Los Angeles Times reporter Gustavo Arellano spotlights Democratic Senator Alex Padilla ’94 and his political career in California. Padilla “realized the only way to make things better for the Valley’s growing Latino community, in an era of anti-immigrant sentiment across California, was to elect politicians who looked like them,” writes Arellano.
Bridgit Mendler SM '20, PhD '24 has co-founded Northwood Space, a startup working to mass produce ground stations that connect to satellites in space, reports Michael Sheetz for CNBC. “The vision is a data highway between Earth and space,” says Mendler. “Space is getting easier along so many different dimensions but still the actual exercise of sending data to and from space is difficult. You have difficulty finding an access point for contacting your satellite.”
Omar Abudayyeh '12, PhD '18 and Jonathan Gootenberg '13 speak with Robert Weisman at The Boston Globe about their deep-rooted working relationship, which began as undergraduates at MIT and has gone on to include joint appointments at the McGovern and Broad Institutes and multiple startups. “Science is difficult, and it’s great to have someone to do it with,” said Gootenberg. “You got to work with people you enjoy hanging out with.”
Terreform One - a nonprofit art, architecture and urban design research group led by Mitchell Joachim PhD '06 - has designed a building made out of growing trees, reports Nate Berg for Fast Company. “We wanted to use the powers of computing and fabrication systems and other ideas about how we could prototype this to nudge nature or help train nature to do the things it does naturally, but shape it into usable structures and eventually homes,” says Joachim.
Corey Jaskolski SM '02 founded Synthetaic, a software company that uses AI to “automate the analysis of large datasets, namely satellite imagery and video, not containing labels,” reports Kyle Wiggers for TechCrunch. “Synthetaic’s technology offers a transformative approach to AI model training and creation, addressing the critical needs of technical decision makers,” says Jaskolski.
Joy Buolamwini PhD '22 speaks with MSNBC reporter Daniela Pierre-Bravo about her new book, Unmasking AI: My Mission To Protect What is Human in a World of Machines, which explores the intersection of AI development and the, “dangers of bias in its algorithmic systems.” Buolamwini emphasizes that: “We need legislation — at the federal level — because the legislation then puts in the guard rails for the tech companies. And also, we need to think about AI governance globally. I do think that all of our stories matter. When you share your experience with AI or your questions about it, you encourage other people to share their stories.”
A news team from The Tech sat down with Noubar Afeyan PhD ’87 to “discuss his background, philanthropic work, and journey to his current position at the intersection of basic research and venture capital.” Afeyan, who will address the graduating students at this year’s OneMIT Commencement Ceremony, said anybody who comes to the Institute departs with both the “burden and opportunity” to tackle challenging problems.
Fast Company reporter Adele Peters spotlights Boston Metal – an MIT startup that uses electrolysis to heat iron ore and create liquid steel without releasing carbon emissions. “If the process runs on renewable energy, the steel is zero-emissions,” explains Peters. “The same technique can be used to extract other valuable metals from mining waste.”
Undark reporter Sarah Scoles spotlights Matt Jacobs '02 for his work with many California SAR (search and rescue) teams. “In 2015, Jacobs published a paper that took another look at the incident information in the large ISRID database (International Search & Rescue Incident Database),” writes Scoles. “Taking the largest ISRID categories – hikers, hunters, and gatherers – he tried to see how the terrain affected their choices.”
Maya Levy '21 speaks with Boston Globe reporter Steve Annear about “The 24-Hour T Ride,” a play written by Levy and friends as part of their work with the MIT Shakespeare Ensemble group. The group is “known to produce 24-hour shows in which only the title is decided on beforehand,” explains Levy. “You can expect silly incredibly local scenes that would not hold up if you performed it anywhere else. You can expect the actors to be having a wonderful time.”
Carmen Martin-Alonso PhD '23 speaks with Zakiya Whatley on the Science podcast to discuss her recent research focused on developing new methods to improve liquid biopsies for cancer. “I think this is super, super promising for the field of oncology where having more sensitive ctDNA-based liquid biopsies could really transform patient management,” says Alonso. “And in the same way as radio label converse agents have transformed imaging, we think that priming agents could transform the utility of liquid biopsies.”
Priyadarshi Panda PhD '11 – founder of International Battery Company, a startup developing lithium-ion battery cells for electric vehicles – is working to “bridge the demand-supply gap in the growing EV market in India,” reports Jagmeet Singh for TechCrunch. “There is a lot of demand in the Indian market, which is satisfied through imports right now,” says Panda. “No cells are being manufactured in India. So, we want to participate in that journey in India.”
Alicia Chong Rodriguez SM ’17, SM ’18 founded Bloomer Tech, a health tech startup that aims to improve health care diagnostics for women using medical-grade data to develop new therapies and care models, reports Carol Eisenberg for The Washington Post. Rodriguez and her colleagues "developed, patented and tested flexible washable circuits to turn articles of clothing into devices that can relay reams of information to the wearer’s smartphone,” writes Eisenberg.
Arthur Musah '04, MEng '05 and Philip Abel '15 speak with GBH “Under The Radar” host Callie Crossley about Musah’s documentary, “Brief Tender Light,” which follows the life of four African-born students on their personal and academic experiences at MIT. “The takeaway for me is about how we all belong in all spaces all around the world,” says Musah. “For me, the film has always been about celebrating the lives of African students and Black people at institutions like MIT.”
Lynn Yamada Davis '77, a TikTok creator known as “the internet’s grandma” for sharing her “quirky, educational cooking content,” has died at age 77, reports Morgan Sung for TechCrunch. “Before she was a content creator, Davis was an accomplished engineer — a feat for women of color at the time,” writes Sung.