MIT Professor Emeritus Bernhardt Wuensch ’55, SM ’57, PhD ’63, a crystallographer and beloved teacher whose warmth and dedication to ensuring his students mastered the complexities of a precise science matched the analytical rigor he applied to the study of crystals, died this month in Concord, Massachusetts. He was 90. Remembered fondly for his fastidious […]
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In the halls of MIT, a distinctive thread of compassion weaves through the fabric of education. As students adjust to a postpandemic normal, many professors have played a pivotal role by helping them navigate the realities of hybrid learning and a rapidly changing postgraduation landscape. The Committed to Caring (C2C) program at MIT is a […]
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MIT professor Heather Paxson has been named associate dean for faculty of the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS), effective July 1. Agustin Rayo, the Kenan Sahin Dean of SHASS, describes Paxson as a leader of exceptional vision. “As section head, she has positioned Anthropology as a key player in the issues of […]
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Four MIT faculty members have been elected as fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The 2023 class of AAAS Fellows includes 502 scientists, engineers, and innovators across 24 scientific disciplines, who are being recognized for their scientifically and socially distinguished achievements. Bevin Engelward initiated her scientific journey at Yale University […]
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Class of 1958 Career Development Assistant Professor Erin Kara of the Department of Physics has been named as the recipient of the 2023-24 Harold E. Edgerton Faculty Achievement Award. Established in 1982, the award is a tribute to the late Institute Professor Emeritus Harold E. Edgerton for his support for younger faculty members. This award recognizes […]
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What better way to commemorate Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day than to give three of the world’s most accomplished scientists an opportunity to talk about their careers? On March 7, MindHandHeart invited professors Paula Hammond, Ann Graybiel, and Sangeeta Bhatia to share their career journeys, from the progress they have witnessed to the […]
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Mark Harnett, an associate professor at MIT, still remembers the first time he saw electrical activity spiking from a living neuron. He was a senior at Reed College and had spent weeks building a patch clamp rig — an experimental setup with an electrode that can be used to gently probe a neuron and measure […]
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When Paula Hammond first arrived on MIT’s campus as a first-year student in the early 1980s, she wasn’t sure if she belonged. In fact, as she told an MIT audience yesterday, she felt like “an imposter.” However, that feeling didn’t last long, as Hammond began to find support among her fellow students and MIT’s faculty. […]
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As Netta Engelhardt sees it, secrets never die. Not even in a black hole. Engelhardt is a theoretical physicist at MIT who is teasing out the convoluted physics in and around black holes, in search of the fundamental ingredients that shape our universe. In the process, she’s upending popular ideas in the fields of quantum […]
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The stars and other celestial objects truly aligned on MIT’s campus Monday. After a weekend of rain, the community was treated to clear skies and high temperatures to view the only partial eclipse for the next 20 years. Community members took in the interstellar anomaly in gatherings large and small. Although many traveled north to […]
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It’s commonly thought that the most abundant element in the universe, hydrogen, exists mainly alongside other elements — with oxygen in water, for example, and with carbon in methane. But naturally occurring underground pockets of pure hydrogen are punching holes in that notion — and generating attention as a potentially unlimited source of carbon-free power. One […]
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The MIT Department of Economics is launching a new program this year that will pair faculty with predoctoral fellows. “MIT economics right now is historically strong,” says Jon Gruber, the Ford Professor of Economics and department head of MIT economics. “To remain in that position involves having the resources to stay on the cutting edge […]
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When Rafael Jaramillo talks about his favorite accomplishments, it quickly becomes clear that he has the right temperament for a researcher — he is energized by a challenge and the prospect of hard work. “I am proudest of things that required risky strategic thinking, followed by years of technical slog, followed by validation,” says Jaramillo, […]
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Last summer, MIT President Sally Kornbluth and Provost Cynthia Barnhart issued a call for papers to “articulate effective roadmaps, policy recommendations, and calls for action across the broad domain of generative AI.” The response to the call far exceeded expectations with 75 proposals submitted. Of those, 27 proposals were selected for seed funding. In light […]
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In early 2022, economist Catherine Wolfram was at her desk in the U.S. Treasury building. She could see the east wing of the White House, just steps away. Russia had just invaded Ukraine, and Wolfram was thinking about Russia, oil, and sanctions. She and her colleagues had been tasked with figuring out how to restrict […]
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Design spans disciplines and schools at MIT as a versatile mode of inquiry. Whether software, furniture, robots, or consumer products, design classes at MIT guide students through the iterative process of ideation, planning, and prototyping. “Design is 80 percent problem-setting and 20 percent problem-solving,” says MIT Professor Larry Sass SM ’94, PhD ’00, designer and […]
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In 2010, when Ericmoore Jossou was attending college in northern Nigeria, the lights would flicker in and out all day, sometimes lasting only for a couple of hours at a time. The frustrating experience reaffirmed Jossou’s realization that the country’s sporadic energy supply was a problem. It was the beginning of his path toward nuclear engineering. Because […]
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In late February, Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate and Graduate Education Ian A. Waitz and Faculty Chair Mary Fuller announced the formation and launch of the Task Force on the MIT Undergraduate Academic Program (TFUAP). The effort fulfills a critical recommendation of the Task Force 2021 and Beyond RIC1 (Undergraduate Program) and draws upon several, prior […]
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Undergrads, take note: The lessons you learn in those intro classes could be the key to making your next big discovery. At least, that’s been the case for MIT’s Jeehwan Kim. A recently tenured faculty member in MIT’s departments of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering, Kim has made numerous discoveries about the nanostructure […]
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The clean energy transition is already underway, but how do we make sure it happens in a manner that is affordable, sustainable, and fair for everyone? That was the overarching question at this year’s MIT Energy Conference, which took place March 11 and 12 in Boston and was titled “Short and Long: A Balanced Approach […]
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