AUGUST 06
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A FOUNDATION
In this issue
Connections:
Students take on summer
internships
Sheikha Mozah:
H.H. speaks at Pittsburgh
Commencement
Robot invasion:
Doha hosts second annual Botball
challenge
R
contents
AUGUST 06
Akhbar
A publication of Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
P.O. Box 24866
Doha, Qatar
www.qatar.cmu.edu
Contributors
Noha AlAfifi
Emma Bopf
Lisa Kirchner
Andrea L. Zrimsek
Layout & Design
IMAGEPRO Graphics
Doha, Qatar
Mission
Published four times per year, Akhbar is the
Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar campus
newsletter. Articles and photographs contained in
this publication are subject to copyright protection.
No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in any retrieval system or transmitted in
any form or by any means without prior written
permission of the university.
Editorial inquires or reprints
For reprints or inquiries, contact Lisa Kirchner,
Director of Marketing and Public Relations, at
kirchner@qatar.cmu.edu.
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5
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Connections
Royal Visit
Down & Dirty
Summer School
No Place Like Home
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10
12
13
14
15
Botball
Faculty & Staff News
Visiting Professors
Remembering
A Friend
Purl Diving
Q-CERT
A WORD
FROM THE
DEAN....
Maybe it’s the heat, trips to exotic locales
or the anticipation of everything a new school year
brings, but summer passes by in a flash. Or maybe
this summer went by especially quickly since the
start of the 2006-2007 school year was moved up a
few weeks to accommodate the Doha Asian Games
in December.
But then everything about the coming year
started a little earlier than usual. It was our first
year of early decisions, meaning that students who
applied early received early notice of our admissions
decisions. This proces----long standard on our
Pittsburgh campus---- enables us to attract the
region’s best students.
That group, now the Class of 2010, will
bring our student body to nearly 135. As our
campus continues to grow, so do our academics.
We are up to five computer science faculty, adding
courses in programming languages and software
engineering; several business faculty, adding new
offerings in marketing and production; and new
offerings in humanities including, for the first time,
Spanish. Cross-registration with other Education
City universities is expanding this term and the list of
student activities is ever increasing.
Additionally, excavation and construction on
our building is expected to start soon. Once the job
is underway, we expect it to take about two years to
complete. Right now that may seem like a long way
away, but it wasn’t that long ago that the Class of
2008 first walked through our doors as freshman.
Now they are maturing adults who are halfway
through their studies and already planning for their
futures. Much like the long days of summer, they will
be gone before we know it.
Class of 2010, I will share with you
something I hope you will keep in mind during your
four years at Carnegie Mellon: Your college years will
go fast. So work hard, learn as much as you can and
enjoy every moment along the way.
My best wishes to you all,
Charles E. Thorpe, Dean
CONNECTIONS
Students apply what they’ve learned in the classroom to real-world situations
Yasmine Abdelrahman (Tepper, 2008) knows she
will need more than high marks in the classroom to compete
in a global marketing place when she graduates. She must
also have hands-on experience in the workplace. “Having
experience in a work environment adds a lot to your resume,”
she says. “High grades and charity work is good too, but it
will not always get you in the interview chair.”
And getting in that interview chair is much easier if
you’ve done an internship, according to J. Patrick McGinnis,
lecturer in Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business.
McGinnis, who teaches oral and written communications
to business students in Pittsburgh and Qatar, continually
stresses to his students the importance of gaining job
experience.
“Internships are an integral part of the American
business school experience,” McGinnis says. “Students get
the benefit of obtaining real-life experience and applying
theories learned in the classroom to the field where they will
eventually work. Employers also gain through internships because
students provide a legitimate contribution to the organization.”
2 akhbar AUGUST 2006
Virtually 100 percent of students in American
business schools complete an internship, and many even
choose to complete two, says McGinnis, who is working
to bring that concept to Carnegie Mellon Qatar. He says
Carnegie Mellon has relationships with some of the
strongest, most influential corporations in the world and an
important part of those relationships are internships. “As we
build our reputation in the region we will also continue to
build the same types of relationships here that we have in
Pittsburgh. And internships will be a very big part of that.”
Businesses in Doha are already beginning to see
the advantage of offering internships to students. Companies
such as ConocoPhilips, Specialty Teaching Hospital and Q-Tel
have already taken Carnegie Mellon students as interns, and
many more are lining up.
Over the summer 22 students spent their days
putting their skills to use. Imran Karim and Abdelrahman
interned at HSBC Bank; Samiha Kamel spent her summer
at ConocoPhilips; Rana El Sakhawy and Mohamed Hajaig
both interned with the Al Fardan Group; Qebbas Al Warad
and Lina Agha both worket at Q-CERT; Noora Al Ansari and
Sahrr Malik spend their time at RasGas; Mustafa Hasnain
and Anriban Lahiri worked at the Specialty Teaching Hospital;
Maha Mahmoud interned at the Ministry of Finance; Rascha
Mkachar, Reem Khaled and Maha Obaidan all worked at
General Electric; Nora Subai and Maha Al Shirrawi both
interned at Qatar Petroleum; Khuloud Al Farsi interned at
Qatar Gas; Lina El Menshawy and Basherra Banu both
interned at Commercial Bank; and Omar Aloubah worked at
the Four Seasons Hotel. Amer Obediah spent his summer in
his home country of Jordan interning at Rubicon.
The Connections program helps match the right
student with the right internship. To date more than 40
Carnegie Mellon Qatar students have completed one
internship and a few students have completed two. Khadra
Dualeh, Director of the Office of Professional Development
and International Education at Carnegie Mellon Qatar,
works closely with potential employers to develop the
right internship opportunities for students. This first-hand
experience gives students the chance to apply what they have
learned in the classroom to real-world situations.
“We want the internship to be a positive experience
for the students, especially when they haven’t done this
before,” Dualeh says. Dualeh also wants the internship to be
positive for employers. By having student interns, employers
are able to pre-screen potential employees. They also benefit
from the fresh and problem-solving approach of Carnegie
Mellon students. Most importantly, McGinnis adds, by
providing internship opportunities, companies are having a
hand in shaping the next generation of business people.
On a recent trip to Carnegie Mellon’s campus,
RasGas employee David Challenger talked with students
about how working as an intern positively affects students in
their job search. Put simply, Challenger says “there is nothing
more impressive than receiving a CV with job experience
attached to it. It moves that CV to the top of the pile.”
AUGUST 2006
akhbar 3
ROYAL VISIT
Her Highness speaks at Pittsburgh Commencement
On a rain-soaked Sunday in May, Carnegie Mellon
held its 109th commencement featuring Her Highness
Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser al Missned, chairperson of the
Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community
Development, as the keynote speaker. Despite the weather,
Her Highness addressed 3,300 bachelor’s, master’s and
doctoral degree recipients at a packed Gesling Stadium,
encouraging them to cross cultural boundaries just as they’d
been taught to academically.
“We live in a time when we are told that there is
a cultural fault line between the ‘West’ and ‘Islam.’ We are
told that the ‘West’ and ‘Islam’ are at war, that the ideologies
of the West are incompatible with Islam, and that each
civilization is trying to destroy the other. Depending on which
side you stand, one or the other is the villain,” she said.
Her Highness challenged the audience to break free
from these preconceived notions, to use their education to ”forge
innovative solutions.” This kind of thinking, she said, results
from «faulty narratives.” She went on to cite research showing
similarities in Arab and Western thought, from family values to
governmental checks and balances to women’s rights.
Her Highness also received an honorary doctorate of
humane letters, joining five other honorary degree recipients:
Jonathan Borofsky (A’64), John L. Hall (S’56,’58,’62),
Jeffrey Romoff, Bud Yorkin (E’48) and Vartan Gregorian,
a Qatar Foundation trustee. Her Highness graduated from
the University of Qatar in 1986 with a degree in sociology
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AUGUST 2006
and has been awarded honorary doctorates from Virginia
Commonwealth and Texas A&M. She has been actively
engaged in education and social reforms in Qatar and has
played a major role in spearheading various national and
international projects, with Education City as a leading
example. As president of the Supreme Council for Family
Affairs, she leads its efforts to strengthen the role of family in
society, and as vice-chairperson of the Supreme Education
Council, she is active in Qatar’s K-12 reform.
In 2003, the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) appointed Her Highness
special envoy for Basic and Higher Education. Also in 2003,
she established the International Fund for Higher Education
in Iraq, which is dedicated to the reconstruction of institutions
of advanced learning in Iraq. In 2005, she was selected as
a member of the United Nations High Level Group of the
Alliance of Civilizations, established by the Secretary General
of the UN to develop creative mechanisms for fighting
terrorism.
For those of us familiar with her work in Qatar
and beyond, the speech synthesized her own pioneering
vision. She concluded with the following quote from Andrew
Carnegie, “He that cannot reason is a fool. He that will not is a
bigot. He that dare not is a slave.”
“He that cannot reason is
a fool. He that will not is a
bigot. He that dare not is a
slave.”
--- Andrew Carnegie
The talk began a highly successful visit for Her
Highness, which included a visit to the archives of the Million
Book Project, research presentations and a tour of Borofsky’s
“Walking to the Sky,” the university’s latest public art
installation. It was Her Highness’ first visit to the university’s
Pittsburgh campus.
DOWN & DIRTY
Qatar campus celebrates groundbreaking of new building
Yellow construction hats were all the rage on May 17
as students, staff and faculty of Carnegie Mellon University in
Qatar celebrated the groundbreaking of the university’s new
building in Education City. More than 100 people braved the
desert heat to attend the ceremonial event where Dean Chuck
Thorpe spoke about the future of Carnegie Mellon.
“The building will be a visually spectacular addition
to Qatar Foundation. But what’s much more important, it will
be a spectacular space for our educational and research
mission. We will, of course, have classrooms and offices
and laboratories, but beyond that we will follow the Carnegie
Mellon tradition of having open spaces for people to meet,
talk, drink coffee and build the future. We look forward to
welcoming not just Carnegie Mellon, but all of Education City
to drop by and collaborate with us,” Thorpe says.
Thorpe, along with Kevin Lamb, assistant dean and
director for planning and operations, Nora Al-Subai (SCS,
2008) and Omar Alouba (Tepper, 2009), dug chrome shovels
into the ground to mark the official site where the building will
stand. The facility, being built by Qatar Foundation to Carnegie
Mellon’s specifications, will measure an expansive 42,000square meters. This will make it larger than any one building
on the university’s main campus in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Situated between the existing Weill-Cornell Medical
College and the Texas A&M University at Qatar building
now under construction, Carnegie Mellon’s facility will be
the new home for students earning undergraduate degrees
in business administration and computer science at the
university.
In addition to lecture halls, labs and computer
clusters, the educational facility will have at its core an open
three-story atrium that will serve as a town square. Filled
with natural light, the atrium will be home to a food court,
assembly area and expansive walkway. Situated on the main
east-west passage through Education City, the walkway will
be alive with trees and will serve as a meeting place for
students from all universities, Lamb says.
Designed by renowned Mexican architects Legorreta
+ Legorreta, the building was conceived of in a way that
will “foster the growth of the whole student - academically,
intellectually, emotionally, physically and spiritually,” says
Lamb. This state-of-the-art building will feature a robust
palette of colors, water features and trees that will create
warm and inviting spaces throughout.
The firm Legorreta + Legorreta has worked closely
with Lamb to create a pure and timeless space specific to
the mission of Carnegie Mellon’s only undergraduate branch
campus. The firm also designed the Texas A&M University
building.
This new facility will accommodate the expanding
Carnegie Mellon student body, which increased by a third
with the addition of the class of 2010. The building also will
cement the university into the landscape of Doha, ensuring
many more years of collaboration and education between
Carnegie Mellon University and Qatar.
The May event was a ceremonial groundbreaking
only. Actual construction will begin this fall. Once underway,
the building will take approximately two years to complete.
AUGUST 2006
akhbar 5
SUMMER
SCHOOL
Students take classes
in Pittsburgh
Summer is a time reserved for rest, relaxation and
enjoying the long, sunny days. Unless, of course, if you’re
a Carnegie Mellon student. Then summer simply means a
chance to study with fewer distractions.
Students at the Pittsburgh campus often take
summer classes to catch up, get ahead or just earn a
few extra credits in electives not offered during the fall or
spring terms. Being so much smaller than Pittsburgh, the
Qatar campus does not offer summer courses. So this past
summer, a handful of students packed their bags and headed
west to attend summer school in Pittsburgh.
John Robertson, assistant dean for academic affairs,
says he encourages students to take summer classes in
Pittsburgh for two reasons. First of all, students can sign up
for a broad range of classes to round out their academic
career. “It’s a great way to earn a minor in a field that has yet
to be offered in Education City,” Robertson says.
The second reason is to broaden horizons. By
traveling to Pittsburgh, students are fully immersed in another
culture, specifically the Carnegie Mellon culture. In addition
to meeting other Carnegie Mellon students, students may
get involved in activities on the home campus and take in
everything the city of Pittsburgh has to offer.
Summer courses also give students the chance to
improve their GPA by re-taking a class. Other students take
a full load of classes during the summer in hopes of an early
graduation. No matter what the reason, the opportunity is one
that Robertson says should not be passed up. “We’ll try to do
it for as many students as we can.”
Studying abroad is not available to students until
they are in their second full academic year. Students who
elect to take summer classes in Pittsburgh typically live in one
of the campus dormitories or apartments, and eat meals in
the cafeteria. Qatar Foundation pays for transportation, room,
board and assists students with other aspects of the trip. But
getting the work done…that’s left up to the student.
6 akhbar AUGUST 2006
NO PLACE
LIKE HOME
Student Noor Al-Athirah
(Tepper, 2008) reflects on
semester in Pittsburgh
Moving to a city that I knew nothing of, especially
halfway through the school year, was pretty much like starting
life from zero. There was no student orientation and I had no
friends or family in Pittsburgh; everything was different. It
ended up being more of a lesson on how to be thankful for
life than an ordinary experience.
My best friend Maha and I started talking during the
Fall 2005 semester about studying abroad to experience life
away from our parents. We were both equally interested in
the idea and once we had the approval of our parents and the
university we were on our way.
We arrived in Pittsburgh in the middle of January,
not knowing what to expect. For a person heavily dependent
on weather, coping with Pittsburgh’s cold and unpredictable
temperatures was a nightmare. Surviving days with no
sunlight I count as one of my accomplishments.
In the beginning we went through very tough times,
like when Maha lost her luggage on the way and never got it
back. We experienced stress when dealing with the housing
representatives and having unfinished matters and paperwork
such as insurance documents.
It was upsetting having to deal with issues we knew
nothing of in Qatar. One example was of our apartment’s
rent. We didn’t know much about the rent prior to arriving
at Pittsburgh. Then halfway through the semester, when we
could do nothing about it, we discovered that the rent was
double what we thought. Classes were not so difficult, though.
They were at the same level of difficulty as classes in Qatar.
I had a very different standard of living in Pittsburgh
than I’m used to and managing my own finances was
something I had to learn. I cooked sometimes and other times
we went to Subway or some other restaurant. We had dinner
a few times with some of the people we knew from Qatar like
Cleah Schlueter & Jacobo Carrasquel, Mr. and Mrs. Walker,
David Kaufer and his family. They made the experience easier
whenever they could.
We definitely had a tough time making friends,
getting familiar with the streets and understanding the bus
system. Once we made friends, we began having fun, though
I still missed everything related to home so much. Our outings
were mostly to movie theaters, shopping malls and coffee
shops, and sometimes we just cruised around in the car.
Maha and I made many more friends from the University of
Pittsburgh than we did from Carnegie Mellon.
Towards the end of the four months in Pittsburgh, I
was much more comfortable than in the beginning, but still
very excited to leave. I flew to San Antonio, Texas in May
and registered for summer classes in San Antonio College.
Studies were interesting and there were many more shopping
malls than in Pittsburgh, plus many more places to hang out.
The overall experience was worthwhile in terms of
accepting responsibility and appreciating the pretty easy life I
have back home. I would love to go through a similar experience
in the future, but certainly with much more preparation.
AUGUST 2006
akhbar 7
ROBOT INVASION
Carnegie Mellon hosts second international Botball challenge
BOTBALL
ROBOTICS
CHALLENGE
2006
Robots may not be taking over the world…yet. But
they were taking over Doha City Center Mall on Saturday, May
27, as Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar hosted the second
International Botball Challenge.
This event capped off a successful seven-week
robotics programming course in which teams from six local
schools designed, developed, programmed and documented
their robots. The teams competed against each other on a
playing field the size of a pingpong table in a high energy,
non-destructive tournament.
Omar Bin Khattab Scientific School won the
challenge with the highest overall score, compiled from
8 akhbar AUGUST 2006
the tournament rounds as well as the pre-competition
documentation of their work. Al Khor International School
took 2nd place, and 3rd place went to Amna Bint Wahhab
Independent S.S.G.
“I am really glad our robots worked. You cannot
describe how it feels to be number one. I am very happy
because we are the champions now,” said a young team
member from Omar Bin Al Khattab Scientific School.
Doha College, American School in Doha and
International School of Choueifat also took part in this year’s
challenge to showcase their autonomous robots.
Botball is a U.S.-based organization that introduces robotics to high schools. Student teams are
equipped with a Lego© Mindstorm robot, along with instruction on how to program it to move
autonomously through a course. The programming sessions conclude with a challenge—student
teams are pitted against one another to see whose robot completes the course. The winning team
also must demonstrate the work they’ve done in order to program their robot.
The competition was judged by International experts
Elizabeth Whitewolf, Botball Production Manager; Arne Suppe,
research programmer at the Robotics Institute of Carnegie
them and dumped them where they belonged. That’s an
amazing feat for only seven weeks of preparation.”
Botball is a U.S.-based organization that introduces
Mellon University in Pittsburgh; Justin Carlson, teaching
robotics to high schools. Student teams are equipped with
assistant at Carnegie Mellon Qatar; and Mohamed Mustafa,
a Lego© Mindstorm robot, along with instruction on how
who organized the 2nd International Botball Challenge.
to program it to move autonomously through a course. The
“The winning team had a great robot; it was
programming sessions conclude with a challenge in whitch
designed well and had great engineering behind it. Not only
student teams are pitted against one another to see whose robot
that, the programming was amazing,” said Whitewolf. “The
completes the course. The winning team also must demonstrate
robot honed in on the scoring objects, picked them up, sorted
the work they’ve done in order to program their robot.
AUGUST 2006
akhbar 9
FACULTY &
As the third academic year gets ready to kick off,
Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar announces
the addition of many new faculty members.
John Barr
John Barr has been a computer science professor at Ithaca College
in New York since 1991. He joins Carnegie Mellon Qatar as an
associate teaching professor. During the fall 2006 Semester he will
be teaching Fundamentals of Data Structured Algorithms.
Lynn Carter, Ph.D.
Lynn Robert Carter has been a senior
researcher and educator at Carnegie Mellon
University for seventeen years. He comes to
Carnegie Mellon Qatar from the West Coast
campus. While in Doha he will focus on adding
an undergraduate software engineering track
and explore opportunities for graduate and
continuing education programs. He also will be teaching Software
Engineering Foundations.
Iliano Cervesato
Iliano Cervesato has held appointments a
Carnegie Mellon, Stanford, Princeton, Tulane
and George Mason. He also has worked
for ITT Industries at the Naval Research
Laboratory and for Deductive Solutions.
His current research interests encompass
computer security, computational logic,
programming languages, temporal reasoning and user productivity
applications.
Erik Helin
Erik Helin joins Carnegie Mellon Qatar as
an associate professor. He will be teaching
Spanish classes.
Dr Ian Lacey, Ph.D.
Ian Lacey joins Carnegie Mellon Qatar as an
associate teaching professor, after spending
22 years commissioned in the British Royal
Navy. During his time in the Royal Navy,
he held a wide variety of appointments in
education, training and information systems.
Most recently, he served at the Defense
College of Management & Technology, part of the Defense Academy
of the United Kingdom. At CMUQ, Lacey will teach Management of
Information Systems.
Andrew Leung
Andrew Leung holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from
Carnegie Mellon University. He will be working this fall as a
teaching assistant for three courses: Macroeconomics, Marketing
and Introduction to Business.
Alan L. Montgomery, Ph.D.
Dr. Alan L. Montgomery joins Carnegie Mellon Qatar the fall 2006
semester. Since 1999 he has been an associate professor of
marketing at the Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business.
He has taught courses in Internet Marketing, Pricing, Marketing
Research, Analysis of Consumer Behavior in Online Environments
and Data Mining. In Qatar he will be teaching Probability and
Statistics for Business Applications and Marketing.
Douglas Perkins
Douglas Perkins will be teaching the Logic
& Proofs course at the Qatar campus this
fall while continuing work on an M.S.
in Logic & Computation from Carnegie
Mellon’s Philosophy Department.
Silvia Pessoa, Visiting
Lecturer
Sham Kekre, Ph.D.
Sham Kekre joins Carnegie Mellon
Qatar faculty teaching Introduction to
Business, Introduction to Accounting,
and Production/Operations Management.
Kekre has been a professor at University
of Rochester for 15 years.
10 akhbar AUGUST 2006
Silvia Pessoa is a doctoral student in the Department of Modern
Languages at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. She will be
teaching Spanish at the Qatar campus for the next year.
Paul Zagieboylo
Paul Zagieboylo graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a
bachelor’s degree in computer science, along with concentrations in
mathematics and music theory. This fall he is teaching Principles of
Programming in Qatar.
STAFF NEWS
PROMOTION
RETIREMENT
John Robertson has been named Assistant Dean for Academic
Affairs of the Qatar campus. Robertson has been serving as the
Director for Undergraduate Education since the campus opened in
2004.
STUDENT SERVICES
David Stanfield
David joins the student affairs team as director of student activities.
Originally from Plano, Texas, Dave received his bachelor’s degree in
marketing from Texas A&M University and his master’s degree in
College Student Personnel from Miami University (Ohio). Before
coming to Qatar, Dave had a variety of student affairs experiences
in orientation, judicial affairs, student activities, and organizational
leadership.
Caryl Tuma
Caryl is our first Qatar campus community advisor. She graduated
from Carnegie Mellon University in May 2005 with a bachelor’s
degree in anthropology and international relations. She was primarily
involved in student affairs through her extracurricular activities as an
orientation counselor and campus tour guide.
Robert P. Kail, senior associate dean of Carnegie Mellon University
in Qatar, has retired after more than 37 years of service with
the university. At Carnegie Mellon, Kail played a critical role in
formulating and implementing strategic plans for the College of
Engineering and was responsible for the undergraduate engineering
academic program and students.
In Qatar, he oversaw admissions and student affairs and was one
of the key staff involved in developing the Qatar campus initiative.
“Bob could always be counted on to provide thoughtful insight
that reflected perfectly the ethos of Carnegie Mellon,” said Chuck
Thorpe, dean of Carnegie Mellon Qatar. “His empathy for others, his
ability to listen, his good nature and sense of humor will be sorely
missed.”
Bob’s absence also will be felt by all the residents of the West
Bay apartment complex. A Friday morning would not be complete
without spotting Bob relaxing on a chaise lounge, gazing out over
the Arabian Sea and working on his tan. Best wishes Bob, you will
be missed.
AUGUST 2006
akhbar 11
VISITING
PROFESSORS
UNESCO brings three Iraqi professors
to Carnegie Mellon
Even as the devastation in Iraq continues, students
and teachers there are as dedicated as ever to education.
Should school be canceled for an entire week, students will
send e-mails to their professors so they can keep on top of
their work.
“Iraqis are very serious when it comes to work and
education,” says Qais Abed Alnafia Ridha Abdul-Mawjood,
professor at Baghdad University. “Despite the war, curfew,
killings and destruction, kids are still eager to learn. Their goal
is to go to school every day, graduate and be ready for the
(future).”
12 akhbar AUGUST 2006
Qais is one of three Iraqi professors who spent
part of the spring 2006 term at Carnegie Mellon University
in Qatar through a program offered by the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, a specialized
agency of the United Nations system.
Established in 1945, UNESCO’s main mission is to
contribute to peace and security by promoting collaboration
among the nations through education, science and culture
in order to further universal respect for justice, for the rule of
law and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Nearly 200 nations belong to UNESCO, including both
Iraq and Qatar. This membership laid the groundwork for the
three professors to spend time in Doha and at Carnegie Mellon.
Joining Qais were Dr. Raghad M. Ahmed (bottom
right) from Baghdad University and Amera Ismail Melhum
from Duhok University. Qais was born and raised in Baghdad
and has taught at the college level for many years. Before
working for Baghdad University, where he teaches computer
architecture, he taught at Mustansriyah University, which is
also located in Baghdad.
Raghad was also born in Baghdad and was a student
at Baghdad University before she began teaching there. Her
area of expertise is environmental management systems.
Amera was born in Mosul, which is in northern Iraq, but now
lives in Duhok. She teaches systems software and computer
programming.
All three signed up with UNESCO in hopes of learning
new teaching and research methods to bring home to their
fervent students. After spending eight weeks at Education
City, there is no doubt they will take a piece of Carnegie
Mellon home with them to Iraq.
REMEMBERING A FRIEND
FAHAD AL-JEFAIRI
The loss of a member of a community as small as Carnegie
Mellon University in Qatar is one that is felt by everyone. Such news
is especially difficult to deal with when the life lost is one that was just
beginning.
On Saturday, July 1, junior business administration student
Fahad Al-Jefairi died from injuries sustained in a car accident.
As news of Fahad’s death quickly blanketed the Carnegie Mellon
community, it became evident that his absence would leave an
everlasting hole in the class of 2008.
A much loved member of our community, Fahad was the
first-ever President of the Student Majlis. Elected in 2004, fellow
student Miriam Chandra called him the pride of CMUQ. He also was
the featured student speaker at the campus’ inaugural event later
that year. In his sophomore year he was elected Student Ambassador
and made the Dean’s List.
Beyond these achievements, he was involved in many
campus activities including being a founding member of the Al
Kawthar Charity, the CMBA (business students club) and the Qatari
Student Society. He enjoyed drama and comedy skits and proudly
donned traditional Qatari formalwear at this year’s Cultural Day.
He was also among the first group of students from
the Qatar campus to visit Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh. He was a
leader among his fellow students, by his own charisma as well as by
example, always kind and considerate of others.
He has been described by his peers as fun-loving and yet
responsible. Student Basit Iqbal says Fahad was not only his friend
but also his guide, helping him adjust to life in Qatar after moving
here from Pakistan.
The loss of Fahad will be felt deeply by his family, friends and
the university community alike. May he rest in peace.
AUGUST 2006
akhbar 13
PURL DIVING
Carnegie Mellon women learn to knit
Students in Qatar made an unusual move during the
last few weeks of the Spring 2006 semester by casting off
their books and casting on a few stitches in the newly-formed
knitting circle.
The idea for the knitting group came about when
students began spotting Teaching Assistant Jessica Mink
clicking away with her needles between classes. A longtime
knitter, Mink joined up with Andy Zrimsek, Marketing and PR
assistant and avid knitter, and the two offered to teach the
craft to anyone who wanted to learn.
Seeing there are no yarn shops in Doha and the
knitting craze that has been sweeping Europe and the U.S. for
the past few years has yet to hit the Gulf region, turnout was
expected to be low. Much to everyone’s surprise, some 15
students and several university employees expressed interest
in joining the class.
Since temperatures in Qatar don’t exactly lend
themselves to wool sweaters and chunky hats, the group
set out on a mission to make fun scarves out of a yarn that
looked and felt like suede. Once the giant box of fiber arrived
from New York, the group began meeting once or twice each
week in the yellow lounge.
Slowly the colorful balls of yarn that were bouncing
all around on the floor were transformed into fun scarves.
Some of the new fashion accessories were wide, others were
14 akhbar AUGUST 2006
narrow and some would not exactly earn an A if the class
were graded. But everyone had fun, and who knows, maybe
this is the first step in turning Doha into the knitting capital of
the Middle East.
The Qatar Knitters will resume in January with the
start of the Spring 2007 term.
NET GROWTH
Q-CERT expands to cover entire Gulf region
Computer security is a concern for everyone.
resources for the development of the GCC-CERT as it
Whether it’s your home computer, the company server or the
establishes its organizational structure and management.
entire database of a country’s government, all computers are
The goal of Q-CERT is to create awareness of cybersecurity in
at risk.
private and public institutions, provide proactive approaches
Tackling the problem head on, Carnegie Mellon
to managing security, assist in managing risks, ensure
Software Engineering Institute CERT Coordination Center
confidentiality of data, introduce cyber laws and educate the
teamed up with Qatar Supreme Council of Information and
residents of Qatar on their rights.
Communications Technology to form Qatar CERT, or Q-CERT,
last year.
Q-CERT is Qatar’s national computer security
incident response team. Formed in late 2005, Q-CERT serves
as the national organization to conduct and coordinate the
comprehensive set of cybersecurity activities that will be
needed to protect Qatar’s critical infrastructure.
Now Q-CERT is expanding its reach to encompass
When Q-CERT was formed last year, it joined an
international community of more than 170 CERTs and
Computer Security Incident Response Teams dedicated to
computer security. However, it was the first CERT in the Gulf
region.
CERT, a federally funded research and development
center founded in 1988, has worked with countries
the entire Gulf region with the creation of GCC-CERT. Located
and organizations worldwide to increase research and
in Doha, GCC-CERT will serve as a focal point for all of the
development activities and increase the protection of critical
national CERTs formed by the Gulf Cooperation Council
information. Today, CERT engages in cutting-edge research
member states, which include Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar,
and development and provides robust training and education
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
programs.
Q-CERT will assist member nations in setting up
infrastructure, conducting training and identifying initial
For more information on Q-CERT, visit www.qcert.org.
Now Q-CERT is expanding its reach to encompass the entire Gulf
region with the creation of GCC-CERT. Located in Doha, GCC-CERT
will serve as a focal point for all of the national CERTs formed by the
Gulf Cooperation Council member states, which include Bahrain,
Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
AUGUST 2006
akhbar 15