INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 140, No. 4
8 Pages – Free
THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2023 n ITHACA, NEW YORK
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Pioneering Photocathodes
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The Sun will be hosting our information sessions on Sept. 5 and Sept. 7 at 5 p.m. in Goldwin Smith Hall G-24.
Quintin Cerione '25 visits Mia, a tapas bar in the Commons, and discusses dish variety.
Researchers at the Newman Lab are experimenting on photocathode materials with the HERCALES beamline. | Page 8
| Page 5
HIGH: 68º LOW: 51º
Project Teams Pursue Tompkins County Forums Passions Over Summer Amplify Local Voices By MARIAN CABALLO
By GABRIEL MUÑOZ Sun Assistant News Editor
As part of its Strategic Operations Plan, Tompkins County is hosting community forums from Sept. 12 to Sept. 14 in different locations to discuss the county’s plans for the future. The initiative follows a July announcement that debuted the Strategic Operations Planning Process. The plan aims to involve community members in the county’s decision making processes.
Tompkins County also launched a new website where residents can submit their feedback on county services, providing insight to county officials regarding allocating of county resources and achieving progress on county issues. “Bringing more voices into local government is critical,” wrote Dominick Recckio, Tompkins County office communication director, in a statement to The Sun. “Ultimately the County’s policies and programs are in support
of the public and the community, so knowing the impact we are having and could have helps us to improve and set priorities.” Residents can also submit suggestions on a section of the website, which other members of the community can read and upvote as a show of support. These suggestions could potentially influence the allocation of the county’s budget of over $200 million. See FORUMS page 3
SUN FILE PHOTO / BORIS TSANG
Sharing suggestions | Through a new website, Tompkins County local residents are now able to provide feedback that may influence how the county allocates its resources.
Sun Staff Writer
During the school year, you’ll find scores of students hunkered down in Upson Hall’s Experiential Learning Lab building battlebots, coding autonomous underwater vehicles or developing custom formula SAE race cars. But even throughout the summer, students from Cornell’s 34 project teams continued to pursue their passions, ranking high in prestigious competitions and venturing across the globe. “Going on a [competition] trip with friends that I’ve been working with the whole year was my favorite memory,” said Mark Edwards ’25, magnetic levitation lead of Cornell Hyperloop. “The best part was being involved with the development of our project from the start, and seeing it all the way to fruition.” Cornell Hyperloop, along with Cornell Mars Rover, CUSail and Cornell Racing, traveled across the country this summer to compete against hundreds of teams in their respective fields.
Most notably, Cornell Rocketry won first place in the 10K Solid RocketStudent Research and Developed Components category and second place overall at the Spaceport America Cup, the world’s largest rocket engineering conference and competition. Baja Racing took home numerous top three awards at Baja SAE Oregon, and CUAir placed fourth overall at the AUVSI Student Unmanned Aerial Systems Competition. While some groups, like Cornell iGEM, stayed close to campus this summer, other project teams
dispatched their members overseas to participate in charitable initiatives worldwide. Three members of Engineering World Health traveled to the Dominican Republic to manufacture prosthetics for amputees, while a group of students from Engineers in Action traveled to Eswatini to design and build a bridge for a community in need. The Sun spoke to Cornell Hyperloop and Cornell iGEM to get a glimpse into project teams’ action-packed summers.
See PROJECT TEAMS page 3
COURTESY OF CORNELL iGEM
STEM summer | Members of Cornell iGEM spent the summer in Ithaca to work on ENERGEM, a synthetic biology project.
Keynote Event to Discuss Artificial Intelligence Revolution
Colvin Ph.D. ’99, LaMoreaux ’01 to discuss the impact of artificial intelligence on workers, employers By MARISA CEFOLA Sun Assistant News Editor
Alex Colvin, Ph.D. ’99, Dean of the School of Industrial and Labor Relations, and Nickle LaMoreaux ’01, IBM Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, will discuss how the artificial intelligence revolution may impact the future of workers, employers and consumers at a Sept. 7 event. Colvin, the Kenneth F. Kahn ’69 Dean and the Martin F. Scheinman ’75, M.S. ’76 Professor of Conflict Resolution at the ILR School, focuses on employment dispute resolution in both his teaching and research. He particularly emphasizes procedures in nonunion workplaces and the impact of the legal environment on organi-
zations. Nickle LaMoreaux leads IBM’s global HR team. She has supported IBM’s business growth through leadership development, talent acquisition, performance management and skill building. New artificial intelligence outlets such as ChatGPT sparked controversy among professors and students at their inception. Some Cornell professors expressed concern with the chatbot’s potential to spread misinformation, while students shared their excitement and qualms about the program with The Sun in January The ILR event will be held virtually at 11 a.m., where Colvin and LaMoreaux plan to explore AI and its impact on IBM. In particular, the seminar will highlight events leading up to
IBM’s investment in AI within HR, how AI is increasing productivity and cost savings at IBM and the convergence of consumer-grade experiences. Professors in the ILR school have also researched topics related to AI and the future of work, which will be addressed along with topics such as an increased circular emphasis on data science. Colvin and LaMoreaux will also discuss how AI technologies create business value with data-driven culture, how IBM utilizes AI for their business needs and how a deepened data science focus has enriched the ILR undergraduate curriculum. COURTESY OF CORNELL UNIVERSITY
Marisa Cefola can be reached at mcefola@cornellsun.com.
AI revolution | ILR Dean Alex Colvin Ph.D. '99 will discuss the role of artificial intelligence in the workforce at a Sept. 7 event.