How about some fun facts about Pittsburgh, site of CESSE 2010 meeting 

• Pittsburgh has 445 bridges, more than any other city in the world except Venice, Italy
  
• Carnegie Mellon University is the only place in the world to offer a Ph.D in Robotics.
  
• The first injectable polio vaccine was developed by Jonas Salk and his team at the University of Pittsburgh.  In 1952, the vaccine was tested at Arsenal Elementary School and the D.T. Watson Home for Crippled Children in Pittsburgh. In 1954, Salk's vaccine was then used in a test called the Francis Field Trial, led by Thomas Francis; the largest medical experiment in history. On April 12, 1955, the results were announced; the vaccine was safe and effective. Salk's vaccine was instrumental in the beginning the eradication of polio, a once widely-feared disease. Polio cases dropped 90% in the first two years of the vaccine's use 
  
• In 1967, Pittsburgh native Jim Deligatti first sold the first Big Mac, a seven ingredient, double-decker sandwich, in his Uniontown store. It was designed to compete with the similar Big Boy, the flagship burger of the Big Boy restaurant chain. Customer response to the Big Mac was so good that it rolled-out nationally in 1968. Today you can visit the birthplace of this iconic sandwich at the Big Mac Museum right outside of Pittsburgh.