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Tech Connection - A monthly e-newsletter for MIT Alumni

February 2007

	SPOTLIGHTS
		Extrasolar Research Nanoengineered Concrete MIT Travel: CSI in CA

In This Issue:

Student Invention Scales Tall Buildings

Nathan Ball, graduate student in mechanical engineering and this year's winner of the $30,000 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize, has invented a device that makes the fantasy of leaping tall buildings in a single bound come close to reality. With his battery-powered rope ascender, a fully loaded firefighter could reach the top of a 30-story building in only 30 seconds. Another of Ball's stand-out inventions is an improvement in the needle-free injection technology developed at MIT's BioInstrumentation Laboratory.

RESEARCH & DISCOVERY

• Study Shows Blind Children Can Learn to See
  An associate professor of brain and cognitive sciences, has demonstrated that children blind from infancy can learn to recognize objects even when their sight is restored in late childhood, a finding that could improve the treatment of hundreds of thousands of blind children in India and beyond.

• New Analog Circuits Could Improve Consumer Electronics
  MIT engineers have devised new analog circuits, a technology that has lagged while digital electronic circuits have advanced. This new approach could lead to better and more energy-efficient consumer electronics because analog circuits are needed to convert natural sights and sounds into digital signals.

• Team Unlocks Genetic Basis of Type 2 Diabetes
  Researchers from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Lund University, and Novartis have completed the Diabetes Genetics Initiative (DGI), a pioneering public-private collaboration designed to decipher the genetic causes of Type 2 diabetes. The results of the analysis are accessible, free of charge, on the Internet to scientists worldwide.

DN: What's the Best Way to Raise $2M?

Need a couple of million dollars to get your startup humming? It's an awkward number—too large for angel investors but not sizable enough to draw interest from VCs. Go to the Discussion Network (DN) thread to find out how other alumni are solving this problem—and tackling other personal and professional issues.

What Matters—Overhauling the Tax System: The Transaction Tax

Even those enriched by U.S. tax law generally acknowledge that it is a mess, argues John Gunther '72. He proposes dumping the complex current system based largely on income and property taxes and adopting a transactional tax that will collect revenues every time money changes hands.

CAMPUS NEWS

• Students Convert Waste Oil to Biodiesel
  A student-led initiative known as Biodiesel@MIT aims to convert the liquid waste from MIT Dining's Fry-o-lators into certifiable biodiesel and pump it into the tanks of MIT's growing number of diesel campus vehicles. The group bought a commercial processor to start, but has submitted a solar-powered design to a national contest.

• Tune In to the Faculty Debate on New Curriculum Proposals
  More than 30 faculty debate the curriculum proposals in the Report of the Task Force on the Undergraduate Educational Commons in the February issue of the MIT Faculty Newsletter. Find out what they think and add your comments.

• New Deans Named in Science and Humanities
  Deborah K. Fitzgerald, professor of the history of technology in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society, is the new dean of the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. She has served as interim dean since last July. Marc A. Kastner, the current head of the Department of Physics, has been appointed as the next dean of the School of Science, beginning July 1.

• Sensorium II Opens at MIT List Visual Arts Center
  The second of the List Visual Arts Center's two-part Sensorium exhibition, which explores the influence of technology on the senses, runs through April 8. Also check out List events including music, film, and lectures.

PBS' Living Weapon Features MIT Expert

Watch the online Public Broadcasting System documentary on biological weapons, American Experience: The Living Weapon, which features Jeanne Guillemin, senior advisor in MIT's Security Studies Program, to learn about Cold War-era experiments.

Support Innovations in Graduate Community Life

Graduate Student Life Grants, an innovative request-for-proposal process, has enabled graduate students to act on creative ideas for improving MIT's graduate community since 2002. The Fund for Graduate Community - a new, permanent fund - aims to solidify that success.

EVENTS

• Technical vs. Management Track: Are there Options? Cambridge, March 8
  What options exist for staying close to science or technology work as you are promoted up the ranks? Find out in this first-of-three career development panels hosted by the Association of MIT Alumnae.

• MIT on the Road, Los Angeles, March 17
  Leading MIT faculty will bring new insights on climate change projections, powerful ocean microbes, and global energy futures to alumni and guests in southern California. This stimulating day of ideas ends with a cocktail reception.

• 2007 MIT Europe Conference, Brussels, March 29-30
  Leading MIT faculty and researchers plus industry speakers will focus on achieving growth through strategic innovation relevant to the European business community. Discount rate for MIT Alumni and Academic: 615 euros.

• Women's Leadership Conference, San Francisco, March 31
  MIT's second Women's Leadership Conference, this time set on the West Coast, celebrates MIT women as leaders and innovators. Eminent economist Laura D. Tyson EC '74 is the scheduled keynote speaker. Panel topics include work/life integration, mentorship, and the changing role of women.

About Tech Connection

Tech Connection, a monthly e-newsletter for alumni and friends of MIT, is available in HTML and text-only formats. Please email mitalum@mit.edu to request the text-only format or to subscribe.

Please email comments to:
Nancy DuVergne Smith
Editorial Director
MIT Alumni Association