Please mark your calendars for the annual Donor Appreciation Reception at the Pitt University Club, September 10, 2019, from 6:00 – 8:00PM.  An invitation will be mailed in mid August, so be sure to check your mailbox! This annual event, hosted every other year by either Carnegie Mellon University or the University of Pittsburgh, is to recognize and thank you, our wonderful members and donors, for the funding and support we all give to our outstanding ARCS Pittsburgh Scholars.  Come talk to the 2nd and 3rd year scholars and see how they are progressing. And meet the newest members of the ARCS family; 14 new ARCS scholars will start this year!  Thank you to one and all! 

·      Your membership team has been hard at work! We warmly welcome the following new members:  Clara Bahan, Lacey Carroll, Elora Gupta, Magda Loeber, JoAnn Patross, Margaret Rosenzweig, Michelle Zorilla and Alethea Wieland.  Please introduce yourselves to them at the Donor Appreciation event on Sept. 10th.

·      Speaking of “NEW”, come meet the new 2019-1922 ARCS Scholars at Donor Appreciation: CMU Scholars: Ayesh Abdullah, Ryan Bowman, Serena Chen, Madeline Hagen, Peter Manohar, Srinivas Pranav, Hannah Schriever, and Felix Weilacher.  Pitt Scholars: Nathan Brantly, Jessica Davis, Giancarlo Gonzalez-Areizaga, Lisa Hong, and Andrea Sajewsky. 

·       Thank you to Phyllis Coontz, the new Scholar Relations Chair, and Merrilee Salmon, the new University Relations Chair. And a big thank you to Clara Bahan, a brand new member and our first “40 and Under” member, for stepping in to help with Communications.

Spring 2019 Scholar Celebration was a huge HIT! For the first year ever, thanks to the generous Host Committee, donors and attendees of the Scholar Celebration Event and the purchasers of the Auction Dinner we were able to fund a full $15,000 Scholar Award for the next three year! The Scholar Celebration Auction Dinner was held on June 9th at Mansions on Fifth. A very special thank you to Adam Smoulder and friends (photo below), Drew Bechtold and Lucas Gapsky, for providing the “cool jazz” cocktail hour music. Adam is a rising 2nd year ARCS Scholar at CMU in the College of Engineering, Department of Biomedical Engineering – and he plays a mean electric bass! Thank you, too, to John Graf, President and CEO of The Priory Hospitality Group, Marissa Musico, Senior Catering Manager, and their wonderful staff for a delicious 5-course dinner, paired with wines furnished by the ARCS Co-presidents.

We can think of no better location for this anniversary – one that aligns with our own history and mission. ARCS® Foundation is a nationally recognized nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization started and run entirely by women who boost American leadership and aid advancement in science and technology.  To address the country's need for new scientists and engineers, our chapter (one of 15 across the country) provides unrestricted funding to help the country's brightest Ph.D. graduate students at either CMU and Pitt create new knowledge and innovative technologies. ARCS is a champion of strengthening US competitiveness through science and industrial innovation.   

Moving into the 21st century, we would prefer that you renew online for ease of bookkeeping. Click here to be taken to our online renewal form. You can pay online via our secure site or send in a check after completing the online form (to the address provided). If you prefer to renew via a paper form, you can print the renewal membership form found at the bottom of this newsletter as a pdf attachment (scroll to the end of the newsletter to find the pdf attachment).  Print that out and fill it in, sending it with your check to the address on the form.  By the way, the attached renewal form can also be used to share with friends and colleagues who may be interested in becoming a member!  As you renew this year, and see all that is coming up in the year, share your enthusiasm with ARCS with others and share the membership form!

There are a few changes relating to membership that we would like to bring to your attention.

First, the board recently voted to establish a new membership category for women 40 and younger. Their general membership fee has been set at $250. We hope that this amount will make it easier for younger women to participate.

Second, we strongly encourage members to pay their dues no later than September 30th. This will be of tremendous help to the Finance Chair in determining the number of new scholars we can support next year.  If we wait until the end of the year, she frequently must spend time over the holidays to determine this number, and our board members must make phone calls to check on renewal plans. We inform the universities of the number of new scholars we can fund at the beginning of January.  We ask for your cooperation in changing your usual later donation date.

Kevin Edelson's research at Carnegie Mellon University focuses on robot autonomy for scientific discovery. This is highly relevant to organizations like JPL and NASA, who use robotic systems to explore the solar system. He spent the summer at JPL working on the Mars Science Helicopter project, an early mission concept project to determine the feasibility and scientific motivation for a robotic aerial vehicle on Mars. And he worked on the earthbound demonstrator vehicle, a large octocopter, with avionics, instruments, and software built in a flight project framework. The earthbound demonstrator acts as a prototype vehicle to test algorithms and perform field experiments on Earth to inform design regarding hardware, software, and mission operations for the future flight project. This relates well to his research at CMU and provides context on how his research can one day be used on Mars. He is studying adaptive path planning algorithms to improve information gathered by autonomous robots equipped with hyperspectral imaging instruments. This would allow a future Mars aerial robot to autonomously make decisions about where and when to take samples with its science instruments, significantly increasing the scientific value returned from the mission.

Mason Donnell, a current second year PhD candidate and ARCS Scholar at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine  (pictured above under the M of CReM), recently traveled to Boston, MA to learn about the differentiation of human stem cells. The course took place at Boston University's Center for Regenerative Medicine (CReM) under the direction of Dr. Darrell Kotton. Their group uses induced pluripotent stem cells or iPSCs derived from human skin or blood cells. These cells have been reprogrammed back into a stem cell state, and have the potential to become almost every cell type in the body. Specifically, Mason was learning how to differentiate iPSCs into lung epithelial cell organoids. He plans to model airway diseases, such as asthma, with these organoids for his thesis in Dr. Tim Oury's lab at the University of Pittsburgh.

At the end of each fiscal year (end of June), our Nominating Committee brings forth a slate of new board members for the following two-year terms as those whose terms end, cycle off the board.  We say goodbye to the following board members and gratefully thank them for their participation over the last several years (although they will be helping to transition their replacements):

            Leslie Dunn, Scholar Relations

            Kate Freed, Communications

            Becky McGough, Secretary

            Karen Slevin, University Relations

We also warmly welcome the following women to the board:

            Phyllis Coontz, Scholar Relations

            Merrilee Salmon, University Relations

And finally, we wish to thank Clara Bahan for stepping in to help with Communications.  She is a brand new member, our first  “40 and Under” member, who is able and willing to assume many of the responsibilities of the Communications committee.  She was a Communications Major at Pitt, so we are thrilled to have her.   Welcome Clara!

August 15  Board Meeting: 8:30am – 10:30am, Mellon Institute: (MI 434 - Dean’s Board Room) Located corner of 5th Ave. & Bellefield Ave. Enter on Bellefield.

September 10  Donor Appreciation Event: 6:00pm – 8:00pm,  (This event is for ALL ARCS Pittsburgh members) The University Club  - Ballroom B, 123 University Pl, Pittsburgh, PA

September 18-21  National Board Meeting and All Member Conference: (This event is for all members from all Chapters!) The Nines Hotel (525 SW Morrison St. Portland OR  97204) Click here for details. 

September 19  PROGRAM: Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 5:30pm – 9:00pm, “The Natural History of Alcohol”

October 1  PROGRAM: Daytime Tour of Eurofins Test America, Pittsburgh, 301 Alpha Drive, RIDC Park, Pittsburgh, PA 15238.  Time and description will be provided at a later date 

October 17*  Board Meeting:  Jennifer Martin’s home (Call for address/directions) 5:00pm – 7:00pm

October 25  PROGRAM: Allegheny Observatory 7:55pm – 10pm

November ??,  TBD PROGRAM: Eye and Ear Information will be coming at a later date

December 12  Board Meeting: 8:30am – 10:30am, Mellon Institute: (MI 434 - Dean’s Board Room) Located corner of 5th Ave. & Bellefield Ave. Enter on Bellefield.

January 9  Board Meeting– location & time TBD

January 22-25  ARCS National Board meeting– Tempe, AZ

March 12  Board Meeting– location & time TBD

May 5  2020 Vision:  ARCS Pittsburgh Anniversary.  The Future of Scientific Research. At Mellon Institute. 6:00pm-9:00pm

May 19 or 20  All Member Meeting– evening meeting; location TBD

June 11-13  ARCS National Board Meeting in Pittsburgh!

June 18  Board Meeting– location TBD