Graduate, postdoctoral

In an article for The Wall Street Journal about creating the perfect cup of coffee, Robert Lee Hotz highlights postdoc Christopher Hendon’s research on the chemistry and physics of coffee making.

The Atlantic spotlights MIT’s Hacking Arts event, which is aimed at igniting innovation within the creative arts, as part of their "Saturday Night in America" video series. “Something like a hackathon is releasing this pent up hunger, to stretch the imagination, to work with a lot of people, to get down and just build something,” says grad student Helen Smith, co-director of Hacking Arts.

In an article for the Financial Times, Jayesh Kannan, a graduate student in the Sloan School of Management, discusses how a “beer game” exercise during orientation provided valuable lessons on supply chains and management. The game exemplifies “MIT’s emphasis on education for practical application,” Kannan explains. 

In an article for The Boston Globe Magazine about how the 2016 presidential election has been a source of anxiety for people around the country, James Sullivan highlights graduate student Maimuna Majumder’s research on post-election stress. “What we’re finding is that stress is not just limited to people that are liberal,” says Majumder. “It is all-encompassing.”

WGBH reporter Kirk Carapezza explores MIT’s MicroMasters program in Supply Chain Management, which allows students to complete a master’s degree through online and on-campus courses. Student Danaka Porter explains that the program provides an opportunity to “get education from a fantastic university, as well as be able to continue to keep working.”

Jayesh Kannan, a graduate student in the Sloan School of Management, writes for the Financial Times about how technology is changing the recruitment process for business school graduates. “Like pretty much everything in the 21st century, the recruiting process today is no less immune to ‘disruptive’ forces: evolving student interest, a changing landscape of recruiters and technology." 

Over 1,500 Fulbright recipients, including a number of MIT fellows, penned a letter in The Huffington Post about the U.S. election. The authors “stand for the tradition of tolerance, free expression, and inclusivity that has made the United States a beacon of hope.”

Michael Rosenwald of The Washington Post writes about John Urschel, an MIT graduate student and Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman, and his love for math and football. “I’m living an amazing quality of life. I get to play football. I get to play math. I get to play chess,” Urschel says.

Angus Chen reports for NPR that MIT and Harvard researchers have captured footage showing bacteria invading antibiotics and transforming into superbugs. Postdoc Tami Lieberman explains that she hopes the visualization will help illustrate that “drug resistance is not some abstract threat. It's real."

A Washington Post article by graduate student Nina McMurry explores the effectiveness of the peacekeeping mission in South Sudan. “Research cautions that it’s unrealistic to expect outside military forces to prevent violence when those involved haven’t agreed to stop fighting or — more important — haven’t agreed on how to resolve the political differences that prompted violence in the first place,” McMurry writes.

Tamara Dietrich writes for the Daily Press that postdoctoral fellow Or Hen has been awarded the Jefferson Science Associates Thesis Prize, which is “awarded every year for the best Ph.D. student thesis on research conducted at Jefferson Laboratory in Newport News.”

MIT postdoc Amit Kumar writes in Science about how being in an unfamiliar culture aided his research career and helped him take on new leadership roles. His personal essay explores an academic journey that spans from India to Belgium to the United States.

Tim Logan writes for The Boston Globe that in a new paper MIT researchers estimate how much the proposed Green Line extension has boosted property values. Graduate student Austin Paul explains that thus far, “we’ve probably only seen prices go up 40 percent” of where they may ultimately end up.

Matt Juul writes for Boston Magazine that a team of MIT students and alumni are competing in the Red Bull Flutag competition, which challenges participants to develop human-piloted gliders. Alumnus Mike Tomovich explains that the MIT team was motivated to compete by a desire to share their “passion for engineering and inspiring the next generation of engineers.”

A new imaging technique developed by MIT researchers creates video simulations that people can interact with, writes Charles Choi for Scientific American. “In addition to fueling game development, these advances could help simulate how real bridges and buildings might respond to potentially disastrous situations,” Choi explains.