SCS News [More]
AI, Crowdsourcing Combine To Close "Analogy Gap"
Byron Spice Thursday August 10, 2017
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem devised a method enabling computers to mine databases of patents, inventions and research papers, identifying ideas that can be repurposed to solve new problems or create new products. Specifically, they developed a way for computers to find analogies — comparisons between sometimes disparate methods and problems that highlight underlying similarities.As anyone who enjoyed watching TV's MacGyver disarm a missile with a paperclip or staunch a sulfuric acid leak with a chocolate... SCS Students Captain Winning Teams at C2C Competition
Friday August 04, 2017
School of Computer Science students captained teams that finished first and second in the Cambridge2Cambridge (C2C) three-day cybersecurity competition that ended July 27 at the University of Cambridge.Robert Xiao, a Ph.D. student in the Human-Computer Interaction Institute, led the Unstoppables team, which won the £9,000 top prize, and won the £3,000 Leidos C2C Individual award as well. Carolina Zarate, a senior computer science major, captained the CrypticCrushers team, which took the second-place £4500 prize.C2C is organized jointly by the University of Cambridge and the Massachusetts... Improving Security Science Through Collaboration
Ann Lyon Ritchie Thursday August 03, 2017
Computer scientists need to collaborate with their counterparts in the natural and social sciences to advance cybersecurity research, according to a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. Carnegie Mellon University's Baruch Fischhoff co-chaired the Committee on Future Research Goals and Directions for Foundational Science in Cybersecurity, along with Peter Weinberger from Google. Roy Maxion, research professor in the School of Computer Science, was also a committee member.Online environments have become essential to both the public and private... CMU's PPP Team Notches Fourth DefCon Win
Daniel Tkacik Monday July 31, 2017
Carnegie Mellon University’s hacking team, the Plaid Parliament of Pwning or PPP, won its fourth World Series of Hacking title this weekend at the DefCon security conference in Las Vegas.With four titles under their belt, the team has more wins than any other team in the 21-year history of the international competition. The 10 current members of PPP include eight undergraduates from the School of Computer Science and one Ph.D. student in SCS’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute.''The problem-solving skills required to win these contests mimic those needed by governments and... Carnegie Mellon Method Enables Telescoping Devices That Bend and Twist
Byron Spice Thursday July 27, 2017
Carnegie Mellon University researchers have found a way to design telescoping structures that can bend and twist, enabling robots of various shapes to collapse themselves for transport or entering tiny spaces, and making possible robotic arms and claws that can reach over or around large obstacles.The researchers devised algorithms that can take a target shape that includes curves or twists and design a telescoping structure to match. They also created a design tool that enables even a novice to create complex, collapsible assemblies. The design possibilities range from something as practical... Graphics and Robotics Pioneer Receives Highest Honor in Computer Graphics
Barb Helfer Tuesday July 25, 2017
The Association for Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques (ACM SIGGRAPH) has named Jessica Hodgins, professor of computer science and robotics at Carnegie Mellon University, the 2017 recipient of its Steven Anson Coons Award for Outstanding Creative Contributions to Computer Graphics.Hodgins was selected as this year's recipient in recognition of her foundational work in character animation, her support and cultivation of emerging researchers, and her extensive volunteer service to the computer graphics community, She exemplifies the type... NY Times Examines How SCS Remade Pittsburgh
Byron Spice Tuesday July 25, 2017
What do Pittsburgh's "food boom," the establishment of Uber's Advanced Technologies Center and the return of Jean Yang to her hometown have in common? The School of Computer Science, says writer Steven Kurutz in the July 23 edition of The New York Times.Kurutz' Style section article, "Pittsburgh Gets a Tech Makeover," explains how SCS has helped change not only the economy of Pittsburgh, but also its culture – making the city more attractive to young, single people."While young, cool Pittsburgh may be a recent development, the research at Carnegie Mellon in the field of artificial... Dey To Lead UW Information School
Byron Spice Thursday July 13, 2017
Anind Dey, the Geschke Director of the Human-Computer Interaction Institute, has been named dean of the University of Washington's Information School.Dey, who joined the HCII in 2005 and was appointed director in 2014, will continue as director while a search committee finds his replacement. Jennifer Mankoff, a professor in the HCII and Dey's wife, also will be leaving Carnegie Mellon to join UW's Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering."We are incredibly sad to see them go," said Andrew Moore, dean of CMU's School of Computer Science. "We warmly wish them all the best, and have...