Cambridge, Boston and region

Prof. Jinhua Zhao writes for Boston Magazine about how artificial intelligence could help improve the MBTA system. “When something significant happens on public transportation—the line is down, the road is congested, some bridge is blocked—the customer is suddenly stuck in the system and needs more help,” writes Zhao. “For when that happens, we developed a solution to send individualized guidance for a better transit option to that person, communicated by text message or an app.”

Fortune has named Katie Rae, CEO of The Engine, as one of the top 13 seed stage, climate tech VCs to watch, reports Lucy Brewster for Fortune. “Rae tops venture firm The Engine, which beyond being a fund, is an investing arm that spun out of MIT,” explains Brewster. “Yet Rae invests in an array of companies and sources founders from beyond just university walls.”

Boston.com reporter Ross Cristantiello spotlights the MIT Guild of Bellringers, “a dedicated group [of volunteers] who practice every weekend to master the complex and historic practice known as change ringing.” The group rings the bells inside the Old North Church in Boston, which are “believed to be the oldest set of change ringing bells in North America,” writes Cristantiello. 

Celtics forward Jaylen Brown spoke with Dana Jacobson of CBS Mornings about his mission to help improve equality in the City of Boston, highlighting the Bridge Program at the Media Lab, which is aimed providing opportunities in science and technology for underrepresented communities. “I think education is one of the most powerful devices that we have and is one of the ways our social mobility is being controlled at a very early age,” says Brown. “Being able to have my students… get to learn directly from MIT professors, MIT scientists, NASA astronauts, you get to directly benefit from those stories and life lessons. My goal is to build the next leaders, the next generation of leaders for the world.”

Celtics forward Jaylen Brown signed his supermax contract extension in front of high school students participating in the Bridge Program at the Media Lab, an effort focused on providing opportunities in science and technology for underrepresented communities, writes Adam Himmelsbach for The Boston Globe. Brown noted he found out the deal was finalized during a robotics session with the students. “I was learning,” he said. “I was a part of the curriculum. We were doing some teaching, doing some active engaging, some workshops. So I was able to put my phone down and just get right into class with the Bridge students.”

In an article for The Boston Globe, Prof. Emeritus Ernest Moniz explores the risks associated with the cesium-137 devices used in hospitals. “Boston hospitals have an opportunity to receive tens of thousands of dollars of grants toward the purchase of new equipment that is just as effective for medical and research purposes as the radiological devices they have been using for decades,” writes Moniz, “while shedding the liabilities and security costs associated with cesium sources.”

The Boston Globe Editorial Board spotlights The Educational Justice Institute at MIT (TEJI), which offers educational opportunities to incarcerated individuals. “The two worlds of corrections and education really don’t understand each other well,” says Lee Perlman, co-director of TEJI and a lecturer at MIT. “There’s a real culture clash between them.”

Writing for The Boston Globe, Prof. Carlo Ratti emphasizes that in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic “urban areas need to fundamentally reweave their fabric to thrive in the era of flexible work: That means ending homogeneous zoning, promoting mixed-use developments, converting some offices into housing, and giving more space to arts and culture. We should recognize that the fundamental attraction of urban areas is the pleasure they provide to their residents — and that the affordability of housing needs to be seriously tackled.”

The MIT List Visual Arts Center is offering free admission on Juneteenth for visitors to view three exhibits, reports Abigail Lee for The Boston Globe. “In the exhibitions, New York-based Alison Nguyen explores the cultural effects of cinematic storytelling, Philadelphia-based Lex Brown combines social issues and satiristic humor, and Berlin-based Sung Tieu uses different spatial configurations to reflect political questions,” writes Lee.

On May 20^th, MIT students and community leaders gathered for “Hacking the Archive,” a hackathon aimed at addressing the wealth gap between Black and white residents of Boston, with a particular focus on housing as a generator of wealth, reports Kenneth Cooper for The Bay State Banner. “As far as I’m concerned, there’s no bigger challenge than the racial wealth gap,” explained Prof. Karilyn Crockett.

President Sally Kornbluth spoke with reporters from The Tech about her first months as president of MIT and her vision for her time leading the Institute. “MIT is a pretty decentralized place, so I am taking some time to get to know every nook and cranny,” says Kornbluth. She adds that in terms of her top priorities as president, “there's no question that climate change is at the very top of the list.”

President Sally Kornbluth discusses her goals for her tenure as president of MIT. “We are at an inflection point in many societal problems, particularly climate change but a host of others, where MIT can really make an impact on the world. I hope when people look 5 years, 10 years, 20 years down the line they can look back and say, ‘MIT really helped move the needle on these problems,’” says Kornbluth. “I [also] really hope MIT remains a leader in tapping into the broadest range of human talent.”

Boston Globe reporter Yvonne Abraham spotlights Postdoctoral Fellow Lydia Harrington and Boston University Postdoctoral Associate Chloe Bordewich and their work examining the history of Boston’s former Little Syria neighborhood. “It’s important that Bostonians think about this as part of their history,” says Bordewich. “But we also wanted to contribute something so that recent Syrian arrivals can engage and see part of their history, too.”

Boston.com reporter Ross Cristantiello spotlights a new study by MIT researchers that examines the financial impact of rising sea levels on the MBTA. The researchers noted that their results suggest that “absent adaptation schemes, particularly at tunnel ingress locations, coastal flood risk will continue to accelerate, potentially resulting in permanent inundation of underground and low-lying sections of the transit system.”

Adjunct Professor Emeritus Mel King, a political activist whose 1983 mayoral campaign helped ease racial tensions in Boston, has died at 94, reports Richard Sandomir for The New York Times. King’s work included “teaching in the urban studies and planning department of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1970 to 1996,” writes Sandomir. “There, he started a Community Fellows Program for leaders nationwide.”