The Beaver visits Father Sky: Meet MIT’s First Nations Launch team
Earlier this year, MIT’s First Nations Launch team participated in the 2023 First Nations Launch, an international NASA-Artemis Student Challenge hosted by the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium that focuses on Indigenous representation and science in aerospace engineering through rocketry. It was the first time MIT has ever competed in this challenge, now in its 15th […]
GlycoMIT Symposium celebrates advancements in glycobiology
On Oct. 5, the Department of Chemistry, funded by a generous donation from Frank Laukien ’94, hosted the GlycoMIT Symposium, an interdepartmental celebration of advancements in glycobiology research. Defined broadly by the National Institutes of Health, glycobiology is “the study of the structure, biosynthesis, biology, and evolution of saccharides (also called carbohydrates, sugar chains, or […]
Centering feminism
There’s a black-and-white photo from a 1920s beauty pageant in a gilt frame hanging above the desk in MIT Professor Lerna Ekmekcioglu’s office. The Jazz Age image features white flapper girls in white dresses. There’s an unsettling commonality among the women in the photo. “I found this at a garage sale,” Ekmekcioglu recalls, “and thought […]
Three from MIT named American Physical Society Fellows for 2023
Three members of the MIT faculty have been elected fellows of the American Physical Society (APS) for 2023. The APS Fellowship Program was created in 1921 for those in the physics community to recognize peers who have contributed to advances in physics through original research, innovative applications, teaching, and leadership. According to the APS, each year no […]
Panel examines Israel-Hamas conflict
As the armed conflict between Israel and Hamas unfolds, observers and news reports depict the prospect of a near-term halt in warfare as being unlikely. A panel of experts at an MIT public event on Nov. 1 evaluated the dynamics of the conflict, and discussed the elements that could be necessary for longer-term stability — […]
MIT D-Lab works to empower artisanal women miners in Colombia
In Colombia, approximately 60 percent of gold extraction originates from an informal sector known as artisanal and small-scale gold mining. Among them are “las chatarreras,” women who arrive early in the morning at the mines to scavenge and collect rocks or tailings discarded by male miners. Through a project launched in 2020, MIT D-Lab is […]
How to decarbonize the world, at scale
The world in recent years has largely been moving on from debates about the need to curb carbon emissions and focusing more on action — the development, implementation, and deployment of the technological, economic, and policy measures to spur the scale of reductions needed by mid-century. That was the message Robert Stoner, the interim director […]
The City Science Network empowers local communities to collaborate globally
The City Science group at the MIT Media Lab, directed by Principal Research Scientist Kent Larson, launched the City Science Network nine years ago to create sister labs around the world that could share data, code, design ideas, and systems for analysis, simulation, and community engagement. Today, 10 affiliated City Science labs are operating in […]
2023-24 Takeda Fellows: Advancing research at the intersection of AI and health
The School of Engineering has selected 13 new Takeda Fellows for the 2023-24 academic year. With support from Takeda, the graduate students will conduct pathbreaking research ranging from remote health monitoring for virtual clinical trials to ingestible devices for at-home, long-term diagnostics. Now in its fourth year, the MIT-Takeda Program, a collaboration between MIT’s School […]
The architecture of serendipity
I have been in the Netherlands for the last 8 years. Starting at MIT did not require me to move immediately since all of my classes are still online. However, even without making the move to Boston, I did experience the cultural shock of MIT. MIT has a special quality and that special something finds […]
Generating opportunities with generative AI
Talking with retail executives back in 2010, Rama Ramakrishnan came to two realizations. First, although retail systems that offered customers personalized recommendations were getting a great deal of attention, these systems often provided little payoff for retailers. Second, for many of the firms, most customers shopped only once or twice a year, so companies didn’t […]
The power of representation and connectivity in STEM education
On Oct. 13 and 14 at the Wong Auditorium at MIT, an event called Bridging Talents and Opportunities took place. It was part of an initiative led by MIT Latinx professors and students aimed at providing talented Latinx high school students from the greater Boston area and various Latin American countries a unique chance to […]
Forging climate connections across the Institute
Climate change is the ultimate cross-cutting issue: Not limited to any one discipline, it ranges across science, technology, policy, culture, human behavior, and well beyond. The response to it likewise requires an all-of-MIT effort. Now, to strengthen such an effort, a new grant program spearheaded by the Climate Nucleus, the faculty committee charged with the […]
Designing cleaner vehicles
Adi Mehrotra knew that his time at MIT wasn’t up yet when he finished his undergraduate degree in 2022. During his first four years at the Institute, he was a critical member of the Solar Electric Vehicle Team (SEVT) and eventually led the group to victory in a five-day, 900-mile race. Later, he translated the […]
Steven Barrett named head of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Steven Barrett, the H.N. Slater Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, has been named the new head of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AeroAstro), effective Nov. 1. “Professor Barrett is incredibly well-suited to serve as leader of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Having served as associate department head since 2021 and interim department head […]
A new record for Math Prize for Girls wins
Florida Virtual School senior Jessica Wan was the winner of the 15th Math Prize for Girls (MP4G) annual contest for female-identifying contestants, held Oct. 6-8 at MIT. She scored 17 out of 20 questions, which added up to make Wan the MP4G’s most successful contestant in its history; she also won the contest last year […]
Jessica Bonitatibus
Monday: Remote Tuesday: 3-107Wednesday: 3-107Thursday: RemoteFriday: 3-107 I can help you with the Graduate Community Fellows program and the Graduate Student Experience Grants program. I love to travel!
Turning engineers into well-rounded communicators
For MIT engineering students and postdocs, tasks like writing grant proposals, applying to jobs, and presenting research findings require not only technical expertise but also the ability to clearly communicate. For the last 10 years, the MIT School of Engineering’s Communication Lab has helped students and postdocs develop those communication skills. Using principles like understanding […]
A kind of person, or kind-of a person?
I close my eyes and imagine a world where I am only this: a violinist on a stage, where the music becomes my everything. I often play this way, temporarily blind to the reality that, after my final note fades, I will spend the rest of tonight staring blankly at a blinking terminal cursor. Music […]
A marvel in masonry shows the art of the possible
In the Hudson River Valley, on a hill inside the Storm King Art Center, a new addition to the country’s leading outdoor sculpture collection was unveiled this fall. “Lookout,” by the eminent American sculptor Martin Puryear, is a beguiling, domed brick structure with confounding curves, a walk-in entrance, and 90 apertures. The sculpture “could be […]
Books under attack, then and now
Richard Ovenden was dressed appropriately for the start of Banned Books Week. He proudly displayed the American Library Association’s “Free people read freely” T-shirt as he approached the podium at Hayden Library on Oct. 2. Ovenden, Bodley’s Librarian at the University of Oxford, spoke about the willful destruction of recorded knowledge for an event titled […]
Rafael Mariano Grossi speaks about nuclear power’s role at a critical moment in history
On Sept. 22, Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), delivered the 2023 David J. Rose Lecture in Nuclear Technology at MIT. This lecture series was started nearly 40 years ago in honor of the late Professor David Rose — a nuclear engineering professor and fusion technology pioneer. In addition to […]
School of Engineering third quarter 2023 awards
Faculty and researchers across MIT’s School of Engineering receive many awards in recognition of their scholarship, service, and overall excellence. The School of Engineering periodically recognizes their achievements by highlighting the honors, prizes, and medals won by faculty and research scientists working in our academic departments, labs, and centers. Jacopo Buongiorno in the Department of Nuclear Science and […]
Shape-shifting fiber can produce morphing fabrics
Instead of needing a coat for each season, imagine having a jacket that would dynamically change shape so it becomes more insulating to keep you warm as the temperature drops. A programmable, actuating fiber developed by an interdisciplinary team of MIT researchers could someday make this vision a reality. Known as FibeRobo, the fiber contracts […]
Morris Chang ’52, SM ’53 describes the secrets of semiconductor success
Groundbreaking technologist Morris Chang ’52, SM ’53 discussed the key elements behind Taiwan’s long-term ascendancy in semiconductor manufacturing, while speaking to a large campus audience in an MIT talk on Tuesday. Chang is the influential founder and former longtime head of TSMC, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, which has become the world’s leading microchip maker. […]
Smart irrigation technology covers “more crop per drop”
In agriculture today, robots and drones can monitor fields, temperature and moisture sensors can be automated to meet crop needs, and a host of other systems and devices make farms more efficient, resource-conscious, and profitable. The use of precision agriculture, as these technologies are collectively known, offers significant advantages. However, because the technology can be […]
National Society of Black Physicists Annual Conference
The NSBP Conference is the largest academic meeting of minority physicists in the United States. The 2023 NSBP Conference will consist of three days of educational sessions, exhibitions, interactive networking opportunities, a hybrid/virtual component, as well as student career fair and poster sessions on cutting edge issues related to current trends in physics, and science.
Four from MIT awarded National Medals of Technology, Science
The White House honored four MIT affiliates today with the nation’s highest awards for scientists and innovators. At a ceremony this afternoon, President Joe Biden announced the recipients of this year’s National Medals of Technology and Innovation and National Medals of Science. James Fujimoto ’79, SM ’81, PhD ’84, the Elihu Thomson Professor in Electrical […]
Bringing the environment to the forefront of engineering
In a recent podcast interview with MIT President Sally Kornbluth, Associate Professor Desirée Plata described her childhood pastime of roaming the backyards and businesses of her grandmother’s hometown of Gray, Maine. Through her wanderings, Plata noticed a disturbing pattern. “I was 7 or 8 when I caught wind of all the illness,” Plata recalls. “It […]
Graduate student benefits
The following summary helps graduate students understand their eligibility for various benefits and resources (e.g., child grants, dental insurance, etc.) in light of the MIT and MIT GSU collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Specifically, the information below provides a high-level snapshot of benefit eligibility based upon appointment/funding status and degree type. Click on each appointment/funding status […]
Celebrating Kendall Square’s past and shaping its future
Kendall Square’s community took a deep dive into the history and future of the region at the Kendall Square Association’s 15th annual meeting on Oct. 19. It’s no secret that Kendall Square, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, moves fast. The event, titled “Looking Back, Looking Ahead,” gave community members a chance to pause and reflect on […]
Opening pathways for future supply chain leaders
Sit down with Maria Jesus Saenz of the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics (CTL) to discuss her professional achievements and priorities, and you’re likely to come away with two questions: How has she become a thought leader in so many areas — from logistics strategies and supply chain education to human-AI collaboration and digital […]
Building on an enduring bond
Robert Robinson Taylor’s impressive legacy straddles two institutions. There’s MIT, where he studied architecture and became the Institute’s first African American graduate; and then there is Tuskegee University, originally the Tuskegee Institute, where Taylor spent most of his career, heading the architecture department of the historically Black college, helping to shape its educational philosophy that […]
To excel at engineering design, generative AI must learn to innovate, study finds
ChatGPT and other deep generative models are proving to be uncanny mimics. These AI supermodels can churn out poems, finish symphonies, and create new videos and images by automatically learning from millions of examples of previous works. These enormously powerful and versatile tools excel at generating new content that resembles everything they’ve seen before. But […]
A new way to integrate data with physical objects
To get a sense of what StructCode is all about, says Mustafa Doğa Doğan, think of Superman. Not the “faster than a speeding bullet” and “more powerful than a locomotive” version, but a Superman, or Superwoman, who sees the world differently from ordinary mortals — someone who can look around a room and glean all […]
