Carnegie Mellon

Pittsburgh has reinvented itself from a steel powerhouse to a hub for health care and education. But the city’s industrial past left a hidden legacy: toxic compounds like benzene and toluene in the soil. While most life can’t survive such a contamination, some microbes adapted to use the pollutants as food.  Catherine Armbruster Now, scientists at Carnegie Mellon University are exploring whether these microbes can help clean up what the…

Carnegie Mellon University is one of six institutions partnering with the Viewpoints Fellowship(opens in new window), a yearlong, paid leadership program designed to equip students with the necessary skills to productively navigate disagreement, lead constructive dialogue and foster more resilient campus communities.The fellowship is a partnership between the student-founded nonprofit The Viewpoints Project(opens in new window) and CMU’s Civility Initiatives(opens in new window) and Office of Community Engagement and Leadership Development(opens in new window).Through…

The Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Innovation Center(opens in new window) (RIC) hummed with energy on Monday as it partnered with Hazelwood Local to host a family-friendly open house. The event, on the heels of the RIC’s opening celebration(opens in new window) last month, showcased robot demonstrations, offered guided tours and built direct connections with CMU to explore programs, relationships and resources.Zoie Pitzarella of Hazelwood watched her 6-year-old son, Kyng, use a video…

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University are developing new technology that could lower how much energy data centers need to operate, reducing the strain on the energy grid that Americans rely on.Why it mattersThe electricity required to run data centers, specifically those powering artificial intelligence, is straining the U.S. energy grid. AI energy demands are projected to double or triple(opens in new window) in the next few years, according to the U.S.…

Today, Carnegie Mellon University researchers are directly advancing the next generation of energy innovation by helping to design resilient, transportable microreactors. This work builds on the Pittsburgh region's century-long legacy as a leader in energy, from the nation's first commercial nuclear power plant to Westinghouse's global reactor technology breakthroughs.“As we work to cut air pollution from fossil fuels and reduce the greenhouse gases driving climate change, small modular reactors offer…

Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University attest that while the United States needs to lower system-wide costs and air pollution to shape the future of energy, the core priority should be ensuring individuals can afford and access that energy. Destenie Nock Destenie Nock(opens in new window), assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering(opens in new window) and engineering and public policy(opens in new window), leads a research group comprised of graduate students at CMU…

At Carnegie Mellon University, researchers are helping cities learn how to make room for too much of a good thing: renewable energy.Shixiang (Woody) Zhu(opens in new window), an assistant professor of data analytics within the Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy(opens in new window), is using his expertise in statistics and operations research to help one Midwestern city, Indianapolis, rethink its grid. Zhu and his research colleagues partnered with utility…

In rural areas, the number of low-wage jobs, such as those in retail or warehousing, has increased, research by a Carnegie Mellon University junior found. At the same time, income in rural areas from high-wage jobs, such as those in health care and professional services, has also grown.Kausthub Satluri set out to study “brain drain,” or the movement of skilled and intelligent workers from rural to urban areas, and the…

Olivia LaFond, a Carnegie Mellon University senior majoring in biomedical and chemical engineering, created a 3D-printed device that one day could be used to reduce the need for invasive procedures or could help deliver medication directly inside the body over time.The design of the device, meant to attach to the small intestine, is inspired by tapeworms. People may eat food, especially meat, where the parasites have laid microscopic eggs that then…

“Pittsburgh’s strength has always been translating ideas into impact,” said Farnam Jahanian(opens in new window), president of Carnegie Mellon University. “With the NFL Draft coming to our city, it is a fitting moment to highlight how sport — through play, performance, engagement, and entertainment — has become a proving ground for the next era of AI. There is no better place to tell that story than the Robotics Innovation Center,…

“Pittsburgh’s strength has always been translating ideas into impact,” said Farnam Jahanian(opens in new window), president of Carnegie Mellon University. “With the NFL Draft coming to our city, it is a fitting moment to highlight how sport — through play, performance, engagement, and entertainment — has become a proving ground for the next era of AI. There is no better place to tell that story than the Robotics Innovation Center,…

Farnam Jahanian “Today, this facility is bringing state-of-the-art infrastructure together with the ability to tap into the nation's and region’s most comprehensive regional network of robotics testing sites. And it demonstrates how a university can invest locally and meet national needs while enhancing our economic competitiveness and national security,” CMU President Farnam Jahanian said. “What excites me most about this space is the serendipity it will spark: Researchers crossing paths…

When Leo Wang arrived at Carnegie Mellon University from Hong Kong, he was already fascinated by robots. But it wasn’t until he joined the Robomechanics Lab led by Aaron Johnson(opens in new window) that his interest evolved into a mission: to teach quadrupedal robots to climb steep terrain using reinforcement learning.“I’ve always dreamed of building general-purpose robots that could help in the home or navigate complex environments,” said Wang, now a…

When removing cancerous tissue in the brain, neurosurgeons often use “awake brain mapping” to minimize the risk of causing unintended disruptions to a patient’s quality of life while removing as much tumor as possible. This practice, which has been used for decades, involves waking a patient up mid-surgery to test their neurocognitive functions in real time by stimulating the brain surface and assessing for functional changes.A new study published today…

Downed power lines, flooding and collapsed buildings are dangerous obstacles emergency responders must navigate when searching for survivors of catastrophic events. But robots that can overcome these challenges could save lives without putting human rescuers at risk. Soon, search-and-rescue robotics researchers at Carnegie Mellon University will be able to build on their work at the Robotics Innovation Center(opens in new window) (RIC) to test their inventions. Flying robots to the rescueResearchers…

Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Innovation Center(opens in new window) (RIC) has secured its first corporate tenant, bringing the high-growth robotics unicorn FieldAI(opens in new window) to the university’s new research facility at Hazelwood Green. The move, announced ahead of the facility’s formal opening this week, embeds an industry leader in physical artificial intelligence into a 2,500-square-foot lab and office suite on the building’s second floor. Ali Agha "We've always believed that the best…

Five Carnegie Mellon University faculty members from the School of Computer Science(opens in new window), Mellon College of Science(opens in new window) and Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences(opens in new window) are among the 126 recipients of 2026 Sloan Research Fellowships, which honor early career scholars whose achievements put them among the best scientific minds working today.Christopher Eur(opens in new window), an assistant professor in the Department of…

Carnegie Mellon University's standing as a powerhouse in engineering research is underscored by the election of Jonathan Cagan(opens in new window), CMU President Farnam Jahanian(opens in new window), and alumnus Ira J. Pitel to the prestigious National Academy of Engineering(opens in new window)'s 2026 class. Election to the NAE is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. Cagan, the David and Susan Coulter Head of Mechanical Engineering, is known for his advancements in…

Nearly one in four adults in the U.S. lives with chronic pain(opens in new window). Opioids like morphine help by reducing the brain’s perception of pain, but they come with risks and side effects researchers still don’t fully understand. Across neuroscience, biomedical engineering and artificial intelligence, esearchers from Carnegie Mellon University’s Neuroscience Institute(opens in new window) are exploring how pain is measured, understood and treated to support safer, more effective care.Understanding pain behavior could…

The long-standing interplay between artificial intelligence and the evolution of physics played a pivotal role in awarding the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics to two AI trailblazers. “AI for physics and physics for AI are concepts you hear,” said Matteo Cremonesi(opens in new window), an assistant professor of physics at Carnegie Mellon University. “The fact that the Nobel Prize went to AI pioneers is not surprising. It’s a recognition of…

It's increasingly difficult to discern between content generated by humans and artificial intelligence. To help create more transparency around this issue and detect when AI-generated content is used maliciously, computer scientists are researching ways to label content created by large language models (LLMs). One solution: using watermarks. A new study(opens in new window) from School of Computer Science(opens in new window) researchers looks at the tradeoffs of some of the…

When researchers need to collect data about a worksite’s soil quality, they can run into several problems. Using excavators to access sites can be challenging, expensive, and may limit the ability to collect samples. Once an excavator does return a scoop of soil, scientists must still collect soil samples by hand for shipping and analysis at an off-site commercial lab. In short, their work is often dirty, dangerous and expensive.…

In the dramatic arts, training artists and actors holds as much importance as teaching tools for expression, according to Carnegie Mellon alumni with ties to Broadway. “Arts education allowed me to see that there was not one way to be, not one way to learn, not one way to process information,” said Nate Bertone(opens in new window) (CFA 2016), a member of the Tartans on the Rise Class of 2024(opens in new window).…

Deepfake videos generated by artificial intelligence grow increasingly difficult to identify as false, a challenge that could significantly skew the results of the upcoming presidential election. Laurie Heller(opens in new window), Carnegie Mellon University professor of psychology, collaborated with Hafsa Ouajdi, Oussama Hadder, Modan Tailleur and Mathieu Lagrange of École Centrale Nantes(opens in new window) to analyze the errors made by the first deep neural network detector the research team developed…

Picture this: hundreds of ant-sized robots climbing over rubble, under rocks and between debris to inspect the damage of a fallen building before human rescuers explore on-site. Downscaling legged robots to the size of an insect enables access to small spaces that humans and large robots cannot reach. A swarm of small robots can even collaborate like their insect counterparts to haul objects and protect one another. Picotaur, a new…

Artificial intelligence rapidly changed the ways that companies screen applicants for positions, and now job seekers themselves use generative AI to navigate this evolving career landscape. According to Sean McGowan, director of employer relations at Carnegie Mellon University’s Career and Professional Development Center(opens in new window) (CPDC), generative AI can be a speedy and powerful tool in the job search process — when used ethically and responsibly — yet traditional approaches…

Co-painting is by its nature collaborative, and developing data that trains a robot to collaborate is difficult and time-consuming. To get around this complication, CoFRIDA uses self-supervised training data based on FRIDA's stroke simulator and planner. The researchers created a self-supervised, fine-tuning dataset by having FRIDA simulate paintings that consisted of a sequence of brush strokes, from which some strokes could be removed to produce examples of partial paintings. The…

A new study by a researcher at Carnegie Mellon University assessed cannabis use in the United States between 1979 and 2022, finding that a growing share of cannabis consumers report daily or near-daily use and that their numbers now exceed those of daily and near-daily alcohol drinkers. The study concludes that long-term trends in cannabis use parallel corresponding changes in policy over the same period. The study appears in Addiction.…

Tartan linebacker Kevin Cooke is a Chicago Bears fan who enjoyed watching Brian Urlacher play defense for his favorite football team, but his real hero is his older brother Sean, who also played football for CMU. “Sean was always the person I looked up to on the football field. He was a running back, but I was able to learn so much from him,” he said. Cooke, who will graduate…

A tape measure may seem an unlikely tool to identify unconscious bias within an organization, yet in the hands of biologist Nancy Hopkins, it quantified gender bias and became a powerful symbol of the fight for gender equality. At Carnegie Mellon University, during the most recent Scientists & Strategists lecture hosted by the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy and Technology(opens in new window) (CMIST) on Tuesday, April 23, guest speaker Kate…

A new study examined the drinking levels and patterns of young adults before, during and after the pandemic. The researchers found alcohol use and alcohol-related problems substantially decreased in heavy-drinking young adults during the pandemic, and these decreases were still evident as the pandemic began to wane. The results are available in the May 2 issue of the journal Nature Mental Health(opens in new window). Kasey Creswell “The pandemic gave…

Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute(opens in new window) (SEI) and OpenAI published a white paper(opens in new window) that found that large language models (LLMs) could be an asset for cybersecurity professionals, but should be evaluated using real and complex scenarios to better understand the technology’s capabilities and risks. LLMs underlie today’s generative artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, such as Google’s Gemini, Microsoft’s Bing AI, and ChatGPT, released in November 2022 by…

In a lawsuit, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said Amazon used a secret algorithm to determine how much to raise prices in a way competitors would follow and that brought the company $1 billion in revenue. Amazon insists the project had a benign aim and was scrapped. In this context, a new study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University sheds light on the effectiveness of automated pricing strategies used in e-commerce and their interactions…

“RoboAgent is a critical milestone toward general robotic agents that are efficient learners, effective in novel situations and capable of expanding their behaviors over time,” said Vikash Kumar, adjunct faculty in the School of Computer Science(opens in new window)’s Robotics Institute(opens in new window). “Current robots are highly specialized and trained for individual tasks in isolation. In contrast, we set out to create a single artificial intelligence agent capable of…

Large language models (LLMs) use deep-learning techniques to process and generate human-like text. The models train on vast amounts of data from books, articles, websites and other sources to generate responses, translate languages, summarize text, answer questions and perform a wide range of natural language processing tasks. This rapidly evolving artificial intelligence technology has led to the creation of both open- and closed-source tools, such as ChatGPT, Claude and Google…

The COVID-19 pandemic saw a marked surge of e-commerce and online grocery delivery services that persisted past lockdown conditions. The latest work(opens in new window) by Carnegie Mellon University College of Engineering researchers examined the impacts of grocery delivery on energy use, emissions and traffic congestion, and whether there might be a better way to manage and optimize deliveries. The study found that grocery delivery was less energy efficient than…

During the COVID-19 pandemic, robots helped Carnegie Mellon University students in the Computational Biology Department complete lab assignments. Joshua Kangas(opens in new window), an assistant professor in the Computational Biology Department(opens in new window) and co-director of the Master of Science in Automated Science(opens in new window) (MSAS) program, said students could log in to the Automated Science Lab(opens in new window)’s integrated robot, design experimental protocols and use cameras…