Alumni Home > News & Events > Noteworthy > E-Newsletters

Tech Connection - A monthly e-newsletter for MIT Alumni

December 2006

	SPOTLIGHTS
		Broad Wins $200M for Genomics Research Travel Chicago: Architecture & the Green City MITAA Women's Leadership Conference, San Francisco, March 30-31

In This Issue:

Do-It-Yourself IAP Online, Anywhere

Click to enlarge

Join the spirit of Independent Activities Period (IAP) by setting aside time in January to learn something new at MIT--virtually. The Alumni Association's Do-It-Yourself IAP page will guide you to choices such as online videos of faculty on Transforming Health Care, OpenCourseWare studies on Sustainable Energy, student creations in Digital Media, and episodes of ZigZag, MIT's video magazine. Like a challenge? Take on the RFIQ test or the interactive optics crossword puzzle. Or find out about new inventions like iFind, a location-based application for friend spotting, pictured here.

Near MIT? All alumni are welcome to participate in non-credit IAP activities, Jan. 8-Feb. 2 on campus.

RESEARCH & DISCOVERY

• Agile New Plastics Change Shape with Heat
  Researchers at MIT and in Germany have invented a class of triple-shape materials that can assume three different shapes, depending on how much heat is applied. Institute Professor Robert Langer CH '74 led the work, which has medical and industrial uses.

• MIT Implant Measures Tumor Growth, Treatment
  A tiny implant now being developed at MIT could one day help doctors rapidly monitor the growth of tumors and the progress of chemotherapy in cancer patients.

• New Transistor Technology May Power Next Microelectronic Devices
  MIT engineers have demonstrated a technology that could introduce an important new phase of the microelectronics revolution that has produced iPods and laptops.

What Matters: The Taming of the School

Kas Salawu CE '78 proposes that the academic discipline of system dynamics can aid underachieving African-American students. Salawu believes most American education policy responds to symptoms of educational dysfunction and that system dynamics' often counterintuitive findings can address the underlying causes.

New Year, New Job Hunt?

Use your MIT connections to expand your networking and professional resources. Update your information on the Online Alumni Directory (OAD) so people can find you. And you can use the search feature to find career advisors (look for the ICAN symbol) or to identify people in industries and corporations of interest. Check Career Services for jobs offered by alumni, professional mailing lists, and career tools.

CAMPUS NEWS

• MIT Accepts 390 Students for Early Admission
  In the most competitive year in the history of admissions at MIT, according to the Admissions Office's Ben Jones, MIT accepted 11 percent of the 3,493 applicants for early admission to the class of 2011.

• iFind Software Promotes 'Friendspotting'
  MIT researchers have unveiled a new social networking application that will make it possible for anyone on the Institute's 168-acre campus to locate anyone else via their laptop--with their permission.

• Will Hard Drives Evolve into Soft Hearts?
  A CSAIL debate on machine consciousness ended in a draw. Find out how faculty and students argued "Can we build super-intelligent machines or are we limited to building super-intelligent zombies?"

Rescue the Dome! Do Your Part in MIT's 'Battle of the 'Bots'

The evil H-Bot from last year's Operation 'Tute online game is back, hungrily eyeing the Dome. Please help complete the MIT-Bot in preparation for battle. With your help--in the game and with your participation--MIT can remain strong. Please make your gift online by Dec. 31 to ensure credit in the 2006 tax year.

EVENTS

• Worldwide: Toast to IAP, January
  MIT10 alumni, undergraduate and graduate degree holders who completed their studies within the past 10 years, are invited to Toast to IAP events across the U.S. plus Hong Kong, Toronto, and London.

• Cambridge: Woman-to-Woman Speed Networking, Jan. 23
  The Association of MIT Alumnae invites women undergraduate and graduate students to an informal night of networking with alumnae.

• Cambridge: Financial Markets--Outlook 2007, Jan. 25
  Find out what financial experts forecast for capital markets in 2007 at an MIT Enterprise Forum Global Broadcast moderated by Liz Claman, anchor of CNBC's Morning Call. Register to attend, locate a local viewing site, or set up your own site.

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