News

José Maria Neves, president of Cape Verde, tours MIT

April 5, 2023

President José Maria Neves of Cape Verde visited MIT on Tuesday, meeting with Associate Provost Richard Lester and other members of the campus community, and conducting a public event about e-governance in Africa that highlighted the ways technology has helped his country. “Technology and information are a mechanism or means to establish links between [our] […]

Remembering Mel King, adjunct professor emeritus in urban studies and planning

April 4, 2023

Mel King, an adjunct professor emeritus in MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP) and renowned activist, community leader, and politician, passed away on March 28 at the age of 94. Through his teaching, ideas, and the institutions he created at MIT, King profoundly influenced DUSP and its community members, who showcase the love […]

MIT welcomes 2023 Heising-Simons Foundation 51 Pegasi b Fellow Juliana García-Mejía

April 4, 2023

MIT’s School of Science welcomes Juliana García-Mejía, one of eight recipients of the 2023 51 Pegasi b Fellowship. The announcement was made March 30 by the Heising-Simons Foundation. The 51 Pegasi b Fellowship provides postdocs with the opportunity to conduct theoretical, observational, and experimental research in planetary astronomy. García-Mejía, who expects to complete her doctorate […]

Greening roofs to boost climate resilience

April 4, 2023

When the historic cities of Europe were built hundreds of years ago, there were open green spaces all around them. But today’s city centers can be a 30-minute drive or more to the vast open greenery that earlier Europeans took for granted. That’s what the startup Roofscapes is trying to change. The company, founded by […]

Clothing brand helps give survivors of sexual violence a path forward

March 31, 2023

When Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege won a share of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018, Milain Fayulu SM ’22 was filled with pride in his home country. He eagerly set an alarm from Miami to wake up in the early hours and watch Mukwege’s speech in Norway. In the speech, Mukwege discussed his experience caring […]

A portfolio that’s out of this world

March 27, 2023

At age 9, Ezinne Uzo-Okoro SM ’20, PhD ’22 was preoccupied with down-to-earth problems, such as devising an alternative to her father’s messy, paper Filofax organizer, and fixing the unreliable electric service plaguing her home of Owerri, Nigeria. Could she have imagined a path-breaking, 17-year career at NASA, followed by a position as the nation’s […]

Festival of Learning 2023 underscores importance of well-designed learning environments

March 27, 2023

During its first in-person gathering since 2020, MIT’s Festival of Learning 2023 explored how the learning sciences can inform the Institute on how to best support students. Co-sponsored by MIT Open Learning and the Office of the Vice Chancellor (OVC), this annual event celebrates teaching and learning innovations with MIT instructors, students, and staff. Bror […]

Planet hunting and the origins of life

March 27, 2023

George Ricker built his first telescope when he was in third grade. Growing up in rural Florida, with its abundance of dark night skies, facilitated his natural propensity for stargazing. But it was in Cambridge, Massachusetts, during his undergraduate days at the Institute that his fascination became a calling. “I was a physics major at […]

Tom Wolf PhD ’81: Government is a common endeavor from which all can benefit

March 27, 2023

Former Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf PhD ’81 made a forthright call for integrity and the expression of a common purpose in politics, while accepting the Institute’s 2023 Robert A. Muh Alumni Award from the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS) on March 21. Government, Wolf suggested in his acceptance lecture, is a form […]

A design tool to democratize the art of color-changing mosaics

March 23, 2023

A colorful new design tool developed by MIT researchers allows individuals to create polarized light mosaics that can be printed on cellophane to make data visualizations, passive light displays, mechanical animations, fashion accessories, educational science and design tools, and more. Ticha Melody Sethapakdi, a PhD student in electrical engineering and computer science and affiliate of […]