MIT students gathered to take part in the Baker House Piano Drop, during which students drop a donated, nonworking, and irreparable piano off the roof of Baker House to mark “Drop Day”, reports Sabrina Silva for WHDH. “This year’s piano drop was made all the more special for students now that they’re back face-to-face enjoying their life on campus once again,” reports Silva.
Boston Magazine’s Spencer Buell highlights the MIT Banana Lounge, a student-run operation that provides free bananas and also serves as a multi-functional meeting space for the community. “Of course, this being MIT, the students have totally optimized their free-tropical-fruit operation to get it down to (what else?) a science,” writes Buell. “Their commitment to smart banana storage and analysis of supply chains, not to mention documenting the merits of bananas over, say, apples, is truly something to behold. More data is involved than you would think.”
With the announcement of the new MIT Morningside Academy for Design, MIT is looking to create “a hub of resources for the next generation of designers, integrating areas of study such as engineering and architecture in the process,” reports Dana Gerber for The Boston Globe. “This is really going to give us a platform to connect with the world around problems that communities are facing,” explained Prof. John Ochsendorf, who will serve as the academy’s founding director.
MIT was ranked the best value college in Massachusetts by SmartAsset, reports Frank O’Laughlin for WHDH 7. The ranking compared “educational institutions across five metrics, including scholarships, starting salary, tuition, living costs, and retention rate to identify colleges in the Bay State that offer the best return on student investment,” writes O’Laughlin.
MIT has announced the creation of a new multidisciplinary center, called Morningside Academy for Design, which is intended to serve as a “focal point for design research, education, and entrepreneurship,” reports Michael T. Nietzel for Forbes.
MIT has announced the establishment of the MIT Morningside Academy for Design, reports Susan H. Greenberg for Inside Higher Ed. The new center “aims to foster collaboration and innovation across academic disciplines – including engineering, science, management, computing, architecture, urban planning and the arts – to address such pressing global issues as climate change, public health, transportation, and civic engagement,” writes Greenberg.
Steven Gonzalez Monserrate PhD ’22 writes for Scientific American about the ecological and environmental implications of our digital lives. “As [the cloud] continues to expand, its environmental impact increases, even as the engineers, technicians, and executives behind its infrastructures strive to balance profitability with sustainability,” writes Gonzalez Monserrate.
Sasha Horokh and Vlada Petrusenko, undergraduate students from Ukraine, shared their fears with Jim Braude on Greater Boston, and asked Americans for support. “They’re staying in Ukraine, trying to stay calm and just do what they can to protect Ukraine,” Horokh said of their family and friends. “They definitely are scared for their futures, for their loved ones’ futures, for the future of their country and their home. However, being scared isn’t going to help much.”
Undergraduate Vlada Petrusenko speaks with Peter Eliopoulos of WCVB-TV about her worries for her parents and friends during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. "It’s not just war of Russia against Ukraine, it’s war of Russia against the whole other world," said Petrusenko.
MIT students from Ukraine spoke with Drew Karedes of Boston 25 about their reactions to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “I would hope for other countries to get involved,” said second year student Vlada Petrusenko. “This is actually terrifying to see how things are moving forward.”
Undergraduate Artem Laptiev joined Morning Edition to discuss the Russian invasion of his home country of Ukraine and his fears over the fate of his country. Ukraine is a “beautiful place of culture, of such rich culture and such a strong technological power,” said Laptiev. “All of my best experiences of my life were connected to Ukraine. It’s really hard to convey this with words.”
Undergraduate Aniket Dehadrai represented MIT in the Jeopardy! National College Championship tournament, reports Breanna Kovatch for The Boston Globe. Dehadrai was among “36 students from 36 colleges who competed in the special two-week tournament,” writes Kovatch.
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.”
President L. Rafael Reif, who bolstered MIT’s stature "as a hub of tech innovation,” is stepping down at the end of 2022, reports the AP. "His achievements include the creation of a new business incubator in 2016 to help scholars turn big ideas into companies,” writes the AP. “In 2018, he announced a $1 billion investment in artificial intelligence and computing, centered around a new College of Computing that aims to apply AI technology across all academic disciplines.”
Bloomberg News spotlights how President L. Rafael Reif, who “oversaw a revitalization of MIT’s campus and its continued integration with Kendall Square” has announced he will step down at the end of 2022. “Reif’s emphases as provost and president included the shift to more online learning, and innovation in ‘tough tech,’ including the creation of 'The Engine,' an incubator supporting companies to solve the world’s greatest challenges, from fusion energy to new medical devices.”