News 2019

April 2019

Arulraj Receives SIGMOD Dissertation Award

Byron Spice

Joy Arulraj, a Computer Science Department alumnus who earned his Ph.D. in 2018, is the recipient of the Jim Gray Doctoral Dissertation Award of 2019, which recognizes the best dissertation in the field of databases for the previous year. It is presented by the Association for Computing Machinery’s Special Interest Group on the Management of Data (SIGMOD). Arulraj is an assistant professor of computer science at Georgia Institute of Technology. His doctoral research focused on the design and implementation of non-volatile memory database management systems. This work was conducted in collaboration with the Intel Science and Technology Center for Big Data, Microsoft Research, and Samsung Research. His findings have been published in a book, Non-Volatile Memory Database Management Systems, co-authored by his advisor, Andy Pavlo, assistant professor of computer science.    

Lorrie Cranor Named Andrew Carnegie Fellow

Joshua Quicksall and Caitlin Kizielewicz

Carnegie Mellon University faculty members Lorrie Cranor and Brian K. Kovak have been named to the 2019 Class of Andrew Carnegie Fellows by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, a philanthropic foundation that has supported the advancement of education and knowledge for more than a century. They are two of 32 distinguished scholars and writers selected from nearly 300 nominations. ''Andrew Carnegie believed in education and understood its influence on the progress of society and mankind. The Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program is an integral part of carrying out the mission he set for our organization,'' said Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation of New York. ''We salute this year’s class and all of the applicants for demonstrating the vitality of American higher education and scholarship.'' Cranor is director and Bosch Distinguished Professor in Security and Privacy Technologies of the CyLab Privacy and Security Institute, is the FORE Systems Professor of Computer Science and of Engineering and Public Policy and directs the CyLab Usable Privacy and Security (CUPS) Laboratory. Furthermore, she co-directs Carnegie Mellon's Privacy Engineering master's program and served as chief technologist at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2016. Having authored over 150 papers on privacy and security, Cranor’s work has championed usability as a key element to making modern technology more safe, secure, and privacy-aware. Her seminal book, ''Security and Usability,'' is widely regarded as a foundational work in the field. And the Symposium On Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS), which Cranor founded, is considered the preeminent conference on the topic. “This recognition by the Carnegie Corporation is very meaningful, not only on a personal level, but also in terms of the work ahead of us in privacy and security,” Cranor said. “Our lack of attention to the ways that humans interact with security and privacy tools has led to security vulnerabilities and public policies that fail to protect security and privacy. ''This gift will enable me to pursue further work on developing, validating, and documenting empirical methods for the study of security, privacy, and human behavior so that these methods might be more readily applied in evidence-based decision making by policy makers as well as within organizations.'' Kovak, an associate professor of economics and public policy at Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy, is an expert in immigration policy, international trade and labor markets. His proposal focused on emerging technologies and labor market disruptions. The project will develop new tools to identify the workers most likely to be negatively affected by such technologies and will evaluate a promising approach to supporting those workers. Katharine Ricke, who received her Ph.D. in engineering and public policy ata CMU in 2011 and is now an assistant professor of climate science and policy at the University of California, is also among the 2019 fellowship winners. Since 2015, the Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program has provided $32 million in grants to more than 160 fellows. The program supports high-caliber scholarship in the social sciences and humanities. Each of the 2019 fellowship recipients will receive up to $200,000 to support a research sabbatical that will allow recipients to devote time to studying and writing, addressing pressing issues and cultural transitions affecting individuals in the United States and around the world. ''I think of the fellows as an investment in our future,'' said Susan Hockfield, chair of the Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program jury and president emerita of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ''Speaking as a neuroscientist, they remind me that science and technology must be accompanied by a broader understanding of the human condition, history, economics and the many fields of study that form the social sciences and humanities.''

First-Years on Their First Year

Aisha Rashid (DC 2019)

A few months ago, we reached out to School of Computer Science first-year students as they finished their first semester at Carnegie Mellon University. With a full semester under their belts, these students shared how they started their CS journey, the challenges they faced when they arrived on campus, the memorable opportunities they took part in and experiences they shared, and their goals to make the most out of their time at CMU.Kellen Gibson"After an amazing recruiting trip with the swim team last October, I decided to apply early decision to Carnegie Mellon. I shadowed a student-athlete, EJ Eppinger (CS 2021), who is on the swim team, and sat in on Mathematical Sciences Teaching Professor John Mackey's 15-151 lecture. Amazed by the energy in the class, I found a unique community with CMU. The professors and students were so passionate and welcoming to me as a prospective student. The swim team, Delta Gamma and the Donner communities have all been incredibly welcoming and supportive with the transition to college."While I'm certainly being challenged, my classes have been really interesting and stimulating. I'm thankful for the passionate and caring TAs who go above and beyond their jobs to make sure I understand the material. After struggling a bit at the beginning of 15-151, Mathematical Foundations for Computer Science, I began to extensively use resources like office hours and supplemental instruction, and my class improvement was noticeable almost immediately. My favorite experience this year, though, was my 15-112 term project, a chatbot using GroupMe that incorporated APIs and basic language processing. It's something I'm especially proud of because it was my first time working on a multiweek project. It was awesome getting to use my final product to answer questions like 'When does El Gallo open?'"I hope to find my passion and to be able to delve into it by the time I graduate. I'd really like to take advantage of research opportunities before my senior year, because it's a great chance to be on the forefront of the field. I want to graduate feeling like I've challenged myself and learned as much as I could."Michael OBroin"My interest in computer science began around the beginning of high school, when my dad gave me a book about learning Java and I fell in love with the idea of how you could directly write out the steps to solve a problem. I knew that CS was what I wanted to do, and when I got here I jumped straight into my major. I was definitely nervous about the workload at CMU — just because I had been accepted didn't mean I was sure I could handle it — but on the other hand, I was very excited to come to a place full of people passionate about computer science like I was. And even when it's been difficult, I couldn't imagine doing anything else."The most interesting thing I've been involved with this semester was making the travel squad for varsity cross country and traveling with the team to conference meets, regionals and nationals. There are several other CS majors on the team, and they've been an amazing support system. It's been really special to be on a team where everyone is willing to put in the work we need to do well."Halfway through my first semester, I caught what I thought was a normal cold, and then over the next two weeks found out that it was bronchitis and then pneumonia. This was nearing the climax of our season, so I ended up having to juggle making up work with resting up for our important meets. I also needed an inhaler to run for the couple of weeks after recovering —sometimes those things just happen and you have to roll with the punches. My first semester taught me that I underestimated how hard I was capable of working. I didn't know how much I could actually do until I was forced to keep trying, even in the face of challenges."

SCS Ph.D. Students Named Hertz Graduate Fellows

Michael Henninger

The Fannie and John Hertz Foundation announced today that Carnegie Mellon University student Ben Eysenbach and incoming student Bailey Flanigan will receive 2019 Hertz Fellowships. Eysenbach and Flanigan are two of 11 recipients of the fellowship this year, chosen from more than 840 applicants. They will receive up to five years of academic funding, potentially amounting to $250,000, and the freedom to independently choose what they research. Eysenbach is a first-year Ph.D. student in the School of Computer Science's Machine Learning Department, where his work focuses on teaching computers how to make good decisions. He plans to study and design algorithms that allow computers to safely make decisions on behalf of humans, whether in robotics, healthcare or education. "I'm excited to be able to spend the next five years of my life working on difficult research problems with collaborators, unconstrained by funding obligations," Eysenbach said. "I don't take for granted how unique it is to be in a position where I am supported by The Hertz Foundation to spend my days learning to solve hard problems." Eysenbach started working on his Hertz Fellowship application last fall. Once he made it to the first round of interviews, he sought help preparing from CMU's Fellowships and Scholarships Office. There, Richelle Bernazzoli, assistant director of undergraduate research and national fellowships, helped him with formal mock interviews. "Our office maintains a relationship with the broader fellowships community in the U.S., and with a lot of individual foundations. We have extensive, collective experience about what makes for strong applications, and can give tailored feedback to students who go for these awards." Bernazzoli said she was impressed with Eysenbach. "Ben's great at taking cutting-edge topics in machine learning and translating them for different types of audiences," Bernazzoli said. "When you hear the kinds of things he's working on, it's incredibly impressive. It's exciting to see him represent Carnegie Mellon in this group of elite scholars that have been recognized by the Hertz Foundation." CMU has a long history with the Hertz Foundation, with over 50 CMU students and faculty earning fellowships. Shelley Anna received a bachelor's degree in physics from Carnegie Mellon in 1995, the same year she received a Hertz Fellowship. She's now a professor of chemical engineering in CMU's College of Engineering. "The spirit of the Hertz Foundation is really in line with the spirit of Carnegie Mellon," Anna said. "We have such a long history of creative, interdisciplinary work that pushes people to go beyond the status quo. In my mind, that goes hand in hand with what Hertz is looking for." Po-Shen Loh, an associate professor of mathematical sciences in the Mellon College of Science, received a Hertz Fellowship in 2004 and did his Ph.D. at Princeton. He is now an interviewer for the fellowship's selection process. "The Hertz Foundation looks for people who will have a very significant impact on the future of humankind," Loh said. "They seek the kind of people who will continue to pursue their intellectual curiosity, in order to drive the human race to a higher place." Flanigan will start her graduate work in the Computer Science Department in the fall. She chose CMU primarily because of its outstanding faculty and students. She intends to pursue theoretical computer science with the fellowship, and is particularly interested in the robustness and ethics of algorithms. "For me, research is a very social process," Flanigan said. "There's such a diverse group of faculty members at CMU who are so strong in their respective fields. I'm grateful for the flexibility I'll have from the Hertz Fellowship, because it will allow me to fully engage with and benefit from this rich academic community."

New Research Projects Will Close Opportunity Gap for Students

Byron Spice

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Chan Zuckerberg Institute are sponsoring a pair of separate but complementary research projects led by the Human-Computer Interaction Institute that combine human support and artificial intelligence-based tutors to improve math achievement, especially in schools serving black, Latinx, and underresourced students.The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), founded by pediatrician Priscilla Chan and her husband, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, has awarded $1.5 million for one study. The Gates Foundation, established by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda, is providing $1.9 million for the other.Lagging math achievement, the result of fewer quality learning opportunities for marginalized students, has been a persistent problem in underserved schools. This "opportunity gap" is critical because math increasingly is a gateway to high-paying 21st century careers, said Ken Koedinger, a professor of human-computer interaction and psychology at CMU and the principal investigator for both studies.The researchers, in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Urban Education and educators in local school districts, hope to close the gap by building the capacity of teachers, parents and mentors to focus on motivation and emotional well-being of students, while leveraging the adaptive problem sequencing capabilities of AI-based tutors developed at CMU."Engaging young people in successful, high-quality learning opportunities requires caring parents, mentors, teachers and peers. Cognitive tutors have been shown to also improve math achievement," Koedinger said. "In these projects, we combine the best characteristics of humans and technology to provide these caregivers with deeper insight into what leads students toward enhanced persistence and motivation, despite the obstacles they face."Psychological and Motivational Factors in Middle School MathVincent Aleven, professor in the Human-Computer Interaction Institute, is co-principal investigator for the Gates Foundation study, in which the researchers will work with Judith Harackiewicz, a professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Partnering with schools in the Greater Pittsburgh area affiliated with CMU's LearnLab, they will investigate whether combining proven motivation and learning activities yields much more than either alone. These activities include those known to increase student motivation by helping students discover the future value of what they are learning in coursework."We think we can get multiplier effects by addressing motivational and cognitive issues together," Koedinger explained.One innovation will be an app developed by CMU that will be akin to a "FitBit for learning," able to provide fast feedback to mentors and students on whether students are making good progress and, if not, whether and what kind of motivational support or content support is needed. New data analytic algorithms will make these distinctions possible and the app will provide on-the-job recommendations for teachers, mentors and tutors on best practices, informed by research on learning, motivation and urban education. By using the new app, these caregivers can work more efficiently by focusing their interventions where they are most needed and setting meaningful learning and practice goals for students.AI and Mentoring to Bridge Opportunity Gaps in Urban SchoolIn the CZI project, CMU researchers will partner with Pitt's Center for Urban Education (CUE) to develop effective intervention with mentors serving as tutors. With particular attention on underserved students, these projects will provide support for math students in local schools, including the Pittsburgh Public, Propel, Shaler and Elizabeth Forward school districts. Pilot studies will begin this spring, with the projects more fully implemented when the new school year begins in the fall.For the last year and a half, CUE has operated a program called the Heinz Fellows in several Hill District schools. The fellows come from a variety of backgrounds — former teachers, new college grads, people making a career pivot — and serve as mentors in the schools. For the CZI project, a new afterschool program providing supplemental support in math is planned for the University Preparatory at Margaret Milliones secondary magnet school."We believe that a positive relationship between a mentor and a mentee will help support students to be more engaged and more motivated to do math," said Kenny Donaldson, CUE associate director of strategic programming and initiatives. The Heinz Fellows have the advantage of having already established those relationships. Plans are to expand to two more Pittsburgh Public Schools in the fall.Somewhat different approaches will be employed in the other schools. In the Propel Schools, paraprofessionals will provide social-motivational support for students, while Shaler will focus on parental engagement and Elizabeth Forward will concentrate on teacher improvement.All of the school districts participate with CMU's LearnLab, which is directed by Koedinger. As part of CMU's Simon Initiative — a cross-disciplinary, learning-engineering project that aims to improve student outcomes — LearnLab works to enhance scientific understanding of learning and to support field-based research and development. AI-based cognitive tutors, pioneered at CMU, have been one of LearnLab's primary tools, enabling both personalized learning for students and the collection of information on how students learn."This CMU project has the potential to increase the confidence level of our students as they see their math skills improving. When students feel a sense of self-confidence, they're more likely to achieve at higher levels," said Tina Chekan, CEO and superintendent of Propel Schools. "This is also an investment in improving the quality of education that we provide, and that's something we're always interested in doing."

Zhou Named Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow

Susie Cribbs (DC 2000, 2006)

Helen Zhou, a Ph.D. student in Carnegie Mellon University's Machine Learning Department, has received a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans. Zhou is one of only 30 students to be named a 2019 fellow out of more than 1,700 applicants. Founded in 1997 by Hungarian immigrants Daisy M. and Paul Soros, the P.D. Soros Fellowship honors the achievements of continuing generations of immigrants to the United States. Selected for their potential to make significant contributions to U.S. society, culture or their academic field, the P.D. Soros fellows are all children of immigrants, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, green card holders or naturalized citizens. "The immigrant experience is a big part of my identity," said Zhou, who was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and moved with her family to Canton, Michigan, at age six. "When I was born, my parents had just started building a life here with nothing but my dad's graduate school stipend. Being a Canadian-born, Chinese-American has really shaped my perspectives on the world, and I am thankful for having grown up with a foot in both Eastern and Western cultures." Zhou earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science and electrical engineering from MIT, where she performed machine learning research at the MIT Media Lab and Clinical Machine Learning Group. Outside the lab, she served as a founding board member of the IEEE-MIT Undergraduate Research and Technology Conference, organizing chair for the Eta Kappa Nu tutoring service and teaching assistant to more than a thousand students. She also completed internships with Google and Amazon Search. This past fall, she joined CMU's Machine Learning Department as a Ph.D. student. The P.D. Soros Fellowship, which includes up to $90,000 in funding for graduate education, will support Zhou's research into problems at the intersection of machine learning and healthcare — including personalization, interpretability for human-in-the-loop learning and synthesizing heterogeneous data from multiple modalities. Through the lens of machine learning, Zhou hopes to develop trusted and accessible methods that will allow scientists to shed new light on poorly understood aspects of healthcare and medicine. "Helen's ambition, scientific ideas and commitment to the field of machine learning are truly impressive," said Brittany Allison, an assistant director in CMU's Fellowships and Scholarships Office. "Receiving the P.D. Soros Fellowship is a prestigious honor, and we expect to continue to see great accomplishments from Helen in the future!" Zhou noted that the P.D. Soros Fellowships prioritize a strong sense of community among fellowship recipients, which she appreciates. She joins a diverse community of past fellows, including former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and Fei-Fei Li, a leading AI researcher at Stanford University. "It's thrilling to see what these brilliant young minds from around the country and world are working on — genetics, fiction, computer science, law, medicine, music — these young New Americans will amaze you," said Craig Harwood, who directs the P.D. Fellowships program. "Paul and Daisy Soros fellows are all passionate about giving back to the country and remind us of the very best version of America." Zhou is Carnegie Mellon's third P.D. Soros fellow. She joins past fellows Ania Jaroszewicz (2016), who will earn a Ph.D. in behavioral decision research this year; and Wennie Tabib (2013), who completed a master's degree in robotics in 2014. Learn more about the P.D. Soros Fellowship on the organization's website.

MoBot Turns 25

Cara Gillotti (DC 2006)

Other Spring Carnival events might receive more hoopla. Buggy and Booth participants likely spend more time preparing for and working on them. But MObile roBOTs (commonly called "Mobot") enthusiasts don't seem to mind."Most people are focused on school and exams," said John Palmisano (CS 2004), a mechanical engineer who won the competition multiple times. "If people sleep the night before, it usually means they gave up."For the participants and crowds — yes, crowds — that line the sidewalk in front of Wean Hall where, for the past 25 years, the Mobot Slalom Race has taken place, it's an unmissable event. Neither rain, nor snow, nor high winds keep the Mobot faithful from watching these autonomous robots crawl along the wavy white-lined course in a quest to see which one clears its 14 gates first. Lucky for recent competitors, the walkway where the race occurs received a much-needed paving a year and a half ago."Prior to that it was a mess, with patches and discoloration that made using sensor-based technology challenging," said Catherine Copetas, assistant dean for Industrial Relations and director of special events.The track forks at the lower part of the course, called decision points, and the mobots need to choose the correct path if they're going to finish the race successfully. Mobots are judged on their ability to navigate sequentially through the gates, and each run is limited to four minutes. There are first-, second-, and third-place cash prizes awarded to undergraduates; an open class for alumni, staff and anyone who wants to participate; and the Ben Brown Judges' Choice Prize, for creativity, good show or anything else the judges want to recognize.The course record, set in 2009 in the Open Class division by former CMU researcher Michael Licitra and Jeff McMahill (CS 1994), made it through Gate 14 in 00:33.99. (You can watch it from both the human and the mobot perspective.)Mobot traces its roots to a Computer Science Department meeting in 1994, when professor and founding father of computer chess Hans Berliner (CS 1974) voiced his belief that the university should pay more attention to what students were doing. He really wanted to get them more excited about what they could do, especially in the relatively new field of robotics and especially autonomous robots.The ensuing theme after the meeting: why not have a competition?"I think he had the feeling that when Spring Carnival comes around, everyone talks about the buggy races. We should have something that's more on the science and engineering side that would let people get involved and didn't require a fraternity or other large organization," said Ben Brown, a Robotics Institute project scientist who has been involved with Mobot since the beginning. "So he came up with the idea of the Mobot Slalom Race."The idea was so well-received that Lockheed Martin has been a sponsor since day one, and Boeing for almost as long, according to Copetas, who noted that General Motors has also long been a sponsor. "Hans designed the logo, which is still used today," she said.A post-race debriefing known as the "15th Gate," held some days after the competition, allows Mobot participants to discuss what worked, what didn't and why."That's a great part about Carnegie Mellon," Copetas said. "It's not a big secret how you did something.""It's a different challenge today," Brown said. "There's software that takes away the challenge of doing the low-level electronics that a lot of the early ones required. Dan Bothell won the first competition, and I think he took some pride that his didn't have an onboard computer — it was all analog electronics."Through all the changes over the years, the students never fail to provide innovative solutions to the tricky problems that arise. And as one might expect, the look of mobots through the years has also run the gamut."There have been some very clunky ones, put a laptop on top of something and run it," Brown said. "There have been some interesting things that've happened when weather was bad. People would cover them up with boxes and things to keep the rain off. One was a fan-propeller-driven, swamp-boat thing, and there were a couple walking robots."One year, students — pointing out that there wasn't a "no mammal" rule — used tuna to train a mouse to run the race. Never having seen grass before, the mouse ran over to it at the earliest opportunity. "In a controlled environment, the mouse was very successful!" Copetas said. The event triggered the institution of an actual "no mammal" rule.Trained mice aside, the most remarkable aspect of Mobot may be its longevity. Despite advances in technology and robotics, it's still not an easy competition. "Students still have to work at it, 25 years later," Copetas said. "It's still a good idea."Here's to another 25 years.This year's Mobot Races will take place at noon on Friday, April 12, outside Wean Hall.

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