MIT Spectrum

Spring 2020 hero image

Spring 2020

As computing revolutionizes how people work, play, learn, and interact, the MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing is transforming the Institute. The college draws great minds together to consider the societal and ethical challenges that lie ahead and to seize the extraordinary global opportunities offered by advanced computing and AI.

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The new Schwarzman College of Computing draws on people and resources across MIT to advance computing and shape its impact on research, education, and the world. Photo Credit: Mr. Cole_Photographer

The Future Is Now

Schwarzman College of Computing inspires bold vision for MIT

College leaders, from left: David Kaiser, Julie Shah, Daniel Huttenlocher, Asu Ozdaglar, and Daniela Rus. Photo: Sarah Bastille

Computing College Forms Bit by Bit

Schwarzman College leadership discuss MIT’s mission to harness tech advances for good

A Microcosm of Research

SuperUROP showcases breadth of computing applications

Ev Fedorenko PhD '07. Photo: Caitlin Cunningham

Asking Questions of the Brain

McGovern researcher Ev Fedorenko probes links between thoughts, speech

Latest stories

The view down Main Street showcases the transformation of Kendall Square. Building E37, a new 29-story graduate residence, is at center.

Opening for Innovation

2020 marks the unveiling of two new MIT buildings in Kendall Square

Photos: M. Scott Brauer (left);

A Responsible Path to Computing Advances

Ethical and social impacts drive efforts in education, research, policy

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Popular stories

Neri Oxman’s Krebs Cycle of Creativity

Illustration: NIki Hinkle

AI Takes Research to the Next Level

The MIT Quest for Intelligence provides tools to tackle big data

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Discovery Science

The McGovern Institute is celebrating two decades of leading-edge brain research. Image: Justin Knight

McGovern Institute Turns 20

Image: Courtesy of Sertac Karaman (Virtual Interior Building)

What a Drone Sees

MIT Radiation Lab. Courtesy MIT Museum

To Fuel the Future, a Look Back

An excerpt from Jump-Starting America

MIT researchers have used volcanic locations, such as this acidic stream in the Andes, as Mars analogs to test their DNA sequencer. Photo: C.E. Carr

ET Genome

Genetic testing for life on Mars

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Health of the Planet

Photo of garden.

Hive Mind

Urban garden

The latest research from the MIT Energy Initiative outlines the value of including nuclear power in any plans to decarbonize the energy sector. Photo: Zhonguo

Power Forward

MIT Energy Initiative plans for low-carbon future

Patrick White (photographed in the Plasma Science and Fusion Center) is focused on the policy questions that will arise from the new SPARC technology. Photo: Bryce Vickmark

Looking Forward to Fusion

Technical policy scholar Patrick White joins the SPARC project to ask: what comes after success?

Wood was a panelist at 2017 (pictured) and 2018 MIT Media Lab events titled “Beyond the Cradle: Envisioning a New Space Age.” Photo: David Silverman

Down to Earth

How can technologies invented for space advance sustainable development goals?

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Human Health

Gregory Ekchian works with oxygen-sensitive silicone in his lab at MIT. Photo: Ken Richardson

Sensor Boosts Cancer Fight

MIT-engineered tech to guide radiation therapy

Protein structures divide the genetic material of yeast in this composite image, which shows cells dividing over a fivehour period, spiraling out from the center. Photo: Ian Winsten Campbell, Courtesy of Koch Institute

Taking Aim at Cell Dysfunction

Angelika Amon tackles big questions, including those centered on Down Syndrome, aging

Photo: Bryce Vickmark

Chemistry for a Cure

Ronald Raines applies fundamental science to target disease

Photo: David Robert Elliott

A Partnership of Interests and Opportunity

Claire and Ralph ’70 Brindis

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Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Xiao Liu, right, a community organizer with Roots Studio, looks over a print with an artist from Guizhou, China. Photo: 心奕

From Idea to Execution

Trust Center helps myriad startups make the leap

GelSight Mobile, the company’s handheld instrument, visualizes and measures the 3-D topography of surfaces such as fabric, diamond, and hair. Image: Courtesy of GelSight Mobile

A Helping Hand

MIT’s entrepreneurial ecosystem boosts sensor tech startup

Nick Montfort

From Vision to World Wide Web

An excerpt from Nick Montfort’s The Future

Researchers studying how machine learning will impact future employment have found that, in most occupations, humans and machines will need to work together because they provide different skills. Illustration: Niki Hinkle

Reinventing Jobs

Researchers measure the suitability of machine learning in the workplace

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Teaching Learning and Living

Left: Experimental Study Group students Rich Hilliard, Harry Bochner, and Henry Lieberman work together in 1972. Right: Professor Leigh Royden, center, teaches physics to first-years (from left, Alexandra Nwigwe, Veronica Perdomo, and Maya Redden) in 2019. Photos: Courtesy of Experimental Study Group

A Half-Century of Community Learning

Socializing, scholarship come together in Experimental Study Group

Instructors and students in class. Image: M. Scott Brauer

Twenty Years of Global Thinking

MIT Sloan’s biggest Action Learning lab opens door to world of entrepreneurship

Students in 4.657 learn that all chairs are not created equal and that not everyone fits the “Josephine” and “Joe” standards that were created for 20th-century furniture. Image: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum/ Art Resource, NY

A Deep Dive into Design

Class brings perspective to the creative process

Photo: Jose Mandojana

Met Warehouse Renovation to Include Maker Hub

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