We do know that it looks like it’s a propaganda machine, and it definitely matches the Russian and Chinese playbooks, but it would take a tremendous amount of resources to substantiate that.” This disinformation sharpens political polarization and jeopardizes trust in public health institutions, correlating with a drop in vaccination rates and rise in cases of diseases such as measles.

Michalek quoted in article on the affordability of electric vehicles
BBC

MechE/EPP’s Jeremy Michalek was quoted in the BBC on the past and future of electric vehicles, saying: “Before Tesla, most people’s experiences with an EV would be a golf cart or something….There was a sense of it being a small, slow vehicle where you have to compromise a lot.” Despite this early perception, electric vehicles quickly became a status symbol due to their high prices, though this is changing as well due to cheaper options becoming available.

CMU Engineering partnered with Penguins, Covestro in annual “Rethink the Rink” event
Pittsburgh Business Times

Over spring break, 16 CMU students met in groups to collaborate on projects to “rethink the rink” and improve the safety of hockey. This was the seventh annual instance of this event, which has arisen out of a partnership between CMU, the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Covestro.

Cranor speaks on internet frauds in TribLive
TribLive

CyLab Director Lorrie Cranor speaks on internet frauds in TribLive. With a rising amount of financial scammers affecting people everywhere of all ages or education level, Cranor warns readers of the numerous types of scams and tricks people will use to steal money or personal data. “If you get any message through any channel that says you should transfer money or buy gift cards, it’s a scam,” she says.

Coscientist mentioned in article about LLMs for research
Chemical & Engineering News

Research by ChemE’s Gabe Gomes was referenced in a Chemical & Engineering News article about large language models being applied to chemistry and materials research. Gomes’ research team debuted Coscientist, a model that can contribute to the experiment process by answering queries, this past December.

Samaras envisions next steps for future climate policies
Volts

Scott Institute Director Costa Samaras envisions next steps for future climate policies. Samaras worked with the Biden-Harris administration between 2021 and 2024, collaborating with others in the White House to facilitate a smooth transition to clean energy. Going forward, he hopes to see improvements in electrification, transmission, decarbonization, and climate-smart agriculture. “We’re in a position now that we have to get the entire US and global economy down to zero greenhouse gas emissions in like 25 years,” Samaras tells Volts. “And under those conditions, you try to be as optimal as possible, but you kind of just do what you need to do to make it work.”

Michalek quoted on the environmental impact of electric vehicles
Daily Mail

MechE/EPP’s Jeremy Michalek was quoted in a recent article from the Daily Mail. The article discussed possible adverse effects of electric vehicles on the environment, such as tire treads wearing out more quickly due to the weight of the vehicle battery. Michalek said that the “critical factor” in the vehicles’ environmental impact was the use of coal: “If you’ve got electric cars in Pittsburgh that are being plugged in at night and leading nearby coal plants to burn more coal to charge them, then the climate benefits won’t be as great, and you can even get more air pollution.”

Zhao quoted on the applications of humanoid robots
Popular Science

MechE’s Ding Zhao was quoted in an article in Popular Science at the end of February. The article discussed advances in technology for human-shaped robots, particularly those created by the robotics company Figure. Figure has announced a partnership with OpenAI it hopes will allow its robots to be able to understand and process human speech, which will make them more useful in workspaces such as warehouses. Speaking on these robots capabilities, Zhao called these robots’ possible implementations the “billion-dollar question” and said: “Generally speaking, we are still exploring the capabilities of humanoid robots, how effectively we can collect data and train them, and how to ensure their safety when they interact with the physical world.”

Qian mentioned in social digital twin technology collaboration
Fujitsu

CEE’s Sean Qian was mentioned in a story about recent advances in social digital twin technology, a joint research effort between CMU and Fujitsu Limited. These new developments allow for the conversion of a single 2D image captured by a monocular RGB camera into an estimated 3D reconstruction. The use of 3D Occupancy Estimation Technology and 3D Projection Technology reduces workload and protects privacy, while still maintaining accuracy.

Majidi explains how robots can help with understanding ancient creatures
Ars Technica

MechE’s Carmel Majidi explains how robots, built to mimic the traits revealed by ancient fossils, can help with understanding extinct creatures. Together with PhD student Richard Desatnik, Majidi led the construction of a robot likeness of pleurocystitid, an ancient relative of starfish, to understand how it might have moved on the sea bed. Majidi tells Ars Technica that this technology will help scientists gain a much fuller picture of evolutionary history than what they could glean from living organisms alone. “We can begin to learn from the 99 percent of species that once roamed the earth instead of just the 1 percent,” he says.

Cranor discusses cybersecurity labels for smart devices
News 5 Cleveland

CyLab Director Lorrie Cranor discusses the idea of creating cybersecurity labels for smart devices. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently approved a new labeling system in which smart devices proven safe by accredited labs would be labeled with a Cyber Trust Mark, similar to the way an Energy Star logo indicates energy efficiency. “By having these labels, the hope is that it will kind of raise the bar because companies are going to be upfront about this,” Cranor tells News 5 Cleveland. “And you know they’re not going to want to look bad. So, they’re going to have some incentive to actually improve their security and privacy.”

Morgan and Apt discuss the benefits of a mixed portfolio of low-carbon technology
Science

EPP’s Granger Morgan and Jay Apt discuss the benefits of a mixed portfolio of low-carbon technology in their recent op-ed piece in Science. Morgan and Apt call on expert and policy communities in the U.S. to start implementing achievable strategies as soon as possible, rather than spending time and money arguing over the definitive perfect solution. The authors assert that, although the ultimate goal is to completely stop burning fossil fuels, the best steps for now would be to implement a mixed technology portfolio, tightening emissions standards gradually so as to make long-term progress while avoiding high short-term costs.

Grossmann selected as John M. Prausnitz AIChE Institute Lecturer for 2024 AIChE Annual Meeting

ChemE’s Ignacio Grossmann was selected as the John M. Prausnitz AIChE Institute Lecturer for the 2024 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Annual Meeting. During the lecture, Grossmann discussed a wide variety of applications for emerging models and algorithms such as mixed-integer linear/nonlinear programming (MILP/MINLP), Generalized Disjunctive Programming (GDP) and global optimization techniques. The review committee was impressed with Grossmann’s extensive technical contributions to the field of process systems engineering, and noted his remarkable accomplishments as a pioneer in the field as both an educator and researcher.

Grossmann receives INFORMS award for paper on hybrid MILP/CP models

ChemE’s Ignacio Grossmann received the INFORMS Journal of Computing Test of Time Paper Award for 1997-2001 for his work on solving problems through hybrid MILP/CP models. His paper, “Algorithms for Hybrid MILP/CP Models for a Class of Optimization Problems,” is an early application of logic-based Benders decomposition, where the master problem is solved by a mixed-integer program and the subproblems by constraint programming. In addition to its contributions to the considered application, the paper has been instrumental in stimulating significant and substantial research in Benders decomposition, branch and check, and branch and price and check, with applications in many domains including routing and scheduling.

Three new professorships in Mechanical Engineering

Three new professorships were announced in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Burak Kara has been named a George Tallman and Florence Barrett Ladd Professor of Mechanical Engineering; Carmel Majidi has been named the Clarence H. Adamson Professor of Mechanical Engineering; and Jon Malen has been named the Raymond J. Lane Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering.

Gueye, Fanti selected for UN initiative
CMU-Africa

CMU-Africa’s Assane Gueye and ECE’s Giulia Fanti were named among a diverse group of experts to work on an initiative from the United Nations to develop a safeguards framework to guide digital public infrastructure (DPI) design and implementation around the world.

Samaras quoted on the subject of U.S. natural gas exports
90.5 WESA

Scott Institute Director Costa Samaras was quoted in 90.5 WESA on whether to expand U.S. natural gas exports. Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick advocates for the expansion, arguing that it would boost Pennsylvania’s economy. McCormick also intends to halt subsidies towards electric vehicle and solar panel providers, holding that American taxpayer dollars should not be sent to companies controlled by authoritarian regimes. Samaras is skeptical of the idea. “I don’t think that getting rid of the provisions in the IRA that has led to a manufacturing boom in the United States and is lowering energy costs for consumers is something that’s going to be very popular,” he said.

Samaras quoted on Texas Panhandle wildfires
The Texas Tribune

Scott Institute Director Costa Samaras was quoted in The Texas Tribune on the impact of the recent wildfires across the Texas Panhandle, including the largest wildfire in the state’s history. Texas resident Melanie McQuiddy filed a lawsuit against Xcel Energy, the utility company whose equipment was implicated in the fire that destroyed McQuiddy’s house. Experts advise utility companies to prepare for even more extreme weather in the future. “We don’t have last century’s climate right now, and we won’t have last century’s climate for the many decades ahead, as the impacts of climate change accelerate,” Samaras said.

Zhang featured in Celebrating Women at SIAM
SIAM

MechE’s Jessica Zhang was featured by SIAM in celebrating Women’s History Month, for her contributions to the applied mathematics and computational science field.

Michalek fact-checks claims about a supposed ban on gas-powered cars
FactCheck.org

EPP/MechE’s Jeremy Michalek responded to two recent advertisements. These advertisements claim that proposed regulations by the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Transportation seek to ban the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles. He agreed that these claims are exaggerated, and clarified: “[T]he new standards are not a ban on gasoline vehicles, and I don’t think anyone expects automakers to stop making gasoline vehicles in response to these standards.” Instead, these regulations would increase the number of electric vehicles, and he noted that automakers would still be able to produce some gas-powered vehicles.

Chamanzar receives $650,000 grant for surgical device company
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Advanced Optronics Inc., which was co-founded by ECE’s Maysam Chamanzar, received a $650,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to develop devices that doctors will use in surgeries. These tiny devices provide information in real-time so doctors can implant them accurately, which will make surgeries easier and safer.

Kurchin interviewed about how to choose the best solar power inverters
CNET

MSE’s Rachel Kurchin weighed in on a CNET list of the best solar inverters of March 2024. A solar inverter converts energy from solar panels into electricity that appliances can use, and there are many different kinds. The best inverter to buy depends on a consumer’s particular circumstances. She says: “Residential solar installations can look really different depending on what the residence looks like. Maybe your house has a really slanted roof or maybe there are trees around that shade it for part of the day, or maybe that’s not so much of an issue. Those are the kinds of things that can make a real difference in what type of inverter solution makes the most sense.”

February

Abbott quoted on 3D printed food outlook
Tech Times

BME’s Rosalyn Abbott weighs in on the potential for personalized 3D-printed food products in Tech Times. “I have a 3D printer in my home that prints toys for my kids, so the capacity to get a 3D printer in our homes isn’t far off! To make the jump from toys to food, though, will take time,” she says. Abbott’s lab looks at the 3D structures of the animal meat tissues, specifically how fat is stored, and aims to recreate an artificial meat product that mimics these properties and structures.

Koopman shares his thoughts on attacks against driverless cars
Marketplace

ECE’s Phil Koopman shares his thoughts with MarketPlace on potential motives behind the rise of attacks against driverless cars. In San Francisco, for instance, an unoccupied robotaxi was recently set on fire. Koopman denounces the attack, but explains that people are feeling increasingly frustrated with the various accidents and traffic issues caused by driverless cars. “The companies could have handled that a lot better, but they didn’t,” he says. “They could have put people back in the cars till they got it together and stop making those kinds of messes. They chose not to.”

Whitefoot quoted on electric vehicle tax credits
Fox Business

EPP/MechE’s Kate Whitefoot was quoted in Fox Business on the updated federal policy surrounding tax credits awarded for purchases of new or used electric vehicles. According to the IRS, electric vehicles assembled outside of North America will no longer qualify for the tax credit, an effort to reduce reliance on international manufacturers. Thus far, only 13 electric vehicles qualify for credit. “I do expect that this [list] will increase over time,” Whitefoot said. “That’s because it’s going to take time for automakers to set up the domestic battery and mineral supply chains necessary to meet the tax credit requirements—which are still relatively new.”

CMU students achieve two-way communication with lunar rover Iris
New York Times

Team Iris, consisting of students and staff across all of CMU’s colleges, achieved two-way communication with lunar rover Iris following its launch into outer space. Although the lander carrying Iris was ultimately unable to land on the moon due to technical anomalies, Team Iris’ quick thinking and persistent efforts resulted in successful communication with the rover, indicating that it had survived the launch into space. “It wasn’t the mission we thought,” Connor Colombo, chief engineer for Team Iris, commented in The New York Times. “And in fact, maybe that made it more interesting because we had to do a lot of thinking on our feet, and I’m really grateful to have had that.” The team’s achievements were also featured in WPXI and on CMU’s news page.

Pasareanu quoted on safety of driverless cars
Quanta Magazine

CyLab/ECE’s Corina Pasareanu was quoted in Quanta Magazine regarding recent efforts to guarantee the reliability of perception systems in autonomous vehicles. A team of researchers at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign aims to mathematically prove the reliability of these systems by quantifying the margin of error and ensuring that margin remains within a safe limit. “Their method of providing end-to-end safety guarantees is very important,” Pasareanu said.

Carley speaks about AI robocalls following New Hampshire primary election
AP News

CyLab/EPP’s Kathleen Carley was quoted in AP News on the use of AI-generated voices in robocalls. In particular, she discussed the recent robocalls that used an AI-generated likeness of President Joe Biden’s voice to discourage people from voting in the New Hampshire primary election. The technology to mimic human voices is “well understood and it makes standard mistakes,” she said. “But that technology will get better.” Her comments on the matter were also quoted in Mashable and The Hill.

Pileggi honored with 2023 Phil Kaufman Award
Electronic System Design Alliance and the IEEE Council on Electronic Design Automation

ECE Head Larry Pileggi will be honored for his pioneering contributions to circuit simulation and optimization that have enabled the industry to address the challenge of interconnect delay dominated designs, and for his innovations in electrical and computer engineering education. The Phil Kaufman Award is presented annually by the Electronic System Design Alliance (ESD Alliance), a SEMI technology community, and the Council on Electronic Design Automation (CEDA) of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

LeDuc and Majidi’s new soft robot highlighted in PopSci
PopSci

MechE’s Philip LeDuc and Carmel Majidi have developed a new soft robot inspired by a prehistoric sea creature, which was featured in Popular Science. Pleurocystitids, a precursor to the present-day invertebrates, had tail-like structures that allowed them to move underwater easily.

LeDuc, Ozdoganlar, and Yang featured in Interesting Engineering
Interesting Engineering

MechE’s Philip LeDuc, Burak Ozdoganlar, and Feimo Yang have developed a new tissue engineering technique that may alleviate the organ transplantation crisis. The work was featured in Interesting Engineering. “What makes our method different from other kinds of 3D printing is that instead of letting the water completely freeze while we’re printing, we let it maintain a liquid phase on top,” said Yang, who hopes that the versatility of the 3D-printed blood vessels will have further applications beyond the immediate organ transplant issue.

Jayan quoted on temperature and battery-powered vehicles charging
Wards Auto

MechE’s Reeja Jayan shares her thoughts on how temperature affects battery-powered vehicles’ ability to change in Wards Auto. The cold can make batteries charge less effectively. “If you have limited charging stations, as we have in the U.S., you can imagine how this becomes bad quickly,” she says. Experts hope that with the growing EV industry, this solution will be solved and more charging stations will begin to appear.

Gomes’ AI tool featured in multiple outlets
Chemical & Engineering News

ChemE’s Gabe Gomes’ new AI tool with complex chemistry capabilities was featured in Chemistry & Engineering News. The program uses the internet and relevant literature to learn about a reaction and, within minutes, produces an outline for the procedure needed to complete the reaction. “We are converting bits to atoms,” Gomes says. “Taking a natural language prompt, the bits, and converting it into an actual chemical reaction.” This work was also featured in Axios, Ars Technica, Psychology Today, and Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News.

Whitefoot talks electric vehicle tax credits
CNET

EPP/MechE’s Kate Whitefoot spoke to CNET about adding to the list of electric vehicles that qualify for a federal tax credit worth thousands of dollars. “I do expect this [list] will increase over time,” Whitefoot said, noting that improvements in battery and mineral supply chains could help.

Karplus talks West Virginia energy revolution
Times West Virginian

EPP’s Valerie Karplus spoke to the Times West Virginian about a new research project called Engines that aims to reimagine the state’s energy landscape. Researchers from CMU, West Virginia University, and the University of Pittsburgh will collaborate during an initial 18-month period after receiving $1 million from the National Science Foundation. “I think one of the most exciting prospect is thinking how we can really pull together all the necessary pieces to make the energy and innovation ecosystem work here in the region,” said Karplus.

Grossmann on Subject to podcast
Subject to

ChemE’s Ignacio Grossmann appeared on the Subject to podcast to talk about his life and career. The show features leading researchers in the fields of operations research, combinatorial optimization, and logistics.

Carley speaks about AI technology’s role in the upcoming election
Computer World

CyLab/EPP’s Kathleen Carley speaks to Computer World about AI technology’s role in the upcoming election. With the vast capabilities of AI, she advises social media companies especially to take precautions against AI-generated content while preserving the discourse surrounding the election. “AI technologies are constantly evolving, and new safeguards are needed,” Carley said. “Also, AI could be used to help by identification of those spreading hate, identification of hate-speech, and by creating content that aids with voter education and critical thinking.”

Koopman talks public perception of self-driving cars
NPR

ECE’s Phil Koopman was featured on an NPR podcast to discuss how the public views autonomous vehicles and their potential, particularly in light of the safety concerns raised after self-driving cars were involved in road accidents. “The narrative started to unravel when they promised we wouldn't make the same stupid mistakes as human drivers, and then they got caught on camera making the same stupid mistakes,” said Koopman.

Cranor speaks about Roblox privacy concerns
USA Today

CyLab Director Lorrie Cranor spoke with USA Today about the spotlight cast on Roblox’s privacy settings. While it was established that the online game doesn’t collect precise location data, Cranor noted that sharing personal information in chats could leave users vulnerable. She recommended that parents check the privacy settings on the platform for younger users.

Pileggi quoted on solar batteries
CNET

ECE’s Larry Pileggi spoke to CNET about the two different methods, AC-coupled and DC-coupled, that are used to connect batteries for solar panels to homes. Specifically, Pileggi distinguished between the two energy types. “When you use that battery energy in your home or sell it back to the grid, you’d convert it to AC because that’s what your appliances are expecting,” he told the outlet.

Whitehead organizes symposium
Keystone Symposia

ChemE’s Katie Whitehead co-organized the Keystone Symposium on Delivery of Nucleic Acid Therapeutics in Banff, Alberta, Canada in late January. Ph.D. alum Khalid Hajj (2019), postdoc Sai Yerneni, and Ph.D. student Mariah Arral also attended.

2023 staff award winners

Congratulations to our 2023 staff award winners:

• Rookie Award: Nicole Rihn, Admissions and Program Coordinator, Energy Science and Technology Program, Materials Science and Engineering
• Burritt Education Award: Jenny Hurst, Career Counselor, Engineering and Public Policy
• Innovation Award: Mary Kilcoyne, Alumni Relations Manager, Integrated Innovation Institute
• DEI Award: Leia Delabahan, Senior Academic & Student Services Advisor, Integrated Innovation Institute
• Spirit Award: Melissa Ritchie, Graduate Academic Coordinator, Civil & Environmental Engineering
• Continuous Excellence: Nancy Doyle, Manager of the Director’s Office and Administration, Information Networking Institute
• Inspirational Leadership Award: Ryan Bates, Fabrication Manager, Tech Spark, Mechanical Engineering

January

Morgan and Karplus talk carbon capture facilities
Earth.Org

EPP’s Granger Morgan and Valerie Karplus talk about streamlining the process of building carbon capture facilities with Earth.Org. “Right now you’re looking at 6 to 10 years and up to 12 years, potentially, to get through all of these regulatory steps,” Karplus says. Although carbon capture and storage (CCS) is not a permanent solution, it has the potential to be a powerful tool in reducing global greenhouse gas emissions.

Nock and her company Peoples Energy Analytics featured
Science News Explores

CEE/EPP’s Destenie Nock and her company Peoples Energy Analytics were featured in Science News Explores. Using her background in math, she created a computer algorithm that helps people manage their utilities more effectively, and subsequently, lower their energy costs. “Before I had the data, it was really hard to get people to listen. Now, I can actually show that this is a problem throughout the United States,” Nock says.

Fuchs featured in a podcast done by Issues in Science and Technology
Issues in Science and Technology

EPP’s Erica Fuchs was featured in a podcast by Issues in Science and Technology. She and Lisa Margonelli talk about Fuchs’ pilot project that she has been working on for the past year—the National Network for Critical Technology Assessment. This project will allow the federal government to predict and tackle supply chain issues effectively ahead of time. 

CMU-Africa involved in study that revealed security risks in African financial apps
BNN Breaking

CMU-Africa was mentioned in BNN Breaking for its involvement in a study that revealed major security risks in popular African financial apps. They found that 95% of these Android apps could potentially compromise the personal and financial information of 272 million users. This finding will hopefully steer both developers and users toward increasing security measures while continuing to use these apps.

Sullivan weighs in on water microdroplet chemistry
Chemistry World

MechE’s Ryan Sullivan spoke with Chemistry World about the contentious topic of water microdroplet chemistry, which has inspired mixed feelings among researchers in the field. Sullivan, for his part, is more skeptical. “Many physical atmosphere chemists who I regard as very careful experimentalists…do not think that this idea that oxidants are spontaneously being produced in microdroplets is real—they are quite convinced it’s contamination or some sort of artifact,” said Sullivan.

Rajkumar appointed to U.S. DOT advisory committee
USDOT

ECE’s Raj Rajkumar was selected to serve on the new U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Transforming Transportation Advisory Committee to provide advice to DOT and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg about approaches to innovation. The committee will convene on January 18, to discuss a variety of topics, including pathways to safe, secure, equitable, environmentally-friendly, and accessible deployments of transportation technologies. The 27 committee members include experts from academia, think tanks, the public sector, labor, and industry who cover automation, cybersecurity, safety, accessibility, law, government, entrepreneurship, privacy, equity, and other areas.

Fischhoff talks to The Washington Post about how social science intersects with climate change
The Washington Post

EPP’s Baruch Fischhoff talks to The Washington Post about how social science intersects with climate change. As clean energy initiatives become increasingly popular, researchers have found that a good indicator of if someone will engage with these is if people in their social circle are engaging too. Scientists are now taking advantage of this knowledge after letting other governmental programs fall through, such as the efforts in 1979. “We basically were no longer at the table for the next quarter-century,” he says. “The natural scientists trusted their story would tell [itself]. … We blew it.”