Latest News

Past and Future Share Spotlight at CS Fifty

Computer Science Department Celebrates 50th Anniversary

by Byron Spice | Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Even when Carnegie Mellon computer scientists look back, they're still looking forward.

So when faculty, students and alumni gather Oct. 23–24 for CS Fifty — the 50th anniversary of the Computer Science Department — expect visions of the future of computing to be as common as reminiscences.

Foundation Honors Six SCS Students as Siebel Scholars

by Byron Spice | Tuesday, September 15, 2015

The Siebel Scholars Foundation has named six Carnegie Mellon University graduate students to the 2016 class of Siebel Scholars, including one in the field of energy science, which is newly added to the program this year.

Matt Wytock was named as a scholar in energy science, while John Dickerson, Rohit Girdhar, Po-Yao Huang, Jeffrey Rzeszotarski and Xun Zheng were honored as exceptional students in computer science.

Software Helps Create Sign Language Dictionaries, Voice-Activated Games for the Hearing Impaired

Carnegie Mellon Students Develop Open Source Tools With Bangalore School

by Byron Spice | Monday, September 14, 2015

Carnegie Mellon University's TechBridgeWorld research group today announced the release of open source software that can help educators of children with hearing disabilities create video dictionaries of sign languages and use games that encourage vocalization by children learning to speak.    

50 Most Powerful Pittsburghers

by Byron Spice | Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Pittsburgh magazine’s annual listing of the 50 Most Powerful People includes CMU President Subra Suresh and SCS Dean Andrew Moore.

In Memoriam: Joseph F. Traub

by Byron Spice | Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Joseph F. Traub, a pioneering computer scientist who led Carnegie Mellon's Computer Science Department during a crucial period in its history, died unexpectedly Aug. 24 in Santa Fe, NM. He was 83.

Gosling Wins IEEE John von Neumann Medal

Cited for Java Language and Other Contributions to Programming

by Byron Spice | Wednesday, August 19, 2015

The IEEE has honored James A. Gosling (CS'83), chief software architect at Liquid Robotics, with the 2015 John von Neumann Medal for his pioneering work on Java and other programming languages and environments.

Carnegie Mellon Wins Second Place at DefCon

by Daniel Tkacik | Monday, August 10, 2015

Carnegie Mellon's cybersecurity team, the Plaid Parliament of Pwning, took second place at this year's DefCon Capture the Flag competition. The competition, widely considered the "World Series of Hacking," took place Aug. 6–9 in the Bally's Events Center in Las Vegas.

Manuela Veloso Will Keynote Grace Hopper Celebration

by Byron Spice | Monday, August 10, 2015

Manuela Veloso, the Herbert A. Simon University Professor of Computer Science, will be the keynote speaker at this year's Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, Oct. 14–16 in Houston. 

New Siebel Energy Institute Awards Seed Grants to CMU Researchers

by Byron Spice | Tuesday, August 4, 2015

The newly established Siebel Energy Institute, a consortium of Carnegie Mellon and seven other research universities, marked its official launch Aug. 4 by announcing 24 seed grants, including three to CMU researchers.

Time Video Highlights CMU's Role in Pittsburgh's Comeback

by Byron Spice | Thursday, July 9, 2015

A newly released video from Time magazine, "Pittsburgh The Comeback," highlights the role of technology — particularly the contributions of Carnegie Mellon University — in the revitalization of Pittsburgh. SCS Dean Andrew Moore is among the community leaders interviewed on camera.

"My most important duty here as dean is to create the computer scientists who are frankly, I believe, going to be running the world in 2040," Moore said.

The Robotics Institute's Martial Hebert, Tony Stentz and Clark Haynes also are prominently featured.

Fewer Women Than Men Are Shown Online Ads Related to High-Paying Jobs

Carnegie Mellon Uses Simulated User Profiles To Probe Online Ad Ecosystem

by Byron Spice | Monday, July 6, 2015

Experiments by Carnegie Mellon University show that significantly fewer women than men were shown online ads promising them help getting jobs paying more than $200,000, raising questions about the fairness of targeting ads online.

Researchers Developing Ways To Safeguard AI Applications

by Byron Spice | Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Manuela Veloso and Andre Platzer are among the initial researchers funded by the Elon Musk-backed Future of Life Institute to explore ways to keep artificial intelligence beneficial to mankind.

Musk, the entrepreneur behind both Tesla Motors and SpaceX, has expressed his concerns that people might lose control of AI. He donated $10 million to the Boston-based institute, which has now awarded $7 million to 37 researchers to explore the risks and opportunities surrounding AI.

Carnegie Mellon Will Use Blended Learning To Boost Capacity of Computer Science Course

Google-Funded Project Seeks Ways To Meet Growing Demand for Classes

by Byron Spice | Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Carnegie Mellon University will begin adding online instructional tools and targeted study groups to a popular introductory computer science course this fall in an effort to accommodate more students while maintaining instructional quality.

Kosbie's Course Is One of Top 5 Computer Science Courses in Nation

David Kosbie's "Fundamentals of Programming" (15-112) was named one of the five best computer science courses in the country by Bloomberg Business.

Poker Pros Rake In More Chips Than Carnegie Mellon's Artificial Intelligence Program During 80,000-Hand Contest

But Scientifically Speaking, Human Lead Not Large Enough To Avoid a Statistical Tie

by Ken Walters (Carnegie Mellon) and Emily Watts (Rivers Casino) | Thursday, May 7, 2015

Four of the world's best players of heads-up no-limit Texas Hold'em amassed more poker chips than the Carnegie Mellon University artificial intelligence program called Claudico as they collectively played 80,000 hands of poker in a two-week competition that concluded today at Rivers Casino.

Brunskill Named 2015 ONR Young Investigator

by Byron Spice | Sunday, May 3, 2015

The Department of the Navy has named Emma Brunskill, assistant professor of computer science, one of 36 recipients of its 2015 Young Investigator Program — one of the oldest and most selective scientific research advancement programs in the country.

Poker Pros Lead at Halfway Point of "Brains Vs. Artificial Intelligence"

40,000 Hands of No-Limit, Texas Hold'Em Remain To Be Played

by Ken Walters (Carnegie Mellon) and Emily Watts (Rivers Casino) | Thursday, April 30, 2015

Today marks the halfway point of an 80,000-hand journey in the "Brains Vs. Artificial Intelligence" poker competition. After 40,000 hands, the humans — four professional poker players — have taken a lead over Carnegie Mellon University's artificial intelligence program, Claudico.

Carnegie Mellon Project Divides Everyday Tasks, Expenses in Ways Scientifically Calculated To Make Everyone Happy

Spliddit.org Site Implements a Nobel Laureate's Insights To Split Cab Fares

by Byron Spice | Sunday, April 26, 2015

The next time you share a cab, get a little help on splitting the fare from a Nobel laureate in economics. That's possible as of today through Carnegie Mellon University's Spliddit.org website, which offers "provably fair" solutions to everyday dilemmas.

Brains Vs. Artificial Intelligence: Carnegie Mellon Computer Faces Poker Pros in Epic No-Limit Texas Hold'Em Competition

80,000 Hands Will Be Played in Two-Week Contest at Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh

by Ken Walters (Carnegie Mellon) and Emily Watts (Rivers Casino) | Wednesday, April 22, 2015

In a contest that echoes Deep Blue's chess victory over Garry Kasparov and Watson beating two Jeopardy! Champions, computer poker software developed at Carnegie Mellon University will challenge four of the world's best professional poker players in a "Brains Vs. Artificial Intelligence" competition beginning Friday, April 24, at Rivers Casino.

Frieze Receives Gelfand Award for Educational Outreach

by Byron Spice | Wednesday, April 22, 2015

With the Computer Science Department boasting record-breaking 40 percent women in its first-year class last fall, Carol Frieze's colleagues thought it was the perfect time to nominate her for Carnegie Mellon University's Mark Gelfand Award for Educational Outreach. After all, she's devoted the past 15 years to creating opportunities for women and underrepresented groups in computer science. She will accept the award at the Celebration of Education today at 4:30 p.m. in the Cohon University Center's Rangos Hall.

Carnegie Mellon Places Fifth in 2014 Putnam Mathematics Competition

by Jocelyn Duffy | Thursday, April 2, 2015

Carnegie Mellon University has placed fifth in the Mathematical Association of America's 75th William Lowell Putnam Competition, the premier mathematics contest for undergraduate students. Additionally, Carnegie Mellon had 55 students who scored among the top 507, the second most of any university.

Computer science was well-represented among the top scorers, with senior mathematical sciences and computer science major Albert Gu among the top 16 overall.

Autodesk Kicks Off Reality Computing Partnership With CMU

Studio Course Taught by Pyry Matikainen Will Launch This Fall

Carnegie Mellon University's Integrative Design, Arts and Technology Network (IDeATe) and Autodesk Inc., a world leader in 3-D design software, are launching a Reality Computing studio course for advanced undergraduate and graduate students.

Citadel Sponsors Redesign of Carnegie Mellon Computer Science Lab and Study Spaces

Reconfigured Spaces Help CMU Train Students To Work in Teams

by Byron Spice | Thursday, January 22, 2015

Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science has dedicated the new Citadel Teaching Commons — a lab and study space featuring collaborative and high-performance clusters that will help educate and train the next generation of computer scientists.

Andrew Moore, dean of the School of Computer Science, hosted the Jan. 27 event at which Joseph Squeri, Citadel's chief information officer, cut a ceremonial ribbon before chatting with students and faculty members.

Clarke Receives Honorary Degree From University of Crete

by Byron Spice | Tuesday, October 14, 2014

On Oct. 13, FORE Systems University Professor of Computer Science Edmund M. Clarke received an honorary doctorate from the University of Crete’s Department of Computer Science — the first honorary degree ever awarded by the department.

Sandholm Named Fellow by INFORMS

by Byron Spice | Sunday, October 5, 2014

The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS®), the leading professional association for analytics professionals, has named Computer Science Professor Tuomas Sandholm one of 12 new INFORMS Fellows.

He is one of two recipients from Carnegie Mellon University among the fellows being inducted this year.