2011: Taylor Barton
Electrical engineering and computer science This year’s recipient is Taylor Barton, a graduate student in the department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science who has served four times as a Teaching Assistant and four times as a recitation instructor. Most impressively, this past semester, she independently developed and taught a new H-level class with a […]
2010: Zhe Lu and Yoda Patta
Chemistry; materials science and engineering Zhe Lu is a graduate student in the Department of Chemistry who has served as a teaching assistant in Principles of General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry I, and Advanced Organic Chemistry. One student describes him as “the most dedicated and helpful TA I have ever had, and one of the […]
2013: Joe Steinmeyer and Tony Tao
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; Aeronautics and Astronautics Joe Steinmeyer places a high priority on making sure that each student he encounters has the best learning experience possible. A graduate student in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Joe is highly regarded as an outstanding teacher by both his peers and his […]
Evan Leppink: Seeking a way to better stabilize the fusion environment
“Fusion energy was always one of those kind-of sci-fi technologies that you read about,” says nuclear science and engineering PhD candidate Evan Leppink. He’s recalling the time before fusion became a part of his daily hands-on experience at MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, where he is studying a unique way to drive current in […]
Center for International Studies honors Robert Wilhelm
The Center for International Studies (CIS) has long been valued as one of the world’s premier, university-based global research and education centers. A hallmark of the center’s many programs is the opportunity for academics and practitioners to work together on policy-relevant problems. The Robert E. Wilhelm Fellows Program is among the center’s most prestigious fellowships […]
Helping renewable energy projects succeed in local communities
Jungwoo Chun makes surprising discoveries about sustainability initiatives by zooming in on local communities. His discoveries lie in understanding how renewable energy infrastructure develops at a local level. With so many stakeholders in a community — citizens, government officials, businesses, and other organizations — the development process gets complicated very quickly. Chun works to unpack […]
An astrophysicist in a biomedical universe
For many of us, the pandemic sparked pivotal changes. And Magdelena S. Allen was no exception. Growing up in Portland, Oregon, Allen wanted to learn about everything. She loved stargazing and the physical sciences, but she was also interested in law and writing. Her parents, who homeschooled her and her sister until high school, were […]
Student-powered machine learning
From their early days at MIT, and even before, Emma Liu ’22, MNG ’22, Yo-whan “John” Kim ’22, MNG ’22, and Clemente Ocejo ’21, MNG ’22 knew they wanted to perform computational research and explore artificial intelligence and machine learning. “Since high school, I’ve been into deep learning and was involved in projects,” says Kim, […]
American Astronomical Society honors seven MIT affiliates with 2022 awards, prizes
Seven MIT community members have been honored with 2022 American Astronomical Society (AAS) prizes and awards. Those awarded include two assistant professors of physics, Erin Kara and Kiyoshi Masui, as well as alumni Camille Carlisle SM ’10, Charles Keith Gendreau PhD ’95, Laura Lopez ’04, Richard Mushotzky ’68, and Donald York ’66. Newton Lacy Pierce Prize […]
QS ranks MIT the world’s No. 1 university for 2022-23
MIT has again been named the world’s top university by the QS World University Rankings, which were announced today. This is the 11th year in a row MIT has received this distinction. The full 2022 edition of the rankings — published by Quacquarelli Symonds, an organization specializing in education and study abroad — can be […]
MIT unveils new Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel
When Mark Drela first set foot in Cambridge to study aerospace engineering at MIT in 1978, he was no stranger to wind tunnels. Just two years before, he constructed a 1-foot-by-1-foot wind tunnel for the Westinghouse Science Talent Search that earned him a visit to the White House as a finalist. But nothing could have […]
Students imagine better products, services, and infrastructure for an aging society
A pop-up hearing aid exposition called HearWeAre. A travel agency that matches older and younger travelers for group adventures. An app that guides outgoing hospital patients through every step of the discharge process. These are a few of the projects presented by students on the final day in the MIT Department of Urban Studies and […]
MIT Corporation elects nine term members, three life members
The MIT Corporation — the Institute’s board of trustees — has elected nine full-term members, who will each serve for five years; and three life members. Corporation Chair Diane Greene SM ’78 announced the election results; all positions are effective July 1. The nine full-term members are: Noubar Afeyan PhD ’87; Rafael del Pino SM […]
Making data visualization more accessible for blind and low-vision individuals
Data visualizations on the web are largely inaccessible for blind and low-vision individuals who use screen readers, an assistive technology that reads on-screen elements as text-to-speech. This excludes millions of people from the opportunity to probe and interpret insights that are often presented through charts, such as election results, health statistics, and economic indicators. When […]
First-year students take center stage on Killian Court
On a chilly Monday in May, MIT’s Killian Court was transformed into a festival of fun. Over 1,200 members of the community enjoyed hot dogs, fried dough, and bouncy castles before cozying up on picnic blankets to watch the main event. First-year students took to the stage to perform skits — or “PLAYsentations” — demonstrating […]
Inaugural Day of AI brings new digital literacy to classrooms worldwide
The first annual Day of AI on Friday, May 13 introduced artificial intelligence literacy to classrooms all over the world. An initiative of MIT Responsible AI for Social Empowerment and Education (RAISE), Day of AI is an opportunity for teachers to introduce K-12 students of all backgrounds to artificial intelligence (AI) and its role in […]
“Zoom out”: Kealoha Wong ’99 calls on MIT graduates to consider their lives within the enormity of the universe
On Saturday, poet Kealoha Wong ’99 delivered the address at a special Commencement ceremony for the classes of 2020 and 2021, asking the graduates to look both outward and inward. He urged them to widen their perspective on life and recognize the enormity of human history and our natural world, but also to look into […]
Joel Moses, Institute Professor Emeritus and computer science trailblazer, dies at 80
Institute Professor Emeritus Joel Moses PhD ’67, an innovative computer scientist and dedicated teacher who held multiple leadership positions at MIT, died on May 29 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. He was 80 years old. Moses, a professor in the Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering and the former Engineering […]
Mining valuable insights from diamonds
If Changhao Li were to trace the origins of his love of nature, he would point to the time when he was 9, observing the night sky from his childhood home in the small town of Jinan, China. “At that moment I felt that nature is so beautiful, I just wanted to go outside the […]
Linguistics luminaries Noam Chomsky and Morris Halle honored
Nearly 60 years ago, Noam Chomsky and Morris Halle established the MIT Department of Linguistics. This spring, the department dedicated a wing of its Stata Center home to these founding fathers. “Together, they defined and transformed the entire field of linguistics,” says Danny Fox, the Anshen-Chomsky Professor of Language and Thought and department head. “Naming […]
“The world needs your smarts, your skills,” Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala tells MIT’s Class of 2022
On a clear warm day, the MIT graduating class of 2022 gathered in Killian Court for the first in-person commencement exercises in three years, after two years of online ceremonies due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala MCP ’78, PhD ’81, director-general of the World Trade Organization, delivered the Commencement address, stressing the global need […]
Chancellor Melissa Nobles’ Commencement remarks
Below is the text of Chancellor Melissa Nobles’ Commencement remarks, as prepared for delivery today. Thank you, President Reif. And good afternoon everyone! It is wonderful to have the chance to say few words of admiration, gratitude, and, above all, congratulations to our Class of 2022 graduates, and to the family, loved ones, and friends […]
About MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is an academic community devoted to undergraduate education, graduate education, and research. We have fostered graduate study and research and have awarded advanced degrees since 1872. MIT has been a consistent international leader in the number of master’s and doctoral degrees awarded. While we are renowned for our highly ranked degrees […]
President L. Rafael Reif’s charge to the Class of 2022
Below is the text of President L. Rafael Reif’s Commencement remarks, as prepared for delivery today. To the graduates of 2022: Congratulations! My job today is to deliver a “charge” to you… and I will get to that in a minute. But first, I want to recognize the people who helped you charge this far! To everyone […]
Grad Blog Workshop: Apply by Jan. 4
Have something to say or share? Then blog about it! The MIT Graduate Admissions Blog will conduct an IAP workshop on blog writing for interested current MIT grad students. In brief, If you are a current MIT graduate student and would like to participate, you can apply here by 11:59pm on Wednesday, January 4. You must be […]
A helping hand for robotic manipulator design
MIT researchers have created an interactive design pipeline that streamlines and simplifies the process of crafting a customized robotic hand with tactile sensors. Typically, a robotics expert may spend months manually designing a custom manipulator, largely through trial-and-error. Each iteration could require new parts that must be designed and tested from scratch. By contrast, this […]
The breaking point
I got off the escalator and stepped onto the platform. Three minutes until the train, eighteen minutes until I get to MIT, twenty minutes until my meeting. My breath was a bit fast: I’d been walking briskly. Suddenly, my chest tightened, and no more air could get in. My first reaction wasn’t fear – it […]
Jeff Grossman
Although some of his research focuses on nanomaterials, MIT Professor Jeff Grossman makes sure that his graduate students receive a macroscopic amount of thoughtful mentorship. Grossman is a professor of materials science and engineering at MIT, the Morton and Clare Goulder and Family Professor in Environmental Systems, and a MacVicar Fellow, as well as the […]
Bringing hope and transformation to the Democratic Republic of Congo
MIT graduate student Milain Fayulu is on a mission. Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Fayulu is telling, and selling, the story of his nation in the hope of aiding its people and transforming its economy. For decades, the DRC has been hobbled by corruption and bloody civil conflicts. “I grew up with […]
President Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson of Iceland visits MIT
Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson, the president of Iceland, visited MIT on Friday, engaging in talks with several campus leaders and professors, and touring the Media Lab. Jóhannesson visited the Institute along with a substantial delegation of officials and scholars from Iceland. They met with MIT scholars, who delivered a variety of presentations on research, design, and […]
An experimental study of the Holy Cannoli
Introduction The Cannoli is a form of dessert, which, in its most basic form, includes a pastry shell wrapped around a sweet ricotta filling. Historians have long debated the origin of the cannoli. Some say the cannoli originated during the carnival seasons in Palermo, a city on the island of Sicily, Italy. Others say it […]
MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium announces recipients of inaugural MCSC Seed Awards
The MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium (MCSC) has awarded 20 projects a total of $5 million over two years in its first-ever 2022 MCSC Seed Awards program. The winning projects are led by principal investigators across all five of MIT’s schools. The goal of the MCSC Seed Awards is to engage MIT researchers and link the […]
Living Climate Futures initiative showcases holistic approach to the climate crisis
The sun shone bright and warm on the Dertouzos Amphitheater at the Stata Center this past Earth Day as a panel of Indigenous leaders from across the country talked about their experiences with climate activism and shared their natural world philosophies — a worldview that sees humanity as one with the rest of the Earth. […]
Getting back to reading for pleasure
Spoiler Alert: If you haven’t read Harry Potter, Catch-22, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Count of Monte Cristo – there are a few references here that you may want to skip. If I were a troubled friend seeking advice, I might ask you to be the Jeeves to my Wooster, or if grad school […]
Solve at MIT 2022: Demystifying world issues one connection at a time
Solve at MIT 2022, the flagship event of MIT Solve, recently convened over 300 social impact leaders including 62 Solver teams as well as thousands of virtual supporters.
MIT J-WAFS announces 2022 seed grant recipients
The Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS) at MIT has awarded eight MIT principal investigators with 2022 J-WAFS seed grants. The grants support innovative MIT research that has the potential to have significant impact on water- and food-related challenges. The only program at MIT that is dedicated to water- and food-related research, […]
