Akhbar Spring 2012

A SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTIONComputational Biology major will prepare the next generation of researchersPAGE 16

CAMPUS CONVERSATIONStudents discuss the impact of climate change on food security

PAGE 28

ARABIC MADE EASYAraboh.com gets entertaining books in Arabic to children

PAGE 22

Carnegie Mellon University is now offering its top-ranked

undergraduate degrees in biological sciences and computational

biology in Qatar.

Our students tackle some of the most important scientific problems

from fresh angles using innovative, interdisciplinary approaches.

Choosing Carnegie Mellon for science means more than studying

science – it means breaking the boundaries through hands-on

research experiences that advance what we know.

These programs are offered in collaboration with Weill Cornell

Medical College in Qatar.

Learn more and apply at www.qatar.cmu.edu

Don’t just study science. Create new knowledge.

Bio log ica l Sc iences | Bus iness Admin is t ra t ion | Computat iona l B io logy | Computer Sc ience | In fo rmat ion Systems

Page F E A T U R E S

16 AScientificRevolution

Carnegie Mellon Qatar’s undergraduate major in Computational Biology will prepare the next

generation of researchers.

22 Arabic Made Easy

Araboh.com aims to get “entertaining, engaging, and practical” books in Arabic to children.

28 ACampusConversation

Carnegie Mellon organizes dialogue on the impact of climate change on food security.

34 He said, she said, the PC said

Computer science researchers focus on human language technologies.

38 GrowingMovember

Carnegie Mellon event raises money for cancer research and education.

D E P A R T M E N T S

02 From the Dean

Reflections from dean Ilker Baybars.

03 Campus Connection

Read about what’s been happening on campus.

42 Spotlight on on Biological Sciences

Students simulate disease outbreak in biological sciences outreach program.

45 Spotlight on Business Administration

Learn about Carnegie Mellon Qatar’s management game.

46 Spotlight on Computer Science

Students explore computer science at CS4Qatar for Women event.

47 Spotlight on Information Systems

Ibtikar challenges students to use future technologies to share Qatar’s history and heritage.

48 FocusonResearch

Computer Science students win Annual Research Forum award.

50 Pittsburgh Connection

Qatar students celebrate Carnegie Mellon’s past and future.

51 In Touch with Alumni

Class Notes

Stay connected with our community.

W i n t e r 2 0 1 1 / S p r i n g 2 0 1 2akhbarM A G A Z I N E

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Bio log ica l Sc iences | Bus iness Admin is t ra t ion | Computat iona l B io logy | Computer Sc ience | In fo rmat ion Systems

akhbarأخبارA publication of Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar

A member of Qatar FoundationP.O. Box 24866 | Doha, Qatar

www.qatar.cmu.edu

Deanİlker Baybars, Ph.D.

Marketing&PublicRelationsDepartmentDirector

D. Murry Evans

AssistantDirector(SpecialEvents)Kara Nesimiuk

Departmental CoordinatorMarissa Edulan

ManagerofExternalRelationsFeras Villanueva

Graphic DesignerSam Abraham

Web ManagerStephen MacNeil

Publications ManagerSarah Nightingale

Editorial BoardChairperson

Dudley Reynolds, Ph.D.

MembersJill Duffy; Tom Emerson, Ph.D.;

Khaled Harras, Ph.D.; Selma Limam Mansar, Ph.D.;

Robert Mendelson

Writer Sarah Nightingale

Editor Sarah Nightingale

PhotographsKhalid Ismail, Adrian Haddad,

Stephen MacNeil

Layout and DesignSam Abraham

MissionAkhbaristheofficialpublicationof

CarnegieMellonUniversityinQatar.Themissionof the magazine is to share the interesting and innovativestoriesthathighlighttheuniversityand

itsroleintheGulfRegionandtheworld.

For editorial inquires or reprints, contact the Marketing&PublicRelationsDepartment

at +974 4454 8503.

Articles and photographs contained in this publication are subject to copyright protection. No part of this publication maybereproduced,storedinanyretrievalsystemortransmitted in any form or by any means without prior

writtenpermissionoftheuniversity.

2C A R N E G I E M E L L O N U N I V E R S I T Y I N Q A T A R

SSince becoming dean in

August, I have enjoyed meeting

our community, reviewing our

programs, and familiarizing myself with

our research and outreach activities.

I’ve learned that Carnegie Mellon Qatar is

a unique and dynamic place.

Our admissions team did a wonderful job

in recruiting this year’s class, which comprises more than 100 students and 41

Qatari Nationals. This brings the number of full-time undergraduates to 335,

including six in our new biological sciences program.

Carnegie Mellon Qatar students are hardworking, ambitious, and the best

ambassadors for our university. They’ve represented us on the Pittsburgh

campus; through overseas service learning trips; and as mentors in local

outreach programs. Two of our students’ research projects earned them

recognition and funding at Qatar Foundation’s Annual Research Forum.

Our students are also building traditions. As a former soccer player, I was

especially proud of our football team when they took first place in the

Education City Football Tournament. As someone who spent many years on

the Pittsburgh campus, I was also pleased to see Carnival - a main campus

tradition - come to Qatar. Our students have committed to growing this event

and creating a homecoming for our alumni. I have no doubt they’ll succeed.

Our faculty and staff are excellent. With the support of her Highness Sheikha

Moza Bint Nasser and Qatar Foundation, they are constantly striving to find

new and innovative ways to contribute to education, research and community

development in Qatar.

I am proud to be part of Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar and excited

about our future.

My best wishes to you all,

Ilker BaybarsDean

ASD PLACES SECOND IN INTERNATIONAL ROBOTICS CHAMPIONSHIPA team of local high school students put the spotlight on

Doha when they finished second in the 2011 International

Botball Tournament.

The eight-person team, from the American School of Doha

(ASD), competed against 63 teams from the U.S., Austria

and Poland. The competition took place July 9-13 in Orange

County, California.

“The dedication that I saw in the students around me was

spectacular. It made me realize how far we had truly gotten,”

said Maytha Nassor, who was part of the ASD team.

The group qualified by winning the regional competition

held at Carnegie Mellon last spring. This is the fourth year

Carnegie Mellon Qatar has sent the regional winners to

the international competition, which takes place during the

annual Global Conference on Educational Robotics.

Botball is a team-oriented robotics competition for middle

and high school students. The program gives students the skills

they need to design, build and program autonomous robots

while encouraging teamwork, innovation and creativity.

“Not only did we compete using the robots we had put

together, but we also learned a lot about the growing use of

robots,” Nassor said.


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STUDENTS WORK ON TECH PROJECTS IN URUGUAYInternships are often about earning some cash or getting

your foot on the corporate ladder. Last summer, though, two

Carnegie Mellon Qatar students used their internships as a

way to help teachers and students in Uruguay.

Asma Hamid, an information systems major, and Afnan

Fahim, a computer science major, teamed up with five

Carnegie Mellon Pittsburgh students to participate in

the Innovative Student Technology ExPerience (iSTEP)

internship program.

The group worked with the Administración Nacional

de Educación Pública (ANEP; National Administration of

Public Education) in Montevideo, Uruguay, developing

three English literacy technology tools for use by Uruguayan

students and their teachers.

Based in Doha, Asma provided support across all three

projects. Afnan, who was based in Montevideo, was the

technical lead for one of the projects.

“My time in Uruguay proved to be an excellent

experience, professionally and more importantly, culturally.

The internship provided me with a great experience in

understanding how material we learn in the classroom can

be directly applied to improve literacy in any other part of

the world,” Afnan said.

Organized by the TechBridgeWorld research group

at Carnegie Mellon, iSTEP allows students to apply

their knowledge to real world challenges in developing

communities. This year, iSTEP participants will travel to

Ghana.

WELCOMING THE CLASS OF 2015 More than 100 students joined Carnegie Mellon Qatar last

fall, including 41 Qatari nationals – the highest number in

university history.

“The momentum continues to build for Carnegie Mellon

Qatar and Education City,” said Jarrod Mock, director of

admission. “We were fortunate to receive a record number of

applicants, including prospective students from 65 nations.”

Fall 2011 enrollment brought the total number of full-time

undergraduates to 335, comprising 52 percent women and

48 percent men from 39 countries. Of those, 181 students are

majoring in business administration, 69 in computer science

and 79 in information systems. Six transfer students have also

started in the new biological sciences program. In addition

to full-time students, 63 students from other Education City

institutions cross-registered for classes at Carnegie Mellon in

the fall, for a total of 398 students. Cross registration enriches

students’ academic experiences and reflects the ongoing

collaboration between Education City universities.

Speaking at a Sept. 4 Convocation, Dean Ilker Baybars

advised the new students to get to know faculty and staff.

“We are all here to help you succeed,” he said.

C A R N E G I E M E L L O N U N I V E R S I T Y I N Q A T A R

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TESOL CONFERENCE IS NATIONAL CONVENTION CENTER’S FIRST EVENT Encouraging people to learn English is a strategic goal for

Qatar and many countries, but learning a second language

shouldn’t mean losing Arabic.

Implementing such a strategy was discussed at the TESOL

International Association’s “Putting Research into Practice”

conference. The three-day conference was organized by

Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc.

(TESOL), and drew experts from around the region and

across the world.

“At Carnegie Mellon we feel it is extremely important to the

success of our university and Education City that our teachers

W W W . Q A T A R . C M U . E D U

الترحيب بدفعة سنة 2015

انضم ما يزيد عن 100 طالب خالل موسم الخريف املايض إىل أرسة كارنيجي

ميلون يف قطر, كام تضم هذه الدفعة 41 طالبا قطريا و هو أكرب عدد من

القطريني يف تاريخ الجامعة.

بهذه املناسبة رصح جارود موك, مدير قسم القبول بالجامعة: »مازالت تتعزز

ينا قوة كارنيجي ميلون يف قطر و املدينة التعليمية. حيث أننا محظوظون لتلق

عددا قياسيا من املتقدمني بالطلبات مبا يف ذلك طلبات من 65 دولة«

أصبح عدد الطالب اآلن 335 طالبا بعد انضامم الدفعة الجديدة خالل فصل

الخريف, كام أن نسبة الطالبات هي 52% و نسبة الطالب هي 48% من 39

ا بالنسبة للتخصصات, فنجد أن 181 طالبا منهم يتابعون دولة مختلفة. أم

دراستهم بتخصص إدارة األعامل, 69 بتخصص علوم الحاسوب و 79 بتخصص

أنظمة املعلومات. كام أن ستة طالب انتقلوا مؤخرا إىل كارنيجي ميلون و

ص العلوم البيولوجية الجديد. باإلضافة إىل الطالب يتابعون دراستهم بتخص

ذوي الدوام الكامل, فقد انخرط 63 طالبا من جامعات أخرى باملدينة

التعليمية بدروس تقدمها كارنيجي ميلون يف قطر خالل موسم الخريف, مام

يرفع مجموع عدد الطالب إىل 398 طالبا. من املمكن للطالب بجامعات املدينة

التعليمية التسجيل و متابعة الدروس يف أية جامعة باملدينة التعليمية, و هذا

ضمن برنامج يسعى إىل إثراء التجربة األكادميية للطالب و يعكس التعاون

الدائم بني هذه الجامعات.

خالل حفل الرتحيب بالطالب الجدد الذي متت إقامته يف الرابع من سبتمرب,

نصح عميد الجامعة إلكر بايربز الطالب بالتعرف عىل األساتذة و املوظفني, و

أضاف قائال : »نحن هنا من أجل مساعدتكم عىل النجاح.«

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understand why certain teaching practices work in some

situations and different practices work in others,” said Dudley

Reynolds, professor of English at Carnegie Mellon Qatar and

the conference chair.

Reynolds was one of four Carnegie Mellon Qatar

professors who presented at the conference, which was

the inaugural event at Qatar Foundation’s state-of-the-art

National Convention Centre.

TARTANS SHOW OFF THEIR TALENTS

Carnegie Mellon students don’t just shine in the classroom;

they also light up on stage. Students showcased their singing,

dancing and choreography skills during October’s “Tartans

Got Talent” event, which was organized by the Division of

Student Affairs to welcome new faces to campus.

MCs Zaid Haque and Syed Zuhair got the crowd warmed

up and introduced the evening’s 10 performances. Carnegie

Mellon discovered its newest community members — the

first year students — have a lot to offer.

Ryn Phelps recited an entire monologue from Shakespeare’s

“Romeo and Juliet,” while Sakib Mahmoud played his guitar

and sang “Wild World” by Cat Stevens. Another freshman,

Francine Dinglasan, sang Adele’s hit “Someone Like You,” and

new international students Noor-ul-Huda Admaney, Tanzeel

Huda, Zeeshan Hanif, and Hayyan Rizvi danced to their favorite

Desi songs.

Not to be outdone, returning students, faculty and staff

joined in – proving they’re also worthy of the spotlight.


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MAKING THECONNECTION When Farah Foustok applied for the MBA program at Imperial

College, London, the university told her the course was

already full.

She took that as a challenge.

“I just kept calling and calling, until finally they said ‘you

can come if you stop calling us’,” said Foustok, who is CEO

of ING Investment Management in the Middle East.

At a Nov. 15 “Making the Connection” lecture, Foustok

encouraged students to be persistent, as well as team players

and good listeners. Students asked Foustok what she looks

for in her employees, how she juggles her career and family

life, and about internship opportunities at ING.

Foustok’s talk exemplifies the information on tap to students

attending the Making the Connection series. Organized by

the Office of Professional Development, the program brings

to campus a diverse range of industry leaders to speak with

students about their organizations, their careers, and to share

their insights into business.

“It is important for Carnegie Mellon University to ensure

our students are exposed to a realistic picture of professional

life after college,” said Khadra Dualeh, director of the

Office of Professional Development. “We invite corporate

leaders to educate and enlighten our students by helping

them understand the decisions they make about courses

and internships and the impact it will have on their career

development.”

The fall series kicked off with a presentation by

Nasser Marafih, CEO of Qtel Group, who talked about Qtel’s

growth and development. In his Oct. 18 talk, Marafih advised

students to follow their dreams and choose careers in which

they could make a difference. In other lectures, Yacine

Messaoui, manager of IT and Digital Media at Al Jazeera,

talked about technology that enabled the network’s coverage

of the Arab Spring, and Vicki Horton, a recruiter for Citi Bank

Group, highlighted internship and career opportunities in

Western Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

Carnegie Mellon’s “Making the Connection Lecture Series”

was launched in 2005 and has hosted renowned experts

in various fields and industries, including banking and

finance, information technology, and oil and gas. The series

is focused on helping Qatar realize its National Vision 2030,

by developing students to contribute to a knowledge-based

economy.


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BRAIN BOWLCarnegie Mellon Qatar students aren’t just smart – they’re

also modest!

After beating out the competition at Brain Bowl, the winning

team gave props to the faculty member in their group. “I

think our team won because professor (Ian) Lacey performed

exceptionally well,” joked business administration student

Narcis Jafarian.

Launched in the summer of 2008, Brain Bowl is an academic

trivia quiz that takes place in a light-hearted atmosphere. Four

teams, “Andrew Carnegie’s Beard,” “Here for the Beer,” “Meet

Your Makers” and “Strange Brains,” competed against each

other for Carnegie Mellon prizes. For the first year, students

had to include a member of the faculty or staff on their team.

Congratulations to members of “Here for the Beer,” who

took first place (but didn’t find any beer, of course!). The

team members were Narcis; information systems student

Abhay Joseph Valiyaveettil; computer science student Rami

Ghassan Al Rihawi; and Ian Lacey, an information systems

professor.

ON THE CASEPatrick Steinhagen didn’t sleep much that night.

His brain was in gear as he contemplated the public’s

dwindling interest in classical music. “How can orchestras

and other organizations weather their financial troubles?”

he pondered late into the night.

This wasn’t something Steinhagen worried about often. He

was tackling the problem as one of three Carnegie Mellon

Qatar students competing in the Tepper Undergraduate

Business Case Competition in Pittsburgh. The students had

about 24 hours to identify challenges faced by the Pittsburgh

Symphony Orchestra and recommend a business plan that

could help it get out of debt and stay in the black.

Eight competing teams, three of which included a Qatar

student, were given the case at noon; charged with bringing

back their ideas the next morning. Also forfeiting a night’s

sleep were Edmond Abi Saleh and Houssain El Marabti,

who were selected with Steinhagen to represent the Qatar

campus.

Asked “Will the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Survive –

and How?,” the students used news articles, tax returns and

their own research to identify current challenges faced by the

orchestra, as well as future threats.

The next day, Steinhagen and his teammates pitched their

ideas to a panel of judges – a presentation that qualified them

for the final. A few hours later, they were named the winners in

front of an audience of about 70 students, parents and faculty

members.

“Our solution focused on the problem of an aging

demographic of symphony fans and a declining interest in

classical music,” Steinhargen explained. “One of the things

we suggested was the implementation of a childcare center,


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allowing children to discover instruments and classical

music at a young age, as well as allowing parents to visit the

symphony.”

The group also suggested collaborations with artists from

other genres – including Hip Hop – and a legacy-gifting

program to boost financial contributions.

Case competitions helps students hone their problem-

solving, teamwork and presentation skills, said Patrick

McGinnis, teaching professor of business.

“The richness of detail enables students to begin making

real business decisions within the classroom,” he said.

Based on their performances, Steinhagen and Abi Saleh

were chosen to join a four-person team representing Carnegie

Mellon at the McDonaugh-Hilltop Business Strategy Challenge,

which took place in February at Georgetown University in

Washington, DC.

SIMULATING SURGERYWith a few last snips, Angela Brunstein peels the diseased

gall bladder from her patient, removing it through a small

incision in the abdomen.

Brunstein has never been to medical school, nor was she

working on a real person.

The Carnegie Mellon Qatar assistant professor of

psychology was demonstrating a surgical simulator for

minimally invasive – or laparoscopic – surgery. Using wand-

like sticks that represent surgical tools, her actions are

translated to a computer screen displaying an image of her

patient’s body.

Brunstein and her colleagues have been investigating how

the simulation technology can be used to educate medical

students as they learn the tricky operation. The study is

supported by an Undergraduate Research Experience

Program (UREP) grant from the Qatar National Research

Fund (QNRF), which was awarded to Brunstein and Bakr

Noor, vice chair of surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College

in Qatar. Anam Waheed, a Texas A&M University at Qatar

student who took Brunstein’s psychology course, is also

working on the project, which uses simulators at the Qatar

Robotic Surgery Center.

By dividing research subjects into two groups, the team

explored whether medical students would benefit from

mentoring beyond the simulator’s simple instructions. While

simulators provide safe, convenient and animal-free training,

there is little data on when and how supplemental instructions

should be provided.

The results suggest a combination of the simulator and a

teacher work best.

“While the control group were able to complete a

simulated procedure more quickly, they had mixed outcomes

– they might receive full score for one case and kill the next

patient,” Brunstein said. “The mentored group performed

slower, but demonstrated better routines.”

The researchers plan to develop tutoring software that

mimics a human mentor.

CARNIVAL TIMEEver wished you could see one of your professors dropped

like a hot rock into a tank of water?

The faculty dunk tank was just one of the highlights of the

first annual Tartan Carnival, which took place at Nov. 16

outside the Carnegie Mellon building.


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Organized by Student Majlis, Qatar’s debut carnival

— dubbed the Tarnival — was inspired by the Pittsburgh

campus’s Spring Carnival – the biggest event of the year for

students and a reunion opportunity for alumni.

Enjoying the cool weather, students, faculty, staff and

alumni gathered in the green spine for games organized

by students clubs, live entertainment, and party food like

shawerma, popcorn and cotton candy.

Also popular was a team-oriented water balloon fight and

a photo booth stocked with hats and other props. Students

collected tokens for participating in the festivities, which

they cashed in for Carnegie Mellon prizes.

“I love how interactive the carnival was and how creative

the clubs were, and I exceptionally enjoyed the dunk tank,”

said Firas Bata, a junior in business administration.


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SHELL IN QATAR DONATES BOOK COLLECTIONDubbed by some as “the Bible of the oil industry,” Daniel

Yergin’s The Prize is one of 40 new books Carnegie Mellon

Qatar students can stick their noses into, thanks to a

donation from Shell in Qatar.

The oil and gas industry collection was presented to

the library by Saad Al Matawi, a Carnegie Mellon Qatar

alumnus and Shell employee.

Al Matawi is part of Shell’s Campus Ambassador program

— an initiative that aims to develop partnerships with local

universities.

“We hope that this initial donation of books will help raise

the students’ awareness on Qatar’s key industry; the energy

sector,” said Ludolf Luehmann, information management

and technology manager at Shell and the team lead of the

Carnegie Mellon University Campus Ambassador program.

The initiative highlights the important relationship

between education and the energy sector, said Robert

Monroe, associate dean at Carnegie Mellon Qatar.

“These books will encourage students, especially those

who are interested in working at Shell, to broaden their

research and improve their knowledge of the oil and gas

industry,” Monroe said.

Carnegie Mellon and Shell have been close partners

over the years. Shell has sponsored the Botball and Ibtikar

outreach programs, and participated in the Making the

Connection professional development program.

GSDP AND CMU TO COLLABORATE THROUGH RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONThe General Secretariat for Development Planning (GSDP) and

Carnegie Mellon Qatar are teaming up to enhance future their

efforts in scientific research, capacity building and information

systems. The two organizations signed a Memorandum of

Understanding (MoU) agreement in December at the GSDP

premises in Doha. The ceremony was attended by high-ranking

officials, department heads and staff from the two organizations.

His Excellency Saleh bin Mohammed Al Nabit, GSDP Secretary

General, and Ilker Baybars, dean of Carnegie Mellon Qatar, signed

the MoU, which aims to develop a framework of cooperation

and facilitate the exchange of information, consultancy projects,

research and regulatory efforts.

The two organizations will explore the possibility of

collaboration to offer joint solutions in the areas of computing,

advanced information system services, and education and

training. The organizations will share intellectual capital and

expertise towards accelerating growth.

Al Nabit highlighted the cooperation as a progressive

milestone for GSDP and CMU in improving and advancing

knowledge in strategic studies and education and training, as

well as in achieving the two organizations’ mutual goals.

Baybars praised the vision of His Highness the Emir, Sheikh

Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, and Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint

Nasser, chairperson of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science

and Community Development, to support education in Qatar.

“Carnegie Mellon is committed to preparing future

generations to participate in the implementation of Qatar

National Vision 2030 through its four pillars of human

development, economic development, social development and

environmental development,” Baybars said.

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TARTANS TAKE THE TROPHYCheered on by the crowd, the Tartans hoisted their trophy

after being named champions in the Education City Football

Tournament.

It wasn’t exactly a nail-biter, though.

Weeks before their final game, the team knew they’d

clinched the title. They’d won the first seven games in a 10-

game league.

The games are sponsored by Education City’s Sports and

Recreation Department. Each institution can enter a team in

the fall tournament, including the Academic Bridge Program

and the Faculty of Islamic Studies.

In recent years, the men played well, but couldn’t quite

beat the competition, said Mohamed Hussain, team co-

captain and the tournament’s MVP.

“This year, we combined the talent with mental strength,

confidence and determination, which enabled us to win

the tournament by a clear margin,” said Hussain, who is

majoring in business administration.

The Tartans finished the league with seven wins, one

loss and two ties — a result that reflects a team effort, said

Andreas Karatsolis, assistant professor of English and the

team’s coach.

“It takes more than just individual talent for a team to be

successful, and this group of students has shown that they

are much more than the sum of its parts.”

The men are preparing for spring semester’s Ministry of

Interior Indoor Tournament, where they’ll face teams from

Education City, Qatar University, College of the North

Atlantic, and Stenden University.

They’ll once again look to their fans, Hussain said.

“It is the supporters that make us give our best on the field

and boost our motivation. We do not play for ourselves, we

play for the university.”


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Computational biologists at Carnegie Mellon created this image of the Human Immunodefi-ciency Virus (HIV) binding to an immune cell. By understanding this interaction, scientists can look for new ways to prevent infectious diseases. From a study by Narges Sharif Razavian, Hetunandan Kamisetty, and Christopher J. Langmead.


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CARNEGIE MELLON QATAR’S UNDERGRADUATE MAJOR IN COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY WILL PREPARE THE NEXT GENERATION OF RESEARCHERS

A SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION


When you ask kids what they want to be when they

grow up, lots say doctors, pilots or athletes.

Not too many say they want to be computational

biologists.

But this exciting field is redefining how scientists solve

problems in biology — and there’s no better place to learn

about it than Carnegie Mellon. In 1989, Carnegie Mellon

became the first American university to offer a bachelor’s

in computational biology. The internationally-recognized

major is now offered in Qatar, making it one of only two such

programs in the Middle East.

Computational biology — the field that uses computers

to solve biological problems — emerged when scientists

began generating enormous data sets about our genetic

make-up, the way our cells work, and other important areas

of biology.

Take genomics — the study of our genes — for example. A

decade ago, when scientists finished sequencing the human

genome, they’d mapped out three billion chemical units that

are the blueprint for life. (That’s enough information to fill

about three gigabytes of computer data storage space.)

But that was only the beginning, and scientists are still

in the dark about the purpose and function of many genes

within our DNA code. Now they’re delving deeper into our

genome to discover how genes coordinate growth, keep us

alive, and go wrong when we get sick.

With so many chemical units and so many patterns locked

inside our DNA, scientists are again turning to computers.

“Computational biology tries to answer questions in

terms of the underlying biological mechanisms, rather than

just keeping track of the data,” said Robert Murphy, head of

Computational Biology at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh. “It

allows you to build models that help describe a particular

system.”

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• The computational biology program is an internationally-

recognized major for students who want to solve biological and

biomedical problems using mathematical and computational

methods.

• This degree is offered jointly by the School of Computer Science

(Computational Biology) and the Mellon College of Science (Bio-

logical Sciences). The program is also a collaborative effort with

Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar.

• The program is ideal for motivated students who are interested in

a field that has become an essential element in modern biologi-

cal and biomedical research.

Computational Biology

at Carnegie Mellon

Qatar

A computer-generated model of a human cell that is commonly used in cancer research. These kinds of models can be used to compare cell patterns in the presence and absence of potential drugs. The model was built by Tao Peng and Robert F. Murphy.

While computational tools are applied to many fields —

including climatology, chemistry and economics — the sheer

complexity of biological systems make them particularly

well suited to this kind of analysis.

A baby’s brain, for example, contains as many neurons

as stars in the Milky Way. (And that’s just one type of cell in

one part of our body.) Even with all those brain cells, scientists

would find it “virtually impossible” to fully understand complex

systems without computational methods, Murphy said.

Biological problems also present some of the most

rewarding challenges, as they help us understand diseases

and look for new treatments. Some computational biologists,

for example, look at how proteins fold into their functional,

three-dimensional structures. Alzheimer’s Disease is just one

disorder thought to occur when this process goes awry.

Other computational biologists are studying molecules

used by our cells as markers or messengers. Amy Li, an

undergraduate student on the Pittsburgh campus who is

working in the research group of Christopher Langmead,

helped use a computational method called machine

learning to study markers that might predict a person’s risk

for pancreatic cancer.

Li enjoys the complexity of both fields, as well as the

advantages of being in a relatively small program.

“Not a lot of people who enjoy biology have a similar

passion for computer science and not a lot of computer

science majors enjoy taking biology courses. I personally love

both fields because I find that biology has a lot of practical

importance and programming is fun and challenging,” Li

said.

Murphy said seniors are highly sought-after by companies

and graduate schools, and a degree in computational biology

can be a good foundation for medical school.

Li plans to pursue a doctorate, she said. “There are a lot of

materials in computational biology that I simply don’t have

time to learn during my undergraduate career, since it’s such

a broad field. I’m definitely interested in learning more.”



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Kenneth Hovis, assistant teaching professor of biology, works with students on the Qatar campus. Students majoring in computational biology will take classes and labs in biological sciences, as well as classes in computer science and computational biology.

Students may need to take some classes at Carnegie Mellon University’s main campus in Pittsburgh, USA to fulfill the degree requirements for the bachelor’s of science degree in Computational Biology.


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تطرح املشاكل البيولوجية أيضا بعض أكرث التحديات نفعا، فهي تساعدنا عىل فهم

األمراض والبحث عن عالجات جديدة. وقال موريف: بعض علامء البيولوجيا الحاسوبية

الربوتينات يف هياكل وظيفية ثالثية األبعاد. ويعتقد أن مرض يدرسون كيفية تشكل

الزهامير أحد مناذج االضطراب الناجم عن حدوث اختالل يف هذه العملية.

البيولوجيا الحاسوبية يدرسون الجزيئات التي تستخدمها خاليانا علامء آخرون يف

كعالمات أو رسل. ساهمت إميي يل – وهي طالبة يف برنامج البكالورويس يف بيتسربغ،

تعمل يف مجموعة كريستوفر النغميد البحثية – يف استخدام وسيلة حاسوبية تسمى

التعلم اآليل لدراسة العالمات التي قد تنبئ باحتامل تعرض شخص ما لخطر اإلصابة

برسطان البنكرياس.

وتستمتع يل بالتعقيد املوجود يف كال املجالني، كام تستمتع مبيزة كونها يف برنامج

صغري نسبيا.

البيولوجيا لديهم نفس الناس ممن يحبون الكثري من وقالت يل: »ال يوجد هناك

الكمبيوتر علوم يف املختصني من الكثري هناك يوجد وال الكمبيوتر، بعلوم الشغف

يستمتعون بدروس األحياء. أنا شخصيا أحب كال املجالني، ألنني أجد أن علم األحياء

لديه أهمية عملية كبرية، كام أجد يف الوقت ذاته متعة وتحديا يف الربمجة.«

وأوضح موريف أن كبار الباحثني مطلوبون جدا من قبل الرشكات وكليات الدراسات

العليا، كام أن الحصول عىل درجة يف البيولوجيا الحاسوبية ميكن أن يشكل أساسا جيدا

لدخول كلية الطب.

وتعتزم يل متابعة الدراسة للحصول عىل شهادة الدكتوراه. وقالت: »هناك الكثري من

املواد يف علم البيولوجيا الحاسوبية ال أجد وقتا ملعرفتها أثناء دراسة البكالوريوس ألنه

مجال شديد االتساع. أنا راغبة بالتأكيد يف تعلم املزيد.«

قد يحتاج طالب البيولوجيا الحاسوبية اخذ بعض املواد يف حرم جامعة كارنيجي ميلون الرئييس يف بتسبريغ،

بالواليات املتحدة إلكامل متطلبات التخصص.

Carnegie Mellon researchers are exploring how Human Growth Hormone (shown in yellow) inter-acts with a cell’s receptor (purple). The hormone stimulates growth, particularly the changes in height that occur during childhood. From a study by Hetunandan Kamisetty, Arvind Ramanathan, Christopher Bailey-Kellogg, and Christopher J. Langmead.



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سيقوم برنامج البيولوجيا

احلاسوبية بكارنيجي ميلون

في قطر بإعداد اجليل اجلديد

من الباحثني

عندما تسأل أطفاال عن الوظائف التي يحبون أن يعملوا بها عندما يكربون، يقول

كثري منهم: طبيب أو طيار أو ريايض.

قليل منهم من يقولون إنهم يريدون أن يكونوا علامء يف البيولوجيا الحاسوبية.

لكن هذا الحقل املثري يعيد تعريف الكيفية التي يحل بها العلامء املشاكل يف علم

األحياء – وليس هناك مكان أفضل ملعرفة ذلك من جامعة كارنيجي ميلون. يف عام

البكالوريوس يف علم 1989، كانت كارنيجي ميلون أول جامعة أمريكية تقدم درجة

البيولوجيا الحاسوبية. ويتم حاليا يف قطر طرح هذا التخصص املعرتف بها دوليا، مام

يجعله أحد برنامجني فقط من هذا النوع يف الرشق األوسط.

الكمبيوتر يف حل أجهزة يستخدم الذي العلم – الحاسوبية البيولوجيا علم ظهر

املشاكل البيولوجية – عندما بدأ العلامء توليد مجموعات بيانات هائلة حول تركيبتنا

الجينية، والطريقة التي تعمل بها خاليانا، ومجاالت أخرى مهمة يف علم األحياء.

خذ عىل سبيل املثال علم الجينوم، وهو العلم املختص بدراسة جيناتنا: قبل عقد

ثالثة حددوا البرشي، الجينوم تسلسل تحديد من العلامء انتهى عندما الزمان، من

مليارات وحدة كيميائية تشكل مخطط الحياة – وهي تتطلب حوايل ثالثة غيغابايت

من املساحة التخزينية عىل الكمبيوتر.

البداية – فال يزال العلامء يجهلون غرض ووظيفة الكثري غري أن ذلك كان مجرد

من الجينات داخل شفرة الحمض النووي. هم اآلن يدرسون الجينوم مبزيد من التعمق

وكيف الحياة، قيد عىل تبقينا وكيف النمو، بتنسيق الجينات تقوم كيف ليكتشفوا

يكون سلوكها عندما منرض.

الحمض داخل املحتبسة واألمناط الكيميائية الوحدات الهائل من العدد مع هذا

النووي، يلجأ العلامء من جديد إىل أجهزة الكمبيوتر.

ميلون كارنيجي جامعة يف الحاسوبية البيولوجيا رئيس موريف، روبرت وقال

اآلليات حيث من األسئلة عىل اإلجابة الحاسوبية البيولوجيا »تحاول بيتسربغ: يف

البيولوجية الكامنة بدال من مجرد تتبع مسار البيانات« وأضاف: »إنها متكنك من بناء

مناذج تساعد يف وصف نظام معني«.

يف حني أن التطبيقات الحاسوبية تستخدم يف مجاالت كثرية – من بينها علم املناخ

بشكل مناسبة يجعلها البيولوجية للنظم الهائل التعقيد فإن – واالقتصاد والكيمياء

خاص لهذا النوع من التحليل.

يحتوي رأس الطفل عىل سبيل املثال عىل خاليا عصبية بعدد النجوم يف مجرة درب

اللبانة. )وهذا مجرد نوع واحد من الخاليا يف جزء واحد من الجسم(. قال موريف: حتى

أنه »من املستحيل عمليا« أن العلامء الدماغية، يجد الخاليا العدد من مع كل هذا

نفهم بشكل كامل النظم املعقدة دون وسائل حاسوبية.

نظرة عامة على البيولوجيا

الحاسوبية في جامعة كارنيجي

ميلون في قطر

• برنامج البيولوجيا الحاسوبية هو تخصص معرتف به دوليا للطالب الراغبني

يف حل املشاكل البيولوجية ومشاكل الطب الحيوي باستخدام طرق رياضية

وحاسوبية.

• يقدم هذا الربنامج كلية علوم الحاسب )البيولوجيا الحاسوبية( باالشرتاك مع

كلية ميلون للعلوم )العلوم البيولوجية(. الربنامج أيضا عبارة عن جهد تعاوين مع

كلية طب وايل كورنيل يف قطر.

• الربنامج ميثل فرصة مثالية للطالب املتحمسني الراغبني يف دخول مجال أصبح

عنرصا أساسيا يف األبحاث الحديثة يف البيولوجيا والطب الحيوي.


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ARABOH.COM AIMS TO GET “ENTERTAINING, ENGAGING, AND PRACTICAL” BOOKS IN ARABIC TO CHILDREN

ARABIC MADE EASY


While growing up in Scotland, Jinanne Tabra

struggled to learn Arabic. The textbooks used in

her weekly lessons couldn’t keep her attention. So years later,

when Tabra’s mother, a librarian at an elementary school in

Qatar, complained over dinner one night about her students’

lack of interest in Arabic books, Tabra wasn’t surprised. She

was inspired.

“I realized if it was hard to get kids to read Arabic in an

Arab country, kids overseas didn’t stand a chance,” Tabra

says. “There needed to be a go-to website where people

around the world could find out about and order all the best

materials for learning Arabic.”

That night, Tabra bought the domain name Araboh.

com. “I chose the name Araboh because the ‘oh’ is a form

of endearment in the Arab world,” Tabra says. “As a child,

my friends often called me Jinannoh, a child named Ahmed

might be nicknamed Ahmedoh. I wanted the name to reflect

that family-like closeness and that sense of community.”

She spent the next six months using lessons from business

classes and guidance from her professors to prepare for the

live launch of the site in July 2008, a few months after she

graduated from Carnegie Mellon’s Qatar campus. By 2010,

Tabra had tripled the revenue earned from book sales on the

site.

In its current state, Araboh.com lists thousands of books,

ranging from translations of popular American titles to

original Arab stories to textbooks and worksheets, printed

by more than 30 publishers around the world. Every book

has been vetted and ranked by a member of the Araboh

team on how entertaining, engaging, and practical it is in

teaching Arabic. Visitors can also find step-by-step learning

guides, advice on what materials to start with, and interactive

activities to complement text lessons.

Pittsburgh to Doha

The entrepreneurship bug bit Tabra while she was a

business administration student at the Carnegie Mellon


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Qatar. She chose CMU because she wanted to stay close

to her family. The university, which provides the same

curriculum and many of the same professors as the main

campus in Pittsburgh, offered full-time, English-language

undergraduate degree programs in business and computer

science. “I didn’t feel like I lost anything from the Pittsburgh

experience,” Tabra says. “The cross-campus connection is

tight.”

She enrolled in Dr. George White’s Intro to Entrepreneurship

and New Venture Creation classes her senior year and says

White has become an ongoing mentor for her and the

company. “He said people shouldn’t start a business for

the sake of starting a business, but to do things that make

meaning,” Tabra says. “We do that at Araboh.”

White, not surprisingly, agrees. “(Jinanne) is setting a

good example for the right reasons to go into business,”

White says. “In my class, I tried to focus the lessons on why

someone should start a business. The motive is not always

about making money. I used examples that involved people

who stumbled upon fortunes only because they wanted to

change the world. I think Jinanne really took that lesson to

heart.”

Another important class for Tabra was a course offered

sophomore year, Business Communication, where she

learned how to manage and talk with staff effectively. She

says every lesson learned in class has come into practice

while working with her 13 employees.

Hard-to-find titles

Araboh.com is a distribution site not unlike Amazon,

except the team is a lot more involved with the inventory.

“We’re not just a middleman,” Tabra says. She and her team

work with publishers to ensure the quality of the product. A


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lot of the publishers they work with have the best materials

for teaching Arabic but not the savviest technology or

marketing techniques. “When we started out three years

ago, many of our publishers had to call and fax because they

didn’t even have e-mail,” she says.

But because the publishers’ products were top-notch and

underdistributed, Tabra knew stocking some of the hard-to-

find titles would give her site a competitive edge.

Inventory is kept in a warehouse in Qatar, but the

headquarters is now in Boston. Deliveries have been made to

more than 50 countries around the world. Although they sell

to a lot of individuals interested in the language, more than

three-quarters of revenue comes from institutions around

the world looking to augment their libraries and classrooms

with Arabic educational materials.

Aside from her first year out of school, when Tabra worked

as a staff member at Carnegie Mellon, she has been able to

focus solely on her duties as chief executive and managing

director. Now, with the help of her employees, she’s

maintaining the growing business and working toward a

master’s degree in international education policy at Harvard

University.

Tabra says: “This degree, like my business degree, will only

make me more prepared to lead this company.”

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Bloomberg Businessweek’s

occasional series on the world of startups. The series focuses on

MBAs and undergraduate business students who developed their

ideas or launched their businesses while still in school. Jinanne

invites Carnegie Mellon students seeking advice about their own

projects or undergraduate experiences to email her at jinanne@

araboh.com.

This story was written by Sommer Saadi and used with permission of Bloomberg

L.P. Copyright© 2011. All rights reserved.


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CARNEGIE MELLON ORGANIZES DIALOGUE ON THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON FOOD SECURITY

A CAMPUS CONVERSATION

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Sitting majlis-style and surrounded by laptops, papers

and smart phones, Education City students spent an

evening discussing the impact of climate change on Qatar’s

food security.

Organized by Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar with

support from Qatar Foundation, Education City’s first Campus

Conversation event drew more than 100 students interested

in how global climate change might affect future generations.

In groups of about 10, students from different universities,

majors and years came together to share their knowledge

and ideas – and learn from each other.

The concept is simple, explained Robert Cavalier, co-

director of the Program for Deliberative Democracy at

Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh: “We think better when we

think together.”

Since 2005, Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh has hosted more

than 10 conversations on important issues like academic

integrity and the cost of health care. In its first event, the Qatar

campus asked students to explore the link between climate

change and food sustainability, asking how issues like loss of

agricultural lands and depletion of fish might be addressed.

Carnegie Mellon professors in philosophy and biological

sciences teamed up with the university’s Division of Students

Affairs to offer the program, which attracted students from

five of the six Education City universities, said Jill Duffy,

student development coordinator.

“One of the most meaningful aspects of the Campus

Conversation program is how it promotes engagement

within one’s own community. Ultimately, we want to foster a

sense of agency in our students, so that they can go out into

their respective communities and make a positive difference,”

Duffy said.

Following a discussion period, each group posed its

questions and ideas to an expert panel, who highlighted

local initiatives and weighed in on the students’ proposals.

Moderated by Steff Gaulter, senior meteorologist at Al

Jazeera English, the panel comprised Fedaa Ali, chief

researcher at the Qatar Environment and Energy Research

Institute; Patrick Linke, professor of chemical engineering at

Texas A&M University at Qatar; Mari Luomi, a postdoctoral


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fellow at Georgetown University’s Center for International

and Regional Studies; Marouf Tirad Mahmoud, from Vodafone

Qatar; and Robert Wirsing, a visiting professor at Georgetown

University’s School of Foreign Service in Qatar.

Making sustainability trendy, buying up foreign land and

conserving water – especially in a country that subsidizes

utility bills – were among the issues raised by students.

“We thought about establishing an Education City farm

to grow produce that we could give to the community,”

said Layal Al-Alami, a Carnegie Mellon student majoring in

business administration.

According to Cavalier, Campus Conversations not only

creates a more informed student body, but also yields

“consulting power” for future changes. In this case, students

completed a post-event survey that assessed what changes

students would like to see in Education City.

“We are really interested to see how students want to

make an impact, as this can guide future programs,” said

Christopher Silva, sustainability education coordinator for

Qatar Foundation.

The Division of Student Affairs hopes to use the Campus

Conversations model in the future to address questions and

issues that are important to students, both within Carnegie

Mellon Qatar and the broader Education City community.

“The students were excited about the program and have

suggestions for future conversations, so I think we’ll be seeing

more Campus Conversations in the future,” Duffy said.


الدوحة – قطر: شارك أكرث من 100 طالب من جامعات املدينة التعليمية ، ومعهم

أجهزة الكمبيوتر املحمولة وهواتفهم الذكية وأوراقهم ، يف حلقة نقاشية مبقر املدينة

التعليمية حول تأثري تغري املناخ عىل األمن الغذايئ يف قطر ، وهو أول حدث تنظمه

الجامعة ، وبدعم من مؤسسة قطر، وقد توزع الطالب وهم من املهتمني بكيفية

تأثري تغري املناخ العاملي عىل األجيال القادمة، يف مجموعات كل مجموعة مؤلفة

من 10 طالب بحسب التخصصات والصفوف والسنوات االكادميية ليتبادلوا املعارف

واألفكار ويتعلموا من بعضهم بعضا.

ويف محاولة لرشح املفهوم املبسط لهذه الحلقة النقاشية، قال روبرت كافلر املدير

املشارك لربنامج من أجل الدميوقراطية التداولية:« عندما نفكر معا، فنحن نفكرتفكريا

أفضل«.

الجدير بالذكر أن كارنيجي ميلون يف بيتسربغ استضافت منذ 2005 أكرث من 10

حلقات نقاشية مامثلة حول القضايا املهمة مثل:النزاهة األكادميية وتكلفة الرعاية

الصحية لكن هذا الحدث يعد األول الذي يطلب فيه من الطالب داخل الحرم

الجامعي يف قطر أن يستكشفوا العالقة بني تغري املناخ، واستدامة الغذاء، وإثارة نقاش

حول كيف ميكن أن تعالج قضايا ، مثل فقدان األرايض الزراعية واستنزاف الرثوة

السمكية ؟

من جانبها قالت جيل دويف منسقة تنمية الطالب: »لقد تعاون قسم شؤون الطالب

مع أساتذة الفلسفة والعلوم البيولوجية يف جامعة كارنيجي ميلون لتقديم برنامج

هذه الجلسة التي جذبت طالب خمس من ست جامعات يف املدينة التعليمية«.

وتابعت دويف قائلة: »يعد برنامج املحادثة واحدا من الجوانب األكرث وضوحا يف الحرم

الجامعي ، وهي الطريقة التي تشجع عىل االنخراط يف املجتمع الواحد نفسه ، ويف

نهاية املطاف نريد تعزيز الشعور بالقوة لدى طالبنا، حتى يتمكنوا من الخروج إىل

مجتمعاتهم ، وإحداث التغيري اإليجايب فيها ».

وبعد مدة املناقشة ، طرحت كل مجموعة أسئلتها وأفكارها عىل فريق الخرباء ،

الذي سلط الضوء عىل املبادرات املحلية، ومثن مقرتحات الطالب يف جلسة أدارها

جوالرتستيف مذيع األرصاد الجوية يف قناة الجزيرة اإلنجليزية ، ضم فريق الخرباء كل

من الدكتورة فداء عيل كبرية الباحثني يف معهد قطر لبحوث البيئة والطاقة ؛ وباتريك

لينكه ، أستاذ الهندسة الكيميائية يف جامعة تكساس إيه آند إم يف قطر ، وماري لومي

وهي زميلة ما بعد مرحلة الدكتوراه يف جامعة جورجتاون يف مركز الدراسات الدولية

واإلقليمية ، والسيد معروف طراد محمود ، من رشكة فودافون قطر، وروبرت أستاذ

زائر يف جامعة جورجتاون- كلية الشؤون الدولية.

وكان من بني القضايا التي أثارها الطالب: صنع االستدامة العرصية ، ورشاء األرايض

الخارجية، والحفاظ عىل املياه – وخاصة يف البالد التي تدعم فواتري املرافق العامة.

وقالت ليال العلمي، الطالبة يف جامعة كارنيجي ميلون يف تخصص إدارة األعامل:«إننا

فكرنا يف إنشاء مزرعة يف املدينة التعليمية تنمو وتنتج، وميكننا بذلك أن نعطي

انتاجا للمجتمع« .

ووفقا لروبرت كافلر الذي يرى أن املحادثات يف الحرم الجامعي ليست فقط إلعداد

هيئة طالب أكرث استنارة ، ولكن أيضا ليصبح الطالب«قوة استشارية » إلجراء تغيريات

يف املستقبل. يف هذه الحالة ، البد من أن تستكمل الدراسة يف مرحلة ما بعد هذا

الحدث حول ماهية التغيريات املقررة التي يود الطالب أن يروها يف املدينة التعليمية .

وقال كريستوفر سيلفا ، منسق استدامة التعليم يف مؤسسة قطر: »نحن مهتمون

حقا أن نرى كيف يريد الطالب أن يكون لهم تأثري يف إجراء التغيري اإليجايب؟ ألن

ذلك ميكن أن يكون موجها جيدا للربامج املستقبلية ، ونأمل من قسم شؤون الطالب

االستفادة من أسلوب الحرم الجامعي يف املحادثات مستقبال ملعالجة املسائل والقضايا

التي تهم الطالب، سواء داخل جامعة كارنيجي ميلون يف قطر ، أو يف مجتمع املدينة

التعليمية ككل .

ويف الختام، قالت دويف: »كنا سعداء بهذا الربنامج، ولدينا اقرتاحات إلجراء جلسات

نقاشية يف املستقبل ، لذلك أعتقد أننا سوف نشهد يف الحرم الجامعي املزيد من

املناقشات مستقبال«.

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مبشاركة أكثر من 100 طالب من

جامعات املدينة التعلميية

كارنيجي ميلون تنظم حلقة نقاشية موسعة عن األمن الغذائي في قطر


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CARNEGIE MELLON COMPUTER SCIENCE RESEARCHERS FOCUS ON HUMAN LANGUAGE TECHNOLOGIES

HE SAID, SHE SAID,THE PC SAID


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Have you ever received an email in a language you don’t

understand and plugged it into Google Translate to

figure out the meaning?

For most of us, such services are hard to beat — they’re fast,

free and will transform incomprehensible text into a rough-

and-ready version of something you can understand.

But you won’t get a finished product.

“Those translators are good for helping you figure out

more or less what the text is talking about, but they’re not

necessarily good at giving you the exact meaning, which might

be very sensitive to one letter or one word,” said Kemal Oflazer,

professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon Qatar.

Oflazer and two postdoctoral researchers are members of

Carnegie Mellon Qatar’s Human Language Technology (HLT)

Lab, which conducts research on natural language processing,

tapping into the enormous potential of machines to bridge

barriers in today’s global society.

There’s a long way to go, though.

While the concept of machine translation — the automatic

translation of text from one human language to another — is

as old as computer science, it’s now recognized as among the

most challenging problems in artificial intelligence.

“As soon as they built computers, they said ‘we’d like to

translate Russian physics documents into English,’ but it wasn’t

successful until about 15 years ago and it’s still far from perfect

— it’s a really complicated problem,” Oflazer said.

For years, computer scientists used rule-based approaches

to machine translation — they provided computers with the

linguistic rules of the two languages and the dictionaries

necessary to translate from one to the other.

Over the past decade and a half, researchers shifted to an

approach known as Statistical Machine Translation. They

found that if they fed computers thousands or millions of

sentences and their human-generated translations, computers

could learn to make reasonably accurate translations of new

sentences.

In essence, it’s like teaching computers to read and

understand the languages humans speak — not just the

words and the grammar, but the semantics, the context, and

important facts about the real world. While humans do this

almost effortlessly in their native tongues, the ability to do it

in multiple languages is limited to a small group of trained

professionals.

Translating Wikipedia

In one of five projects being undertaken in the HTL Lab,

Behrang Mohit, a postdoctoral research associate, is developing

a new system to translate articles on the online encyclopedia

Who: Kemal Oflazer, professor of computer science; Behrang

Mohit, postdoctoral research associate; Emad Mohamed,

postdoctoral research associate. (Two more researchers are to

join the team in 2012.)

Funding: Four Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) National

Priorities Research Program (NPRP) grants; one QNRF Young

Scientist Research Experience Program (YSREP) grant; and one

Carnegie Mellon Seed Research Grant.

Collaborators: All of the current projects funded by QNRF

in the context of the NPRP program are being executed in

collaboration with researchers from the Language Technologies

Institute at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh.

The Human Language

Technology (HLT) Lab


Core Arabic Language Processing. There are well developed techniques

for core language processing technologies for English, such as parsing

sentences, and identifying names and places. Researchers at the Lab are

developing or improving techniques for Arabic by adapting techniques

from English using parallel data such as those found in Wikipedia entries.

Dialectal Translation. Arabic language data for training statistical machine

translation systems is almost always available in Modern Standard Arabic.

This project aims to identify comparable texts — texts that are not necessarily

translations but contain translated segments — where one side is an Arabic

dialect while the other is English. Another aim is to synthetically produce

dialectal text from available Modern Standard Arabic text by morphological,

lexical and syntactic transformations.

Advanced tools for non-native English speakers. SmartReader is a

general-purpose “reading appliance” being implemented at Carnegie Mellon

University (Qatar and Pittsburgh). It is an artificial intelligence system that

employs advanced language processing technologies and can interact with

the reader and respond to queries about the content, words and sentences

in a text. We expect it to be used by students in Qatar and elsewhere to help

improve their comprehension of English text.

Syntax-to-morphology mapping for translation into morphologically

complex languages. The researchers are investigating techniques for

experimentation with different representational schemes for translating

from a language like English into morphologically complex languages –

languages whose words pack a lot of information by using many suffixes

– like Arabic or Turkish by exploiting the relationship between the structure

of words on one side and syntactic structure on the other side.

What else is going on in the HLT

lab?

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Wikipedia from English to Arabic. Regionally, the rewards

would be great: While more than a million English articles

make Wikipedia the sixth most popular Internet site globally,

fewer than 200,000 articles are available in Arabic — even

though it is among the world’s most widely spoken languages.

“When we looked at the Arabic Wikipedia, we realized it

is not very rich in many topics, like science and technology.

Machine translation is the ideal way improve the quality and

increase the number of articles,” Mohit said.

Rather than creating a translation system from scratch,

Mohit is customizing currently available software, which is

mostly trained to translate particular document types, such as

news articles or parliamentary proceedings.

“The challenge is adapting the current machine translation

technologies to Wikipedia articles, which cover diverse topics

and use a different vocabulary and sentence structure,” said

Mohit, whose work is funded by a Qatar National Research

Fund (QNRF) Young Scientist Research Experience Program

(YSREP) grant.

By comparing the quality of his automatic translations to

human-translated text, Mohit is able to evaluate and refine

his software. While he’s not planning on single-handedly

recreating the English Wikipedia site in Arabic, others wishing

to expand the site could use the tools he is developing.

When it comes to translating the most technical or sensitive

information, though, human translators won’t be out of a job

anytime soon, Oflazer said.

“My guess is it will be at least a few decades until we have

anything that comes close to human quality.”


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GROWINGMOVEMBER

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CARNEGIE MELLON EVENT RAISES MONEY FOR CANCER RESEARCH AND EDUCATION

Carnegie Mellon students aren’t known for slacking off.

Last November, though, a group of men on campus

did nothing — at least to the area above their upper lips.

About 30 students, along with faculty and staff, participated in

Carnegie Mellon Qatar’s Movember initiative. A combination of

the words “mo” for moustache and November, Movember is a

charity event that raises money and awareness for men’s health

issues. Men begin the month of November clean-shaven and

spend the next 30 days cultivating their moustaches. Much

like the pink ribbon campaign for breast cancer awareness, the

moustache becomes a symbol that is used as a conversation-

starter about prostate cancer — as well as a personal reminder

to get a health check.

Carnegie Mellon’s Movember initiative was co-organized by

the Office of Health and Wellness and the Active Women’s Club.

Women help the cause by recruiting men and coordinating

fundraising events.

“In the past, we’ve done things for breast cancer awareness,

but this year we wanted to get everyone involved,” said Reham

Shaikh, a business administration student and member of the

Active Women’s Club.

Carnegie Mellon’s campaign — one of the first in Qatar

— raised money to support research, education and patient

services at the Qatar National Cancer Society. More importantly,

it got the campus talking

about an often-taboo

subject: their health.

“When you don’t

usually grow a moustache

and then people see you

with one, they ask about

it — and then you can tell

them why you’re growing

it,” said Kenrick Fernandes,

a sophomore in computer

science.

At a celebration event

on campus, men with the

most creative moustaches

won prizes, and women who had recruited the most men were

recognized. Students also lit lanterns commemorating people

who have survived cancer, people who are suffering, and those

who have died from the disease.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men,

with a person’s risk increasing with age, according to the U.S.-

based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency

recommends men talk with their doctors about their risks, and

discuss the potential benefits of screening.

Eight years ago, a group of Australian men started Movember

as a lighthearted way to call attention to a serious disease.

Today, a million participants worldwide have raised more than

$80 million USD for charities supporting prostate cancer and

others cancers that affect men.


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جامعة كارنيجي ميلون

»Movember « تطلق مبادرة

جلمع تبرعات ألبحاث سرطان

البروستاتا

مبشاركة 30 طالبا مع

األساتذة واملوظفني في

اجلامعة لتوعية الرجال باملرض

اخلطير

الدوحة – قطر: أطلقت جامعة كارنيجي يف قطر مبادرة فريدة من نوعها،

حيث شارك حوايل 30 طالبا ، مع أعضاء هيئة التدريس واملوظفني يف الجامعة

يف املبادرة الخريية » Movember« ، التي تقوم عىل جمع التربعات، وزيادة

الوعي بالقضايا الصحية للرجال ، ففي شهر نوفمرب املايض بدأ الرجال حليقي

الشارب إطالق شواربهم ملدة 30 يوما ، مثل حملة الرشيط الوردي للتوعية

برسطان الثدي ، وذلك عىل اعتبار أن الشارب ميثل رمزا للحديث عن رسطان

الربوستاتا وبالتايل عىل التذكري بإجراء اختبار صحي.

وأن حملة »Movember« مبادرة مشرتكة تنظمها الجامعة ومكتب الرعاية

الصحية ونادي األنشطة النسائية يف الجامعة ملساعدة النساء يف العمل

التطوعي للرجال وتنسيق فعاليات لجمع التربعات .

وقالت ريهام الشيخ ، الطالبة بإدارة األعامل، وعضو يف نادي األنشطة

النسائية: »يف املايض ، قمنا بالكثري من األمور للتوعية برسطان الثدي ، ولكن

هذا العام أردنا إرشاك الجميع« .

تعد جامعة كارنيجي ميلون األوىل يف قطر التي تجمع التربعات لدعم

البحوث ،والتعليم، وخدمات العيادات الخارجية يف الجمعية الوطنية ملكافحة

الرسطان يف قطر، واألهم من ذلك ، أنها متكنت من فتح مجاالت الحديث

يف الحرم الجامعي عن موضوع يعترب من املحرمات يف كثري من األحيان عند

الرجال فيام يخص صحتهم.

أما الطالبة كرنيك فرناندز ، الطالبة يف السنة الثانية بعلوم الحاسوب فقد

قالت: »عندما ال يكون لك شارب عادة ،ثم يراك الناس فيام بعد ولك شارب،

فسوف يتساءلون عن السبب، ومن ثم ميكنك أن تجيبهم عن سبب ذلك.«

الجدير بالذكر أنه تم االحتفال األسبوع املايض بهذه املناسبة ،ووزعت

الجوائزعىل الرجال ذوي الشوارب األكرث إبداعا ، وعىل النساء اللوايت ساهمن

يف إقناع معظم الرجال بالتطوع لهذه القضية، أيضا حمل الطالب الفوانيس

املضاءة إلحياء ذكرى األشخاص الذين نجوا من الرسطان واألشخاص الذين

يعانون ، وأولئك الذين لقوا حتفهم من جراء هذا املرض.

ويعترب رسطان الربوستاتا هو أكرث أنواع الرسطان شيوعا بني الرجال ، ومع

تقدم العمر يزداد تعرض الشخص ملخاطره، وفقا لوكالة مركز مكافحة األمراض

“CDC” والوقاية منها ومقرها الواليات املتحدة ، حيث تويص الوكالة الرجال

بالتحدث مع أطبائهم حول املخاطر التي يتعرضون لها ، ومناقشة الفوائد

املحتملة للفحص املبكر.

وقبل مثاين سنوات ، بدأت مجموعة من الرجال األسرتاليني مببادرة

»Movember« كوسيلة مرح للفت األنظار إىل مرض خطري، واليوم استطاع

مليون مشارك يف املبادرة من جميع أنحاء العامل، يف جمع أكرث من 80 مليون

دوالر أمرييك لدعم الجمعيات الخريية ،وغريها من الجمعيات التي تسهم يف

مكافحة رسطان الربوستاتا، والرسطانات التي تصيب الرجال.


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We’ve all seen it in the movies: A new disease threatens to

wipe out the human race, panic sets in, and a team of scientists

works round-the-clock to figure out how to stop it.

While they’re not always working with life-or-death

situations, researchers tackle similar questions every day:

what causes diseases, how does the body fight back, and how

can we treat them?

Twenty-five students from 14 Qatar high schools got

a taste of biomedical research when they learned how to

analyze a simulated disease outbreak during a new outreach

program developed by Carnegie Mellon.

The program aims to engage students through a laboratory

experience, teach them lab techniques, and inform them

about Carnegie Mellon’s new programs in Biological

Sciences and Computational Biology.

“The Student Biotechnology Explorer Program is part

of the university’s recently launched biological sciences

undergraduate program. It is designed to ignite a passion for

biology among the youth in the community, give students

first-hand lab experience while using cutting-edge lab

techniques, and teach students how their bodies function at

a biological level,” said Kenneth Hovis, assistant professor of

biology at Carnegie Mellon Qatar.

“Through this program, we hope high school students

learn more about the biological sciences undergraduate

Exploring ScienceStudents simulate disease outbreak in biological sciences outreach program



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degree at Carnegie Mellon and meet some of our current

students and faculty,” Hovis added.

Students who participated in the program used a test

called an ELISA (Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay)

to track a simulated disease outbreak as it spread through

the community. During the experiment, students worked in

groups and were able to track the outbreak, determine who

was infected and identify the source of the disease.

Since this was a simulated disease, students expressed their

excitement upon learning they were infected.

“The best part was when the solution turned (from

colorless) to blue and you saw the results you’d been trying

to get to from the beginning,” said Aseel Ghazal, a senior

from International School of Choueifat. “It was really

captivating.”

Noora Al-Muftah, a senior from Al Wakra Independent

School for Girls, enjoyed working as a team to investigate

and solve a problem. “It was excellent to experience a

college-level class,” said Al-Muftah, who intends to apply

for Carnegie Mellon’s new Computational Biology program.

Tracey Williams, a high school science teacher at Dukhan

English School, said the program complemented her

students’ classroom studies.

“It’s great for them to be able to put into practice what

they’ve learned at school,” Williams said.

Carnegie Mellon’s two recently-launched undergraduate

degree programs in biological sciences and computational

biology are a collaborative effort with Weill Cornell Medical

College in Qatar, with students receiving their degrees from

Carnegie Mellon.


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Under New ManagementCarnegie Mellon Qatar’s Management Game

It all started with a load of laundry.

That was in 1953, when Management Game was

sponsored by Procter & Gamble and taught

managers how to sell powdered soap.

As times changed, so did the game.

Instead of laundry detergent, the

challenge became to sell wristwatches.

The game, once exclusive to the MBA

program, was opened up as an

undergraduate class.

A Carnegie Mellon tradition

was born. Management Game, a

computer-based business strategy

simulation taken by graduating

seniors, became known as the

course where everything comes

together. Within the game’s

“universe,” a semester spans years

and teams compete for the biggest

share of the market and the largest

profits.

Between 2008 and 2010, business

administration students in Qatar joined in

the main campus game by video-conferencing

— a long distance arrangement that exemplified

Carnegie Mellon’s commitment to transcend

traditional academic barriers.

But with the course organizers in Pittsburgh, it wasn’t ideal

for students in Qatar, said Steve Vargo, assistant professor of

business administration, who coordinated the main campus

game since 1997. In fact, by 2010, there was talk of shelving

the Qatar course in favor of an alternative — until our students

stepped in.

“When I heard that Management Game might be canceled,

I was very disappointed. Since freshman year, we’d had been

hearing that Management Game is the ultimate test and one

of the most realistic and hardest courses of all. I wanted to go

through that experience,” said Samira Islam, who graduated in

2011 and works as a research analyst at KPMG Qatar.

Samira and her classmates raised their concerns to faculty.

And, as part of his vision for Carnegie Mellon Qatar, Dean

Ilker Baybars decided that Qatar should implement its own

version of the game. Patrick Sileo, an associate professor of

economics who spends spring semester in Qatar, agreed to

help, and Vargo was hired here.

Qatar’s Management Game

Instead of selling watches, students in Qatar are charged

with revamping a poor-performing company selling sensors

— although the exact nature of the sensors is never disclosed.

Teams have eight years to create faster, cheaper and smaller

products, while navigating issues like advanced marketing

and customers’ changing preferences.

Like Pittsburgh’s Management Game, one of the biggest

challenges is satisfying the Board of Directors – outside

business people who treat the students like professionals

doing a professional job.

An advantage of the Qatar’s Management Game, Vargo

said, is the dynamic environment— in which customer

demands and the economic climate constantly change.

There’s another plus to Qatar’s own Management Game,

Sileo said.

“The students used to be competing with teams from

Pittsburgh, but now they’re competing with their friends.

While that’s troubling to them, I think it’s a good thing —

‘welcome to business’.”

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Closing the Gender GapMore than 90 students explore computer science at the first CS4Qatar for Women event

There are many reasons why young women shy away

from computer science. Perhaps they think technical fields

are for men. Or they don’t see opportunities for support and

mentorship.

A Carnegie Mellon Qatar outreach event held in December

shattered some of those myths.

More than 90 Qatari women from eight high schools

attended the first CS4Qatar for Women program. The

students participated in programming and problem-solving

workshops, met with students and graduates, and learned

more about Carnegie Mellon’s computer science degree.

Families were also invited to tour the campus and meet with

faculty, staff and alumni.

The new program is part of the Department of Computer

Science’s CS4Qatar community outreach series, which

creates awareness and excitement about computer science

among teachers and students. The decision to target women

was simple: while women make up half of society they are

outnumbered by men in most technical fields.

“The focus on female students is part of an international

trend to better balance gender involvement in rigorous

engineering and science programs,” said Khaled Harras,

assistant professor of computer science. Since computer

science thrives on diverse ideas, it is important to recruit

Qatari women, who bring new perspectives, Harras added.

Speaking to parents, Reem Al-Mansoori, development

manager at ICTQatar, highlighted some of the most rewarding

aspects of her career.

“Computer science is an exciting subject — it gives us the

ability to take on different jobs, from becoming a mentor or

an entrepreneur to working in the business field. Working at

ICTQatar provided me with a great opportunity to contribute

to Qatari society and play a significant role in taking the

nation forward,” Al-Mansoori said.

Through outreach programs like CS4Qatar, Carnegie

Mellon is committed to Qatar’s National Vision 2030 and

the desire to build a knowledge-based economy. Creating

computational thinkers — the foundation of any computer

science program — is particularly important, Harras said.

“Advancements in most areas of sciences, engineering and

medicine heavily rely on breakthroughs in computer sciences

and engineering. CS4Qatar’s goal is to spread this awareness

among the younger generations — we hope to plant a seed

that continues to grow the students’ interest and motivation

in these crucial areas of knowledge,” Harras said.

At the end of the event, some of those seeds had been

planted. “The subject seems very interesting and this program

has instilled an excitement in me to apply when I graduate

from high school,” said Noor Al Mahmoud, a grade 12

student at Al Ieman Secondary Independent School for Girls.

“Women are an essential part of society; they can greatly

contribute to its development and I intend on doing the same.”

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Connecting the Past with the Future Ibtikar competition challenges students to use future

technologies to share Qatar’s history and heritageImagine it’s 2021.

It’s less than a year until Qatar hosts the World Cup and the

organizers need your help. Could you figure out how to use

the latest technologies to help tourists experience Qatar’s rich

history and cultural heritage?

That’s exactly what Carnegie Mellon asked high school

students to do in this year’s Ibtikar Competition. Now in its

fourth year, Ibtikar is an Information Systems (I.S.) challenge

that encourages students to explore how technology can be

used to support organizations and society.

Each year, students are presented with a challenge, and,

with the help of undergraduate mentors, they must design

and present an information technology-based solution.

Along the way, participants learn key concepts taught in

Carnegie Mellon’s I.S. program, including the application of

information technology to solve organizational problems,

the importance of teamwork, and the basics of design and

communication.

At a December Ibtikar Workshop, 105 students

heard about two technologies that will be available

within the decade. The first was the next generation

of smart phone, called a Nirvana phone. As well

as the usual tools like the Internet and mobile

applications, the Nirvana phone will boast the same

power and capabilities as a personal computer. By

making use of any monitor or TV screen, there will

be no need to carry a laptop when you’re on-the-go.

The second technology introduced was the Cloud

— a remote server from which you can access files,

programs and applications. Compared to a home or

office computer, the Cloud is an ideal place to store

and then access information through a Nirvana phone.

Using these tools, teams of students were charged

with developing a novel, educational way of connecting

visitors with Qatar’s past. Contributing to the World Cup

experience resonated well with students, said Selma Limam

Mansar, associate professor of Information Systems.

“The fact that this is in the future is bringing a lot of

excitement because they have to imagine what kind of tools

will be available to them. The challenge will be designing

something that is feasible — the scenario is in the future,

but only 10 years, so they’ll have to pay attention to that,”

Mansar said.

Danny Arap, a student at Global Academy International

School, was excited about highlighting Qatar’s culture to

people who haven’t been to the Middle East.

“Many people didn’t know much about Qatar before they

won the 2022 World Cup bid, so it’s important to tell people

as much as we can while they’re here,” he said.

Students had about five weeks to submit posters outlining

their ideas before a January final.

(Editor’s note. We’ll update you on the most creative

ideas in the next issue of Akhbar.)


47

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Computer Science majors recognized for work on facial expressions in robots


Two computer science students were recognized for

pioneering innovative scientific research in computing

at the 2011 Qatar Foundation Annual Research Forum.

Amna Al Zeyara and Nawal Behih, both sophomores,

received the Best Student Research Award in Computing

and a grant for their work on enhancing facial

expressions in bilingual humanoid robots.

The testbed for the research project was

Hala, a bilingual, multi-cultural robot

platform developed by Carnegie

Mellon.

“We are very proud of both

Amna and Nawal for this

significant achievement,” said

Majd Sakr, assistant dean for

research at Carnegie Mellon

Qatar. “They started working on

this research project as freshmen

computer science students.

They managed to quickly learn

the scientific methodology of

research, how to evaluate state-

of-the-art techniques in robotics

and build upon what they have

learned to improve the behavior

of humanoid robots.” Sakr and

Imran Fanaswala, a research

programmer at Carnegie Mellon Qatar, mentored the team.

Hala is a 3-D animated female robot that interacts with

visitors, switching between English and Arabic languages

and crafting responses that are culturally sensitive to the

user. To do this, Hala takes linguistic cues from the user

to determine the cultural background — ensuring effective

communication and minimizing misunderstandings. In the

future, Carnegie Mellon sees robots like Hala deployed as

intermediaries between cultures, closing the communication

gap between parties with different backgrounds.

Hala is currently undergoing major enhancements to help

improve her embodiment of Arabic culture. Amna and

Nawal’s project addressed existing issues with animating

natural facial expressions and implementing more realistic

lip-movements (“visemes”) to synchronize with

the Arabic language. Natural expressions

help engage users and improve their

experience by enhancing non-

verbal aspects of communication.

“We used existing research and

observed each other to develop

visemes that accurately capture

Arabic pronunciations,” Amna

said.

“We also authored an in-

house tool that allows non-

programmers, such as artists, to

manipulate the face in real-time

to create natural expressions.”

As the result of the students’

work, Hala now has 11 new facial

expressions for a more natural

looking and behaving robot. The

work has also pioneered the first

implemented subset of Arabic

visemes on a robot.

Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar encourages students

at all levels to engage in active, regionally relevant and

impactful research.

“Carnegie Mellon is a research university and I am

especially proud to see our students recognized for

their contribution to innovative research. The skills and

experience they are acquiring will not only shape their own

careers, but also the future of Qatar and the region,” said

Ilker Baybars, dean of Carnegie Mellon Qatar.

49



فازت طالبتان من قسم علوم الحاسوب بجائزة التميز يف البحوث العلمية

للبحوث السنوي قطر مؤسسة منتدى يف الحوسبة مجال يف الرائدة املبتكرة

2011، فقد تسلمتا كل من آمنة الزيارة ونوال بحيح وهن من طالبات السنة

الثانية جائزة أفضل األبحاث يف الحوسبة، باإلضافة اىل مبلغ 20000 ريال قطري

منحة لعملهام عىل تعزيز تعبريات الوجه يف الروبوتات الثنائية اللغة. وكانت

للروبوتات منصة وهي ،) هال يسمى) بحثي ملرشوع تجريبية مرحلة تلك

الثنائية اللغة متعددة الثقافات طورتها جامعة كارنيجي ميلون.

وتعليقا عىل هذا اإلنجاز، قال مجد صقر ، مساعد العميد لشؤون األبحاث

بجامعة كارنيجي ميلون:«نحن فخورون جدا بالطالبتني آمنة ونوال عىل هذا

يف كطالبتني البحثي املرشوع هذا عىل العمل رشعتا حيث الكبري، اإلنجاز

ما الكمبيوتر ورسعان علوم

منهجية معرفة من متكنتا

وكيفية العلمي البحث

تقييم الحالة الفنية من بني

مجال يف التقنيات أحدث

ما عىل بناء الروبوتات

تحسني أجل من تعلمتاه

وكان ، الروبوت سلوك

وعمران صقر السيدان

مربمج وهو ، فاناسواال

األبحاث يف جامعة كارنيجي ميلون- قطر قد أرشفا عىل فريق العمل املكون من

الطالبتني من خالل تقديم الدعم الفني والتوجيه.

الزوار مبا متتلكه من قدرة عىل الروبوت ثالثية األبعاد، مع تتفاعل هال، و

اإلنتقال بني اللغتني اإلنكليزية والعربية ، وصياغة االستجابات التي تعد حساسة

املستخدم من اللغوية املدخالت هال الروبوت وتتلقى للمستخدم. ثقافيا

لتحديد الخلفية الثقافية لضامن التواصل الفعال ،والتقليل من سوء الفهم. وترى

بني كوسطاء املستقبل يف مثل هال روبوتات نرش أن ميلون كارنيجي جامعة

الثقافات، سيؤدي اىل ردم الفجوة يف التواصل بني مختلف الفئات اإلجتامعية

ذات الخلفيات الثقافية املختلفة.

يف للمساعدة رئيسية لتحسينات حاليا )هال( الروبوت وتتلقى وتخضع

ونوال آمنة الطالبتني مرشوع تناول وقد العربية. للثقافة تجسيدها تحسني

أمور الحياة اليومية التي تنسجم معها تعابري الوجه الطبيعية املوحية، وتنفيذ

أكرث واقعية لحركات الشفاه )visemes( املتزامنة مع اللغة العربية، حيث أن

من تجربتهم وتحسني املستخدمني إرشاك عىل تساعد الطبيعية التعبريات

خالل تعزيز الجوانب غري اللفظية لالتصال.

التي القامئة البحوث »استخدمنا آمنة: الطالبة قالت السياق هذا ويف

تساعدنا لتطوير يف روبوتات تلتقط بدقة النطق بالعربية« .

وأضافت: » قمنا أيضا بإيجاد أداة تتيح لغري املربمجني ، مثل الفنانني تحوير

مالمح الوجه إلظهار التعبريات الطبيعية«.

الطالب لعمل ونتيجة

)هال( الروبوت فإن ،

أكرث حاليا متتلك اصبحت

، طبيعيا تعبريا 11 من

ونظرتها سلوكها يبدو حتى

و تعبريات وجهها طبيعية ،

رائد بدور الفريق قام وقد

باللغة بحث أول تنفيذ يف

العربية عن علم الروبوت.

وتشارك جامعة كارنيجي

ميلون يف قطر الطالب يف جميع مستويات املشاركة البحثية ، واألنشطة ذات

الطالب ،يتعلم التبادلية العملية هذه خالل ومن اإلقليمي، بالتأثري الصلة

مهارات جديدة تساعد يف تشكيل مستقبلهم الوظيفي.

و يف هذا السياق, يشري إلكر بايربز, عميد كارنيجي ميلون يف قطر, قائال: »إن

كارنيجي ميلون عبارة عن جامعة تهتم جدا بالبحث العلمي, و أنا شخصيا جد

ة. كام أن فخور أنه يتم اإلعرتاف بطالبنا ملساهمتهم يف بحوث مبتكرة و مهم

املهارات و الخربات التي يكتسبونها لن تعود بالنفع عليهم فقط, بل هي مهمة

ملستقبل قطر و املنطقة«

الطالب يصنعون الوجه املثالي

جائزة البحث املتميز لطالب علوم الحاسوب عن عملهم عىل تعابري الوجه للروبوتات

50

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ION Qatar students celebrate

Carnegie Mellon’s past and futureHappy Birthday, Andy!When he founded Carnegie Tech in 1900, Andrew

Carnegie probably didn’t envision a research university

offering degrees at 15 locations across the globe.

This year, though, Qatar was one of several countries

celebrating his legacy.

Students, faculty and staff gathered in November to

celebrate Carnegie’s 176th birthday. The Doha tribute

was one of several events, with others in Pittsburgh and

at alumni chapters around the world.

A self-described “working boy” with an intense

longing for books, Carnegie was born in Scotland

and later immigrated with his family to the United

States. Many university traditions reference Carnegie’s

Scottish heritage — Tartans athletics and the Scotty

dog mascot, to name a few.

Carnegie was a self-educated entrepreneur whose steel

company grew to be the world’s largest producer by

the end of the 19th century. He founded Carnegie Tech

in 1900, which later became Carnegie Mellon.

Thank you, Bill!Carnegie Mellon Qatar joined the Pittsburgh campus

in celebrating another philanthropist last fall.

William S. Dietrich II, a businessman, scholar and

longtime Carnegie Mellon trustee, announced in

September his plans to bequest a $265 million fund to

support Carnegie Mellon — the largest gift in CMU’s

history. Dietrich’s friends and family joined him at a

celebration in Pittsburgh, which was webcast across

the university’s branch campuses.

A month later, on Oct. 6, Dietrich died of complications

from cancer. His impact on the university was

extraordinary and everlasting.

“Carnegie Mellon University will be forever grateful

to Bill for his service and philanthropy. Carnegie

Mellon and Pittsburgh have lost a great friend,”

said Jared L. Cohon, president of Carnegie Mellon

University.

Dietrich’s gift will support interdisciplinary education

and research initiatives across the university and across

the globe, and names the College of Humanities and

Social Sciences the Marianna Brown Dietrich College

of Humanities and Social Sciences after Dietrich’s late

mother.


2008

Hala Abbas (TPR) is completing a

Master’s of Science at University

College London in the U.K.

Asma Al-Kuwari (TPR) is a senior

analyst (Mobile Money) at Qtel.

Wesam Said (TPR) is National Olympic

Committees Coordinator for the Arab

Games Organising Committee.

2009

Noor Al Jassim (TPR) is a sales and

operations manager for Tasweeq.

Basit Iqbal (TPR) is residence hall

director at Qatar Foundation.

Hicham Nedjari (TPR) is a finance

manager (Middle East) for General

Electric.

2010

Tarek Abou Galala (TPR) is a reports

officer for Qatar Islamic Bank.

Nayef Mansoor Al-Kaabi (TPR) is

a recruitment supervisor for Qatar

Petroleum.

Shahriar Haque (CS) is a software

engineer at General Electric.

Shakir Hussain (IS) is a user support

specialist at Northwestern University in

Qatar.

Yasser Masood (IS) organized Qatar’s

TEDx Youth Conference, which

attracted more than 100 participants.

Aysha Siddique (CS/IS) is a research

assistant at Qatar Computing Research

Institute.

2011

Jummana Al-Kahlout (TPR) is a website

editor for Aljazeera Media Network.

Nada Al Mahmeed (TPR) is a corporate

planning officer at Qatar Development

Bank.

Samreen Anjum (CS) is a software

engineer at Qatar Computing Research

Institute.

Shazia Haq (TPR) is an academic

assistant at Carnegie Mellon Qatar’s

Academic Resource Center. She is also

studying to become a CPA.

Yara Ezzeldin Saeed (TPR) is a financial

reporting analyst for ConocoPhillips.

Omar Shaath (IS) is a project

coordinator at iHorizons. He also joined

Qatar’s Taekwondo National Team.

Omnia Shehabaddin (TPR) is marketing

coordinator at Mathaf: Arab Museum of

Modern Art.

CLASS NOTES

IN T

OU

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Red Cakes and Black Gold

I N T O U C H

52

The Red Velvet Cupcakery was a great

place for Alumni to catch up

Alumni reconnect at October event

Alumni got the hottest tickets in town when they

signed up for a Carnegie Mellon reunion event held in

October. The group gathered at Katara’s Red Velvet

Cupcakery before attending the world premiere of

“Black Gold” at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival.

53

صفحات الخريجني

يستمتع الحارضون بوجبة خفيفة و الحديث عن فيلم »الذهب

األسود«

ليلــــــــــة باحلـــــــــي الثقافـــــــي )كتارا(

جتمع بني اخلريجني مل�ساهدة فيلم »الذهب الأ�سود«

Jointly shot in Qatar and Tunisia, “Black Gold” tells

the tale of the discovery of oil and is set against the

dramatic backdrop of the Arabian Peninsula in the

1930s. The epic film is one of the largest cinematic

projects undertaken in the Arab World.

53

A three-week pre-university program for academically-talented high school students currently studying in year 10 or year 11TheSummerCollegePreviewProgramisanexceptionalopportunityformotivatedstudents

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July 1 – 19, 2012

P R E V I E W P R O G R A MC A R N E G I E M E L L O N U N I V E R S I T Y Q A T A R

SUMMERCOLLEGE

Akhbar Spring 2012

Documents

Transcript of Akhbar Spring 2012