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Tech Connection - A monthly e-newsletter for MIT Alumni

February 2008

	SPOTLIGHTS
		Gecko-Inspired Bandage IAP Robot Rumble Idaho River Rafting

In This Issue:

Wearing SEAMLESS Computational Couture

Fashion at MIT used to be an oxymoron. No longer. The era of wearable computing has catapulted the Institute to the front lines of couture. Witness the fashion celebration of functional creations that push the boundaries of wearable technology. Titled SEAMLESS Computational Couture, the January event at the Museum of Science featured a musical jacket with a human-contact on switch and a Charming Burka using Bluetooth technology to send the wearer's portrait to nearby cell phones. A Peizing outfit--created by Media Lab graduate students Amanda Parkes SM '04 and Adam Kumpf '05, MNG '07, and modeled by Heather Knight '06--generates power using the natural gestures of the human body. Check the gallery for streaming video of the entire show, runway photos, and news coverage.

Hockfield Interviewed by Charlie Rose

President Susan Hockfield, interviewed by PBS host Charlie Rose on Feb. 18, discussed the extraordinary jewel of American education, the engine of the U.S. innovation economy that is being copied worldwide. However, today she sees other nations investing more in their education systems than the U.S. She noted that the U.S. held the second highest college graduation rate in 1995, but today has dropped to 15th place.

RESEARCH & DISCOVERY

• Energy-Efficient Microchip Could Lead to Self-Charging Cell Phones
  Researchers at MIT and Texas Instruments have unveiled a new chip design for portable electronics that can be up to 10 times more energy-efficient than present technology. The design could lead to cell phones, implantable medical devices and sensors that last far longer when running from a battery.

• MIT Explains Spread of 1918 Flu Pandemic
  Learning what allowed the 1918 flu pandemic to spread worldwide and kill 50 million people could help prevent a future disaster. Now MIT researchers have explained why two mutations in the H1N1 avian flu virus enabled the disease to spread. The work could help scientists detect and contain a future bird flu outbreak among humans.

• MIT to Lead Development of New Telescopes on the Moon
  NASA has selected a proposal by an MIT-led team to develop plans for an array of radio telescopes on the far side of the moon that would probe the earliest formation of the universe. The new MIT telescopes would explore the Dark Ages of astronomy near the beginning of the universe when stars, star clusters, and galaxies came into existence.

What Matters: A Manifesto for Tackling Global Warming and Oil Addiction

Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran '90 argues that the current sustainable energy debates miss the point. Neither the business lobbyists who say the market should guide energy futures nor the techno-utopians who anticipate endless energy from revolutionary new technologies are right. He outlines five key principles that should guide decisions on energy infrastructure and government policy.

CAMPUS

• In the World: Pumping Up Desert Agriculture
  The inaugural issue of In The World, a News Office column that explores how MIT people are using technology to help meet the needs of local people around the planet, focuses on the parched landscape of Sudan. Read about two undergraduate students who are bringing a simple technological solution to the region: inexpensive treadle-powered water pumps.

• Mass Impact: Cities and Climate Change Symposium
  The Boston Society of Architects and MIT's School of Architecture and Planning are initiating two open symposia starting in March 2008. The goal is to gather leading urbanists from the U.S. and overseas to frame the issues and opportunities facing the modern city in a period of global climate change and resource depletion. Check the MIT Event Calendar for more gatherings of personal and professional interest.

• Science Dean Goes on Record
  Dean Marc Kastner, a physicist who took charge of the School of Science last summer, is the first subject of a series of interviews with deans by the MIT News Office. Get his take on school goals, collaborations, resources, and renovations.

• Hockfield Addresses MIT's Diversity Goals
  At MIT's Martin Luther King Celebration, President Susan Hockfield described Institute goals in a talk titled Diversity and Inclusion: Building a Solution Worthy of MIT. She described not only MIT's progress toward creating a vibrant and inclusive community but new institutional structures that can accelerate the process.

Tune In to the Faculty Webcast on Virtual Worlds

It's a Small World: How Virtual Communities Are Changing the Ways We Relate will be broadcast on March 12 from MIT. Come to the Broad Institute ($25), join a participating club, or watch on your computer starting at 7 p.m. EST. Comparative media experts discuss avatar-based virtual worlds and Second Life as a thought experiment.

Survey Shows U.S. Teens Confident in Their Inventiveness

American teens are confident they can invent solutions to society's environmental challenges, yet more than half feel unprepared for technology and engineering careers, the Lemelson-MIT Invention Index reported in January. The survey, which gauges Americans' attitudes toward invention and innovation, also found an important need for more project-based learning in high schools.

'This I Believe': Dan Tani '84, SM '88 Comments from Space

NPR's 'This I Believe' segment recorded astronaut Dan Tani's personal essay while he served as flight engineer on the International Space Station from October 23, 2007, through Feb. 20, 2008. His commentary, "An Optimistic View of the World," reflects on the influence of his mother, who was killed in an auto accident during his mission.

EVENTS

• Ignite Clean Energy Competition Bootcamp, Cambridge, March 13
  Bootcamp, offered by the Enterprise Forum of Cambridge, introduces the process and practice of technology entrepreneurship.

• MIT on the Road, San Francisco, March 15
  In this day-long conference, MIT faculty share their research on how the brain learns sequences of behavior, climate modeling, and the ability to meet human consumption needs with limited resources.

• AMITA Women in Biotech Series
  Julie A. Olson '76, president, CEO, and director of Mersana Therapeutics, Inc. will discuss her journey from academic scientist to biotech company leader.

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