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Carnegie Mellon to Dedicate Pedestrian Bridge in Honor of the Late Randy Pausch

Tonight at 7:30, Carnegie Mellon University will dedicate a pedestrian bridge connecting the new Gates Center for Computer Science and the Purnell Center for the Arts in memory of Randy Pausch, professor of computer science, human-computer interaction and design, and author of the bestselling book “The Last Lecture.”

The ribbon-cutting and bridge-lighting ceremony will be held in front of the Purnell Center’s main entrance.

The Randy Pausch Memorial Bridge will be a physical connection between the School of Computer Science’s new building and the School of Drama’s home, much as Pausch was an inspirational and intellectual connection between computer science and the arts. Pausch, who died last year of pancreatic cancer, encouraged computer scientists and artists to work and learn together, most notably by creating the interdisciplinary Building Virtual Worlds course and co-founding Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Center.

Pausch’s widow, Jai, and other family members will participate in the ceremony and Carnegie Mellon President Jared L. Cohon will preside.

Flag Football Tournament to Honor Randy Pausch

Published September 2, 2008 Events , PTC Member Leave a Comment
Tags: Carnegie Mellon University, Flag Football, Pancreatic Cancer, Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project, PUMP, Randy Pausch

Randy Pausch, the late Carnegie Mellon University professor, will be honored with a Flag Football Tournamentin October presented by PUMP and Pittsburgh Sports League. Pausch, a former flag football participant and a fan of the game, inspired millions with his “last lecture” in 2007. The tournament will feature competitions for men’s and women’s teams at South Park Fairgrounds. Registration is now open and sponsorship opportunities are available. Read more at IheartPGH.

Click here for a registration form.
Click here for sponsorship opportunities.

Proceeds from the event will be donated to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.

Company: Carnegie Mellon University
Web Site: www.cmu.edu
Location: Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Description: Carnegie Mellon is a national research university of about 7,500 students and 3,000 faculty, research and administrative staff. Carnegie Technical School was founded in 1900 in Pittsburgh by industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. Read more.

Company: PUMP
Web Site: www.pump.org
Location: Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Description: PUMP advances issues affecting young and young-thinking people in Pittsburgh, making the region a more dynamic, engaging and diverse place in which to live. Read more.

First Annual Pausch Prize Goes to Walt Disney and Pixar President

Published August 28, 2008 News , PTC Member , Regional Impact Leave a Comment
Tags: Carnegie Mellon, Disney, Ed Catmull, Entertainment Technology Center, International Conference on Entertainment Computing, Pixar, Randy Pausch

In the spirit of the late Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon professor who dreamed big and persevered to become a Walt Disney Imagineer, the first annual prize in his honor will be given to the president of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studio.

Ed Catmull will accept the first Randy Pausch Prize from the Entertainment Technology Center on Sept. 26th and present a lecture in the McConomy Auditorium, the place where Pausch offered his famous “last lecture” to friends and colleagues. He died last July at the age of 47. The Pausch Prize will honor entertainment industry experts who embody Pausch’s spirit of interdisciplinary collaboration.

Carnegie Mellon is also planning a memorial service for Pausch next month. Details will be announced later in the week.

“In years to come, the ETC will seek to honor those individuals whose technical and creative expertise empowers writers, artists, designers, digital media professionals, and even the average citizen to realize dreams, visions, and imaginings beyond the confines of what is possible today,” says Don Marinelli who co-founded the ETC with Pausch. “He helped us make the ETC a place where right-brained and left-brained individuals can work together successfully.”

A four-time Academy Award winner, Catmull is the co-founder of Pixar and created two leading centers of computer graphics research, the computer graphics laboratory at the New York Institute of Technology and the computer division of Lucasfilm Ltd. He is also one of the architects of a highly touted rendering software, RenderMan, which has been used in 44 of the last 47 films nominated for an Academy Award in the Visual Effects category.

Catmull’s lecture will also also serve as a keynote address for the 7th Annual International Conference on Entertainment Computing at Carnegie Mellon, one of the largest and most prestigious conferences for entertainment computing in the world from Sept. 25-27.

Writer: Deb Smit
Source: Don Marinelli, Bryon Spice, Carnegie Mellon University

Company: Carnegie Mellon University
Web Site: www.cmu.edu
Location: Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Description: Carnegie Mellon is a national research university of about 7,500 students and 3,000 faculty, research and administrative staff. Carnegie Technical School was founded in 1900 in Pittsburgh by industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. Read more.