New method simplifies the construction process for complex materials
Engineers are constantly searching for materials with novel, desirable property combinations. For example, an ultra-strong, lightweight material could be used to make airplanes and cars more fuel-efficient, or a material that is porous and biomechanically friendly could be useful for bone implants. Cellular metamaterials — artificial structures composed of units, or cells, that repeat in […]
Leading business past dollars and cents
How does Annabel Flores work to defeat a broken STEM pipeline while solving our country’s biggest aerospace and defense challenges? She uses a voice the MIT Leaders for Global Operations (LGO) program instilled in her. Flores ’99, MBA ’03, SM ’03 is deputy president of land and air defense at Raytheon, a prominent aerospace and […]
Ben Schneider
What does a graduate student do when the whole world shuts down? In March 2020, many grad students at MIT were asking themselves that question. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, in a matter of days MIT’s campus had closed down, research had ground to a halt, and students were sent home. During these tumultuous times, […]
Changing attitudes about jobs and gender in India
As a high school student who loved math, Lisa Ho ’17 was drawn by MIT’s spirit of “mens et manus” (“mind and hand”) and the opportunities to study both a subject and its practical applications. Now a PhD candidate in economics, Ho also appreciates the lessons in perseverance gleaned from her time on her high […]
3 Questions: What’s it like winning the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition?
Solar power plays a major role in nearly every roadmap for global decarbonization. But solar panels are large, heavy, and expensive, which limits their deployment. But what if solar panels looked more like a yoga mat? Such a technology could be transported in a roll, carried to the top of a building, and rolled out […]
Not your grandparents’ “Monopoly”
On an otherwise sleepy Friday in late June, one corner of MIT’s Hayden Library was abuzz with the sounds of board gamers at play. Most of the gamers also happened to be first-time designers, and they had gathered to test out their maiden boards, some with the ink still drying. “I printed my game this […]
Helping the transportation sector adapt to a changing world
After graduating from college, Nick Caros took a job as an engineer with a construction company, helping to manage the building of a new highway bridge right near where he grew up outside of Vancouver, British Columbia. “I had a lot of friends that would use that new bridge to get to work,” Caros […]
Support outside the comfort zone
What does a graduate student do when the whole world shuts down? In March 2020, many grad students at MIT were asking themselves that question. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, in a matter of days MIT’s campus had closed down, research had ground to a halt, and students were sent home. During these tumultuous times, […]
On a mission to uplift others and save the endangered Marma language
MIT graduate student Rani Ukhengching Marma is one of nearly 200,000 Marma people who speak the endangered Marma language. The Marma are one of the largest Indigenous groups in Bangladesh, where Bengali language and culture are dominant. For Ukheng, who is enrolled in the MIT Indigenous Languages Initiative (MITILI), preserving Marma is about more than the language […]
Cutting urban carbon emissions by retrofitting buildings
To support the worldwide struggle to reduce carbon emissions, many cities have made public pledges to cut their carbon emissions in half by 2030, and some have promised to be carbon neutral by 2050. Buildings can be responsible for more than half a municipality’s carbon emissions. Today, new buildings are typically designed in ways that […]
Statistics, operations research, and better algorithms
In this day and age, many companies and institutions are not just data-driven, but data-intensive. Insurers, health providers, government agencies, and social media platforms are all heavily dependent on data-rich models and algorithms to identify the characteristics of the people who use them, and to nudge their behavior in various ways. That doesn’t mean organizations […]
Astro Portraits: Pointing the lens toward our future
MIT PhD student Evan Kramer discovered his passion for astrophotography as a high schooler, when he realized words alone were failing to communicate the sense of wonder he found in stargazing. Since coming to MIT, his fascination has expanded into urban astrophotography, which combines technical skill with artistry in creating composite images using brightly lit […]
Thirty-four community members receive 2023 MIT Excellence Awards, Collier Medal, and Staff Award for Distinction in Service
Twenty-four individuals and one team were awarded MIT Excellence Awards — the highest awards for staff at the Institute — at a well-attended and energetic ceremony the afternoon of June 8 in Kresge Auditorium. In addition to the Excellence Awards, two community members were honored with the Collier Medal and Staff Award for Distinction in […]
Building connections
From an early age, Will Sussman’s family instilled in him the value of education. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that most of my grandparents were teachers,” he says. Now, at MIT, “The energy of a campus, bustling with students, in turn energizes me.” A second-year doctoral student in electrical engineering and computer science and […]
The chore of packing just got faster and easier
In 1611, Johannes Kepler — known for his laws of planetary motion — offered a solution to the question concerning the densest possible way to arrange equal-sized spheres. The famed astronomer took on this problem when asked how to stack cannonballs so as to take up the least amount of space. Kepler concluded that the […]
3 Questions: International collaborations in a shifting geopolitical climate
Across MIT’s campus, faculty and research teams collaborate with international partners to solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges. The Institute’s reputation as a global leader in research and innovation is built, in part, on these partnerships. That important work is guided and advised by the International Advisory Committee (IAC) and its Institute partners […]
Professor Emeritus Dick Thornton, maglev innovator and electronics entrepreneur, dies at 93
MIT Professor Emeritus Richard “Dick” Thornton SM ’54, ScD ’57 passed away on May 16. He was 93. An innovator, entrepreneur, adventurer, and outdoor enthusiast, Thornton’s influence upon all the communities he touched was profound. He was well known for his leading work on maglev technology and other electronics innovations, as well as his key […]
Denzil Streete
I can help you with finding joy, discussing great books and productivity hacks, or determining who in OGE can best assist you. A fun fact is that I’m a HUGE football (soccer) fan — Arsenal!
Your future is unwritten
I’m a big dreamer. Thinking about the future and imagining different possibilities brings me a lot of joy. Fellowship applications are a fantastic opportunity to dream big and believe in the best-case scenario. This is exactly why I love fellowship applications. Your future is unwritten. Through the act of writing and applying for a fellowship, […]
Transatlantic connections make the difference for MIT Portugal
Successful relationships take time to develop, with both parties investing energy and resources and fostering mutual trust and understanding. The MIT Portugal Program (MPP), a strategic partnership between MIT, Portuguese universities and research institutions, and the Portuguese government, is a case in point. Portugal’s inaugural partnership with a U.S. university, MPP was established in 2006 […]
Studies at the intersection of equity, computing, and education
Before joining the Lifelong Kindergarten group in the MIT Media Lab, Cecilé Sadler saw computer engineering and community service as separate aspects of her life. Alongside her bachelor’s and master’s work in computer engineering at North Carolina State and Duke University, respectively, Sadler also spent a lot of time working with young people through local […]
Computer vision system marries image recognition and generation
Computers possess two remarkable capabilities with respect to images: They can both identify them and generate them anew. Historically, these functions have stood separate, akin to the disparate acts of a chef who is good at creating dishes (generation), and a connoisseur who is good at tasting dishes (recognition). Yet, one can’t help but wonder: […]
Gamifying medical data labeling to advance AI
When Erik Duhaime PhD ’19 was working on his thesis in MIT’s Center for Collective Intelligence, he noticed his wife, then a medical student, spending hours studying on apps that offered flash cards and quizzes. His research had shown that, as a group, medical students could classify skin lesions more accurately than professional dermatologists; the […]
Uncovering the invisible pressures shaping language
Sihan Chen’s fascination with languages began when he was a teenager in his high school choir in his hometown of Shenzhen, China. “We sang religious and folk songs in different languages like Mandarin, English, Albanian, and Latin, and I would look up how to pronounce words in different languages,” he says. These early experiences planted […]
Redefining design through textiles
Fashion is among the most environmentally damaging industries globally, contributing to water pollution through dyeing processes and generating immense amounts of textile waste. Garments are often shipped all over the world, significantly contributing to carbon emissions. Ganit Goldstein SM ’23, a Jerusalem-born designer who recently completed a master of science in architecture studies in computation […]
Day of AI curriculum meets the moment
MIT Responsible AI for Social Empowerment and Education (RAISE) recently celebrated the second annual Day of AI with two flagship local events. The Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate in Boston hosted a human rights and data policy-focused event that was streamed worldwide. Dearborn STEM Academy in Roxbury, Massachusetts, hosted a student workshop […]
MIT speaker series taps into students’ passion for entrepreneurship and social impact.
Last summer, leaders of MIT’s Venture Mentoring Service (VMS) noticed a growing trend in entrepreneur applications to the program: An increasing number of aspiring founders were expressing a passion for social impact. VMS, which connects students and alumni with teams of mentors, hosts bootcamps, holds expert office hours, and offers an annual Demo Day, did […]
MIT-Pillar AI Collective announces first seed grant recipients
The MIT-Pillar AI Collective has announced its first six grant recipients. Students, alumni, and postdocs working on a broad range of topics in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science will receive funding and support for research projects that could translate into commercially viable products or companies. These grants are intended to help students explore […]
MIT PhD student enhances STEM education in underrepresented communities in Puerto Rico
Taylor Baum knows that access is everything. So the fourth-year MIT PhD candidate in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science has been working in recent years to enhance STEM education in underrepresented communities in Puerto Rico. As the founder of social impact venture Sprouting, Baum has been leading programs to facilitate community between […]
Six with MIT ties win 2023 Hertz Foundation Fellowships
The Fannie and John Hertz Foundation has announced that it has awarded graduate fellowships to six students with ties to MIT. These prestigious awards provide each student with five years of doctoral-level research funding (up to a total of $250,000), which gives them flexibility and autonomy to pursue their own research interests, beyond the traditional […]
Charting the future of production
On Tuesday, May 23, the Manufacturing@MIT Working Group hosted its second annual symposium in Wong Auditorium, titled “Charting the Future of Production in a Time of Shifting Globalization.” Speakers covered topics including the history of labor markets, the future of digital production, global supply chains, China’s role, and effective regional initiatives, along with deep dives […]
Charlie Farquhar: Forger of chemical and social bonds
Charlie Farquhar entered college intending to major in history, but quickly pivoted after taking an introductory chemistry course and becoming fascinated by chemistry’s biomedical applications. “I’m interested in how these small chemicals and molecular interactions can make really large-scale changes in the body,” says Farquhar, noting that the practice of chemistry itself is similar. […]
Christopher Voigt named head of the Department of Biological Engineering
Christopher Voigt, the Daniel I.C. Wang Professor of Biological Engineering, has been named the new head of the Department of Biological Engineering effective Aug. 1. “Professor Voigt is truly a pioneer in the field of synthetic biology. His research is incredibly interdisciplinary, so he has extensive experience working across a diverse range of fields and […]
Sally Romero: Grateful for opportunities at MIT and eager to pay it forward
To say that Sally Romero, a member of the Housing and Residential Services team at MIT’s Ashdown House, is proud and grateful to work at the Institute would be an understatement. Over the last six years, she has made the most of the opportunities offered by MIT and, with her innate drive, changed the course […]
Professor Emeritus Roman Jackiw, “giant of theoretical physics,” dies at 83
Eminent theoretical physicist and Dirac Medalist Roman Jackiw, MIT professor emeritus and holder of the Department of Physics’ Jerrold Zacharias chair, died June 14 at age 83. He was a member of the MIT physics community for 54 years. A leader in the sophisticated use of quantum field theory to illuminate physical problems, his influential […]
Envisioning the future of computing
How will advances in computing transform human society? MIT students contemplated this impending question as part of the Envisioning the Future of Computing Prize — an essay contest in which they were challenged to imagine ways that computing technologies could improve our lives, as well as the pitfalls and dangers associated with them. Offered for […]
