Event: Carnegie Mellon University's Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental Education and Research (SEER) will host 10 top environmental journalists for the 10^th anniversary of the highly successful Steinbrenner Institute Environmental Media Fellowships.

The journalists include: David Abel, a reporter with The Boston Globe; Daniel Stone, a senior reporter with Newsweek Magazine; Dean Scott, a senior reporter for climate change at Bloomberg; Pamela Hunter McFarland, a reporter with Engineering News Record; Benjamin N. Dooley, an assistant correspondent with Kyodo News Service; Anne Paine, a freelance environmental reporter; Olga Belogolova, a reporter with the National Journal; Margaret Kriz Hobson, a reporter with Greenwire/Energy Wire; Perry Beeman, a reporter with The Des Moines Register and Ricci Shryock, a reporter with Voice of America (VOA).

"The fellowship enables leading environmental science, technology and policy journalists to broaden and deepen their knowledge of environmental issues. It also provides a unique opportunity for Carnegie Mellon faculty members to share their research findings with, and learn about communication skills and strategies from a group of top reporters and editors," said David A. Dzombak, faculty director for the Steinbrenner Institute and the Walter J. Blenko Sr. Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Deborah Lange, Steinbrenner Institute executive director and head of the Western Pennsylvania Brownfields Center, said the fellowship program has successfully attracted more than 60 media participants in the past decade. "I think we have learned from one another in this dynamic program, and we have also helped inform national media representatives about environmental innovation and progress in the Pittsburgh region," she said.

The journalists meet informally with researchers in engineering, computer science, robotics, the social sciences and architecture. The fellowship is co-sponsored by the university's College of Engineering and the Steinbrenner Institute, which is charged with developing and enhancing the impact of environmental research and education at Carnegie Mellon.

When: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., June 10-12.

Where: Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213.

"Professors Aubry, Carbonell and Hendrickson represent the intellectual foundation on which this university is built. They are esteemed, award-winning scholars who are committed to advancing their fields through education, groundbreaking research and their impact on the world. They have earned this most distinguished honor through their academic pursuits and service to the university, and we are most fortunate and proud to have them as part of our community," said Provost and Executive Vice President Mark Kamlet.

Aubry and Hendrickson are faculty members in the College of Engineering. Aubry is the Raymond J. Lane Distinguished Professor and head of the Mechanical Engineering Department. Hendrickson is the Duquesne Light Company Professor of Engineering in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department. He also is co-director of the Green Design Institute.

"These accolades are well deserved for two outstanding academic leaders and innovative researchers dedicated to pushing the boundaries of knowledge both here at CMU and globally," said College of Engineering Dean Pradeep K. Khosla, the Philip and Marsha Dowd University Professor. Khosla was recently named chancellor at University of California, San Diego, effective Aug. 1.

Carbonell is the Allen Newell Professor of Computer Science and director of the Language Technologies Institute in the School of Computer Science.

"Jaime Carbonell thoroughly embodies our claim that 'big bets lead to big breakthroughs,' reflecting a tradition for computer science at CMU to pursue research ideas that carry a high risk, but with the potential of creating transformational technology," said Randal E Bryant, dean of the School of Computer Science. "Jaime’s biggest bet has been in automated language translation, a topic once thought impossible but now is available in usable, if not perfect form, from Microsoft and Google, thanks to a large extent on work by Jaime and his colleagues."

Nadine Aubry

A member of the National Academy of Engineering, Aubry is internationally known for her pioneering work in the field of fluid dynamics, specifically on reduced models of turbulence and for her contributions to the field of microfluids, which plays a crucial role in the advancement of both large and miniature aerospace vehicles.

Aubry was recently selected as an associate fellow in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), joining the ranks of 186 associate fellows among more than 35,000 AIAA members worldwide.

Aubry's interdisciplinary research and close ties to industry have helped her garner other important awards, including the National Science Foundation's Presidential Young Investigator Award and the Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award from the Society of Automotive Engineers. She was elected a fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

She earned her bachelor's degree from the National Polytechnic Institute of Grenoble, France, and a master's degree from the Scientific and Medical University, also in Grenoble. She received her Ph.D. from Cornell University.

Jaime G. Carbonell

Carbonell is a widely recognized authority in the fields of machine translation, natural language processing and machine learning. He has invented a number of well-known algorithms and methods, including Proactive Machine Learning and Maximal Marginal Relevance for information retrieval. His work has spawned or contributed to a number of commercial enterprises, including Carnegie Speech, Carnegie Group and Dynamix Technologies.

His research also includes Computational Proteomics and Biolinguistics, which adapts the computational tools developed for analyzing language to understand the biological information encoded in protein structures and leads to understanding protein-protein interactions and molecular signaling processes.

Carbonell created the university's Ph.D. program in language technologies, and is co-creator of the Universal Library and its Million Book Project. He founded CMU's Center for Machine Translation in 1986 and led its transformation in 1996 into the Language Technologies Institute, one of seven departments within the School of Computer Science.

He earned bachelor's degrees in mathematics and physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his master's degree and Ph.D. in computer science at Yale University. He has authored more than 300 research papers.

Chris Hendrickson

A member of the National Academy of Engineering, Hendrickson’s research, teaching and consulting are in the areas of engineering planning and management, including design for the environment, project management, transportation systems, finance and computer applications. Some of his latest research endeavors involve life-cycle assessment methods, assessment of alternative construction materials, economic and environmental implications of e-commerce and infrastructure for alternative fuels.  He was recently appointed to the executive committee of the Transportation Research Board (TRB), which provides expert advice on national transportation policy and leadership in transportation innovation.

Hendrickson, former head of CMU's Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, is a distinguished member of the American Society of Civil Engineering, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and an emeritus member of the TRB standing committee on the application of emerging technologies to design and construction.

He has co-authored several textbooks, two monographs and numerous articles. He is editor-in-chief of the American Society of Civil Engineers' Journal of Transportation Engineering.

Hendrickson earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Stanford University, a master's degree from Oxford University and his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

PITTSBURGH—A new report by Carnegie Mellon University researchers finds significant regional differences in the emission benefits of renewable and energy efficiency measures.

Kyle Siler-Evans, a Ph.D. researcher in the Department of Engineering and Public Policy from Santa Fe, N.M., working with professors Ines Azevedo and M. Granger Morgan, has found that compared to California, displacing 1 kilowatt-hour of electricity in Iowa is expected to avoid roughly 70 percent more carbon dioxide, 12 times more sulfur dioxide and three times more nitrogen oxide emissions.

The study, recently published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, found that energy efficiency measures in the Midwest and parts of the mid-Atlantic would primarily displace coal-fired generators, resulting in significant emission reductions.

By contrast, energy efficiency measures in Texas, the Northwest and the West will primarily displace gas-fired generators, yielding much smaller reductions in carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide.

"The dirtier the grid, the greater the benefit of an energy efficiency measure," said Siler-Evans. "This work has important implications for public policy. If our goal is to reduce emissions, we should focus energy-efficiency investments in places like Wisconsin, Iowa or Pennsylvania. In California, given how clean the electricity mix, we get relatively little emissions savings from additional investments in energy efficiency."

BEDFORD, MA

News Summary

• RSA, The Security Division of EMC alongside Carnegie Mellon CyLab highlight Carnegie Mellon CyLab's new 2012 Governance Report, the first global analysis of how boards and senior executives are managing cyber risks by geographical region and industry sector.
• The report reveals the complexities associated with governing privacy and security risks, with survey data revealing a gap in board-level understanding of the linkage between IT risks and enterprise risk management.
• The report offers 12 recommendations to help improve the governance of enterprise security.
• The findings confirm the belief among security experts that, overall, the financial sector is better following security best practices versus the energy/utilities, IT/telecom, and industrials sectors.  All sectors, however, are not undertaking critical governance activities such as reviewing cyber insurance coverage, assigning key privacy and security responsibilities and receiving regular reports on cyber risks and incidents.
  
  • Results indicate that North American boards are lagging behind Asian and European boards in undertaking key activities associated with best practices for privacy and security governance.

Full Story

The Carnegie Mellon Governance of Enterprise Security: CyLab 2012 Report is the first survey to examine how corporate boards and executives are managing cyber risks across geographical regions and by various industry sectors. Sponsored by RSA, The Security Division of EMC, this is the third report conducted by CyLab Adjunct Distinguished Fellow, Jody Westby. The report examines responses to a survey of senior executives and corporate board members from the Forbes Global 2000 list. The report reveals that corporate boards and executives are taking risk management seriously but there is still a gap in understanding the link between information technology (IT) risks and enterprise risk management. This gap indicates that boards have a lack of understanding of how all business operations are supported by computer systems and digital data and how risks in these areas can undermine operations. Less than two-thirds of the respondents' organizations have full-time personnel in key roles for privacy and security (CISO/CSO, CPO, CRO) in a manner that is consistent with internationally accepted best practices and standards. The degree to which these roles are filled varies by industry and region.

Survey results in the report confirms the belief among security experts that, overall, the financial sector has better security and governance practices than other industry sectors. The financial sector shows the greatest degree of board attention to critical issues related to cyber risk management, while the energy/utilities and industrials sectors reveal a lack of board attention to critical issues such as vendor management, computer and information security and IT operations. The energy/utilities respondents also rank next to last in establishing necessary segregation of duties between board Risk Committees and Audit Committees.

More than half, 57 percent, of respondents are not analyzing the adequacy of cyber insurance coverage or undertaking key activities related to cyber-risk management to help them manage reputational and financial risks associated with the theft of confidential and proprietary data and security breaches. Although boards across geographical regions are consistent in not reviewing cyber-insurance coverage, a very high percentage of respondents from critical-infrastructure sectors, such as the energy/utilities and IT/telecom sectors, indicate that close to 80 percent of their boards of directors do not review insurance for cyber-related risks.

Although Europe leads globally in privacy regulations and enforcement, only 3 percent of the respondents indicate that their organizations have CPOs. The U.S. generally believes it is the global leader in security, but the survey results indicate that North American boards lag behind European and Asian boards in undertaking key activities associated with privacy and security governance such as regular reviews involving annual budgets, roles and responsibilities, and top-level policies.

Survey Highlights

• Respondents across all industry sectors are not assigning key privacy and security responsibilities to defined executive roles, such as CISO/CSO, CPO, or CSO, with reporting lines that avoid segregation of duties issues.
• A much higher percentage of energy/utilities (79%) and IT/telecom (77%) boards are not reviewing cyber-insurance coverage than financial-sector boards (52%) and industrials sector (44%) boards
• Asian boards (76%) are much more likely to have a board Risk Committee responsible for privacy and security than North American (40%) and European (38%) boards
• Although Europe leads globally in privacy regulation and enforcement, the respondents indicate that only 3 percent of European organizations have a CPO. Asia closely follows with only 5 percent having CPOs while 23 percent of North American organizations have a CPO.

Signs of Improvement

A positive sign from the survey is the importance that boards are placing on IT and security/risk expertise in board recruitment as respondents ranked it very important or more important. Risk and security expertise was even more encouraging with 64 percent of the respondents indicating that it was very important or important. Improvements are also occurring at the organizational level in the increased number of organizations with Board Risk Committees and cross-organizational teams that manage privacy and security risks within the organization.

With the results indicating that governance and enterprise security is still lacking in most organizations, the report outlines 12 recommendations for boards of directors and senior management to help improve their organizations' security posture and reduce risk.

RSA Executive Quote

Tom Heiser, President, RSA

"The increasing criticality of digital resources and the more complex threat landscapes mean senior executives and boards must get better at marrying security functions with corporate operations. Boards are asking questions about risk and IT security, now there needs to be a closed loop system with management for risk policies to assure a trusted IT environment throughout their enterprise. Senior executives and boards can't get better at this without boosting their essential oversight and involvement in cyber risk management."

Carnegie Mellon Executive Quote

Jody Westby, CEO of Global Risk & Adjunct Distinguished Fellow, Carnegie Mellon CyLab

"Cyber criminals today are sophisticated; they are getting inside corporate systems and stealing confidential and proprietary data. It is imperative that boards and executives take appropriate governance steps to protect their organizations' computer systems and information. This involves undertaking key-oversight activities, obtaining independent cyber-risk expertise, recruiting board members with cyber risk and governance expertise, and reviewing cyber-insurance coverage. These are the basics; critical infrastructures have a higher duty of care. Boards that fail to step up their cyber risk management are placing their organizations at risk and could be breaching their fiduciary duty to protect the assets of the corporation, which includes digital assets."

Additional Resources

• Visit the RSA Thought Leadership page on EMC.com
• Learn more about Trusted IT from EMC
• Connect with RSA via Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and the RSA Speaking of Security Blog and Podcast

PITTSBURGH—Three Carnegie Mellon University engineering students will travel more than 14,000 miles roundtrip this summer to put solar panels on a grade school in northern India.

"This is a wonderful experience for all of us, as we work to introduce a more sustainable energy source for a grade school in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, India," said Eva Humphrey, a junior mechanical engineering major from Asheville, N.C.

Humphrey will be joined by Tejank Shah, a sophomore majoring in biomedical engineering and materials science from Parlin, N.J., and Michelle Krynock, a freshman civil and environmental engineering major from Vandergrift, Pa. The three members of CMU's Engineers Without Borders student chapter (EWB-CMU) will be accompanied by professional mentors Joshua Jedlicka and Uzair (Sam) Shamsi, a former Rampur, India, resident. They will depart May 17 to develop sustainable energy for an impoverished region in one of the world's most populous nations.

Jedlicka, a professional mentor with the EWB-CMU and an environmental engineer with Pittsburgh-based CDM Smith, said the project will ensure reliable use of lights, fans and computers. At present, more than 300 children in grades K-5 in Rampur endure poor lighting and humid study conditions with an inefficient diesel generator and an unpredictable power grid.

Shamsi, a professional mentor with the EWB-CMU and a technical manager with Pittsburgh-based Michael Baker Corporation, said EWB projects benefit both the students and the professionals. EWB student chapters acquire the determination to create a better world through engineering while developing their own career skills in engineering. Professionals gain a sense of accomplishment helping needy people or communities, which is much more profound than the rewards of compensated employment.

The trip is part of a five-year chapter project that began in 2010. Motivated Carnegie Mellon students take on various responsibilities in this multi-faceted project, such as technical design and fundraising. Tejank serves as the project lead, managing the project operations ever since its inception. In addition, Karen Yu, a master's degree student in civil and environmental engineering, has secured funding through grants and sponsorships with U.S.-based companies Boeing and Caterpillar. Sophie Grodsinksy, a junior civil and environmental engineering major, has provided background advice and support as EWB-CMU president. The students' skills and motivation continue to push this India-based project forward.

"The EWB-CMU team also sees this trip as a way to help the entire Rampur community promote a new energy source as well as improving the community's skills to maintain and build other similar energy systems," said EWB-CMU Vice President for Public Relations Avesh Singh, a sophomore majoring in computer science and economics.

The CMU team is one of more than a dozen collegiate EWB chapters fueling community improvement this year from the steamy jungles of Africa to the bucolic tundras of India and Asia. EWB USA supports community-driven development programs worldwide through the design and implementation of sustainable engineering projects and the fostering of responsible leadership.

"It is simply amazing what these students are doing and how their work will impact both the Rampur grade school and the students," said Kurt Larsen, assistant dean for undergraduate studies at CMU's College of Engineering. "We have a service learning tradition at CMU and this project has truly made this learning experience both global and borderless."

Event: Weary of sizzling in the summer heat with no cold drinks? Worried you will wake the kids when doing the bedtime check? Carnegie Mellon engineering students have created a new quiet door latch that avoids the noise made by today's latches. They have also designed a rapid drink chiller that cools a warm drink down in seconds by spraying the rotating bottle or can with water cooled by a thermoelectric cell.

"The quiet door latch and the rapid drink chiller are just a few of the innovative designs featured at our senior design expo," said Jeremy J. Michalek, associate professor of Mechanical Engineering at CMU and an expo advisor.

Each team dissected and analyzed a competitor product, conducted market research, identified opportunities for innovation, generated a range of design concepts and developed the concepts through analysis, testing and three iterations of prototypes.

Some of the other team projects on display, include a foot-actuated mop wringer for housework, a foldable snowboard for the avid skier and a stethoscope that helps doctors filter out unwanted background noise.

When: 10:15 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday, May 7.

Where: Singleton Room, Roberts Engineering Hall, Carnegie Mellon University, off Frew Street, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213.

Event: Carnegie Mellon University's Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental Education and Research (SEER) is hosting an environmental expo showcasing a broad cache of projects from community vegetable gardens to the environmental implications of using hybrid and plug-in vehicles.

"This is a great program to recognize the university community's innovative spirit and commitment to a more sustainable world," said Deborah Lange, SEER executive director and director of the Western Pennsylvania Brownfields Center.

First and second place prizes will be awarded in the following categories: Art and Performance, Campus or Community Service and Environmental Research. More than 20 exhibits will be judged by a panel of experts, including Aftyn Giles, Pittsburgh's sustainability coordinator; Darla Cravotta, special projects manager for Allegheny County and Melissa Cicozi, a professor in CMU's School of Design.

Expo exhibitors include student and staff organizations, and undergraduate and graduate students from the university's seven colleges. First place winners will receive $250 and second place winners will receive $100.

When: 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., Thursday, April 26.

Where: Rangos 2 and 3, University Center, 5000 Forbes Ave.,Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213.

PITTSBURGH—For more than a century, electric power has been produced and distributed using alternating current (AC) technology championed by George Westinghouse and Nikola Tesla.

Carnegie Mellon University researchers report that a competing direct current (DC) electrical power system, pioneered by Thomas A. Edison in the 1880s, may be the most economic way to power lights in commercial buildings, especially in buildings using solar photovoltaics (PV).

In a paper published in Energy Policy, CMU's Brinda Thomas, Ines L. Azevedo and M. Granger Morgan examined the economic feasibility of using dedicated DC circuits to operate lighting in commercial buildings. They considered several lighting technologies and scenarios where the electricity used to power lighting devices in a 48,000-square-foot building came from either a central DC power supply or traditional AC grid electricity.

"We found that if you used DC instead of AC and your building has fluorescent light, the cost is basically the same or slightly higher with DC," said Azevedo, executive director of CMU's Climate and Energy Decision Making Center and an assistant professor in the Engineering and Public Policy Department (EPP).

But if light emitting diodes (LEDs) were installed instead of fluorescent lamps, CMU researchers found a savings of $2,000 per year using DC instead of AC. If the LEDs were powered with solar PV power augmented with grid electricity, even bigger savings of $5,000 per year could be gained by using DC instead of AC.

And as the cost of LEDs decreases, the savings from transitioning to DC coupled with light emitting diodes will increase, according to CMU researchers. By 2015, projections from the Department of Energy show use of LEDs in a 48,000-square-foot commercial building could see cost savings of $10,000 per year compared to fluorescent lamps. The researchers found that decreasing the capital and operating costs of using LEDs, especially when used with solar PV, are key factors to make a dedicated DC strategy worth considering.

"However, our research shows that current DC wiring still has higher installation charges because it is a relatively new technology," said Thomas, a Ph.D. student in CMU's Engineering and Public Policy Department from Pittsburgh, PA.

Morgan, CMU University Professor and head of EPP, also pointed out that further work is needed to better understand potential safety risks with DC distribution and to remove design, installation, permitting and regulatory barriers.

PITTSBURGH—MEMS Industry Group (MIG) is bringing the global micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) supply chain to Pittsburgh for its annual meeting, giving leading MEMS suppliers an opportunity to tour Carnegie Mellon's microsystems labs on May 8.

Having launched commercial successes such as MEMS microphone-maker Akustica, now owned by the Bosch Group, and BodyMedia, creator of MEMS information systems tracking calories and sleep patterns, CMU's MEMS labs remain research pioneers for the "miniature machines" that allow consumers to experience electronic devices and the environment in new ways.

"Our members are going to see what's coming down the pipeline at one of the world's leading engineering institutions," said Karen Lightman, managing director of MEMS Industry Group and a CMU alumna. "During their tour of CMU's MEMS labs, MIG members will have the opportunity to interact with faculty and graduate students to experience the cross-pollination between the commercial business sector and academia, where R&D work often generates new products and technologies for the betterment of society. This is a unique experience, and we are honored and proud to have our members be part of it."

CMU's Maarten de Boer, an associate professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department, and Gary Fedder, director of the Institute for Complex Engineered Systems (ICES) and a professor of the Robotics Institute, will host MIG members as they tour a cache of labs involving micro-nanofabrication, micro-nanorobotics, micro-fluidics and other technologies.

"These lab tours and demos are designed to help important industry leaders see some of our leading-edge work involving development of ultra-reliable technologies and to explore new device concepts applicable to many industry sectors from electronics to biomedical engineering," said De Boer.

Each year, MEMS devices are shipped globally in a variety of consumer products, including mobile phones, tablets, laptops, video games and cameras. They are also embedded in biomedical devices and quality of life applications, automotive safety systems and smart industrial systems. By 2015, industry analysts predict that the MEMS industry will grow to nearly $12 billion (Source iSuppli MEMS Market Tracker – Q3 2011). In fact, MEMS products are so ubiquitous that their growth now outpaces growth of other segments of the electronics industry.

"We are experiencing steady and sustained market acceptance in our industry," said Lightman. "With all of our success, I strongly believe that we have barely scratched the surface of what we can achieve with MEMS. It is through the research and development being conducted at academic institutions like CMU that we will continue to tap the potential of MEMS in the future."

PITTSBURGH—Works by famed industrial landscape artist Aaron Gorson are visual reminders of the 1940s, when Pittsburgh was the nation's steelmaking center. Surprisingly, new research from Carnegie Mellon University shows that today’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are as low as those of that gritty decade.    

CMU researchers recently published the first-ever study estimating long-term energy use and carbon dioxide emissions from 1900 to 2000 for a metropolitan area in the U.S. The sobering results suggest a need for beefed up regional strategies to avoid missing the goal of reduced CO2.

The research team, led by CMU's Rachel Hoesly and H. Scott Matthews, and Michael Blackhurst of the University of Texas at Austin, found that Allegheny County’s emissions (home to Pittsburgh) dropped by about 1 percent per year from 1970 to 2000. However, per capita emissions in 2000 were nearly the same as they were in 1940, according to the report published in Environmental Science and Technology.

And although the countywide reductions experienced only approximate those called for by recent climate plans, the researchers point out that the Pittsburgh region experienced some extreme changes far greater than anticipated by the current plans.   

"Pittsburgh lost most of the energy-intensive metals industry and the jobs that went with that era by the 1980s, which led to a very large reduction in energy and carbon emissions. That's a massive shock to the social and economic structure of the region, far beyond the kinds of incremental changes that other cities are envisioning. And it only reduced the total footprint by 25 percent. Cities will need to develop more rigorous engineering and economic analysis to meet emission goals," said Matthews, a professor of civil and environmental engineering and engineering and public policy at CMU.     

More than 100 cities and counties in the U.S. have developed climate action plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, many of which have set a goal of cutting about 1 percent of greenhouse gas emissions per year. But many environmental experts question whether these action plans are sufficient to curb CO2 linked to climate changes.

"The Pittsburgh region is unique. Since 1970, it experienced decreasing carbon emissions coupled with economic changes and population loss, but reducing emissions in most cases involves reversing a long history of growing emission trends. Ultimately, big reductions will require big changes, especially in areas with growing populations," said Hoesly, a Ph.D. student in CMU’s Civil and Environmental Engineering Department from Manhattan Beach, Calif.     

"The fact that the energy footprint per person hasn’t changed in 30 years is sobering news for metro areas that want to achieve similar reductions, given the devastating impacts that losing industry and population had on this area," Blackhurst said.

PITTSBURGH—Every day is Earth Day for Billy Epting, who in a year saved more than 1,920 pounds of carbon dioxide and more than $800 by riding his bicycle to his engineering lab at Carnegie Mellon University.

Through Epting's work spearheading bike-friendly initiatives, CMU's Mechanical Engineering Department has been recognized as a bronze level Bicycle-Friendly Business (BFB). CMU was one of 67 awardees announced this year.

"This is a wonderful honor for the university and I'm proud to be part of this growing initiative to use bicycles as an easy option for transportation," said Epting, a mechanical engineering Ph.D. student from Coopersburg, Pa. Epting reports that he has burned more than 80,000 calories pedaling to school every day for the past year.

Bicycle-friendly employer initiatives improve the workplace, contribute to the community and benefit even those who do not choose to commute by bicycle.

"CMU's Mechanical Engineering Department is at the forefront of a movement to make American businesses more competitive, sustainable and attractive to the best and brightest employees," said Andy Clarke, president of the League of American Bicyclists. "An investment in bicycling enhances employee health, increases sustainability and improves the bottom line."

Nadine Aubry, the Raymond J. Lane Distinguished Professor and head of CMU's Mechanical engineering Department, praised Epting for helping obtain the bicycle award. "Our students are extremely busy, but they always make time to be involved with positive initiatives that spill into the community," Aubry said. Her department set up a special bicycle repair stop for people who commute by bicycle.

Last year, a handful of engineering students working with the Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental Education and Research launched the "Heels on Wheels" program to encourage more CMU faculty, students and staff to ride bicycles to work.

With this recognition CMU's Mechanical Engineering Department joins more than 400 local businesses, government agencies and Fortune 500 companies across the United States that have been designated bicycle-friendly by the League of American Bicyclists.

See more photos of some of CMU's biking initiatives and of Epting.

"We provide an engaging, hands-on introduction to basic concepts in a variety of engineering fields, including the use of polymers from chemical engineering," said Alicia Brown Angemeer, ICES outreach coordinator. A diverse group of ICES faculty and student volunteers lead the program and work throughout the day.

Fourth graders from five area Pittsburgh schools including Colfax, Liberty, Linden, Minadeo and Grandview will learn about polymers they use in their daily lives, build accelerometers, and build and launch model rockets during the day-long science program.

"These hands-on projects go a long way to helping in still excitement and enthusiasm for the sciences," said Nat Williams, a science teach from Linden.

Program organizers also report that the impetus for the program comes from a desire to help keep America competitive in the race to prevent brain drain in today's competitive global workplace.

When: 2:30 p.m., Saturday, April 14

Where: Hamerschlag Hall, off Frew Street and Schenley Park, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA

PITTSBURGH—Carnegie Mellon University's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the University of Porto's Business School (EGP-UPBS) in Porto, Portugal, will offer a new dual-degree graduate program in engineering and business this fall.

The two-year program will give participants the opportunity of studying one year in Portugal at the University of Porto and another year in the U.S. at Carnegie Mellon. Students will be required to meet academic requirements from both universities to receive a master's degree in electrical and computer engineering from Carnegie Mellon and an MBA ("The Magellan MBA") from EGP-UPBS.

"This is a new paradigm for two very compatible fields as more and more companies seek the problem-solving, technical skills afforded through engineering studies and the business tool set from an MBA experience," said Ed Schlesinger, the David Edward Schramm Memorial Professor and head of CMU's Electrical and Computer Engineering Department.

Over the past decade, increasing numbers of engineering students have found innovative career opportunities from startup companies to venerable consulting firms and Wall Street. Industry analysts and recruiters report that engineering students find unique opportunities in business because of their sharply honed technology skills and team-building experiences.

Jorge Farinha, vice dean of the University of Porto Business School, said the new dual-degree program fits nicely with the global reach so essential for all successful business leaders. "We are pleased to join with Carnegie Mellon to offer a new, dynamic program to meet the challenges of an ever changing workplace," Farinha said. The University of Porto's business school also offers a set of one-year graduate courses, short and mid-duration executive programs and upper management seminars.

Pradeep K. Khosla, the Dowd University Professor and dean of CMU's top-ranked College of Engineering, said the new program reflects the longstanding relationship already under way through the successful ICTI program (Information and Communication Technology Institute) with virtual poles in Portugal and the U.S.

"We applaud this program as it gives both our students and professors increased access to both the global marketplace and international companies anxious to employ tomorrow's savvy tech leaders," Khosla said.

PITTSBURGH—Carnegie Mellon University has joined the New Cities Foundation (NCF), a prestigious new global platform designed to improve the urban environment, from better lighting to safer roads and improved infrastructure.

"This a wonderful new partnership as the university works to help find solutions to continued infrastructure deterioration by using data-driven, intelligent automatic decision support tools," said James H. Garrett, Jr., head of Carnegie Mellon's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and faculty co-director of the Pennsylvania Smarter Infrastructure Incubator.

The NCF partnership involves four of Carnegie Mellon's research institutes, including the Remaking Cities Institute (RCI), the Traffic21 initiative, the Institute for Complex Engineered Systems and the Pennsylvania Smarter Infrastructure Incubator.

Don Carter, director of the Remaking Cities Institute at CMU's School of Architecture, said work on research issues pertaining to urban development continues to attract support from government agencies, foundations and corporate partners, which are also at the core of the NCF membership community. "This new partnership is based on a mutual understanding and common goal for developing innovative, sustainable urbanism," said Carter, who chairs CMU's Master of Urban Design Program.

Both Carter and Garrett will attend an NCF New Cities Summit, May 14-16, in Paris to discuss a cadre of urban issues from energy and finance to mobility.

"CMU clearly understands the importance of leveraging resources among multiple partners for the greater good," said Mathieu Lefevre, executive director of the New Cities Foundation, a Swiss non-profit based in Geneva with offices in Paris, New York and Rio de Janeiro. The foundation includes corporate and academic members. Learn more about the New Cities Foundation.

PITTSBURGH—Modifications to popular video game consoles, like Nintendo's Wii or Microsoft's Xbox 360, may be one of the most cost-effective strategies for controlling demand for electricity in the U.S.

A team of Carnegie Mellon researchers report a 50 percent increase between 2007 and 2010 in the amount of electricity used by today's ubiquitous video game consoles.

"We are seeing this big increase because the number of video game consoles is increasing, the amount of time spent on the consoles is increasing so the amount of energy used is also skyrocketing," said Eric Hittinger, a Ph.D. candidate in CMU's Department of Engineering and Public Policy (EPP) from Warwick, R.I.

CMU researchers report that the key driver of this increased electricity consumption involves what people are doing when they finish using the console. Consoles that are never turned off use more than 10 times as much energy, and adding an "auto-power down" feature (like on modern PCs) could save a huge amount of wasted electricity.

Clearly, gamers are riding the electric power grid to its limit with more than 100 million video game consoles in play now hogging one percent of U.S. residential electricity consumption compared to 75 million devices in 2010, according to Hittinger and his research colleagues Kimberley A. Mullins, an EPP Ph.D student from Toronto, Ontario and Ines Lima Azevedo, executive director of the Climate and Energy Decision-Making Center at CMU and an assistant research professor in EPP from Portugal.

"We found that by using an auto-power down feature for game consoles, consumers could overall save more than $1 billion annually in electricity bills," said Hittinger.

The researchers also admonish the game console industry to apply auto-power down feature to the 100 million existing consoles and use existing video game reward structures to encourage energy-saving behavior in gamers.