The Inside Scoop onMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Inside This IssueCareer Development Center Runs Tough Economy SeriesBy Deborah Liverman, Assistant Director, Global Education and

Career Development Center liverman@mit.edu

1 Career Development Center Runs Tough Economy Series

2 Associate Mentors Join MAP

3 Update on DUE Working Groups

4 Communications with Our Students

5 Terrascope Explores Impending Water Crisis

6 NGS3 Update

6 OEIT Launches Visual Arts and Media Portal

7 A Successful CPW

7 Beaver Cup Regatta

7 New Faces in DUE

8 Fostering Partnerships Between Alumni and Gloucester Schools

9 Exposing More Audiences to STAR Software

10 Cambridge and Truman Scholarships

11 Baker Foundation Celebration

11 NROTC Students to Train as Nuclear Engineering

11 MIT IDEAS Awards Ceremony

12 ACCORD Image Tools Team Needs Input

12 Bicilavadora Featured on CBS News

12 2009 MacVicar Fellows

12 DSL Spring Newsletter

A review of MIT recruiting activity for this academic year shows nearly a 30% decline in on-campus interviews compared to 2007-08.

Inside This Issue

Please send future stories, feedback or any other interesting tidbits to:

Anna Babbi Klein DUE Communications Officer

abklein@mit.edu

617-253-7364

April 2009

The Economy and College Student Job Prospects

Many of us know firsthand of how the economy has

impacted job opportunities. We’ve had family members

or friends who have been laid off from their jobs and have

difficulties finding new opportunities. And while MIT

students are busy with problem sets and other school work,

they too are aware of how the economy has affected the

college job market and their career plans.

The Career Development Center (CDC) sent out a short

survey asking students’ opinion on the economy’s impact on

career plans. Over 200 students responded and shared the

following information (students could select more than one

effect):

19.8% chose to enter a different field than they were •

originally considering

16% felt pressured to take a job because of limited •

opportunities

Continued on p. 2

Terrascope Travels to Arizona, Explores Impending Water CrisisRead more on p. 5

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by Sloan Professor Howard Anderson on “Getting a Great

Job in a Tough Economy” and a Town Hall Meeting by the

CDC’s Executive Director Melanie Parker on the “State of

the College Job Market”. The series ended on Tuesday April

28th with the Spring Career Fair where employers from over

40 companies registered looking to meet students and hire

internship and full-time positions.

As you come across students who are still seeking career

opportunities or those who are concerned about the

economy’s effect on their career plans, be sure to send them

to the Career Development Center to talk with one of our

staff members or attend one of our programs. To read more

about the economy’s affect on the college job market, please

visit http://web.mit.edu/career/www/temp/economy.html.

Career Development Center Runs Tough Economy SeriesContinues from Cover

13% indicated that their job offer has been changed or •

rescinded

10% indicated that they could not negotiate their job •

offer or they were offered a job offer below average

salaries

Additional anecdotal information from our counselors

have revealed that students are looking more broadly for

jobs, more students are applying to graduate school as an

option after graduation, students are having to adjust salary

expectations, and students are more open to networking

with alums and industry professionals.

In a special message to students in April 3rd’s The Tech, the

CDC’s Executive Director Melanie Parker noted the following

from multiple sources:

Employers expect to hire 22% fewer new graduates from •

the Class of 2009 than they did last year.

Hiring expectations have declined from nearly all •

industrial sectors, with the exception of federal

government agencies and some companies from the

logistics, transportation and utilities sector.

All U.S. regions are reporting declines in college hiring, •

with the Northeast (down 40%) and the West (down

32%) with the most losses.

Forty-six percent of employers surveyed reported •

uncertainty respondents about hiring goals for the Class

of 2010, while only one-third of responding employers

project that they will hire the same amount or more

graduates as this year.

A review of MIT recruiting activity for this academic year •

shows nearly a 30% decline in on-campus interviews

compared to 2007-08.

Despite this negative snapshot, it is important to note that

this job market is challenging but not impenetrable and MIT

students offer special skill sets that is valued by employers

worldwide.

The CDC’s Tough Economy Series

To help MIT students navigate the job market and maintain

their competitive edge, the Career Development Center has

coordinated special events and programs to assist students

called the Tough Economy Series. This series included

tailored workshops on resume writing, interviewing, creative

job and internship searching, and negotiating job offers.

Two special programs were also offered included a seminar

Associate Mentors Join the OME’s Mentoring ProgramBy Eduardo Contreras, Graduate Assistant,

Office of Minority Education eduardoc@mit.edu

The Office of Minority Education’s Mentor Advocate

Partnership (MAP) is a volunteer mentoring program for

MIT students designed to assist them in enhancing their

academic and non-academic development at the Institute.

Essentially, MAP connects new MIT students with volunteer

faculty and staff mentors. The guiding principle of MAP is

that building strong relationships throughout the college

experience plays an integral role in academic success and

personal satisfaction for students. The mentors have also

expressed great enthusiasm for the opportunity to engage

with MIT students in a less formal, but equally rewarding

manner.

As a result of the success of the mentor/protégé

partnerships, the OME introduced the Associate Mentor

component of MAP in the spring of 2009. Associate mentors

were selected from upperclassmen who had participated

in MAP. These student mentors brought with them an

understanding of the mentor-protégé relationship, and

were able to provide the new protégés with an additional

level of support. The inaugural group of fifteen associate

mentors represents a wide array of courses, cultural and

geographic backgrounds, but they all share the common

goal of wanting to help their fellow students. The associate

mentors have already started to help their student protégés

build relationships with staff/faculty while also offering

encouragement, and a proactive support network. The

staff in the Office of Minority Education would like to thank

the MAP mentors and associate mentors for playing an

important role in the first year experience of their protégés.

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present recommendations and in mid-June will submit

written reports to the Dean who will review them. Some

may be discussed with the office heads to whom they are

most relevant while others may be considered at the July

leadership team retreat. A number of the recommendations

may be close to pilot phase soon after the working groups

complete their work. This is most likely to be true of cost-

saving ideas that fall entirely within offices whose heads are

prepared to implement them.

While the specific recommendations are still “under

construction”, here is a short summary of what each group

is working on:

Working Group #1 – The First Year Experience

Chairs: Lori Breslow and Julie Norman

Members: Kavita Baball (MIT alum), Michael Bergren,

Shonool Malik, Tammy Stevens, Holly Sweet, Kim Vandiver,

Jed Wartman (DSL)

This group is looking comprehensively at the entire first

year experience, including orientation, advising, mentoring,

careers, residence-based advising, learning communities,

Interphase, study sessions, etc. They have broken into

two subgroups-- (A) transitional programs, advising and

mentoring and (B) academic support and programming,

and have met and/or are meeting with staff in DUE, DSL,

academic departments, etc. who run programs for freshmen.

They are considering, among other things, ideas related to

virtual mailings, orientation, advising, tutoring, learning

strategies and opportunities provided by the four freshman

learning communities.

Working Group #2 –– Faculty Support and Sustaining

Educational Innovation

Chairs: Vijay Kumar and Diana Henderson

Members: Graham Walker, Heidi Nepf, Susan Silbey (all

faculty), Janet Rankin

This group, which includes three faculty, is looking at the

process of delivering education to students, from the point

of view of professors and others. They have considered 1)

how to continue supporting the faculty innovation that is key

to maintaining academic excellence, with limited resources,

2) how to bring efficiencies to the educational process,

and 3) what MIT’s five schools do and where there may be

redundancies in what the schools and DUE do. They have

Continued on p. 4

In the last newsletter, Dan Hastings and I announced the

formation of three cross-cutting DUE Working Groups to

help us find ways to do some of our work in less costly

ways while remaining true to the high quality and core

mission of DUE. That newsletter included a link to a set

of guiding principles developed at the January leadership

team retreat for us to keep in mind as the groups develop

recommendations. In this article, I want to give you a sense

of how the process is going and what the groups have been

doing over the past two months.

When they began their work in February, the groups

were asked to look for specific, cross-cutting, actionable

recommendations within the purview of DUE, that

could save or raise money. Our rationale for launching

this process is that MIT is in a serious budget crisis;

Institute task groups are looking at some issues that have

implications for DUE and we want to ensure that our

own enterprise-wide effort provides a basis for our cost-

cutting measures, rather than their being driven by external

perspectives. The groups, whose members are named later

in this article, were asked to look beyond the interests of

a single office and to think independently, creatively and

pragmatically.

I have been asked how this process compares to the MIT

re-engineering effort that began in 1994 in response to a

growing gap between MIT’s income and its expenses. Like

others who went through re-engineering at MIT, I recall

it well. The current process is much different in that our

own staff, not outside consultants, are working together to

develop recommendations. Also, in the current situation

we consistently state the fact that we are developing cost

reduction strategies for the long term and seeking ideas

that save money while improving services. Re-engineering’s

consistent messages to the community were all about

efficiency, while the real goals were equally if not primarily

about cost-cutting.

Proceedings from the Working Groups have been shared

by their co-chairs at monthly office heads meetings. Their

thoughtful, hard work is evident:: they are seeking input,

gathering and assessing data and considering various

ideas and approaches. Jeanne Hillery, Sharon Bridburg and

I are attending as many meetings as possible to provide

financial and HR expertise, ensure we are on track, and

identify connections between and among ideas discussed

in the groups. In May and early June, each group will

DUE Working Groups: Process and ProgressBy Elizabeth Reed, Senior Associate Dean, DUE sido@mit.edu

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Communications with Our StudentsBy Daniel Hastings, Dean for Undergraduate Education

hastings@mit.edu

Our students represent an important

set of stakeholders for the work

that DUE undertakes. We must be

committed to being as transparent as

possible with our students consistent

with reasonable expectations for the

confidentiality which is necessary for

good decision making.

We have seen, in this year, a number of

student protests over discussions in the

administration relative to dining and sports. In each case,

most students objected to what they believe was a lack of

two-way communication around these issues rather than the

specifics of the proposed decision (although some do not

want to cancel any varsity sports or impose a dining plan).

While the administration does seek student input and

membership in key committees, the perception is

that students are not being heard. In the Office of the

Chancellor, the three student Deans and the Chancellor have

recommitted to meeting with students and hearing their

concerns. We hope to open several channels of two-way

communication with both undergraduate and graduate

students.

Much of this process has been driven by our communication

officers. We have initiated a monthly letter to students,

launched an ongoing “Dinner with Dialogue” series with

randomly chosen students, and setup a means on our

web sites for students to send us comments. In the fall,

we will pilot “Cookies and Conversation” as an additional

venue for talking to students. At the same time, we will be

exploring a website that would not only provide students key

information about life at MIT but also encourage their input.

Finally, I will continue to meet regularly with the UG student

leadership and serve on the student engagement committee

with the Chancellor and other Deans.

As DUE staff, I know you are committed to serving our

students and communicating clearly with them. I would urge

all of you to do so in the spirit of providing the best possible

customer service so that they know that they can always find

a person in DUE who will listen to them. As changes come

to MIT, an increased level of communication with all will be

necessary to help us move through leaner times.

DUE Working GroupsContinues from p. 3

had to maintain both an internal and external focus, which

means considering problems and possible outcomes of

budget cuts as connected with external outreach to faculty

as well as internal to DUE. They are asking DUE offices

about their roles in supporting faculty in their educational

mission: Which services and programs are highly valued

and valuable? Which are less successful or could be

streamlined? In what ways could DUE reduce stress through

better networking and shared functions across offices

and shared efficiencies? What structural changes need to

happen, what strategies need to change, what processes

need to be developed?

Working Group 3 – Program and Service Delivery Models

Chairs: Mary Callahan and Melanie Parker

Members: Leslie Bridson, McGregor Crowley, Leann

Dobranski, Edmund Jones, Matt Davies, Heidi Demers

WG3 is developing staffing models that we might consider

using in specific DUE offices as well as more broadly across

DUE, to reduce costs and/or generate revenue. They are

also exploring new ways we may use technology to facilitate

some of our work. They are discussing with the office heads

which models seem best suited for DUE culture and needs,

and identifying some of the models as candidates for further

development.

We are very grateful to the working groups for all they are

doing to help us meet our goals. I look forward to sharing

specific recommendations when the groups complete their

work. In the meantime, please submit your ideas for the

groups through the DUE Idea Bank. We appreciate the few

received so far and need more deposits to keep the bank

open for business!

Please Share Your Ideasvia the

DUE Idea Bank

Every idea can make a difference

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Then it was out into the field, in an area north of Tucson

where some of the CAP water is poured out into sandy

basins, where it percolates down and recharges the area’s

overused aquifer. At another site, the group explored a series

of artificial wetlands being constructed by the Tucson water

authority using treated and reclaimed wastewater suitable

for landscape watering, agriculture and other uses. That

day ended with a tour of an enormous open pit copper

mine south of Tucson, where large quantities of water are

necessary for the processes that extract and refine ore. With

the price of copper rising, there are many large mining

projects in the surrounding mountains that are in the

planning stage and water use and contamination are at the

forefront of discussions.

The next day brought a visit to the Gila River Indian

Community, where representatives of the Office of Water

Rights described how the community, which for centuries

had built a culture that relied on the river and its ecosystem,

had been affected in the early 20th century, when water

was diverted upstream for agriculture and domestic use

in and near Phoenix. They then led the group on a tour of

community lands, and described the process by which elders

and officials are determining how best to make use of water

rights newly regained as the result of a settlement with the

Federal government.

The last stop was Yuma, near Arizona’s borders with

California and Mexico, a perfect site for learning about the

complex national and international obligations that govern

the distribution of water from the Colorado River. Here

the students were briefed by officials from the Bureau of

Reclamation. The stop included a tour of a large desalination

plant and a boat trip up the Colorado, as well as visits to the

Imperial Dam, which diverts Colorado River water into the

All-American Canal, and to the canal itself, which carries the

water to California’s Imperial Valley, where it irrigates highly

productive farmland.

The trip was one component of this year’s Terrascope

experience, in which freshmen spent the fall semester

developing solutions to the impending water crisis, and

are spending the spring developing interactive museum

exhibits to teach the public about the crisis and creating a

radio program on the topic, to be broadcast in mid-May on

WMBR. The trip provided source material and sound for the

spring projects, and it also gave students the opportunity to

test their theoretical proposals from the fall semester against

the reality of water use in the Southwest, as they met the

officials and local citizens who will ultimately decide how to

address the crisis.

Members of the Terrascope freshman learning community

have returned from a week-long trip to southern Arizona,

during which they were able to see firsthand many of

the factors contributing to a crisis in the availability of

fresh water that threatens much of the Southwest. The

returning students, having deepened their knowledge of

the human and technological factors underlying the crisis,

show a renewed commitment to informing the public

about the seriousness of the situation, and also a stronger

understanding of the influences that have made it difficult

to take action thus far.

The group began the trip with a visit to the Salt River, the

source of much of the fresh water that serves the Phoenix

area. A rafting trip through the spectacular Salt River Canyon

let them experience the river charged with Spring snow melt.

A visit to Roosevelt Dam and Roosevelt Lake (the artificial

reservoir created by the dam) gave them a view of some of

the massive projects that have been carried out to secure

that water supply.

Next, the students visited the offices of the Salt River

Project, a privately owned utility that operates dams on the

Salt River and controls a substantial amount of the area’s

fresh water. Following a briefing and a Q and A session,

they visited one of the major distributary canals in Phoenix.

That was followed by a trip to the Phoenix area headquarters

of the Central Arizona Project (CAP), a public agency that

operates the largest aqueduct system ever constructed

in the U.S., bringing Colorado River water to large areas

of central and southern Arizona. Here, the students were

briefed on the issues and participated in a lively Q and A.

Terrascope Travels to Arizona, Explores Impending Water CrisisBy Ari Epstein, Lecturer, Terrascope awe@mit.edu

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Asking for Input from DUE Process Owners:

Over the next year, the NGS3 Scoping project team—

led by Mary Callahan (DUE) and JoAnne Stevenson

(IS&T)—will be asking DUE process owners to assist in

reviewing and validating the high-level business cases

being developed to support the VISION Study processes.

Input from DUE business owners is important to ensure

that the necessary processes are captured and presented

appropriately to meet the business needs.

The Next Generation Student System (NGS3) UpdateBy Mary Callahan, Registrar callahan@mit.edu and

JoAnne Stevenson, Sr. Business Lead, IS&T jsteven@mit.edu

The NGS3 program is moving forward with work to support

the goal of creating an effective, sustainable, and user-centric

means of delivering student services to faculty, students, and

staff. As a follow-up to last year’s Student System VISION

Study, the NGS3 program is in its planning and strategy

phase, which involves a number of planning projects.

Although the pace of our work has been impacted by budget

constraints, the program continues to be supported by the

Institute.

The current NGS3 projects include:

Determining the scope of the student system•

Exploring and collecting business requirements on core •

processes originally identified in the VISION Study

Assessing the viability of the Kuali Student community •

source student system project as an option for MIT

Experimenting with technology solutions to determine •

their appropriateness for MIT

Analyzing and documenting the current student system •

to determine how best to migrate from this current

system to a future system

Many of the DUE staff contributed to the Student System

VISION Study workshops, where we envisioned new and

modified business processes to support future student

services. As a next step, the NGS3 Scoping project will

look at the definition and requirements of these processes

to determine their feasibility as well as priority within the

larger NGS3 program and to validate the scope of the NGS3

program.

The objectives of the Scoping project are to:

Identify existing, new, and enhanced processes and •

functionality proposed for the student system as part of

the VISION Study

Document a case for new and enhanced processes for •

sponsor review, approval, and prioritization—the case

includes the process, stakeholders, benefits, effort, and

risk

Ensure that the functional scope of the NGS3 project •

covers what we have today in SIS

Identify MITSIS functionality that can be eliminated as a •

result of changes in business practices or technology

•

Details regarding the NGS3 program work can be found on

the NGS3 Web site at: https://web.mit.edu/stu-future/www/.

OEIT Launches Visual Arts and Media for Teaching and Learning PortalBy Violeta Ivanova, Visualization and Media Consultant,

OEIT, and Instructor, Edgerton Center violeta@mit.edu

The Office of Educational Innovation and Technology

has launched the Visual Arts and Media for Teaching and

Learning web portal at:

http://mitoeitmedia.wordpress.com/about/

The new website provides resources on the application of

digital arts, computer graphics, and multimedia to enhance

teaching and learning, including a gallery of educational

media projects and initiatives, an up to date training

schedule, and a library of visual media materials for the

natural sciences, humanities, and other disciplines.

OEIT enables educational innovation through the creative

use of visual media. We offer training to the MIT community

in creating, accessing, analyzing, evaluating, and integrating

in the curriculum digital content that is aesthetically pleasing

and pedagogically effective. OEIT staff teach for-credit

academic subjects (in collaboration with the Edgerton

Center) as well as guest lectures, tutorials, and IAP sessions

on video production and other visual media authoring. We

also provide expert support for MIT instructors who develop

new academic subjects that integrate digital media in the

curriculum (in collaboration with the Office for Faculty

Support).

We invite MIT faculty, students, and all other members of

the community to explore the new website and we welcome

suggestions for additional resources to include in the online

library (http://mitoeitmedia.wordpress.com/contact/).

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A Successful CPW 2009!By Lauren Avalos, Assistant Director of Admissions

lava@mit.edu

Campus Preview Weekend (CPW) brought a record number

of admitted members of the class of 2013 and their families

to campus April 16-19. 1,054 prefrosh and over 850 parents

came to explore MIT’s wonderful academic and research

opportunities while experiencing the vibrant community first-

hand. Visitors from nearly all 50 states were represented,

but prefrosh also traveled from such far away places as

Brazil, England, Ireland, Trinidad & Tobago and even New

Zealand!

All CPW attendees had the opportunity to hear from

President Susan Hockfield and keynote faculty speaker Angie

Belcher. Prefrosh and parents alike also took advantage of

the 600+ events, including myriad social outings and, of

course, lots of liquid nitrogen ice cream. Beautiful weather

only made the weekend more enjoyable for all!

CPW is an important time to welcome our admitted students

to MIT and show them what we do best. The Office of

Admissions thanks the entire MIT community for creating

such a fantastic weekend of informative programming and

fun for our guests! Many thanks to President Hockfield,

Professor Belcher, Chancellor Phillip Clay, Professor Kristala

Jones Prather, Professor Don Sadoway, Dean Kim Vandiver,

DSL, the Parent and Alumni Associations and especially all

of the staff members in DUE who helped, including OME,

SFS, and UAAP.

NROTC Hosts Beaver Cup RegattaBy LT Charles A. Shehadi, Technical Instructor, Aviation

Officer, Naval Science cshehadi@mit.edu

MIT Naval ROTC midshipmen hosted the annual Beaver

Cup Regatta April 4th on a windy afternoon at the Wood Sail

Pavilion. The Beaver Cup Regatta brought together one-

hundred sailors from ten different schools in order to foster

camaraderie and sharpen seamanship skills.

In addition to MIT’s intrepid sailors, students from NROTC

programs at Boston University, Rensselaer Polytechnic

Institute, Villanova, Holy Cross, Cornell, Norwich, Ohio

State, Hampton Roads, and the University of Pennsylvania

participated and performed well in uncooperative weather.

At the end of the day, the MIT team placed third overall. The

success of the event was due to the outstanding efforts of

Midshipman 2/c Kevin Plumer (MIT ’10) who planned the

event, and could not have been done at all were it not for the

outstanding support provided by the Sail Pavilion Staff.

Admitted students had an opportunity to experience the MIT culture and meet their future classmates

New Faces in

Welcome to the new employees in DUE who joined MIT

between February 10, 2009 – April 24, 2009:

Office of Educational Innovation and Technology

Brandon Muramatsu Sr. IT Consultant

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genotypes and phenotypes of the next generation of fish.

John Madama, the Science Coordinator for Gloucester Public

Schools, brought various artifacts he wants to incorporate

into the new Technology and Engineering Resource Center at

the O’Maley Middle School. The idea is to create a staffed

center with enough resources to meet all the Massachusetts

Standards for Technology for grades 6-8. MIT alumni

volunteers will be asked to give special demonstrations and

seminars to students, parents, and the public on topics

such as innovative transportation vehicles, renewable energy

systems, robotics, and bioengineering.

Kurt Lichtenwald, a Gloucester High School Physics teacher,

who also coaches an after-school robotics club, spoke to

attendees about the remarkable benefits of using hands-

on curriculum in the classroom. He talk about how several

students who previously were uninterested in math or

science have turned around since working on their own

robotics projects. The father of one of Kurt’s students piped

up and said what an incredible change he’s seen in his son’s

academic performance and ambition after working with

Kurt. A few of Kurt’s students were also in attendance, and

brought their projects (see photo below). Kurt has been

working with an MIT alumnus, Peter Gaston, and spoke

about how invaluable Peter’s presence was after Kurt’s

students started developing more advanced programming

skills.

Continues on p. 9

Imagine being a sixth grader with an MIT graduate at

your side helping you build your very own rocket launcher,

underwater robot, or boat from scratch. This fantasy is

becoming a reality for many Gloucester students thanks

to a collaboration between the Gloucester Public School

system, the Gloucester Education Foundation, and the MIT

Edgerton Center. The goal of this collaboration is to explore

new ways to reach out and engage Gloucester students in

science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) through

new STEM curriculum, teacher professional development,

student programs, and most recently, interaction with MIT

alumni volunteers.

Jessica Garrett, the MIT Edgerton Center pilot project

coordinator, began working with the Gloucester Public

Schools Superintendent, Christopher Farmer, and his senior

staff in early February last year. The next step in this pilot

project is testing how MIT alumni - with their strong math,

science, and engineering backgrounds - can best support

Gloucester schools. To that end, the MIT Edgerton Center

hosted an evening reception on March 12, 2009, at the

Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center in Gloucester, MA,

intended as a multi-generational celebration of project-

based teaching and learning, and to inform MIT alumni

about ways to contribute to the pilot. About two dozen

local MIT alumni and their family members were present,

along with teachers from both the middle and high schools;

and other members of the Gloucester Public School

community.

During the evening, the attendees had the chance to look

at the hands-on tools and literature that various groups

brought to the reception. Ed Moriarty, an MIT alumnus

and a staff member at the Edgerton Center, works with the

O’Bryant School in Roxbury to motivate students to excel

in science, engineering, and math by creating their own

hands-on engineering and technology-based art projects.

He brought several of the fun and creative projects his

students built, hoping to inspire the MIT alumni. Kathy

Vandiver brought materials from her LEGO educational

kits that are being used in the Edgerton Center, the MIT

Museum, and this spring, in several Gloucester Public

School classrooms. The LEGO kits that Gloucester has

begun using this year help teach the cell division processes

of mitosis and meiosis by having the students create

LEGO fish and their corresponding chromosomes, then

performing a classroom breeding experiment to explore the

Fostering Partnerships Between MIT Alumni & Gloucester Public SchoolsBy Amanda Gruhl, Edgerton Center Alumni Coordinator,

angruhl@mit.edu

MIT alumnus Eric Mears, Class of ‘80, listens as Gloucester High School students CJ Mustone (right) and Brandon Henry (left) talk about their engineering projects

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Fostering Partnerships Between MIT Alumni & Gloucester Public SchoolsContinues from p. 8

Jessica introduced the teachers in attendance and gave a

short description of the projects that could use some alumni

support. One of the teachers was Traci-Lynn Lowthers, a

Gloucester High School Chemistry teacher, was looking for

help engaging the girls in her class. She spoke at length with

MIT alumnus Mike Campbell, (see photo below), who had

some ideas for her. Since the reception, Mike accompanied

Traci to a meeting of the New England Society of Cosmetic

Chemists, and introduced her to several members. There

was strong interest in what she wanted to do in her

classroom, and the possibility of a class visit to one of the

local cosmetic chemistry sites.

OEIT Star Team Presents Software Tools To Biology Faculty, High School Teachers and StudentsBy Rocklyn Clarke, STAR Team Discovery and Outreach De-

veloper, OEIT rclarke@MIT.EDU

The Software Tools for Academics and Researchers (STAR)

team of the Office of Educational Innovation and Technology

(OEIT) recently introduced three new audiences to their

web-based software tools StarBiochem and StarGenetics.

StarBiochem allows users to visualize and manipulate

molecules from the Protein Data Bank. StarGenetics

simulates mating experiments between organisms that

are genetically different across a range of traits and allows

students to analyze the nature of the traits in question.

On April 6, the Star Team conducted an all day workshop

for over 20 Undergraduate Biology Faculty from selected

regional colleges and universities. The attendees gathered

on campus in 68-101 to hear presentations on StarBiochem

and StarGenetics, after which they had an opportunity to

explore these tools through guided exercises and hands-on

applications. The attendees also heard from two faculty

members who helped to inspire the development of these

tools: Professor Graham Walker of the Biology Department

and Professor Chris Kaiser, Head of the Biology Department.

On April 13, Dr. Lourdes Alemán of the STAR Team presented

StarBiochem at “Proteins Up Close and Wonderful”

- a workshop for high school teachers sponsored by

BioConnectNH at Great Bay Community College in New

Hampshire. The STAR Team presentation was made at

the invitation of Dr. Kathy Vandiver who presented her

LEGO Amino Acid Sets. Dr. Vandiver is the Director of

the Community Outreach Core of the MIT Center for

Environmental Health Sciences (CEHS). She is also the

developer of the “Learning Lab: The Cell” exhibit at the MIT

Museum.

Finally, on April 22, once again at the invitation of Dr.

Vandiver, the Star Team’s StarBiochem tool was presented to

24 gifted high school students at “Deconstructing Evolution

- Clues From Protein Structure” - a program sponsored

by the Whitehead Institute (http://wi.mit.edu/programs/

student/index.html). You can find more information about

StarBiochem and other STAR Team software at the STAR

web site: http://web.mit.edu/star/. To find more information

about the LEGO protein synthesis simulation at the Learning

Lab web site http://web.mit.edu/museum/exhibitions/

learninglab.html.

Several other fruitful connections were made that night.

Two other MIT alumni, Bob Clarke and Lester Gimpelson,

ended up sharing their love of technology at teacher Caitlin

Sumner’s 6th grade science fair at the O’Maley Middle

School by bringing demonstrations and technological tools

that students could touch. MIT alumnus, and Associate

Director of Reactor Engineering and Operations, Tom

Newton, arranged for Amy Donnely’s 8th grade class to visit

the Nuclear Reactor and Plasma Science Lab. Given the

number of positive educational relationships that originated

from the evening of March 12th, it seems to have been a very

successful venture, and hopefully the interactions between

MIT alumni and the Gloucester Public School system will

continue to grow and flourish.

Gloucester High School Chemistry teacher Traci-Lynn Lowthers discusses chemistry ideas with MIT alumnus, Michael Campbell, Class of ‘76

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Students Awarded Competitive Cambridge and Truman ScholarshipsBy Kim Benard, Program Advisor, Distinguished Fellowships,

Gloabal Education Office, benard@mit.edu

Two more MIT students have been distinguished this year

with limited, nationally competitive awards. Orian Welling,

Course 2, was named a Gates Cambridge Scholar and Tish

Scolnik, Course 2, was named a Truman Scholar.

Gates Cambridge Scholarships are awarded on the basis of

a person’s intellectual ability, leadership capacity and desire

to use their knowledge to contribute to society throughout

the world by providing service to their communities and

applying their talents and knowledge to improve the lives

of others. This year, 752 students from the United States

applied for a Gates Cambridge Scholarship and 37 awards

were given. Orian Welling will use the scholarship to pursue

a doctorate in mechanical engineering at Cambridge

University in renewable energy.

laptop that could be made available to developing countries.

As one of the stated missions of the Truman Scholarship

is “to find and recognize college juniors with exceptional

leadership potential who are committed to careers in the

nonprofit or advocacy sectors as a living memorial to

President Truman,” Tish Scolnik is the perfect fit. As one

of approximately sixty students chosen nationally, Tish will

receive a $30,000 scholarship as well as an opportunity to

attend the Truman Summer Institute.

It was Orian’s parents who first inspired him to envision a

start-up dedicated to developing sustainable shipping and

transportation technologies. Last year, he, along with five

other teammates, won the MIT Ideas Competition Yunus

Challenge Award for a portable solar cooker intended to

withstand the high winds on the plateau of Western China,

while remaining light enough to be portable. The dish and

reflector are formed by mylar sewn into a yak-wool canvas.

While cycling across the world (quite literally) for the

first time, Orian has witnessed the myriad ways in which

alternative energy could be harnessed. Orian commits

himself to travel by bike because it allows him to interact

with local peoples in ways that other travelers never

experience. A solo bike ride from Alaska to Argentina—a

15,000 mile journey that occupied an entire year taken off

between transferring from University of Wisconsin and

enrolling at MIT— inspired him to create a bike-powered

When Tish Scolnik enrolled in SP.784 (Wheelchair Design)

little did she know that she would find her calling. The

course was designed and taught by Amos Winter who had

witnessed first-hand the desperate need for appropriately

designed wheelchairs in Africa. Tish discovered a way to

combine her deep love of engineering with her dedication to

service. Since then she has traveled to Africa three times to

work on various aspects of wheelchair design for the local

populations there, work which includes examining ways to

design wheelchairs appropriate for the terrain of Africa while

simultaneously easily folded for use on public transportation

or for use in small businesses, and to build a training center

for wheelchair-bound people. Tish plans to spend her

life’s work on the issue of wheelchair accessibility, and will

continue to work with and on behalf of M-lab (mobility lab).

Tish’s energy and enthusiasm for service are infectious. Tish

was invited to speak at the Harpeth Hall Middle School to

provide students with an inspiring point of view to show

that service and engineering are compatible fields. Most of

the girls had been skeptical about the ways that a career in

engineering could allow them to also follow a path to service,

but after Tish’s speech the girls’ interest increased to such

an extent that Tish was invited back to speak to teachers

about inspiring girls’ to explore engineering. This same

talent for inspiring others helped her to win the GlobalGiving

Campaign contest, resulting in $13,000 from donations and

prize winnings to be used to build a wheelchair-training

center in Tanzania.

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Baker Foundation Celebrates MIT Contributions to the WorldBy Vidya Ganapati ‘10 vidyag@mit.edu

Three MIT Seniors to Train as Nuclear Engineers for US NavyBy Midshipman James Reach, Harvard ‘11 jdreach@mit.edu

Three MIT students in the Naval ROTC program have been

accepted into the Naval Nuclear Propulsion program.

Thomas Schaefer, Vanessa Esch, and Juliana Rotter, MIT ‘09,

will enter the Naval Nuclear Propulsion program with just a

handful of other college graduates nationwide. All three will

commission as officers in the United States Navy in June.

Upon completing the program, Mr. Schaefer will become a

submarine officer while Ms. Esch and Ms. Rotter will both

serve as active duty surface warfare officers in the US Navy.

Navy Nuclear Power School is widely regarded as the most

academically challenging program in the military. To qualify,

candidates must demonstrate high levels of academic

proficiency, and pass a rigorous two-step interview process

in Washington, DC. The first step is an oral qualifying

examination. The second step is a challenging interview by

Admiral Kirkland Donald, the third highest ranking officer in

the Navy.

While attending Navy Nuclear Power School in the fall Mr.

Schaefer, Ms. Esch, and Ms. Rotter will be taking graduate

level courses in nuclear and mechanical engineering. Upon

graduation, they will be prepared to manage the operation

of reactors aboard U.S. Navy nuclear submarine and surface

ships.

The Everett Moore Baker Memorial Foundation hosted an

event celebrating MIT’s contributions to the world on April 7.

The event featured past Baker Fellows, who have completed

international service projects, student groups with initiatives

funded by the Baker Foundation, and past recipients of the

Baker Excellence in Teaching Award. Dean Julie Norman,

an advisor to the group, gave the keynote speech, and

student members of the Foundation recognized Dean

Stephen Immerman, Alison Hynd from the Public Service

Center, and Phil Walsh from the Campus Activities Complex

for their contributions to the work of the Foundation.

Attendees were able to mingle, learn about the work of the

Baker Foundation, and be inspired by ongoing projects and

initiatives at MIT.

The Baker Foundation is advised by staff from the Office of

Undergraduate Advising and Academic Programming and

serves to perpetuate the memory of Dean Everett Moore

Baker, a staunch protagonist for the consideration of human

beings as individuals, a vigorous proponent of a broad

educational policy, a dynamic extra-curricular program, and

a congenial physical and intellectual environment at MIT

and an ardent worker toward friendly relations among the

peoples of all nations. The Foundation strives to fulfill this

goal by pursuing long-term initiatives, encouraging and

supporting student initiatives, awarding the Baker Excellence

in Teaching Award, funding Baker Fellowships, and reporting

on the status of the Institute in the Annual Report.

MIT IDEAS Competition Awards Ceremony

Come see ingenious MIT student innovations designed

to help communities worldwide, and find out who will win

IDEAS09!

Keynote address: Ryan Allis, social entrepreneur,

founder iContact, The Humanity Campaign

IDEAS Award CeremonyMonday, May 47:30-9:30pmStata Center, Room 32-123

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ACCORD Image Tools Team Needs Input from Faculty and StaffBy Peter Wilkins, Technical Project Manager, OEIT,

pwilkins@mit.edu

In response to interest from MIT faculty members and

others in using images in teaching and research, and in

continuation of its ongoing outreach activities, the ACCORD

Image Tools team will conduct interviews with faculty and

staff to identify high value projects to move forward on. The

team is soliciting names of faculty and staff who would like

to share their use of images, and to identify needs that could

be addressed on an Institute level.

The interviews will involve meeting with members of the

Image Tool team for as little as thirty minutes, to answer a

few questions about their use of images, and to discuss their

experiences and needs for an image management solution.

The results of these interviews will be presented to ACCORD,

and available on-line.

If you are interested, or know someone who might be, please

contact the Image Tool team at image-tools@mit.edu.

2009 Margaret MacVicar Faculty Fellows

Congratulations to Professor Bulovic, Professor Henderson,

Professor Jackson, and Professor Jones for being named the

2009 Margaret MacVicar Faculty Fellows!

Articles detailing the announcement:

“Four professors named MacVicar fellows”

MIT News, March 5, 2009

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/macvicar-0305.html

“Jackson, Bulovic, Jones, And Henderson Achieve

MacVicar $100K Grants”

The Tech, March 6, 2009

http://tech.mit.edu/V129/N10/macvicar.html

D-Lab Peru Project “Bicilavadora” Featured on CBS Evening News Adapted from an email written by Amy Smith, Senior

Lecturer in the Edgerton Center who created D-Lab, co-

created the IDEAS competition, and co-founded the MIT

International Development Initiative (IDI):

Here’s a great clip from about one of the projects the

D-Lab Peru team was working on. It started out as a D-Lab

project several years ago, won the IDEAS competition, was

supported by PSC fellowships, became a master’s thesis,

made it back to D-Lab for further development, and was

deployed through another PSC Fellowship. A great example

of how all the IDI programs fit together!!

CBS heard about the Bicilavadora when they attended

International Development Night, a recent event organized

by IDI Manager, Laura Sampath.

View the video at:

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4962576n

The DSL Beat Newsletter: Spring 2009

Check out DSL’s latest issue of their quarterly newsletter:

http://studentlife.mit.edu/content/dsl-beat