SciTech Roundup, May 3
Duolingo named to Time Magazine’s list of 100 most influential companies
Whether you’re doing it for a class or just doing it for fun, learning a new language is a great way to broaden your horizons. Thanks to Duolingo, learning a language is easy with daily reminders to practice your skills right on your phone. Duolingo has had a significant impact during the pandemic, as their English language certification course allowed more international students to apply to U.S. universities without an in-person exam. The company recently added its 40th language, Yiddish, in April. Started by Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker, Duolingo is now one of the most valued startup companies in Pennsylvania.
Read more about it here.
CMU remembers Adobe founder and alum Charles Geschke
Charles M. Geschke, Carnegie Mellon alumnus and co-founder of Adobe, passed away on April 16 at the age of 81. After receiving his Ph.D. in computer science at Carnegie Mellon in 1973, Geschke maintained strong ties with the university throughout his life and worked hard to make computers broadly accessible to everyone. Geschke received the Marconi Prize in 2010, thought of as the Nobel Prize of information technology. In 2012, Geschke and his wife Nancy endowed the directorship of the Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII), just one aspect of his formidable legacy.
Read more about it here.
ETC outreach plays on after students graduate
With a focus on project-based learning, Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) drives innovation by having students work together to create games and technology-based products for a client. Clients sometimes include local school districts, and the projects live on and continue to play a role in the education of students grades K-12 long after their initial creators have graduated. As Scott Stevens, a teaching professor at the ETC, explains, “The projects that we do with schools tend to be some of the most rewarding for our students.”
Read more about it here.