Latest News

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.

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.

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. 

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.

Pausch Awarded Nextant Prize

The Virtual World Society will award its first Nextant Prize to the late Randy Pausch, a renowned Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist and virtual world innovator, on June 1 at the Augmented World Expo in Santa Clara, Calif. Pausch, who earned his Ph.D.

Carnegie Mellon Transparency Reports Make AI Decision-Making Accountable

Figuring Out Why the Computer Rejected Your Loan Application

by Byron Spice | Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Machine-learning algorithms increasingly make decisions about credit, medical diagnoses, personalized recommendations, advertising and job opportunities, among other things, but exactly how usually remains a mystery. Now, new measurement methods developed by Carnegie Mellon University researchers could provide important insights to this process.

Shun Receives ACM Doctoral Dissertation Award

by Byron Spice | Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Julian Shun, who received his Ph.D. from the Computer Science Department, is the winner of the Association for Computing Machinery's (ACM) 2015 Doctoral Dissertation Award for his work describing new approaches for designing and implementing scalable parallel programs.

Stephen Brookes Will Receive 2016 Gödel Prize

He and Peter W. O'Hearn Honored for Inventing Concurrent Separation Logic

by Byron Spice | Sunday, May 8, 2016

Stephen Brookes, professor of computer science, and Peter W. O'Hearn, engineering manager at Facebook and professor of computer science at University College London, will receive the 2016 Gödel Prize for their invention of concurrent separation logic (CSL), a major advance in the design and analysis of programs that can take advantage of multicore and multiprocessor systems.

Sandholm Receives Honorary Degree From University of Zurich

by Byron Spice | Monday, May 2, 2016

The University of Zurich conferred an honorary doctorate in economics on Tuomas Sandholm, professor of computer science, during ceremonies on April 30.

SCS Honors Faculty, Staff at Annual Founders' Day Celebration

by Susie Cribbs | Tuesday, April 12, 2016

The School of Computer Science paid tribute to faculty and staff at its annual Founders' Day celebration on Thursday, April 7. Founders' Day honors members of the SCS community whose work best exemplifies the tradition of excellence established by Allen Newell (TPR’57), Herbert A. Simon (H’90) and Alan Perlis (S’42) — the fathers of computer science at Carnegie Mellon.

Manuela Veloso Named Head of Machine Learning Department

Noted for Leadership in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics

by Byron Spice | Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Manuela Veloso, a computer scientist renowned for her work in artificial intelligence and robotics, is the new head of Carnegie Mellon University's Machine Learning Department, Andrew Moore, dean of the School of Computer Science, announced today.

She succeeds Tom Mitchell, E. Fredkin University Professor and the founding head of the Machine Learning Department (MLD), who remains a member of the faculty.

From Teacher to Leader: One Alumna is Leading CS Efforts in NYC

by Ann Lyon Ritchie | Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Computer science needs K-12 educators, especially ones like Leigh Ann DeLyser (CS 2010, 2014), a former high school teacher and now director of education and research for CSNYC - NYC Foundation for Computer Science Education.

Carbonell Wins Okawa Prize

by Susie Cribbs | Monday, February 29, 2016

Language Technologies Institute Director and Allen Newell Professor of Computer Science Jaime Carbonell will accept the 2015 Okawa Prize this week for "outstanding contributions to research in language technologies, machine learning and computational biology in the field of artificial intelligence."

Carnegie Mellon, Stanford Researchers Devise Method To Share Password Data Safely

Yahoo! Releases Password Statistics of 70 Million Users For Cybersecurity Studies

by Byron Spice | Sunday, February 21, 2016

An unfortunate reality for cybersecurity researchers is that real-world data for their research too often comes via a security breach. Now computer scientists have devised a way to let organizations share statistics about their users' passwords without putting those same customers at risk of being hacked.

Carnegie Mellon Pokerbot Extends Hot Streak at Computer Poker Contest

Program Wins Total Bankroll Category in Heads-Up, No-Limit Texas Hold'Em

by Byron Spice | Tuesday, February 16, 2016

A computer poker program called Baby Tartanian8 continued Carnegie Mellon's hot streak at the Annual Computer Poker Competition, taking first place in the total bankroll category and third place in the bankroll instant run-off category in the Heads-Up, No-Limit Texas Hold'em game.