Q&A

Dean Thomas L. Magnanti The Progress of Engineering Education

Associate Professor Erik Demaine Algorithms and the Adventure of Teaching

Forrest Liau '06 Nanotechnology and Entrepreneurship

Clarence Lee '06 Technology Fair Co-Founder

Janice Voss EE '77 Opportunities in Space

Mitch Tyson '75 From Politics to Entrepreneurship

Clarence Lee '06

Senior Develops MIT Technology Fair to Inspire Students
Clarence Lee '06

Clarence Lee is currently a senior in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and will begin work on a graduate degree at MIT after graduation. He aspires to be a professor and eventually pursue administration and public policy. Clarence is interested in how technology and business can influence our society and has been involved in organizations that allowed him to explore issues in policy, technology, and entrepreneurship. He currently serves as the vice president of the 2006 senior class.

What is the MIT Technology Fair and why did you co-found it?

I co-founded the MIT Technology Fair Organization in 2005 with Ray Wu '07 and a group of entrepreneurial MIT students. Our vision is to inspire the nation's science and engineering students about cutting-edge research and technology. The MIT Tech Fair is an exposition that brings the nation's top technology companies to campus to display their innovations. This gives many students the opportunity to actually see how the theories that they are studying in the classrooms are being applied in the real world.

MIT's spirit of innovation has taught me how to gather resources and to find the human capital to create organizations. MIT is amazing, and there are abundant resources and helpful people available. The vast alumni network provided tremendous help since we were able to reach many of the companies through MIT alumni working there.

In the past, there have always been ways in which young minds are inspired to apply their intellectual prowess to the fields of core sciences and engineering. Young science and engineering students in the past looked to role models like Watson, Edison, and Einstein for inspiration. However, the world has changed, and we need to think of different ways to inspire students. That is why the MIT Technology Fair was created.

Explain what your research on silicon technologies at IBM entailed.

I spent a summer working at the IBM Microelectronics Research & Development Center in New York. While there, I worked on developing transistors that power the IBM Cell Processor, the multi-core chip that sits at the heart of the Sony Playstation 3 and the Apple G5. The R&D center that I worked at is one of the cradles of IBM digital technology, housing a multi-million dollar fabrication laboratory and thousands of PhDs. This internship gave me a peek into the inner workings of a technology giant like IBM and into the intricate processes that bring cutting-edge technologies like the Cell Processor to life.

How have you sought to improve life at MIT through your work in student government?

I have been on the undergraduate Class Council since my sophomore year, and I am currently serving as the senior class vice president. The mission of the Class Council is to represent the needs and interests of the class and to host events that make life at MIT a more enjoyable experience. In the past, we have organized numerous events which brought the class together for entertainment or educational purposes. Examples are the Junior Class Formal at the Top of the Hub restaurant, class cruises, Broadway shows, and Senior Class restaurant of the month series. Furthermore, we have also brought in speakers to talk about issues such as personal finances and career panels to ease the transition of the senior class into the real world. Overall, this experience helped me realize the importance of having access to a diverse network and made me understand the various needs of the class.