Events

MIT welcomed its global community of friends to a full semester of events and programs held on campus from January 7 through June 5, 2011.

MIT150

Reception and opening of the MIT150 Exhibition

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Friday, January 7, 2011
Time: 3:00pm - 5:00pm
Location: MIT Museum, Bldg. N51, 265 Massachusetts Avenue

Let the sesquicentennial begin!

Alumni, faculty, staff, and students were invited to the MIT Museum for the anniversary program's opening festivities: a reception and special community preview of the 150 Exhibition. The exhibition's exciting and evocative collection was nominated and curated by our community, who joined us on Friday, January 7 to experience our shared history and the unique culture of MIT.

The 150 Exhibition opened to the public on Saturday, January 8, 2011, and ran through December 31, 2011.

Read more in the news:

MIT Club of Boston

Assemble Lego Science Kits for Boston Schools

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Saturday, January 22, 2011
Time: 9:00am - 7:00pm
Bush Room, 10-105, 222 Memorial Drive

MIT alumni/ae (and friends and family members age 12+) aided in assembling Lego science kits (invented by Dr. Kathleen Vandiver at MIT Center for Environmental Health Sciences), particularly DNA and RNA models that enable students to learn “hands on” about molecular processes like transcription and translation.

Previously only available for class field trips to the MIT Museum, hundreds of Boston Public School students and their teachers are now able to integrate this innovative approach into their studies (from introductory to AP biology) thanks to our work building 10 classroom sets, training teachers on their use, and all of the high schools sharing them.

For more information please visit our website.

Or read more at MIT News.

FAST Festival of Art, Science and Technology

An Artistic Menagerie: Collaborations of Mind, Hand and Imagerie 1900-1926

Saturday, January 22, 2011
Time: 4:00pm
Kresge Auditorium, 48 Massachusetts Avenue

For more information on this event, please visit the Arts at MIT portal.

Committee of Race and Diversity

Institute Diversity Summit 2011

Monday, January 24, 2011
Time: 9:00am - 4:00pm
E14-6th floor

At this summit the MIT Community learned and practiced ways to interact within a diverse environment, cultivate an inclusive environment, and reach out to bring in all kinds of talent to MIT. The program included workshops, panel discussions on best practices at MIT, a resource fair, networking opportunities, poster sessions, and concurrent sessions which taught skills for increasing diversity and inclusion at MIT.

Event sponsored by:
Committee on Race and Diversity, Department of Physics, School of Architecture and Planning

MIT150 Symposium

Economics and Finance: From Theory to Practice to Policy

MIT Club of Boston

Assemble Lego Science Kits for Boston Schools

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Saturday, January 29, 2011
Time: 1:30pm - 5:50pm
Bush Room 10-105, 222 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA

MIT alumni/ae (and friends and family members age 12+) aided in assembling Lego science kits (invented by Dr. Kathleen Vandiver at MIT Center for Environmental Health Sciences), particularly DNA and RNA models that enable students to learn “hands on” about molecular processes like transcription and translation.

Hundreds of Boston Public School students and their teachers are now able to integrate this innovative approach into their studies (from introductory to AP biology) thanks to our work building 10 classroom sets, training teachers on their use, and all of the high schools sharing them.

Read more at MIT News.

Burton-Conner 60th Anniversary Reunion

Burton-Conner 60th Anniversary Reunion

Sunday, January 30, 2011
Time: 2:00pm - 5:00pm
Burton-Conner House, Porter Room, 410 Memorial Drive

Sunday, January 30th, Burton-Conner hosted a mixer in honor of the 60th anniversary of the dormitory. The day started off with tours of the dormitory as well as the individual floors from 2:00 to 3:00 pm. Snacks and drinks were then served in the Dining Room, renamed the Porter Room. Tours were followed by a 30-minute panel of alumni talking about their years at Burton-Conner, followed by a meet and greet.

FAST Festival of Art, Science and Technology

Stan VanDerBeek - The Culture Intercom

Thursday, February 3, 2011
Time: 6:00pm
List Visual Arts Center, 20 Ames Street

For more information on this event, please visit the Arts at MIT portal.

FAST Festival of Art, Science and Technology

"Hydriotaphia" by Tony Kushner - presented by MIT Dramashop

Thursday, February 3, 2011 - Saturday, February 12, 2011
Little Kresge Theater, 48 Massachusetts Avenue

For more information on this event, please visit the Arts at MIT portal.

MIT Libraries

“Technology” through Time: 150 Years of MIT History Exhibit Opening

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Friday, February 4, 2011
Time: 1:00pm - 3:00pm
Maihaugen Gallery, Bldg.14N Rm130, 160 Memorial Drive

“Technology” through Time: 150 Years of MIT History, a multimedia exhibition that showcases in words, documents, photos, video, and sound the broad and varied history of MIT. On display are original MIT documents and historically significant materials that played a significant role in making MIT the unique place it is today. In addition to materials from the Institute Archives and Special Collections, the exhibit also features originals of several items in the MIT Museum’s 150 Exhibition, as well as first-person interviews from the Infinite History project, video stories of those who have shaped–and been shaped by–MIT.

FAST Festival of Art, Science and Technology

Systems, Process, Art, and the Social

Friday, February 4, 2011
Time: 1:00pm - 5:00pm
Bldg. 34 Rm. 101, 50 Vassar Street

For more information on this event, please visit the Arts at MIT portal.

FAST Festival of Art, Science and Technology

Music | MACHINES : Celebrating 50 years of Music and Technology @MIT.

Saturday, February 5, 2011
Time: 9:00am - 10:00pm
Media Lab Complex, Bldg E14 6th Floor, 75 Amherst Street

For more information on this event, please visit the Arts at MIT portal.

Killian Award Committee

39th Annual James R. Killian Jr. Faculty Achievement Award Lecture

Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Time: 4:00pm - 5:30pm
10-250

Ronald L. Rivest, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science who helped develop one of the world's most widely used Internet security systems, was MIT's James R. Killian Jr. Faculty Achievement Award winner for 2010-2011.

The award was announced at the faculty meeting on Wednesday, May 19. Established in 1971 as a tribute to MIT's 10th president, the Killian Award recognizes extraordinary professional accomplishment by an MIT faculty member.

Rivest, the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Professor in MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), is known for his pioneering work in the field of cryptography, computer and network security.

Read more at MIT News.

MIT's 37th Annual Celebration of the Life and Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Excellence is a Shared Path: Working Together for Justice and the Quality of Life

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Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Time: 7:30am
Morss Hall, Walker Memorial - 142 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA

In this annual event open to the MIT community, the Institute celebrated the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

A breakfast was hosted by President Susan Hockfield.

Keynote Speaker: Roland Martin, Award-winning Journalist, CNN Contributor, and Political Analyst.

To learn more, please visit our website.

Human Diversity and Social Order Forum

The Fruits of Diversity

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Thursday, February 10, 2011
Time: 7:00pm
Media Lab Complex, Bldg E14 6th Floor, 75 Amherst Street

Celebrating enrichment of language, architecture, visual arts, and music when diverse cultures come to know and appreciate one another.

Speakers
  • Chair: Adèle Naudé Santos, Dean of the MIT School of Architecture and Planning
  • Elliot Bostwick Davis, John Moors Cabot Chair of the Art of the Americas Department at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA)
    A New World Imagined –Within the context of the new Art of the Americas wing at the MFA, Ms. Davis examines the conceptual, aesthetic, and architectural paradigms for displaying American artwork.
  • Donal Fox, Artist, Music and Theater Arts Section; MLK Visiting Scholar, MIT
    Musical Performance –  Mashups infused with elements of jazz, Latin, and classical music are performed on the piano and accompanied by percussionist Dafnis Prieto and bassist John Lockwood.
  • Walter Hood, Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, University of California
    Urban Landscapes: Difference and Diversity – The environment around us is host to dormant sculptures, bound to their context by clear and definable means. Professor Hood discusses improvisational design strategies that are central to the revelation and celebration of everyday environments and the life that takes place within them.
     

This is part 1 of a series of Human Diversity and Social Order Forums.

Program in Science, Technology, and Society and MIT150 present:

MIT’s Moments of Decision: An Historical Retrospective

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Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Time: 4:00pm
Media Lab Complex, Building E14 6th Floor, 75 Amherst Street

A panel discussion by MIT’s own historians about how the Institute has reflected and shaped the history of science and technology in America, from the antebellum period through the Cold War and into the 21st century.

Moderated by David Mindell, chair of the MIT150 Steering Committee and head of the Program in Science, Technology, and Society, the panel included

  • Karen Arenson '70, former Alumni Association president and education reporter for The New York Times
  • Deborah Douglas, curator for science and technology at the MIT Museum
  • John Durant, director of the MIT Museum
  • David Kaiser, associate professor in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society and author of Becoming MIT: Moments of Decision
  • Merritt Roe Smith, Cutten professor of the history of technology in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society

President Susan Hockfield offered closing remarks.

Human Diversity and Social Order Forum

Diversity on the World Stage

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Thursday, February 17, 2011
Time: 7:00pm
Media Lab Complex, Building E14 6th Floor, 75 Amherst Street

We explored the competition among a handful of sovereign powers, the exploitation of peoples and global resources, the relevance of economic power, and the efficacy of international institutions created to mitigate conflicts. As we struggle to define a universal set of rights and modes of conduct, diverse peoples of the world take their cues from current global interactions and enter the world stage with their crafts, mores, and world views.

Speakers

  • Chair, Bishwapriya Sanyal, Ford International Professor of Urban Development and Planning and Director of the Program for Urban and Regional Studies, MIT
  • Nazli Choucri, Professor of Political Science, Associate Director of the MIT Technology and Development Program, and Head of the Middle East Program at MIT
    New Complexities of Diversity — The end of WWII led to the creation of a number of independent states, whose initial reaction was to adopt the modernization values and norms of the former colonizers. Over time, these states gradually began to question their initial responses and to reconsider their priorities, giving rise to new complexities.
  • Geoffrey A. P. Groesbeck, Legatum Fellowship Programmes, Legatum Center for Development & Entrepreneurship at MIT
    Development in Latin America: When and why it works and when and why it doesn't — We will look at development paradigms and the role entrepreneurship plays in rural Bolivia and Mexico. The five components of successful collaborative development are examined.
  • Joanne Mariner, Director, Human Rights Program, Hunter College, City University of New York
    The Global Architecture of Human Rights Enforcement — A plethora of international bodies have been created to protect human rights, from the UN's Human Rights Council to the International Criminal Court, but the extent to which these institutions have been effective in fulfilling their mandate is subject to intense debate.

This is part 2 of a series of Human Diversity and Social Order Forums.

Sponsored by: SAO, OME, Weekends@MIT, UAAP, Chancellor Clay, Committee on Race and Diversity

Pulse: "Our Heritage, Our Heart"

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Friday, February 18, 2011
Time: 8:00pm - 10:30pm
MIT Kresge Auditorium
FAST Festival of Art, Science and Technology

Pulse is a black cultural show whose purpose is to display all cultures and traditions of the African Diaspora in order to help our community appreciate how all of these cultures are intertwined. The show creates awareness of all the positive contributions within the African Diaspora that are not often celebrated.

We accomplish this theme by exploring visual arts, dance, music, language and literature, and fashion.

This cultural show is intended for everyone in the MIT community and greater Boston area!!!

Visit us on Facebook.

FAST Festival of Art, Science and Technology

Handel's "Israel in Egypt"

Saturday, February 19, 2011
Pre-Concert Conversation, 2– 4:30 pm
Concert, 8 pm
Kresge Auditorium, 48 Massachusetts Avenue

Handel and Haydn Society presents "Israel in Egypt"

*This was an exclusive event for the MIT community. Only open and free of charge to MIT alumni, faculty, staff, and students. No Tickets Required.

Experience the incredible drama of Handel’s oratorio bursting with dynamic choruses. With only a handful of arias, the soloist takes second place, unlike any other work by Handel. This tour de force vividly depicts the imaginative telling of Exodus, narrating in graphic detail the 10 plagues that fall on Egypt. “Moses’ Song” follows with sounds of celebration, deliverance and freedom, culminating in the superb chorus “The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.”

The pre-concert conversation was moderated by Ellen Harris, Professor of Music, MIT.

Harry Christophers, Conductor
Handel and Haydn Society Orchestra and Chorus
Presented by the MIT Class of 1954

Sponsored by the Office of the Dean for Graduate Education

An evening with Isabel Wilkerson

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photo credit Joe Henson

Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Time: 7:00pm
Ray and Maria Stata Center, Kirsch Auditorium, 32-123

An evening with Isabel Wilkerson

Isabel Wilkerson is a Pulitzer Prize–winning writer who is currently Professor of Journalism and Director of Narrative Nonfiction at Boston University. Her first book, The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration, fifteen years in the making, follows the intimate and moving stories of three African–American families who left the only place they'd ever known—the rural and small town South—to find a better life in the urban North and West. It is the first major work to chronicle the Great Migration and its aftermath on a national scale, over the course of nearly a century.

Wilkerson was born and raised in Washington, DC, where her parents settled after journeying from Georgia and southern Virginia during the Great Migration. She attended Howard University and graduated with a degree in journalism. Her love of the written word has led her to a prolific and distinguished career in journalism, most of it spent at The New York Times.

More at MIT News.

Co Sponsored by Brain & Cognitive Sciences, & MIT Provost Office

An Afternoon with Augustus A. White III, M.D.

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Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Time: 3:30pm - 5:30pm
Ray and Maria Stata Center, Kirsch Auditorium, building 32-123

Augustus A. White, III, M.D., professor of Medical Education and Orthopedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School, discussed his compelling story of race, health and the profound inequality in providing health care in America. Seeing Patients, Dr. White’s new book, recounts his extraordinary journey from the segregated South to elite private schools and universities to Vietnam to chief of a department at Harvard’s teaching hospital.

Based on research and interviews with leading physicians coupled with his personal experiences, Dr. White shows how unconscious stereotyping influences doctor-patient interactions, diagnosis, and treatment.

Seeing Patients provides insight from social psychology, neuroscience, and clinical practice to define the issues clearly and to outline an approach to mitigate the fundamental inequality in the delivery of health care in America.

MIT Public Service Center

IDEAS and MIT Global Challenge – Generator Dinner

Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Time: 7:30pm
Stratton Student Center, La Sala Puerto Rico Room

On Friday, February 23, students, alumni, and community partners were invited to MIT's annual winter Generator Dinner—an exciting evening where the floor was open for attendees to pitch their skills and ideas, brainstorm possible projects, and create teams.

Human Diversity and Social Order Forum

Minorities in the United States

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Thursday, February 24, 2011
Time: 7:00pm
Media Lab Complex, Building E14 6th Floor, 75 Amherst Street

A conversation to examine social suspension that is citizenship in America. While the law guarantees equality and protection of rights and opportunities, the underrepresented minority population of our imperfect melting pot continues to struggle for acceptance.

Speakers

Chair, Willard R. Johnson, Professor of Political Science, Emeritus, MIT

Melissa Nobles, Professor of Political Science, MIT
From slave to citizen: the African‐American quest for full equality Professor Nobles discusses the combination of laws and public policy with social movements and individual activism that led to the fulfillment of citizenship for African-Americans.

Emma J. Teng, T.T. and Wei Fong Chao Professor of Asian Civilizations and Associate Professor of Chinese Studies, MIT
Aliens inelligible for naturalization: the fight for Asian American citizenship, 1878-1952 -
Professor Teng will cover major topics including Chinese Exclusion, the formation of the Chinese Equal Rights League of America and the Japanese American Citizens League, the marital expatriation act of 1907, the naturalization act of 1918, the repeal of Chinese Exclusion and subsequent acts that removed the racial bars against the naturalization of Asian immigrants.

Christine Ortiz, Dean for Graduate Education and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, MIT
The role of citizenship for Hispanics in US higher education -
Dean Ortiz will explore the role of citizenship of Hispanic-Americans and international Hispanics in US higher education through the individual experiences of graduate students, postdoctoral research associates, and faculty at MIT.

This is part 3 of a series of Human Diversity and Social Order Forums.

Applied Nichiren Buddhism at MIT (ANB@MIT) & Soka Gakkai International-USA (SGI-USA)

From a Culture of Violence to a Culture of Peace: Transforming the Human Spirit

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Sunday, February 27, 2011 - Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Tang Center, Wong Auditorium, Bldg E51, 70 Memorial Drive

Applied Nichiren Buddhism at MIT (ANB@MIT) hosted four days of the nuclear abolition exhibit, "From a Culture of Violence to a Culture of Peace: Transforming the Human Spirit," with guest speakers, question-and-answer sessions, small-group dialogue, and a symposium.

The exhibit opened to the public on Sunday, February 27.

An Opening Ceremony was held on Monday, February 28, at 6pm, followed by remarks from guest speakers, Dr. Jim Walsh, Research Associate, MIT Security Studies Program, and Paula Miksic, SGI-USA Director for Peace and Community Relations.

On Tuesday, March 1, informal group dialogue sessions were held from 6-7:30pm.

On Wednesday, March 2, the four-day event ended with a symposium from 6-7:30pm. Speakers included long-time nuclear arms control advocate, Professor Aron Bernstein (MIT Physics).

"From a Culture of Violence to a Culture of Peace: Transforming the Human Spirit" was created by the SGI in 2007 to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Soka Gakkai Second President Josei Toda's Declaration Calling for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons, made during the height of nuclear arms race on September 8, 1957. Launched on September 7, 2007, the exhibit has been shown in 200 venues in 24 countries, including showings at the UN Office at Geneva and The Parliament House in Wellington, New Zealand. The exhibition consists of 36 panels in four sections: Ensuring Human Security; Arms-Based Security vs. Human Security; Changing Our Worldview; and Global Efforts for Peace.

Human Resources

2011 Excellence Awards

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Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Time: 3:00pm - 5:00pm
Kresge Auditorium, 48 Massachusetts Avenue

The annual MIT Excellence Awards acknowledge the extraordinary efforts made by members of our community toward fulfilling the goals, values, and mission of the Institute. Among the highest honors awarded to staff by MIT, the Excellence Awards celebrate the professionalism, commitment to best practices, and high standards of excellence staff bring to the Institute.

The 2011 awards ceremony took place on Tuesday, March 1, from 3-5 pm at Kresge Auditorium. All members of the MIT community wereinvited; no tickets were required.

Sponsored by the Office of the Dean for Graduate Education

An Evening with Jennine Capó Crucet

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Thursday, March 3, 2011
Time: 7:00pm
Tang Center, Wong Auditorium, Bldg E51, 70 Memorial Drive

An Evening with Jennine Capó Crucet

Jennine Capó Crucet is an insightful writer who uses humor and compassion to explore how community impacts individuals’ perspectives. She was born to Cuban parents and raised in Miami. Her debut book, How to Leave Hialeah, won the Iowa Short Fiction Award, the John Gardner Prize, the Devil’s Kitchen Reading Award in Prose, and was named a Best Book of the Year by both the Miami Herald and the Miami New Times. The title story from her collection won her an O. Henry Prize and will appear in the 2011 O. Henry Prize Anthology. She’s the recipient of the Winthrop Prize & Residency for Emerging Writers, scholarships to the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and her work has been a finalist for both the Chicano/Latino Literary Prize and the Missouri Review Editor’s Prize. Her stories have been published in Ploughshares, Epoch, Gulf Coast, the Southern Review, the Los Angeles Review, and other magazines.

A graduate of Cornell University and a former sketch comedienne, she divides her time between Miami and Los Angeles, and she currently works for the One Voice Scholars Program as a counselor to first-generation college-bound high school seniors in South Central and Downtown LA.

MIT Energy Club

2011 MIT Energy Conference

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Friday, March 4, 2011 - Saturday, March 5, 2011
MIT Campus, Westin Copley Place, Boston

The 2011 MIT Energy Conference brought together leaders from industry, academia, and government to tackle the greatest technology, policy and business challenges in energy.

The Conference leveraged MIT’s core strengths to explore the limits of specific technologies, funding mechanisms, and other proposed energy system transformations. Topics included renewable fuels, strategic materials for energy, emerging market start-ups, and many others. Secretary of the U.S. Navy Ray Mabus and Chairman, President & CEO of Duke Energy James E. Rogers delivered keynote addresses.

Friday Workshops (12-5PM, MIT Campus) and Friday Night Showcase (5-8PM, Westin Copley Place) were free and open to the public. Saturday Conference (9AM-6PM, Westin Copley Place) was ticketed and required registration through the website.

For more information on speakers and on the Conference, please visit our website.

Dedication of the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research

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March 4, 2011
Dedication ceremony and speaking program at 4 pm
MIT Building 76 500 Main Street, Cambridge

The MIT community celebrated the dedication of the David H. Koch Center for Integrative Cancer Research.

Read more at MIT News.

The David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT brings together the best of biological investigation and engineering technology for one purpose – eradicating cancer. The Koch Institute is more than a new building. It is a bold commitment to cross-disciplinary research that will rapidly transform new discoveries into effective new therapies and methods that benefit patients. Working with a network of clinical collaborators, we tackle cancer’s most formidable challenges – detecting cancer at its earliest stages; stopping it from spreading; delivering nano-based therapies; advancing new “personalized” medicines; and harnessing the immune system to fight and prevent cancer. Together we will conquer cancer. The future of cancer research is here.

"From its formidable faculty to its floor plans, we designed the new Koch Institute as a cauldron for unexpected collaborations, a place for diverse minds to join forces in our relentless fight against cancer.”

- MIT President Susan Hockfield

FAST Festival of Art, Science and Technology

FAST Thinking

Saturday, March 5, 2011
Time: 11:00am - 4:00pm
More details coming soon!

For more information on this event, please visit the Arts at MIT portal.

Association of MIT Alumnae (AMITA)

Ellen Swallow Richard’s Legacy: MIT Alumnae Make a Difference

Saturday, March 5, 2011
Time: 12:00pm - 9:00pm
Sloan Building, MIT Faculty Club (E51-6th Floor)

The Association of MIT Alumnae (AMITA) presented an afternoon conference and gala dinner to celebrate the diverse accomplishments of MIT's first alumna, Ellen Swallow Richards (ESR 1873) and those of the women whom have followed in her footsteps. The program highlighted some of the remarkable impact of MIT educators and students over the past 140 years and how alumnae have made a difference in the workplace, marketplace, family, and communities

Mrs. Ellen H. (Swallow) Richards showed the world how scientific principles apply to everyday life. A trained chemist, Ellen's scientific acumen, passion for serving others and pioneering personality led her to investigate and create new fields such as clean water, nutrition and sanitary engineering. She taught MIT students for nearly 40 years and inspired generations of women to brave new fields.

The program will provide an exciting day for alumnae and others to connect and network.

Workshops highlighted alumnae achievements and impact in the following areas:

Alumnae Educators: Spreading the Word on Science and Technology
Alumnae in Healthcare
Alumnae in the Innovation Ecosystem
Champions of Clean Water and Environment
Architectural Design and Urban Planning

For more information please visit our website.

FAST Festival of Art, Science and Technology

'Language of Music' concert featuring the Lontano Ensemble

Saturday, March 5, 2011
Time: 8:00pm
Kresge Auditorium, 48 Massachusetts Avenue

For more information on this event, please visit the Arts at MIT portal.

Science, Technology, and Policy Crossroads

Science, Technology, and Policy Crossroads Symposium 2011

Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Time: 4:00pm - 7:00pm
The Broad Institute

The graduate student-run Science, Technology, and Policy (STP) Crossroads inititative is a joint endeavor between groups and programs from MIT & Harvard, which seeks to bring together the greater Cambridge academic community interested in science and technology policy issues. Past Crossroads events have covered a range of STP issues, and have helped to build an STP community in the dense Cambridge academic environment, attracting enthusiastic participation by members of :

  • MIT Technology & Policy Program (TPP)
  • MIT Science Policy Initiative (SPI)
  • MIT Program in Science, Technology, and Society (STS)
  • MIT TechLink
  • MIT DUSP Science Impact Collaborative
  • Harvard Program on Science, Technology and Society (STS)
  • Harvard GSAS Science Policy Group
  • Harvard Kennedy School STP Interest Council

The 2011 symposium, with a focus on biotech policy, was held to honor MIT’s tradition as a vibrant hub of science policy debate, as a consistent and preeminent source of scientific input into political decision-making, and as a deliberate center for the academic study of the intersection of science, technology, and society. The MIT150 anniversary coincides with the 35th anniversary of its renowned Technology and Policy Program, as well as the 20th anniversary of MIT’s first doctoral program in STP, the Technology, Management Policy (TMP) PhD in the Engineering Systems Division.

This year’s symposium was comprised of a keynote address by a DC senior policy practitioner, a panel discussion by senior faculty members in the field of science and technology policy from both MIT and Harvard, break-out sessions on a variety of policy questions, and a reception with time for socializing.

Crossroads aims to represent the diversity of the STP academic community at MIT and Harvard. While biotech is at the center of the event, the main focus was thus on the various questions, methods, and approaches that exist in the different disciplines concerned with biotech policy, rather than one  specific biotech issue.

Panelists:

Nicholas Ashford MIT, Technology and Policy. Director of MIT Technology and Law Program
Calestous Juma Harvard Belfer Center for Science & International Affairs. Director of Science, Technology, & Globalization Project
Dava Newman MIT, Aeronautics and Astronautics & Director of Technology and Policy Program
Anthony Sinskey MIT, Microbiology and Health Sciences & Technology. Faculty Director of Center for Biomedical Innovation

Lemelson-MIT Student Prize Ceremony

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Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Time: 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Kirsch Auditorium (Stata Center, 32-123)

Proudly recognizing the next generation of inventors at MIT, the Institute celebrated this year’s winner of the $30,000 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize!

Awarded each year to a senior or graduate student, the Student Prize recognizes MIT students for their portfolio of inventive work. The Student Prize Ceremony showcases the winner and finalist’s inventions, and offers an opportunity to hear them speak about what it means to be inventive at MIT.

The Lemelson-MIT Student Prize Ceremony also announced the Lemelson-MIT Collegiate Student Prize winners from CalTech, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagin, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute via live video feed.

The Lemelson-MIT Program was proud to join MIT in recognizing the past 150 years of inventional wisdom and looks forward to celebrating the next 150 years.

Read more at MIT News.

Or for more information, please visit our website.

Nuclear Science and Engineering

NSE Doctoral Research Expo

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Friday, March 11, 2011
Time: 11:00am - 2:00pm
Student Street, Stata Center

The event featured research posters by our current doctoral students as well as talks by students in each of the three main areas of research within the department: Fission, Fusion, Nuclear Science & Technology.

For more information, please visit our website.

Compton Lecture

The Future of Science as Public Service: Janet Napolitano

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Monday, March 14, 2011
Time: 4:00pm
Kresge Auditorium

2011 Compton Lecture
The Future of Science as Public Service
Janet Napolitano

Janet Napolitano (b. 1957) was sworn in on January 21, 2009 as the third secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, in which role she directs the nation’s counterterrorism, border security, immigration enforcement, as well as disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. Prior to joining the Obama Administration, she was mid-way through her second term as governor of Arizona. While governor, Secretary Napolitano became the first woman to chair the National Governors Association, through which she was instrumental in creating the Public Safety Task Force and the Homeland Security Advisors Council. She also chaired the Western Governors Association and served as the attorney general of Arizona and the US attorney for the District of Arizona.

While a US attorney, Secretary Napolitano helped lead the domestic terrorism investigation into the Oklahoma City Bombing. Among her accomplishments as attorney general of Arizona is the law to break up human smuggling rings, which she helped to write. As governor, she was a recognized leader in homeland security, border security, and immigration: she implemented one of the first state homeland security strategies in the nation, opened the first state counterterrorism center, and spearheaded efforts to transform immigration enforcement. Secretary Napolitano has been a pioneer in coordinating federal, state, local, and bi-national homeland security efforts, which include presiding over large scale disaster relief efforts and readiness exercises to ensure well-crafted and functional emergency plans.

Janet Napolitano was born in New York City and grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Albuquerque, New Mexico. She graduated summa cum laude with a degree in political science from Santa Clara University, where she won a Truman Scholarship and was the university’s first female valedictorian. She then went on to earn a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1983. Before entering public office, Secretary Napolitano served as a clerk for Judge Mary M. Schroeder on the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and practiced law in Phoenix at the firm of Lewis and Roca.

Please visit the Department of Homeland Security for more on Secretary Napolitano’s leadership and initiatives.

D-Lab

150 D-Lab Projects

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To celebrate MIT’s 150th anniversary, D-Lab highlighted 150 projects from 2010-2011 and offered a range of opportunities for the MIT community to get involved and learn about D-Lab’s work. D-Lab students and staff have been traveling around the world to collaborate with community partners in the design, development, and dissemination of appropriate technologies in agriculture, health, energy, water, sanitation, mobility, education, and communication.

A poster display of 150 recent projects and many hands-on demonstrations were on display in Lobby 10 from March 15 - 17. The community could also chat with D-Lab students and staff to hear about their work and stories from all over the world!

Special events were scheduled throughout the week, including:

Tuesday, March 15
* 10am - 6pm: Ongoing demonstrations and exhibits. (Lobby 10) * 4:30pm - 6:00pm: MIxer Mixer: Learn how to make pedal-powered blenders and chat about social entrepreneurship over homemade smoothies and snacks! (Lobby 10)
* 7pm - 9pm: Designing and Manufacturing Behavioral Diagnostics: Working with D-Lab and IIH researchers to make XoutTB test strips for use in a clinical trial in Karachi, Pakistan. XoutTB combines the latest findings from psychological and economic research and innovations in chemical and mechanical engineering to help patients adhere to complex tuberculosis drug regimes. (D-Lab, E34-230)

Wednesday, March 16
* 10am - 6pm: Ongoing demonstrations and exhibits. (Lobby 10)
* 12pm - 1pm: Food for Thought: Join practitioners and academics for a discussion and brainstorming session on technologies to bridge the gap between humanitarian relief and development. Bring your own lunch, we will provide cookies and lemonade. (13-2137)

Thursday, March 17
* 10am - 6pm: Ongoing demonstrations and exhibits. (Lobby 10)
* 12:30pm - 1:30pm: Brown bag lunch presentation on D-Lab Schools’ work in Cambodia. (3-412)

To check out the digital exhibit or get more information about D-Lab, please visit our website.

Or follow us on twitter for live updates: @DLab_MIT

MIT150 Symposium

Conquering Cancer through the Convergence of Science and Engineering

MIT Department of Biology

HHMI Lecture: Dr. Thomas Tuschl

poster design

Thursday, March 17, 2011
Time: 4:00pm - 5:00pm
Whitehead Auditorium, W1-110

Dr. Tuschl lectured on:

RNA-Centric Views of Gene Regulation
Molecular biologists develop experimental approaches to precisely define the RNA recognition elements bound by RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) and ribonucleoprotein complexes and examine their regulatory function at a transcriptome level. Current studies focus on characterizing RBPs that control mRNA stability or where mutations cause genetic diseases. The identification of posttranscriptional regulatory networks will increase our understanding of the molecular causes of disease and lead to the design of new therapeutic agents.

Read more about Dr. Tuschl.

Human Diversity and Social Order Forum

Education in the United States

poster design

Thursday, March 17, 2011
Time: 7:00pm
Ray and Maria Stata Center, Kirsch Auditorium, building 32-123

What is the fate of Americans left behind after creation of the minority professional middle class? The Civil Rights Movement encouraged major American universities, including MIT and Harvard, to recruit underrepresented minority students under terms that made their academic success probable. American educational institutions still pursue diversity in their faculty, staff, and students…but what of the poor (minority and others) who have not entered the education pipeline?



Speakers

Chair: Evelyn Higginbotham, Professor of History and African American Studies, Harvard University 



Wesley L. Harris, Charles Stark Draper Professor 
of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Associate Provost 
for Faculty Equity, MIT

Professor Harris, an active faculty leader through most
of the last 50 years, recounts the creation of MIT's 
Affirmative Action program, focusing on proactive recruiting of applicants and the creation of the institutional supports that enabled most of those students to graduate.



Sylvester Gates, MLK Visiting Professor, Department of Physics, MIT 



Professor Gates, a distinguished physicist at the University 
of Maryland, was one of the early MIT minority students.
He tells us "what it was like" to be an undergraduate,
a graduate student, and an untenured minority faculty
member at that time.



Paula T. Hammond, Bayer Professor of Chemical Engineering, MIT



Professor Hammond, whose entire academic career occurred at MIT, recently chaired a presidentially appointed committee charged with developing a policy intended to substantially increase the fraction of the faculty drawn from members of underrepresented minorities. She reports on her committee's deliberations and recommendations. 



This is part 4 of a series of Human Diversity and Social Order Forums.

FAST Festival of Art, Science and Technology

Washed by Fire: The Music of Keeril Makan

Thursday, March 17, 2011
Time: 7:30pm
Boston Institute of Contemporary Art, 100 Northern Avenue, Boston, MA

For more information on this event, please visit the Arts at MIT portal.

FAST Festival of Art, Science and Technology

FAST OPERA: 'Death and the Powers' - an opera by Tod Machover

Friday, March 18, 2011 - Friday, March 25, 2011
Cutler Majestic Theatre, 219 Tremont Street, Boston, MA

For more information on this event, please visit the Arts at MIT portal.

MIT Department of Biology

MIT Fieldtrips for High School Students

Wednesday, March 23, 2011 - Thursday, March 24, 2011
The Koch Biology Building

High school science teachers whom had attended past MIT summer workshops were invited to bring their Honors and AP Biology classes to the Biology Department for a day of lectures and hands-on activities.

For more information, please visit our website.

MIT150 Symposium

Leaders in Science and Engineering: The Women of MIT

Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems 10th Anniversary

Nuclear Energy in 2050: Symposium

Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - Thursday, March 31, 2011
Le Meridien Hotel - Cambridge

The Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems hosted a symposium on the occasion of MIT150 Anniversary and the Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems 10th Anniversary. The event was held at Le Meridien Hotel - Cambridge on March 30 - 31, 2011.

For more information, please visit our website.

Sponsored by the MIT Energy Initiative, D-Lab Innovators, MIT Public Service Center, MIT150, IDEAS2011, and the MIT Global Challenge

Science, Technology, and the Future of International Development: A Conversation with USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah

Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Time: 3:00pm - 4:00pm
10-250

Moderated by Robert Stoner, Associate Director, MIT Energy Initiative

Dr. Rajiv Shah was sworn in as the 16th Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on December 31, 2009. USAID, a U.S. Government agency, has provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for almost 50 years. Under Dr. Shah’s leadership, USAID has launched its Grand Challenges for Development to focus global attention on specific development outcomes based on transformational, scalable, and sustainable change. The philosophy behind using Grand Challenges for Development is that defining the problem well and facilitating innovative approaches will encourage a wide array of solvers to focus their attention on developing sustainable, effective solutions.

Open to: the general public

For more information, contact:
Lars Hasselblad Torres
617-324-5176
lhtorres@mit.edu

MIT Public Service Center

MIT Global Challenge – Community Choice Award Voting

Wednesday, April 6, 2011 - Monday, April 25, 2011 Online

The MIT community was solicited to help select public service projects which demonstrate the greatest innovation, feasibility, and potential for positive impact.

Winners received $5,000 implementation awards to advance their projects for one year.

Read more at MIT News.

Winners and Awards.

FAST Festival of Art, Science and Technology

Breaking the Code

Thursday, April 7, 2011 - Sunday, May 8, 2011
Central Square Theater, 450 Massachusetts Avenue

For more information on this event, please visit the Arts at MIT portal.

FAST Festival of Art, Science and Technology

'La Ronde' by Arthur Schnitzler

Thursday, April 7, 2011 - Friday, April 15, 2011
Little Kresge Theater, 48 Massachusetts Avenue

For more information on this event, please visit the Arts at MIT portal.

The Warehouse Graduate Residence Celebrates

Warehouse 10-year Anniversary

poster design

Saturday, April 9, 2011
Time: 4:00pm - 6:00pm
The Warehouse graduate residence

The Warehouse graduate residence celebrated its 10th anniversary on April 9th, 2011. A reception was held at the housemasters' apartment and roof deck.

Residents, guests, and friends, some just curious to see a classic reinvention of MIT space, shared stories and pictures both past and present as The Warehouse celebrated the graduate residential community.

Visit our website.

WMBR

WMBR 50th Anniversary

poster design

Saturday, April 9, 2011
Time: 7:00pm
Morss Hall, Walker Memorial Building, 142 Memorial Drive

On April 9th, 2011, WMBR celebrated its 50th anniversary of broadcasting as a licensed FM radio station. Former DJ's and station members gathered in Morss Hall to reunite and reminisce.

For more information, please visit our website.

Questions can be directed to wmbr50th@gmail.com.

MIT150

The Next Century Convocation

MIT150 Symposium

Computation and the Transformation of Practically Everything

Forum on Future Cities

poster design

Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Time: 8:00am - 8:00pm
Bartos Theater, Wiesner Building, (E15) Ames Street

Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Time: 8:00am - 1:30pm
Bartos Theater, Wiesner Building, (E15) Ames Street

Over the next few decades, the world is preparing to build more urban fabric than has been built by humanity ever before. At the same time, new technologies are disrupting the traditional principles of city making and urban living. This new condition necessitates the creation of innovative partnerships between government, academia, and industry to meet tomorrow’s challenges– including higher sustainability, better use of resources and infrastructure, and improved equity and quality of life.

The Forum on Future Cities brought together leading thinkers in academia, industry, and government from around the world to discuss the most pressing issues of urbanization, and explore how they are being impacted by a wave of new distributed technologies. The program ran the 12-13th April, 2011 at MIT’s campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Forum was hosted by MIT’s SENSEable City Lab with support from the Rockefeller Foundation.

For more information, please visit our website.

Event for MIT Employees

Resources & Services that Offer You Ways to Grow & Thrive

poster design

Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Time: 10:00am - 2:00pm
Stata Student Street/TSMC Lobby, Building 32

What does MIT offer employees to stay engaged and feel motivated? On April 13th, the Institute welcomed it's community to come and see the services and resources that do just that.

Some highlights included: Artist’s Beyond the Desk: a visual arts display in the TSMC Lobby; multimedia presentations;networking; MITAC and MIT Credit Union raffles; chair massage/bosu ball fitness challenge; healthy snacks; giveaways; and much more.

Participating groups: Artists Beyond the Desk (ABD);Association of MIT Retirees; MIT Benefits; Campus Sustainability; Center for Work, Family, & Personal Life; Community Wellness at MIT Medical; Council on Staff Diversity & Inclusion (CSDI); Career Development @ MIT; Environment, Health & Safety; Leader to Leader; MITAC; MIT Federal Credit Union; MIT Medical Community Care Center; MIT Optical Shop; MIT Recreational Sports & Fitness; MIT Rewards and Recognition; Ombuds Office; Personal Assistance Program; Quarter Century Club; Spouses & Partners; Toastmasters; Training at MIT (HR, OSP, IS&T VPF); Training Partners; Women’s League; Working Group on Support Staff Issues (WGSSI)

For more information, contact:
Kimberly Nyce
Program coordinator
knyce@mit.edu
258-0401

CIS Starr Forum on Afghanistan

Afghanistan: Mending it, not just ending it

Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Time: 4:00pm - 5:30pm
34-101

MIT's Center for International Studies hosted this public lecture which jointly celebrated the Institute's150th anniversary and the Center for International Studies' 60th anniversary.

CIS was delighted to feature as the guest speaker a prominent MIT alumnus, David Miliband. Miliband was the Foreign Secretary for the United Kingdom from 2007 to 2010. He joined CIS as a Robert E. Wilhelm fellow in residence from April 11 through 15, 2011. He is an alumnus of the Department of Political Science at MIT, and he delivered the MIT Compton Lecture in spring 2010. Miliband discussed the war in Afghanistan, followed by a Q&A with the audience.

Sponsored by the MIT Center for International Studies. This event was free and open to the public.

MIT Class of 1954 in partnership with the MIT School of Architecture and Planning and in association with the MIT Museum

Lobby 7 Design Competition Award Ceremony and Exhibition Opening

Friday, April 15, 2011
Time: 5:30pm - 7:00pm
Starting in 7-431 then the Wolk Gallery

Fourteen student finalists were selected in December 2010 to compete for one of two 10K Grand Prizes and two second and third prizes (one each of undergraduate and graduate).

For more information, please visit our website.

Read more at MIT News.

FAST Festival of Art, Science and Technology

Bang-on-a-Can and Kronos Quartet Mini-Marathon

Friday, April 15, 2011
Time: 7:00pm
Kresge Auditorium, 48 Massachusetts Avenue

For more information on this event, please visit the Arts at MIT portal.

FAST Festival of Art, Science and Technology

FAST Future: The intersection of Art, Science and Technology at MIT

Saturday, April 16, 2011
Time: 10:00am
TBD

For more information on this event, please visit the Arts at MIT portal.

The Charles L. Miller Symposium honoring Professor Daniel Roos

The Evolution of Engineering Systems: A Rich Past, an Exciting Future

Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Time: 1:00pm - 5:15pm
Bartos Theater, Building E15, 20 Ames Street

Symposium Agenda

Joseph Sussman, Moderator; JR East Professor of Engineering Systems and Civil and Environmental Engineering, MIT
Welcome

Robert Logcher, Professor Emeritus, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, MIT
Present at the Revolution: Computers and Civil Engineering

Nigel H.M. Wilson, Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, MIT
Innovation in Urban Transportation

Alan Altshuler, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor, Kennedy School of Government and Graduate School of Design, Harvard University
The Future of the Automobile: Understanding an Industry

Edward Crawley, Co-Director, Bernard M. Gordon-MIT Engineering Leadership Program; Ford Professor of Engineering; Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems, MIT
The Internationalization of MIT

P. Christopher Zegras, Ford Career Development Associate Professor, Transportation and Urban Planning; Department of Urban Studies and Planning, and Engineering Systems, MIT
Advancing the Agenda: The MIT Portugal Program

Coffee Break – Lower Lobby – Bartos Theater

IMVP: Panel Discussion – Moderated by James Womack, Founder and Senior Advisor, Lean Enterprise Institute and Senior Lecturer, Engineering Systems Division
The International Motor Vehicle Program: Reports from the Front

Arthur Gelb, President of Four Sigma Corp. and co-founder, retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of TASC (The Analytic Sciences Corp.); MIT ESD Visiting Committee Chairman, 2003-2010
Another Revolution: Engineering Systems at MIT

Daniel Roos, Director, MIT Portugal Program, Japan Steel Industry Professor Emeritus of Engineering Systems and Civil and Environmental Engineering, MIT
Remarks

Joseph Sussman
, Moderator; JR East Professor of Engineering Systems and Civil and Environmental Engineering, MIT
Closing Remarks

Our website.

For information regarding this event, please contact Gerri Powers by email or 617-253-4919.

Climate and the Oceans: Where We've Been and What's Ahead

Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Time: 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Wong Auditorium, Tang Center, E51

Dr. Wallace Broecker is the Newberry Professor of Geology at Columbia University's Earth Institute and the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory. As one of the first climate scientists to understand the thermohaline circulation of the global ocean and it's moderating effects on our climate, Broecker has been described as one of the world's greatest living geoscientists, "a genius and a pioneer" and "the Grandfather of climate science." His visionary work has earned him the National Medal of Science and the Tyler Prize, among many other awards.
 

A Panel discussion looking back at the last 150 years of climate research and rethinking the way forward

Rethinking Climate Change: The Past 150 Years and the Next 100...

Thursday, April 21, 2011
Time: 4:00pm - 6:00pm
Tang Center, Wong Auditorium, E51-115

Moderator: Dr. John Reilly, Co-director of the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change; Senior Lecturer, Sloan School of Management

Panelists:

Professor Kerry A. Emanuel, Breene M. Kerr Professor of Atmospheric Science -EAPS, Director of the Program on Atmosphere, Oceans, and Climate (PAOC);

Professor Ronald G. Prinn, TEPCO Professor of Atmospheric Science -EAPS, Director of Center for Global Change Science, Co-Director of the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change;

Professor Christopher R. Knittel, William Barton Rogers Professor of Energy Economics, MIT Sloan School of Management

Professor Ernest J.  Moniz, Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics and Engineering Systems, Director- MIT Energy Initiative

Professor Sarah Slaughter, Associate Director for Buildings and Infrastructure-MIT Energy Initiative

For more information, please visit our website.

For more information, contact: 617-253-7492 or globalchange@mit.edu

Sponsored by the Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change. Also, in collaboration with the MIT150, this event was in celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, and the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day.

FAST Festival of Art, Science and Technology

Dance Technology and Circulations of the Social, Version 2.0

Thursday, April 21, 2011 - Saturday, April 23, 2011
Media Lab Complex, Bldg E14 6th Floor, 75 Amherst Street

For more information on this event, please visit the Arts at MIT portal.

MIT Public Service Center

IDEAS and MIT Global Challenge Poster & Judging Session

Monday, April 25, 2011
Time: 6:30pm - 9:30pm
Lobby 10 and the Bush Room, 222 Memorial Drive

IDEAS and Global Challenge teams presented their prototypes and poster displays, and made the case to judges, members of the MIT community, and the public as to why their innovative service projects should win an implementation award.

MIT150 Symposium

Earth, Air, Ocean and Space: The Future of Exploration

MIT Subcommittee on the Communication Requirement

Innovations in Communication Instruction: Lessons from Ten Years of the Communication Requirement

Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Time: 2:30pm - 4:00pm
56-114

The MIT community was invited to a day of presentations on communication instruction. CI instructors discussed the successes and challenges of teaching communication-intensive subjects at MIT.

Presentations were moderated by Diana E. Henderson, Dean for Curriculum & Faculty Support, Professor of Literature

CI-M Instructors
  • Haynes Miller, Professor of Mathematics
  • Susan Ruff, Lecturer, Writing Across the Curriculum
  • David Wallace, Professor of Mechanical Engineering
CI-H Instructors
  • Sandy Alexandre, Associate Professor of Literature
  • David Jones, Associate Professor in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society
Student Respondent
  • Ms. Naomi Stein ‘10, Current Graduate Student in Civil & Environmental Engineering implementation award.
MISTI and MIT Physics present

MIT and the World's Largest Science Experiment: Hunting the Higgs Boson at CERN

poster design

Friday, April 29, 2011
Time: 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Kirsch Auditorium, 32-123

Markus Klute, Assistant Professor of Physics at MIT, asked visitors to "find out what MIT Physics is discovering with international colleagues at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)."

The event was followed by posters & refreshments, and open to the general public.

For more information, contact: Erin Baumgartner, 617-253-8813 or embaum@mit.edu.

FAST Festival of Art, Science and Technology

Cambridge Science Festival

poster design

Saturday, April 30, 2011 - Sunday, May 8, 2011
Cambridge, Massachusetts

The Cambridge Science Festival, the first of its kind in the United States, celebrated a showcase of Cambridge as an internationally recognized leader in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). A multifaceted, multicultural event, the Cambridge Science Festival made science accessible, interactive and fun, highlighting the impact of STEM in all our lives. The Festival’s collaborators – MIT, Harvard University, the City of Cambridge, Cambridge Public Schools, Cambridge Public Library, WGBH, and the Museum of Science – reached out to K-12 students, the general public, and the science community, to excite and ignite curiosity.

The Cambridge Science Festival offered a wide range of STEM-related activities – lectures, debates, exhibitions, concerts, plays, workshops, etc. – over nine days at a variety of locations. Modeled on art, music, and movie festivals, the Cambridge Science Festival made STEM part of the wider culture by illuminating the richness of scientific inquiry and the excitement of discovery.

The 2011 festival was held from April 30th through May 8th throughout Cambridge and beyond. It began in collaboration with the MIT150 Open House on April 30th and ran through May 8th, concluding with the annual Science Carnival.

Read more at MIT News.

MIT150 Open House

Under the Dome: Come Explore MIT!

MIT Gospel Choir

Spring Concert: Gospel Fest 2011

poster design

Saturday, April 30, 2011
Time: 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Stratton Student Center, W20-208

For the past 40 years, the MIT Gospel Choir has existed on campus to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ through song. We are a Christian Gospel music group with a diverse membership of students and friends of MIT. We thrive on being able to share our love for music and God with the campus, community, and the world.

Joining the spring concert were MIT GosCho, Morning Star Baptist Church's Joshua 12 Ministries, and many more groups from the Boston-area—all celebrating our savior, Jesus Christ, in SONG.

The event was open to the public. And singing along encouraged!

Chorallaries of MIT

MIT Chorallaries Spring Concert 2011: Choral Progression

Saturday, April 30, 2011
Time: 7:00pm - 9:30pm
10-250

The Chorallaries of MIT, the oldest co-ed a cappella group on campus, performed historic MIT tunes and their new spring repertoire!

Read more at MIT News.

MIT150 & MIT Public Service Center

IDEAS and MIT Global Challenge Awards Ceremony

Monday, May 2, 2011
Time: 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Kresge Auditorium, 48 Massachusetts Avenue

Guests joined MIT students, faculty, and staff for a celebration of the spirit of innovation, entrepreneurship, and public service that motivates thousands of students each year to share their talents and skills with communities in need.

MIT announced the winners of up to $150,000 in implementation awards – including Community Choice Awards voted on by Global Challenge users – at this fun and exciting evening featuring special guests.

For more information, please contact:

Lars Hasselblad Torres
IDEAS and Global Challenge Administrator
617-324-5176
lhtorres@mit.edu

Winners and Awards.

MIT Clean Energy Prize, MIT Enterprise Forum, NSTAR

MIT Clean Energy Prize – The Future of Clean Energy Innovation

Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Time: 2:30pm - 6:30pm
Hynes Convention Center in Boston

Event included:

  • Poster exhibits from the MIT Clean Energy Prize top 25 semi-finalists, alumni teams, and other successful energy start-ups
  • Keynote address by Jeff Immelt, chairman and CEO of General Electric and chairman of the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness
  • Panel led by Technology Review editor in chief Jason Pontin
  • MIT Clean Energy Prize Awards Ceremony.

For more information, contact Georgina Campbell: georgie@mit.edu

Or visit our website.

MIT150 Symposium

Brains, Minds and Machines

Division of Student Life

MIT Awards Convocation

poster design

Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Time: 4:00pm - 5:30pm
Maclaurin Building - Building 10 Rm 250, 222 Memorial Drive

The MIT Awards Convocation recognizes and celebrates students, faculty, and staff who have made outstanding contributions to the shared life of the Institute.

This year, MIT senior officers presented awards to deserving recipients in two dozen different categories.

Read more at MIT News.

Or for more information and a complete list of awards, please visit our website.

OCWC Global 2011: Celebrating 10 Years of OpenCourseWare

Wednesday, May 4, 2011 - Friday, May 6, 2011
Boston Cambridge Marriott

OCWC Global 2011 brought together individuals and organizations publishing OpenCourseWare courses from around the world.

From its beginnings at MIT to the formation of the OpenCourseWare Consortium, OpenCourseWare has grown into a worldwide community of universities and organizations committed to advancing OpenCourseWare and its impact on global education.

The OpenCourseWare movement has grown significantly over the last decade; today there are 13,000 courses published by 150 universities. MIT hosted a lively three days of panels and presentations reflecting upon the beginnings and impact of OpenCourseWare at MIT and beyond, as well as for the growth of the OpenCourseWare movement as it begins its next decade.

For more information, please visit our website.

MIT Club of Boston

5th Annual Science Trivia Challenge

poster design

Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Time: 5:15pm - 9:00pm
Broad Institute, NE30, 7 Cambridge Center

MIT was proud to host the 5th Annual Science Trivia Challenge—a live team trivia quiz where contestants are challenged on their knowledge of biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, astronomy, computer science, earth sciences, inventions, local contributions to science and other subjects.

This year’s moderator was renowned MIT Professor Walter Lewin.

There were two divisions, Youth (Grades 7-12) and Open (18+). Top teams in each divisions won dinner with an MIT Nobel Laureate.

Go to the Science Trivia Challenge website for sample questions, registration link, and more information.

FAST Festival of Art, Science and Technology

Juan Downey: The Invisible Architect - List Visual Art Center exhibition

Thursday, May 5, 2011 - Sunday, July 10, 2011
List Visual Arts Center, 20 Ames Street

Opening talk and reception will be held at 5:30pm on May 5th, 2011. Exhibit runs through July 10, 2011.

For more information on this event, please visit the Arts at MIT portal.

FAST Festival of Art, Science and Technology

FAST Light: The culmination of MIT's Festival of Art, Science and Technology

Saturday, May 7, 2011
Time: 7:00pm - 11:00pm
MIT Campus

For more information on this event, please visit the Arts at MIT portal.

MIT150, AMPS MIT Video Productions

MIT150 Through the Video Lens

MIT150 Through the Video Lens

Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Time: 4:00pm - 6:00pm
Huntington Hall, Room 10-250

MIT and Tech TV invited the community for an overview and discussion of the multimedia developed in support of MIT's sesquicentennial. Content on display included the Infinite History Project, From the Vault, Elemental MIT, and five documentary shorts that explore different facets of the MIT experience:

  • The Founding of MIT: Persistence in Vision
  • Outside the Box: Crossing Disciplines at MIT 
  • MIT in Service
  • Common Threads: The Evolving Student Experience at MIT 
  • The Ecosystem: Nurturing Entrepreneurship at MIT

Following the 30-minute screening of excerpts from the documentaries, guests and participants looked  at this collection of new multimedia resources with our MIT colleagues who originally imagined and produced them — and others who are now using them in their own education and outreach activities. Conversation included  emerging trends in online video publishing and advances in video transcript-based search technology.  

Biology Department

The Evolution of Protein Structures

poster design

Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Time: 4:00pm - 6:00pm
Kirsch Auditorium 32-123

This forum highlighted recent advances in understanding how these extraordinary molecular machines — that form the basis of all life processes — have evolved.

Speakers included Professors Phillip Sharp, Amy Keating, Thomas Schwartz, and Jonathan King.

MIT Sloan School of Management

Building the Future: MIT Sloan Alumni Weekend

poster design

Friday, May 13, 2011 - Sunday, May 15, 2011
Bldg. E62, 100 Main Street

The MIT community joined us in May on our revitalized campus to celebrate the legacy of MIT Sloan and to shape the bluprint for its future.

MIT Sloan presented Building the Future, a series of events celebrating its continued leadership and growth in the 21st century. It gave MIT a chance to reflect on the critical role MIT Sloan plays in developing ideas, innovations, and strategies that improve management practice — and the world at large.

The event included Exchange 62: Now and Next, a colloquium linking ideas and innovation for what's next in management, a lunch with Nobel laureates, and the dedications of MIT Sloan’s new building and the Joan and William A. Porter 1967 Center for Management Education.

Read more at MIT News.

Or visit the MIT Sloan website.

MiT7 international conference

Unstable platforms: The promise and peril of transition

Friday, May 13, 2011 - Sunday, May 15, 2011
Tang Center, E51

Seventh Media in Transition conference

Web address link: http://web.mit.edu/comm-forum/mit7/index.html

MIT Sloan School of Management

Building the Future: Building dedication and colloquium

poster design

Friday, May 13, 2011
Time: 9:00am
Bldg. E62, 100 Main Street

The MIT community was invited to celebrate the dedication of the School’s new building and the Joan and William A. Porter 1967 Center for Management Education at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Dedication and speaking program
9 am
Friday, May 13
MIT Building E62
100 Main St., Cambridge

The dedication program included remarks by MIT president Susan Hockfield and David Schmittlein, dean of the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Exchange 62: Now and Next
11 am
Friday, May 13
MIT Building E62
100 Main St., Cambridge


The celebration continued with a day-long academic program linking ideas and innovation for what’s next in management and designed by MIT Sloan senior faculty for the School’s alumni and friends.

Session topics ranged from the wisdom of crowds to global sustainability, Exchange 62 encompassed a diverse and timely cross-section of management theory and practice. Led by MIT Sloan faculty including Peter Senge, Rick Locke, John Sterman, and Robert Merton, as well as other business thought leaders, the colloquium fostered a dynamic exchange among some of the brightest minds in management.

FAST Festival of Art, Science and Technology

"Bellona, Destroyer of Cities" by Jay Scheib

Friday, May 13, 2011 - Sunday, May 15, 2011
Boston Institute of Contemporary Art, 100 Northern Avenue, Boston, MA

For more information on this event, please visit the Arts at MIT portal.

MIT Sloan Center for Digital Business and the Sloan Alumni Club

MIT Sloan CIO Symposium

poster design

Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Time: 8:00am - 7:00pm
Kresge Auditorium

The 8th annual MIT Sloan CIO Symposium was a premier international conference for CIOs and IT leaders to look beyond the day-to-day issues and understand the spectrum of solutions that prepare them for the dynamic times ahead. In plenary and more intimate panels, this event included leading academics from MIT and CIOs from today’s most successful companies.

Read more in the news.

Or for further information, please visit our website.

MIT Department of Biology

Conversation with a Scientist series: Nancy Hopkins

Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Time: 11:00am
TBD

Conversation with a senior biology faculty member about their career path to science.

For more information, please visit our website.

MIT150, ODGE, and the GSC present

MIT150 Museum Soirée

poster design

Friday, May 20, 2011
Time: 7:00pm - 9:00pm
MIT Museum

An event for the entire grad community! Participants brought friends and raised a glass to MIT's 150th birthday — and the end of finals! — at this classy (and free) celebration at the MIT Museum! Yes, you heard it, both classy and free!

Guests enjoyed the culture and history of MIT through the museum's exhibits as they sampled catered food and beverages.

The event was sponsored by MIT150 and the ODGE, and brought to you by the GSC.

Open to MIT Grad Students & Grad Administration.

Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems

Interdisciplinary Workshop on Information and Decision in Social Networks

poster design

Tuesday, May 31, 2011 - Wednesday, June 1, 2011
MIT campus

Recent technological and mathematical developments have opened the possibility of considerable improvements to our understanding of how information flows and decisions are made in large social networks.

In this Interdisciplinary Workshop on Information and Decision in Social Networks, we brought together researchers from different communities working on information propagation and decision-making in social networks to investigate both rigorous models that highlight capabilities and limitations of such networks, as well as empirical and simulations studies of how people exchange information, influence each other, make decisions, and develop social interactions.

The workshop featured many short presentations from different perspectives (economics, social sciences, cognitive science, computer science, management, etc.) that were accessible to a large audience.

MIT’s Investiture of Doctoral Hoods

poster design

Thursday, June 2, 2011
Time: 11:00am - 1:00pm
Rockwell Cage, 106 Vassar Street

On Thursday, June 2, PhD and ScD degree candidates received their Doctoral hoods in a separate ceremony held the day before Commencement. Hosted by the chancellor, the Investiture of Doctoral Hoods is the official welcome of the faculty to its newest colleagues.

Watch video from the 2011 Investiture of Doctoral Hoods via the MIT Commencement website.

Read more and see a photo gallery at MIT News.

MIT’s 2011 Commencement Exercises

poster design

Friday, June 3, 2011
Time: 10:00am - 1:30pm
Killian Court

MIT’s 2011 Commencement Exercises were held on Friday, June 3. The Class of 2011, known as the sesquicentennial class, graduated at 10 am in a ceremony on Killian Court.

The guest speaker at the ceremony was Ursula M. Burns, mechanical engineer and chairman and CEO of Xerox Corporation. Joining the families and guests of graduates in the audience were members of the Class of 1961, MIT’s centennial class.

Watch video from Commencement Day via the MIT Commencement website.

Read more about Commencement in the news:

MIT Graduate Student Council

MIT150/GSC Pre-Toast Dinner

poster design

Saturday, June 4, 2011
Time: 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Eastman Court

MIT grad students enjoyed a free buffet dinner with their friends in celebration of MIT’s 150th birthday!

A brief reception period started with appetizers and drinks. Then guests enjoyed a delicious Roma Italian buffet with meat and vegetarian options. Finally, all were welcome to proceed to Killian Court after 9:00 pm to enjoy the Toast to Tech Celebration — the grand finale event of the MIT150 celebrations! Toast to Tech featured dessert, festive libations, live music, fireworks, and more.

MIT Alumni Association, Resource Development, and MIT150 present:

Toast to Tech!

poster design

Saturday, June 4, 2011
Time: 9:30pm - 11:00pm
Killian Court

Thousands of guests raised a glass, had a slice of the anniversary cake, and connected with alumni, students, and friends of MIT as we capped the sesquicentennial celebration in this Toast to Tech!

This festive event for MIT alumni, faculty, staff, and students featured live entertainment—including fireworks over the river—plus commemorative souvenirs and an opportunity to celebrate 150 years of the MIT community.

Read more in the news:

Highlights from the MIT150 Celebration


highlights from MIT150 Open House

highlights from MIT150 Open House

highlights from MIT150 Open House

highlights from MIT150 Open House