Societal Problems

Block Center Podcast "Episode 4: Fair Enough"

Consequential is a podcast that looks at the human side of technological change and develops meaningful plans of action for policymakers, technologists and everyday people to build the kind of future that reduces inequality, improves quality of life and considers humanity. Over the course of the first season, hosts Lauren Prastien and Eugene Leventhal will unpack important topics like industry disruption, algorithmic bias, human-AI collaboration, reskilling and the future of work, as well as discuss policy interventions for using emerging technologies for social good.

Understanding Mental Health with Mobile Sensing

Understanding how our family and friends affect our mental health

Mankoff to present “Andy Talk” on Innovation Research at CMU’s Energy Week

Human-Computer Interaction Institute Professor Jen Mankoff will present a 20 minute "Andy Talk" on Wednesday at this year's Energy Week, held March 27-31st at Carnegie Mellon. Mankoff is part of a panel of CMU energy faculty members who will speak about Innovation Research in the energy sector.

Improving Medical Outcomes for Heart Transplants Through HCI

Heart patients who have reached end-stage heart failure may have a pump surgically inserted to help blood flow to the rest of the body. This mechanical implant is called a ventricular assist device (VAD), and it can prolong and improve patients' lives. Though physicians have been performing this surgery for years, the patient outcomes are not as predictable as would be expected. While some patients are finally able to return to their normal lifestyle post-surgery, other patients do not live long after receiving this technology.

Kulkarni Shares Talkabout Research on CNBC

In a recent article on CNBC, Assistant Professor Chinmay Kulkarni shared his research that is bringing together individuals with very different viewpoints. Kulkarni's research focuses on building technology that can support and improve how people live and learn. So he was quick to spot an opportunity following the election to connect groups of people with differing opinions for a positive gain.

"It is easy to say, 'I'm going to talk to somebody else and try to understand them,' but without the right circumstances, you're quickly at each other's throat," Kulkarni said.

Hong Speaks on Safe and Secure Internet of Things

Associate professor Jason Hong believes that we are currently living in the early stages of the third wave of computing. The first wave was about twenty years ago and was the basics of computing. Then the second wave brought us connected computers in a global network. This new wave is the incorporation of computers with the physical world in which we live. Hong calls it "computation and communication embedded into everyday objects."

Scaffolding Science Achievement in a Culturally Diverse Classroom

In this project, we aim to address the systematically-reduced standardized test scores of African American students compared to their Euro-American peers by using virtual peer technology to understand the role of dialect, and more broadly, cultural congruence, on students's performance, and to help students achieve in the classroom.