Awards, honors and fellowships

Prof. Moungi Bawendi has been awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for “fundamental discoveries in nanotechnology, particles once considered impossibly small to make,” reports Mark Johnson for The Washington Post. “In 1993, Moungi revolutionized the process, devising a way to create ‘seed,’ or beginner particles that could then be carefully controlled using temperature,” writes Johnson. “The method allowed him to stop the process to achieve particles of just the right size and quality.”

Prof. Moungi Bawendi has been named one of the winners of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his contributions to the study and development of quantum dots, “tiny molecules that interact with light in unusual ways,” reports Katharine Sanderson for Nature. “I didn’t think it would be me that would get this prize because we’re all working together on this,” says Bawendi. “There’s still a lot of exciting work to be done in this field.”

Prof. Moungi Bawendi, Prof. Louis Brus of Columbia University and Alexei Ekimov of Nanocrystals Technology Inc., have been awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work in the development of quantum dots, which are “now used to create color in flat screens, light emitting diode (LED) lamps and devices that help surgeons see blood vessels in tumors,” reports Niklas Pollard and Ludwig Burger for Reuters. “In 1993, Bawendi revolutionized the production of quantum dots, made up of clusters ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand atoms,” writes Pollard and Burger.

Xiangkun (Elvis) Cao, a Schmidt Science Fellow in MIT’s Department of Chemical Engineering, writes for Times Higher Education about the need to eliminate barriers between different academic disciplines. “More work needs to be done to support interdisciplinary researchers more generally,” writes Cao. “The lack of funding, incentives and community support holds back the scientific breakthroughs they could otherwise be making.”

MIT Innovation Fellow Brian Deese speaks with Financial Times reporter Gideon Rachman to explain Bidenomics and how it is impacting the economy. “I think the term [Bidenomics] has taken on a lot of different elements,” says Deese. “To me, it’s a description of what are the three core economic policy priorities of the Biden administration that have played out over the course the last two years.”

STAT reporter Annalisa Merelli writes that the 2023 Lasker Award has been given to Prof. James Fujimoto, research affiliate Eric Swanson SM ’84 and David Huang PhD ’93 for their work advancing the diagnosis of eye disease. Fujimoto, Swanson and Huang developed “optical coherence tomography (OCT) — the first noninvasive technology allowing doctors to see high-resolution images of the retina.”

Prof. James Fujimoto, research affiliate Eric Swanson SM ’84 and David Huang PhD ’93 have won a Lasker Award for their work inventing optical coherence tomography, which can “detect conditions like macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy earlier than previous methods, preventing blindness,” reports Noah Weiland and Cade Metz for The New York Times. “O.C.T. now is commonly used in ophthalmology offices, where the patient simply rests a chin and forehead against an instrument for a brief scan,” write Weiland and Metz. “The method, invented in 1991, offers a staggering amount of detail about the retina.”

Prof. James Fujimoto, research affiliate Eric Swanson SM ’84 and David Huang PhD ’93 have been honored with the Lasker Award for their work for their work inventing “imaging technology that revolutionized how ophthalmologists diagnose diseases of the eye," reports Jonathan Saltzman for The Boston Globe. The scientists were recognized for developing “optical coherence tomography, or OCT, the first technology that enabled doctors to see a two- and three-dimensional cross-sectional image of the retina,” Saltzman explains. “This painless scan takes less than 10 minutes, and is now the standard of care for diagnosing retina diseases.”

Tomashi Jackson SMACT ’12 has been awarded the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum’s Rappaport Prize which honors local artists who have “demonstrated significant creativity and vision,” reports Emma Glassman-Hughes for The Boston Globe. Jackson says much of her work “is defined by the push and pull of ‘grief and joy’ and how they appear differently in public and private contexts,” writes Glassman-Hughes.

MIT Innovation Fellow Brian Deese speaks with CNBC host Andrew Ross Sorkin about the state of the U.S. economy and the impact of “Bidenomics,” President Joe Biden’s economic philosophy.

Boston Globe reporter Mike Orcutt spotlights Prof. Silvio Micali and Prof. Shafi Goldwasser for their work developing the theory behind zero-knowledge proofs and their contributions to the field of modern cryptography.

Prof. Ronitt Rubinfeld has been named a John Simon Guggenheim Foundation fellow, reports Mark Feeney for The Boston Globe. “A ‘Guggenheim’ is one of the most sought-after honors in academe and culture,” explains Feeney. “It helps underwrite a proposed art or scholarly project.”  

Bob Metcalfe ’69, a CSAIL research affiliate and MIT Corporation life member emeritus, has been awarded this year’s Turing Award for his work inventing Ethernet, reports Randy Bean for Forbes. “Turing recipients include the greatest pioneers in the advancement of computer science,” says Metcalfe. “I am grateful to be considered among these giants.”

This year's Turing Award has been awarded to Bob Metcalfe ’69, a CSAIL research affiliate and MIT Corporation life member emeritus, for his work inventing Ethernet, a computer networking technology that for decades “has connected PCs to servers, printers and the internet in corporate offices and homes across the globe,” writes Cade Metz for The New York Times. “Almost everything you do online goes through Ethernet at some stage,” said Marc Weber of the Computer History Museum.

Bob Metcalfe ’69, a CSAIL research affiliate and MIT Corporation life member emeritus, has been honored as this year’s recipient of the Turing Award for the invention of the Ethernet, “a technology that half a century after its creation remains the foundation of the internet,” reports Stephen Nellis for Reuters. “The Ethernet got its start when Metcalfe, who later went on to co-found computing network equipment maker 3Com, was asked to hook up the office printer,” writes Nellis.