Spring 2018

Farnam Jahanian, the nationally recognized computer scientist, successful entrepreneur, senior public servant and respected leader in higher education, has been appointed as the 10th president of Carnegie Mellon University. The appointment is effective immediately, with a formal inauguration scheduled for fall 2018.

Jahanian holds a master's degree and a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Texas at Austin. He is a fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

He currently serves as chair of the National Research Council's Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB), sits on the executive committee of the Council on Competitiveness, and is a trustee of the Dietrich Foundation. He also is a board member of the Computing Research Association (CRA), the National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT), the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute, and the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, among others.

 James Bain was recently named ECE's new Associate Department Head for Academic Affairs, effective June 1, 2018. In his new role, Bain will extend his work with the Graduate Studies Committee to the entire student body and play a vital role in establishing ECE's long-term educational strategy.

Congratulations!

Peng Liu has been named the winner of the 2018 Award in Early Excellence in Physical Organic Chemistry, sponsored by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.  The award presentation will take place at the Reaction Mechanisms Conference, to be held at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, June 10-13, 2018, where he will receive the honorarium of $5000 and a plaque.

Congratulations!
 

Congratulations to our member, Judith Yang, for becoming the Microscopy Society of America (MSA) Fellow.  The MSA will induct Judith Yang, into its 2018 class of Fellows at its Annual Meeting in Baltimore from August 5-9, 2018.

Congratulations to our member, Judith Yang, for becoming the Member-at-Large for the Division of Materials Physics at American Physics Society.  Her term in this position is for three years and it officially begins after the 2018 March Meeting.

Jill E. Millstone has been selected to receive a 2018 Chancellor's Distinguished Research Award in the Junior Scholar category. Jill is recognized for her pioneering contributions in the area of synthesis and physical characterization of nanostructures, the quality of her scientific publications, the early recognition she has received from external organizations (which includes an Associate Editor position at ACS Nano) and for being an effective mentor to her graduate and post-doctoral trainees.

Congratulations Jill Millstone!

Geoff Hutchison is the 2018 Tina and David Bellet Excellence Awardee. The award recognizes his effectiveness and his innovations in teaching. Among many innovations Hutchinson developed Avagadro molecular editor; with that software, he designed projects hat allow Physical Chemistry students to perform quantum mechanical calculations to visualize results/concepts. 

PQI Members Sergey Frolov, David Pekker, Noa Marom, Michael Hatridge, Benjamin Hunt, and Hrvoje Petek featured on Pitt Website for their accomplisment on landing $4.8M award from National Science Foundation (NSF) for International Research and Education (PIRE) program.Sergey Frolov will be the Director of new PIRE.  Hrvoje Petek, Michael Hatridge and David Pekker are other PQI co-PIs for this project. The duration of the program is 5 years.