MIT Provost Martin Schmidt has been named the next president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), where he received his undergraduate degree, reports the Associated Press. “Marty is a unifying, visionary leader, and a renowned scholar in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science," said Arthur F. Golden, chair of the Rensselaer Board of Trustees.
Provost Marty Schmidt speaks with TopUniversities.com reporter Chloe Lane about how MIT has maintained its position as the top university in the world on the QS World University Rankings for 10 consecutive years. “I am honored to have been a part of the MIT community for almost 40 years,” says Schmidt. “It’s a truly interdisciplinary, collaborative, thought-provoking place that encourages experimentation and pushes you to expand your mind. I think it’s a wonderful place to call home.”
MIT will receive $260 million from the Lord Foundation of Massachusetts, reports Martin Finucane for The Boston Globe. “The unrestricted nature of these funds gives us the opportunity to use them to invest in pressing needs that are often difficult to support through other means," said MIT Provost Martin Schmidt.
Chris Bourg, director of the MIT Libraries, speaks with Carl Straumsheim of Inside Higher Ed about the MIT report on the future of libraries, which presents a “vision of the library as an ‘open global platform’.” Bourg notes that “providing access to credible information and the tools to assess, use, understand and exploit it…is more important than ever now.”
Barbara Fister writes for Inside Higher Ed about the task force report examining the future of MIT’s libraries. “The library it envisions is so much more than information rented annually for the use of a single community. It’s a place that values its local community and provides a physical space in which to learn and ask questions.”
Prof. Yoel Fink speaks with Radio Boston’s Meghna Chakrabarti about the new textiles manufacturing institute, which will be led by MIT. Fink explains textiles could be developed to do everything from storing energy to gathering “clinically meaningful information…and you can then infer not only where you are today, but where your body is heading and where your health is heading.”
Defense Secretary Ash Carter has announced that the nation’s first textile manufacturing institute will be based out of MIT, according to the AP. "Fibers and fabrics are among the earliest forms of human expression, yet have changed very little over the course of history," explains Prof. Yoel Fink. "All this is about to change."
WBUR reporter Zeninjor Enwemeka reports on the new textiles manufacturing institute, to be led by MIT, which was announced by White House and state officials last week. “We’re expecting to see the rebirth of fabrics and really a new industry come up around this area, and Massachusetts is very well position to do it,” says Prof. Yoel Fink.
Washington Post reporter Matt McFarland writes about the new consortium, led by MIT, aimed at developing the next generation of fabrics. “While the tech industry talks of “wearable” devices…next-generation fabrics would literally create wearable computing devices that hang in our closets. What looks like a typical shirt might actually have some of the abilities of your smartphone or smartwatch.”
A public-private consortium led by MIT has won a national competition to create a manufacturing institute aimed at moving the textile industry into the digital age, reports Steve Lohr for The New York Times. “This is about reimagining what a fabric is, and rebirthing textiles into a high-tech industry,” says Prof. Yoel Fink.
Boston Herald reporter Jordan Graham writes that a new nonprofit founded by MIT has been selected as the winner of a Department of Defense contest to establish a fiber research center. “The center and the institute is going to go anywhere fiber and fabric goes,” explains Prof. Yoel Fink, who led the proposal for the institute.
A consortium led by MIT has won a competition to host a federally funded research program focused on bringing the textile industry into the digital age, reports Jon Chesto for The Boston Globe. “Here is a bold vision that’s not just manufacturing stuff that we know about but also enabling a whole new interpretation of the fabric industry,” says Prof. Yoel Fink.
WGBH reporter Mike Deehan writes that MIT will play a key role in a new public-private partnership aimed at expanding the use of photonics in manufacturing. Prof. Krystyn Van Vliet explains that MIT will coordinate the "education and workforce development program for the entire nation in this area.”
Erin Baldassari writes for The Cambridge Chronicle about MIT’s plans for six new buildings in Kendall Square. “As a bold new gateway to MIT, Kendall Square opens a new frontier for us to reimagine the relationship between town and gown,” said Hashim Sarkis, dean of the School of Architecture and Planning.
Sam Henken writes for BostInno about MIT’s Kendall Square Initiative. "This project is really important to the academic mission of MIT," said Provost Marty Schmidt. "MIT as an institution really focuses on how we can take the ideas on this campus and move them out so they have impact."