Kealoha Wong ’99, Hawaii’s first poet laureate, shares his excitement at being selected to deliver the keynote address at the graduation celebration for the classes of 2020 and 2021. “It’s a huge honor, I never would have thought in a million years that something like this would happen,” says Kealoha. “I feel as if I am ready to let these words fly.”
Forbes reporter Trond Arne Undheim spotlights the “Manufacturing at MIT Symposium: 2022 and Beyond” conference. “MIT appears to be renewing its manufacturing research and innovation efforts at a pivotal time, with a four-fold focus on technology, workforce development, policy efforts and innovation,” writes Undheim.
During the AI Cures Conference, Prof. Regina Barzilay spoke with Food and Drug Administration senior staff fellow Amir Khan about how the agency intends to regulate artificial intelligence in medicine, reports Casey Ross for STAT. “’My thinking is that models should be regulated based on their functionality, and not necessarily on the input data they use,” said Barzilay.
Boston Globe reporter Nina MacLaughlin spotlights how the MIT Press, MIT Press Bookstore and the MIT Libraries have launched a new reading series called authors@mit. The series will kick off with Maia Weinstock, deputy editorial director at MIT News, and her new book, “Carbon Queen: The Remarkable Life of Nanoscience Pioneer Mildred Dresselhaus.”
Science writer Maia Weinstock, deputy editorial director at MIT News, has written a new book titled “Carbon Queen: The Remarkable Life of Nanoscience Pioneer Mildred Dresselhaus,” which highlights the career of Institute Professor Mildred S. Dresselhaus, reports Vijaysree Venkatraman for Science. “In “Carbon Queen,” Weinstock has pieced together Dresselhaus’s story using decades of profiles, print interviews, oral histories conducted with the scientists herself, and new interviews with her contemporaries,” writes Venkatraman.
Physics World reporter Jesse Wade spotlights “Carbon Queen: The Remarkable Life of Nanoscience Pioneer Mildred Dresselhaus,” a new book by Maia Weinstock, deputy editorial director at MIT News. “With Carbon Queen, Weinstock does more than tell the story of a brilliant scientist’s life,” writes Wade. “She transports you into a world of curiosity and wonder, driven by enthusiasm and persistence.”
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo visited MIT.nano this week, where she emphasized the importance of investing in semiconductor research and manufacturing, and noted that MIT is the “gold standard” for collaboration between academia and industry, reports Jake Freudberg for GBH News. “Ultimately, what we need is the great ideas and research that are beginning in universities to be turned into products made at scale in America,” said Raimondo.
WCBV reporter Sharman Sacchetti spotlights U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo’s visit to MIT.nano. “Investing in chip manufacturing and supply chain domestically will allow us to make more goods in America, which will bring down inflation,” said Raimondo of the importance of boosting domestic manufacturing of semiconductors.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala MCP ’78, PhD ’81, director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO), will address the Class of 2022 at MIT’s Commencement exercises, reports the AP. Okonjo-Iweala, the first woman and first African to lead the WTO, noted that: “From the warm and caring welcome of the International Students Office on my first day of graduate school in 1976, to my tough but equally caring doctoral dissertation committee that propelled me to graduation in 1981, my memories of my time at MIT are spectacularly positive.”
Hashim Sarkis, dean of the School of Architecture and Planning, speaks with AP reporter Colleen Barry about the Venice Biennale for architecture, which was postponed for a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Sarkis, who is serving as the curator, notes that he used the extra year to expand the show to seven sections “to deepen the discussion about architecture and its vital role in today’s society.”
The MIT Museum is hosting a virtual Girls Day on Saturday, March 13th, aimed at celebrating women who are exploring, researching and innovating in the STEM fields. During the free online event, participants can, “meet researchers who study everything from insect larvae to, um, poop, and how important those things are to science and society."
Axios reporter Bryan Walsh writes that during the virtual AI and the Work of the Future Congress, Elisabeth Reynolds, executive director of the MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future, noted that “education and training are central to helping the current and next generation thrive in the labor market.”
The MIT Museum is hosting a virtual screening and discussion of the movie Jurassic Park, reports Joel Lau for The Boston Globe. “Join researchers from MIT’s Sculpting Evolution group on Zoom for an introduction to the film,” writes Lau, “then participants will watch the 1993 blockbuster and rejoin for a post-show discussion on everything from movie effects to the science and ethics of reviving long-lost species.”
Boston Globe reporter Alison Kuznitz writes that during MIT’s Commencement, former mayor Michael Bloomberg detailed plans for a new initiative aimed at tackling climate change. “This has gone from a scientific challenge to a political problem,” said Bloomberg, “and it’s time for everyone to recognize that climate change is the challenge of our time.”
Prof. Wolfgang Ketterle speaks with Bloomberg columnist Faye Flam about the recently redefined standard of measurement for the kilogram and the importance of making the change understandable to the general public. “Not everyone is explaining the new kilogram as a quantity of light, but MIT physicist Wolfgang Ketterle makes a convincing case that this is the best and simplest way to understand it,” writes Flam.