Spring 2016 – MIT Spectrum

Whether in classrooms or labs, residences or maker spaces, in the shadow of a volcano or by the light of a laptop, MIT continues to push the limits of how learning happens, and what it can achieve.

The Campaign at a Glance

MITx Digital Learning Fellow and Department of Physics lecturer Jolyon Bloomfield conducts a demonstration for students in 8.01 Classical Mechanics. The course runs on a "TEAL+x" model that delivers much of its core content online, maximizing time for in-class interactivity. Photo: Ben Bocko

Strength in Education

New initiatives in residential and digital education go manus in manus with MIT’s mind and hand ethos

Jinane Abounadi, second from right, meets with MIT Sandbox participants. Image: Lillie Paquette

Digging Deep

MIT Sandbox supports balanced development of student entrepreneurs

From left, Parag Pathak, David Autor, and Joshua Angrist in the Morris and Sophie Chang Building, home to the MIT Department of Economics. Photo: M. Scott Brauer

Informing Education

The School Effectiveness & Inequality Initiative puts facts at the forefront of policy debate

Energizer

An engineer/MBA applies new carbon capture technology to the fossil fuel industry

A cutaway view of the MIT team’s conceptual ARC design. The doughnut shape is consistent with existing fusion reactor designs; the relatively small size and modular nature of the components are notable. Advances in magnet technology make it theoretically possible for a device of this size to efficiently confine plasma at its center while heating it to temperatures exceeding that of the sun’s center. Illustration: Chris Philpot

The Head of the Class

At the Plasma Science and Fusion Center, research shapes education—and vice versa

Over this past January's Independent Activities Period, undergraduates visited Hawaii's Mt. Kilauea to measure air quality using custom sensors they built themselves. Photo: Megan Spelman

Where the Data Flows

Undergraduates get a taste of environmental fieldwork in the shadow of a volcano

From the President

President’s Letter: The MIT Campaign for a Better World

Spotlight

At a Glance: MIT’s Newly Announced Initiatives in Education

Spotlight

A Digital Boost

Spotlight

Behind the MOOC

Spotlight

IDEAS for New Educational Models

Students in MIT Sloan’s S-Lab are tasked with researching sustainability strategies for real corporations and not-for-profits.

Sustainability in Action

For S-Lab students, the scale is global, and the stakes are real

Springs and Guts

MIT undergrads get under the hood of literature

Kendall Square rendering by Encore: courtesy of Elkus Manfredi Architects

Reimagining the MIT Campus

Why We Give

Professor Ceasar McDowell. Image: Leise Jones Photographyc

Rewards and Struggles

A design and planning course wrestles with questions of identity, voice, and democracy

Student Sam Chin experiments with melted sugar. Image: John Werner

The Incredible, Edible Pneumatic Interface

An illustration for the team’s March publication in Cell depicts possible paths of tumor evolution in relation to hills (presenting resistance to a drug), and valleys (sensitivity). Artwork: Boyang Zhao

Cornering Cancer

Collaborative “systems biology” approach could steer tumors into submission

A computer simulation shows the collision of two black holes, a tremendously powerful event detected for the first time ever by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO. LIGO detected gravitational waves, or ripples in space and time, generated as the black holes merged. The simulation shows what the merger would look like if we could somehow get a closer look. The stars appear warped due to the strong gravity of the black holes. Image: Simulating eXtreme Spacetimes

The Chirp Heard Across the Universe

The New Urban Narrative

From Korea to Mexico, Dennis Frenchman reshapes city centers around technology

Digital Ocean

Modeling the diverse world of phytoplankton opens up a predictive view of our own

Made Here

Inside the Hobby Shop

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