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Volunteering, outreach, public service

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CBS Boston

Graduate student Kaylee Cunningham speaks with CBS Boston about her work using social media to help educate and inform the public about nuclear energy. Cunningham, who is known as Ms. Nuclear Energy on TikTok, recalls how as a child she was involved in musical theater, a talent she has now combined with her research interests as an engineer. She adds that she also hopes her platform inspires more women to pursue STEM careers. “You don't have to look like the stereotypical engineer,” Cunningham emphasizes.

MSNBC

Graduate students Martin Nisser and Marisa Gaetz co-founded Brave Behind Bars, a program designed to provide incarcerated individuals with coding and digital literacy skills to better prepare them for life after prison, reports Morgan Radford for MSNBC. Computers and coding skills “are really kind of paramount for fostering success in the modern workplace,” says Nisser.

The Washington Post

The MIT Educational Justice Initiative has developed a 12-week program called Brave Behind Bars that teaches inmates “basic coding languages such as JavaScript and HTML in hopes of opening the door for detainees to one day pursue high-paying jobs,” reports Washington Post reporter Emily Davies. “The level of 21st century technology skills they just learned, I can’t do those things,” said Amy Lopez, deputy director of college and career readiness for the D.C. Department of Corrections. “They are transferrable, employable skills.”

News 40

The MIT Spokes bike team, a group of six students, has embarked on a 3,800-mile, cross-country bike trip that features frequent stops to offer STEM workshops to middle school students, reports Lexi Schweinert for News 40.  “I think it’s exciting to be doing science,” says fourth year student Simone Lassar. “We’ve tried to make our workshops super hands on so you’re either doing something with your hands or you’re bringing something home with you. So we’ve just tried to make the workshops as interactive as possible.”

WBZ Radio

The new Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel at MIT, which is capable of reaching wind speeds of up to 230 miles per hour, provides a controlled environment to measure the aerodynamics of an object, reports Matt Shearer for WBZ. "Everybody turns into a little kid when they get into a wind tunnel," says Prof. Mark Drela.

The Raider Times

Postdoctoral associate Josh Borrow spoke with students from Watertown High School about his research and what inspired him to pursue a career in astrophysics. “One of the things that comes with this job is this odd sense of scale,” said Borrow. “I think astronomers really understand scale better than many people do. And I think the most inspiring thing about that is just how small we are relative to the rest of the universe.”

GBH

GBH reporter Megan Smith spotlights how the Educational Justice Institute at MIT, which offers learning programs to incarcerated individuals, was able to expand its reach through a new virtual platform that allows for real-time interaction, and provides an opportunity to bring together students from different facilities and local universities. “I really enjoy the humanity in the course because over a period of time you realize — it’s not about ‘inside’ students or ‘outside’ students, really,” said Mackenzie Kelley, a student in the program. “It’s just, we’re all human and we all make mistakes.”

NBC Boston

Members of the MIT Spokes team speak with NBC Boston reporter Michael Page about their quest to ride their bicycles across the country this summer, hosting STEM workshops for students along the way. Undergraduate Leah Yost explains that the hands-on workshops provide students with a sense of “what a future in STEM might look like.”

The Verge

While playing the popular video game Fortnite, graduate student Henri Drake and the Climate Fortnite Squad battle for glory and chat about climate science in an effort to make information about climate change accessible to Fortnite fans. “The squad hopes their streams will be watched by climate-curious gamers who can send in questions for them to answer midgame,” Andrews explains.

NECN

Greg Walton, an IT service provider and consumer support engineer at MIT, speaks with Chris Emma on NECN about his experience with Year Up, a non-profit organization focused on professional and personal development. “Year Up was one of the first opportunities that helped me get into a position where I could be someone successful,” said Walton. “They helped build that confidence.”

Preston County News & Journal

Preston County News & Journal reporter Theresa Marthey writes that students from Preston County, West Virginia are working on code to move SPHERES satellites on the International Space Station as part of the Zero Robotics program. Instructor Amanda Rehe explains that, “students have direct access with students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to use as a resource and assist with coding help.”

WBUR

Stuart Schmill, MIT’s dean of admissions, speaks with WBUR’s Fred Thys about why colleges are placing an increased emphasis on the whole student as opposed to extracurricular activities. “We want students to take the most challenging classes that are most appropriate for them,” says Schmill, “but they don't need to do that in every single subject.”

Boston Globe

Boston Globe reporter J.M. Lawrence writes about the legacy of D. Reid Weedon Jr., an MIT alumnus and life member emeritus of the MIT Corporation, who died at age 96. Lawrence notes that Weedon was a “key fund-raiser for MIT for 60 years,” and “worked with nine MIT presidents while mentoring many young fund-raisers.”

Boston Globe

In an article for The Boston Globe, Linda Wertheimer writes about “Turning the Tide,” a new report that aims to focus the college admissions process on the whole student. “The right thing is not to overdo it, not to have this push for quantity over quality,” explains MIT Dean of Admissions Stuart Schmill.

WRKO

Dean of Admissions Stuart Schmill speaks with WRKO’s Kim Carrigan about a new set of recommendations for the college admissions process. Schmill explains that, “we want students who are going to come here and try to improve the lives of their classmates,” as well as students interested in having a positive effect on the world.