Latest News

CMU Team Takes First Place in 2016 Facebook Global Hackathon

by Aisha Rashid and Susie Cribbs | Thursday, December 15, 2016

When Facebook launched its Live video service last year, the social media giant's 1.5 billion global users began living their lives as if they had TV cameras in their back pockets. A team of Carnegie Mellon University students and alumni recently harnessed the power of the Live system to take first place in the 2016 Facebook Global Hackathon.

Carnegie Mellon Launches Flu Forecasting for 2016-2017 Season

Is Artificial Intelligence Superior to Wisdom of Crowds?

by Byron Spice | Friday, December 9, 2016

Computer scientists and statisticians at Carnegie Mellon University are using both artificial intelligence and the wisdom of crowds to guide their efforts in forecasting 2016-2017 flu activity. Past experience suggests it remains an open question as to which is better at predicting the disease's spread week by week.

Three SCS Faculty Members Named ACM Fellows

by Byron Spice | Thursday, December 8, 2016

Three School of Computer Science faculty members  — Justine Cassell, Manuela Veloso and Todd Mowry — have been named Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) fellows for 2016 in recognition of their contributions to human-computer interaction, computer architecture and artificial intelligence, respectively. They are among 53 members of the ACM, the world's leading computing society, elevated to fellow status this year.

"La Mare dels Peixos" Premieres in Spain Dec. 16

by Byron Spice | Wednesday, December 7, 2016

The world premiere of "La Mare dels Peixos" (Mother Fish), a one-act opera co-written by Roger Dannenberg, professor of computer science, and Jorge Sastre, professor at the Polytechnic University of Valencia and former visiting researcher at CMU, will be held Friday, Dec. 16, in Valencia, Spain. The opera, based on an old Valencian folktale about how a magical fish changes a family's fortunes, includes computer and electronic elements.

Researchers Seek Solution to Selfie-Related Deaths

Dangerous Selfie Shots Have Become Worldwide Phenomenon

by Byron Spice | Tuesday, November 22, 2016

People love to take selfies, but it's a love that can prove fatal. A growing number of people die each year while snapping photos of themselves on cliffs, on railroad tracks and other hazardous spots. Researchers in Pittsburgh and in India are looking for ways to reduce this risk.

Veloso Featured on The Verge

by Byron Spice | Monday, November 14, 2016

The Verge technology and culture site is celebrating its fifth anniversary in November by looking at what's in store for the next five years, based on interviews with opinion leaders, such as Manuela Veloso, head of SCS's Machine Learning Department. Read Veloso's "The Verge 2021" interview and watch the accompanying video to get her insights on why humanity and artificial intelligence will be inseparable.

Kanade Receives 2016 Kyoto Prize for Advanced Technology

by Byron Spice | Thursday, November 10, 2016

Takeo Kanade, the U.A. and Helen Whitaker University Professor of Robotics and Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, received the prestigious 2016 Kyoto Prize for Advanced Technology on Wednesday, Nov. 10, in a ceremony in Kyoto, Japan.

RoboVote Helps Groups Make Decisions Using AI-Driven Methods

Carnegie Mellon, Harvard Researchers Offer Free Online Service

by Byron Spice | Monday, November 7, 2016

A contentious presidential election can raise questions about whether the voting system produces the best possible candidates. While nothing is going to change the way Americans vote, a new online service, RoboVote.org, enables anyone to use state-of-the-art voting methods to make optimal group decisions.

Lenore and Manuel Blum to Present Distinguished Lectures at Georgia Tech School of Computer Science

by Jenn Landefeld | Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Annual IMlay Lecture

Lenore Blum, Distinguished Career Professor of Computer Science, will present the Annual Imlay Lecture at Georgia Tech School of Computer Science on Thursday, October 27, 2016.

Four SCS Students Named ACS Scholars

by Susie Cribbs | Monday, October 17, 2016

Four School of Computer Science seniors have been named ACS Scholars by Carnegie Mellon University's Andrew Carnegie Society. Kimberly Kleiven, Ananya Kumar, Benjamin Lichtman and Ariana Weinstock join 36 students from across the university honored for embodying CMU's high standards of academic excellence, volunteerism, leadership and involvement in student organizations, athletics or the arts.

Carnegie Mellon Featured on CBS's "60 Minutes"

SCS Dean Andrew Moore Discusses Impact of AI With Charlie Rose

by Byron Spice | Friday, October 7, 2016

When CBS's "60 Minutes" decided to do a two-part report on the state of artificial intelligence, they came to Pittsburgh to see the state of the art and talk with SCS Dean Andrew Moore about where AI is taking humankind. That report, by correspondent Charlie Rose, aired on Oct. 9.

Shaw To Receive Stibitz Computer Pioneer Award

Honored for Contributions to Software Engineering and Computer Science Education

by Byron Spice | Monday, October 3, 2016

Mary Shaw, the Alan J. Perlis University Professor of Computer Science, will receive the annual George R. Stibitz Computer and Communications Pioneer Award on Friday, Oct. 7, at the American Computer and Robotics Museum in Bozeman, Mont.

Six Students With SCS Ties Recognized as Siebel Scholars

by Aisha Rashid | Monday, September 19, 2016

The Siebel Scholars Foundation, a program recognizing exceptional students in the world's leading graduate schools of business, computer science, bioengineering and energy science, has named six Carnegie Mellon University graduate students to the 2017 class of Siebel Scholars.

Raj Reddy Speaks at Heidelberg Forum

by Byron Spice | Monday, September 19, 2016

Raj Reddy, the Moza Bint Nasser University Professor of Computer Science and Robotics, will be among the distinguished researchers speaking this week at the Heidelberg Laureate Forum, Sept. 18–23, in Heidelberg, Germany.

Reddy will present his talk, "Too Much Information and Too Little Time," on Thursday, Sept. 22. Talks are being streamed live and are available later for playback.

Women Are Almost Half of Carnegie Mellon's Incoming Computer Science Undergraduates

Achievement Caps Decades of Effort to Increase Gender Diversity

by Byron Spice | Sunday, September 11, 2016

Women make up more than 48 percent of incoming first-year undergraduates this fall in Carnegie Mellon University's top-ranked School of Computer Science (SCS), setting a new school benchmark for diversity.

SCS has long been a national leader in increasing the participation of women in computer science, a discipline in which women have been significantly underrepresented nationwide.

CMU Algorithm Detects Online Fraudsters

Method Sees Through Camouflage To Reveal Fake Followers, Reviewers

by Byron Spice | Wednesday, September 7, 2016

An algorithm developed at Carnegie Mellon University makes it easier to determine if someone has faked an Amazon or Yelp review, or if a politician with a suspiciously large number of Twitter followers might have bought and paid for that popularity.

Carnegie Mellon and Tsinghua Universities Renew Dual-Degree Masters Program

Agreement Unites Top-Rated U.S. and Chinese Computer Science Programs

by Byron Spice | Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Officials of Carnegie Mellon University and Tsinghua University signed a memorandum of understanding today to offer a dual-degree master's program in computer science. Students will study at both campuses, learning from faculty at the top-ranked computer science programs in both the United States and China.

Upon Further Consideration, Carnegie Mellon Pokerbot Sweeps Contest

by Byron Spice | Monday, August 29, 2016

Everyone knew Carnegie Mellon's latest computer poker program, Baby Tartanian8, was good. But it turns out its performance in the Annual Computer Poker Competition this year was even better than people thought.

Jean Yang Named to Prestigious "Innovators Under 35" List

New CMU Professor Recognized for Work in Programming

by Byron Spice | Monday, August 22, 2016

Jean Yang, who is joining the Carnegie Mellon University Computer Science Department as an assistant professor this fall, has been named to MIT Technology Review's annual list of Innovators Under 35.

Computer-Aided Verification Award Honors Reynolds

Late Professor Cited for Pioneering Work on Separation Logic

by Byron Spice | Wednesday, August 10, 2016

The late John C. Reynolds is one of a group of scientists awarded the 2016 Computer-Aided Verification (CAV) Award for pioneering work on separation logic, an influential framework for reasoning about computer programs and a very active area of research.

Carnegie Mellon Wins Third "World Series of Hacking" in Four Years

by Daniel Tkacik | Sunday, August 7, 2016

Carnegie Mellon University's competitive computer security team, The Plaid Parliament of Pwning, won its third title in four years at the DefCon Capture the Flag competition.

NSF Project Tackles IoT Security

by Daniel Tkacik | Wednesday, July 20, 2016

SCS’s Yuvraj Agarwal and Srinivasan Seshan have joined with Vyas Sekar of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department on a National Science Foundation-funded project to develop a software-based solution to the problem of security for the Internet of Things. 

Adding Up How the Brain Does Math

Patterns Reveal Four Stages of Thinking That Can Be Used To Improve How Students Learn

by Shilo Rea | Wednesday, July 20, 2016

A new Carnegie Mellon University neuroimaging study reveals the mental stages people go through as they solve challenging math problems.

In the study, which was published in Psychological Science, researchers combined two analytical strategies to use functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify patterns of brain activity that aligned with four distinct stages of problem-solving: encoding, planning, solving and responding.

Computational Design Tool Transforms Flat Materials Into 3-D Shapes

Method Could Be Used in Biomechanics, Consumer Goods and Architecture

by Byron Spice | Sunday, July 17, 2016

A new computational design tool can turn a flat sheet of plastic or metal into a complex 3-D shape, such as a mask, sculpture or even a lady's high-heel shoe.

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) in Lausanne, Switzerland, say the tool enables designers to fully and creatively exploit an unusual quality of certain materials — the ability to expand uniformly in two dimensions. A rubber band, by contrast, contracts in one dimension while being stretched in another.

Holladay, Kumar Named Stehlik Scholarship Recipients

by Susie Cribbs | Monday, July 11, 2016

The School of Computer Science has named rising seniors Rachel Holladay and Ananya Kumar the recipients of this year's Mark Stehlik SCS Alumni Undergraduate Impact Scholarship.

Now in its second year, the Stehlik Scholarship recognizes undergraduate students near the end of their Carnegie Mellon careers whose reach for excellence extends beyond the classroom. Awardees are working to make a difference in SCS, the field of computer science and the world around them.