Electrical and Computer Engineering

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Student & Alumni Profiles

June 27, 2011

Parno Wins ACM 2010 Doctoral Dissertation Award

ECE alumnus Bryan Parno (E'2010) has won the 2010 Doctoral Dissertation Award from the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) for "resolving the tension between adequate security protections and the features and performance that users expect in a digitized world." Parno's thesis, "Trust Extension as a Mechanism for Secure Code Execution on Commodity Computers," leverages the trust users have in one device, such as a cellphone or custom USB device, to enable secure use of another computer or service without sacrificing performance or features. For example, this would allow a user to safely enter tax information into his or her computer, even if it were infected with malware, or to verify the security of a website before entrusting it with personal data. (Read more.)

April 21, 2011

Amini, DeBruhl Earn NDSEG Fellowships

Third-year Ph.D. student Shahriyar Amini and Bruce DeBruhl, a second-year Ph.D. student at Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley, have won National Defense Science and Engineering (NDSEG) Graduate Fellowships for their promising research in engineering and science. The highly competitive fellowship, sponsored by the Department of Defense, recognizes U.S. citizens and nationals who intend to pursue graduate study in one of 15 science and engineering disciplines. Selection is based on factors including the applicant's academic record, personal statement, publications, community service, job experience, recommendations and GRE scores. As NDSEG fellows, Amini and DeBruhl will each receive full tuition for three years (as well as any mandatory fees), a monthly stipend and up to $1,000 a year in medical insurance. (Read more.)

January 6, 2011

Al-Ajmi Wins Hubert Humphrey Fellowship

Khaled Al-Ajmi, who received his master's degree in ECE at Carnegie Mellon in 2001, has earned a Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship for 2010-2011. A part of the Fulbright exchange activity, the Humphrey Fellowship Program provides 10 months of non-degree academic study and related experiences in the United States for seasoned professionals from designated countries around the world. Fellows are selected based on their potential for leadership and commitment to public service in either the public or private sector. (Read more.)

November 18, 2010

Alumna Wins TechCrunch Hackathon

ECE alumna J'aime Ohm (E'10) relived her college days this fall when she pulled an all-nighter to defeat 450 competitors in September's TechCrunch Disrupt Hackathon in San Francisco. The hack marathon took place in conjunction with TechCrunch's web innovation conference, and fellow alum Frank Denbow (CS'08) told Ohm she could get free admission to the event if she participated. She took a shot and it paid off in a big way — not only did she take first place, but her creation has also morphed into WiseDame, an iPhone app that can alert loved ones of your whereabouts when you can't. Read all about Ohm's experience and what she's doing with WiseDame at www.cmu.edu/homepage/health/2010/fall/wisedame.shtml.

May 4, 2010

Student Teams Win Best Project Award

Two teams of students earned best project honors earlier this semester for capstone projects completed last fall in George Westinghouse Professor of ECE David Casasent's Digital Communications and Signal Processing course. In the class, groups of three students worked throughout the semester to identify a project of their own choosing and implemented it on real-time digital signal processing (DSP) hardware. The Best Project awards, judged and sponsored by DRS Signal Solutions Inc., recognize the best overall project developed during the semester. Last fall, students created projects so diverse and outstanding that two awards were presented. (Read More.)