Public Service

Tackling Global Challenges, With Alumni Support

by Jay London on April 18, 2012

in Alumni Life,Campus Culture,Events,Learning,Public Service,Research

More than 60 teams are competing in the 2012 MIT IDEAS Global Challenge, an annual competition that supports innovation and entrepreneurship in public service. Student-led teams work with communities around the world to develop new technologies, systems, and methods that tackle pressing challenges such as access to energy, water, education, and employment. Read about this year’s teams and vote on the MIT IDEAS site—by April 29—for the most deserving group. The three winning teams receive a $1,500 community choice award.

Guest blogger: Bina Choi ’11, IDI project assistant, IDI and IDEAS Global Challenge

I graduated in 2011 and I’m now the project assistant for the IDEAS Global Challenge, which encourages MIT students to take and apply what they do best–examining problems, tinkering, innovating, experimenting, collaborating, reiterating–to serve needs beyond themselves. As opposed to formal classes or lab-led projects, IDEAS team members have the flexibility and freedom to make each project their own.

New York City MIT alumni with former IDEAS team member Anna Waldman-Brown '11, a 2011 Global Challenge winner

I sometimes miss the academic stimulation of being a student and the creative and challenging spheres of MIT. The Global Challenge reminds me what can be achieved through innovation in the face of challenge. As alumni, its important to remember that we can still use the skills and knowledge honed at MIT to make an impact.

Over the past year, I’ve seen first-hand how MIT IDEAS teams continually test and improve their projects and witnessed how individual students have matured throughout the competition. For the students, it’s an exciting, rewarding, and difficult process.

One simple way to make an impact is to vote in the competition’s public voting option, the IDEAS Global Challenge Community Choice. Browse the projects developed by this year’s student teams and cast your vote (You can vote for up to three teams.). Teams working on healthcare, education, energy, water and sanitation  entrepreneurship, agriculture, mobile devices, housing and transportation, disaster relief, and waste. Three teams will win $1,500 to make a difference and empower their communities.

Beyond voting, the diverse professional and personal experiences of MIT alumni can help teams achieve their solutions. Alumni assistance is always welcome. Many teams are looking for mentors and business advice, and past alumni have connected groups with disaster relief organizations and offered their expertise in computer programing, healthcare, and supply chains.

Read about this year’s teams and vote on the MIT IDEAS site—by April 29—for the most deserving group.

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DIY IAP: Beyond Voting–Join the Legislative Advocacy Network

by Nancy DuVergne Smith on January 31, 2012

in Public Service

Has the incessant drumbeat of campaign news got you thinking about what you can do—besides vote—to improve the political functioning of the country? MIT can help. Really. Join the new Alumni Legislative Advocacy Network to keep abreast of policy initiatives pertinent to science, technology, and education—and get an alert to act when proposals are at critical decision points.

Read the NewScience Policy blog for weekly news.

Read the NewScience Policy blog for weekly news.

The network, launched in December to inform and empower interested alumni, is a joint initiative of the MIT Alumni Association and the MIT Washington DC office, established in 1991 to advocate for education and research. MIT does not lobby for itself, but it does provide a host of data to Congress and share information with MIT constituents. Earlier this month, for example, the DC office posted a new item in its Innovation Policy section, a 20-page report on the future of manufacturing, and it annually publishes the MIT Briefing Book, which profiles the Institute’s major research programs.

The Washington office also publishes a weekly blog titled NEWScience Policy, written by Abby Benson MNG ′05, SM ′05, assistant director. Yesterday’s post commented on the President’s State of the Union address, pointing out the themes of affordable college education, investment in the manufacturing and energy sectors, and tax code reform. The post links to the Blueprint for an America Built to Last, released by the White House with in-depth information on proposed policies.

The blog also tips readers to news by the day—from a Department of Defense press event about the proposed cut of $259 billion in defense spending to a Government Accountability Office report on the overlap in current and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education programs. The blog also notes upcoming hearings.

Where is the action in advocacy? According to a talk by Benson on campus last fall, network participants can expect to be contacted by the Washington Office  two-five times a year to, for example, contact their representatives about particular policy initiatives. Of course, network volunteers are not obligated to advocate for any specific policy positions—it’s entirely a volunteer effort.

So how can you take action? Just log in to the MIT Alumni Infinite Connection, navigate to the Alumni Legislative Advocacy Network, and sign up to connect with alumni who want to speak out.

Editor’s note: In honor of MIT’s Independent Activities Period (IAP) in January, Slice is focusing on activities you can do yourself and on the experiences of students serving this month as externs with alumni in their workplaces. Stay tuned!

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DIY-IAP: MIT Community Service Day, January 27

by Jay London on January 18, 2012

in Alumni Life,Events,Public Service,Student Life

Benjamin Francis '12 prepares dinner at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church.

The holiday season is behind us and, for many, so is its spirit of giving. But the commodity of community service is always needed, and MIT junior Benjamin Francis is helping address this need.

Since October, Francis has lead a group of students in founding a soup kitchen that helps the homeless and hungry in the Cambridge area. MIT Hillel, Professor Jeffrey Ravel, and Central Square’s St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church support the project. The kitchen operates every Wednesday evening, when no other community meals are served in the area.

From MIT News:

There are approximately 40 volunteers on the project, consisting of students from MIT Hillel, three MIT fraternities (Zeta Psi, Sigma Nu, and Phi Kappa Sigma), and others who joined after hearing about the project by word of mouth. At any given time on a Wednesday evening, 10 to 15 volunteers operate the soup kitchen. They cook, serve food, clean, and talk with many of the people who come in for dinner.

That group’s work personifies MIT’s spirit of giving, which will be on full display during MIT’s IAP Community Service Day on January 27. Open to all members of the MIT Community, volunteers can spend the day working with three local organizations: the Greater Boston Food Bank, where volunteers will inspect, sort, and repack grocery products to be distributed to hunger-relief agencies; the Salvation Army, where volunteers will help paint the group’s Harbor Light Center; and People Making a Difference, MIT, which was founded by Lori Tsuruda ’89 and promotes volunteerism in one-time projects that meet local needs. Volunteers will assemble Legos into DNA models that will be used by schools in the Boston area and across the country. (Register by January 23th and contact serviceday@mit.edu for more information.)

MIT-related volunteer efforts beyond the IAP period can be found at the Institute’s Public Service Center, which has a broad range of public service that suit the interests and abilities of the larger MIT community.

Volunteer opportunities for non-Cambridge-based alums are also available. The IDEAS Global Challenge is an annual invention competition that relies on volunteers to help organize events, work with teams, and reach out to new audiences. Many alumni can also volunteer through their Alumni Association connections, which includes serving as an Institute Career Assistance Network (ICAN) advisor and getting involved in MIT clubs in your region.

Editor’s note: In honor of MIT’s Independent Activities Period (IAP) in January, Slice is focusing on activities you can do yourself and on the experiences of students serving this month as externs with alumni in their workplaces. Stay tuned!

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How to Stop the Flu

by Nancy DuVergne Smith on December 20, 2011

in Health,Public Service

MIT research is often quite practical. And just in time for the influenza season, we have a new study that will help each of us stop the dreaded flu virus before it makes us sick.

Wash your hands to prevent the flu.

#1 suggestion to prevent the flu: wash your hands!

Even though there are now some helpful vaccines, the best barrier to sickness is prevention, according to a pair of MIT researchers who have identified specific practices you can employ to avoid the dreaded bug.

Professor Richard Larson ’65, EE ’67, SM ’67, PhD ’69 and Senior Research Scientist Stan Finkelstein ’71, both members of MIT’s Engineering Systems Division, reviewed some 40 studies of the effectiveness of various non-pharmaceutical interventions and published their recommendations in the December issue of Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, an American Medical Association publication.

In brief, here are their recommendations:

• Wash your hands thoroughly after leaving a sick person’s room. Scrub with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer for 20 to 30 seconds.

• Wear a mask. At minimum, the mask prevents a healthy person from transferring a virus to his/her own nose and mouth—the highway to infection.

• Install air filters. High-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters can remove nearly 98 percent of virus particles; portable air purifiers and pointing a window fan out the window of the sickroom can also help.

• Control temperature and humidity. Higher temperatures and humidity levels can kill or disable viruses.

• Install an ultraviolet light. UV light is antimicrobial, and portable air purifiers with both UV lamps and HEPA filters can be purchased for $180 to $370.

Learn more in the MIT News Office article.

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MIT Students Bring Clean Water to Remote Ugandan Village

by Amy Marcott on December 12, 2011

in Design,Engineering,Health,Public Service,Student Life,Travel

Guest bloggers: Marisa Simmons ’13 and Steven Pennybaker ’12

EWB Members building prototype tanks. Photo: Steven Pennybaker.

Images this page: Engineers Without Borders members build prototype tanks to aid Ugandan residents. Photos: Steven Pennybaker.

Students from the MIT chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) have helped bring clean, usable water to a remote Ugandan village in an ongoing project that has students and community members working together to achieve the goal.

This past summer, the MIT chapter sent two teams to continue work on rainwater harvesting and alternative energy in Ddegeya, Uganda. This is the third year EWB students have worked in the country, and each year the partnership grows stronger. Last year, a 10,000-liter rainwater harvesting tank was installed in the village. EWB hopes to expand rainwater harvesting in Ddegeya, but in a more economical and sustainable manner. After research and collaboration with other NGOs in the country, EWB decided to pursue a partially underground tank system. This design minimizes the resources and costs associated with the tanks.

In addition to technical design, EWB has worked extensively with the community to develop an acceptable distribution model for the tanks. A Water Projects Board, made up of respected members of the community and established in summer 2010, oversees the existing project and helps EWB work on new endeavors. Initially, local residents were only interested in household tanks, but after discussion about EWB and community resources, Ugandans decided communal tanks would be more effective. Locations were then measured and evaluated.

EWB Members building prototype tanks. Photo: Steven Pennybaker.The different components of the tank, including tank lining, pumps, and first-flush systems were also tested and presented to the community for feedback. Each component was evaluated for ease of manufacture and use.

EWB partnered with students from Uganda’s Makerere University to work with the residents on developing prototypes. While in Ddegeya, this team built both a ferrocement and a clay tank prototype. The ferrocement tank consisted of cement with a steel mesh internal support, while the clay tank was made using local clay. Different types of pumps were also built using materials available in the nearby town of Masaka. The pumps built by the MIT team were significantly cheaper than the consumer water pumps available. Finally, two types of first-flush systems, a way to prevent the dirt from roofs from collecting inside the tank, were also built and tested.

While in Uganda, the MIT-EWB team also determined the best houses to use for rainwater catchment. Dwellings were chosen in terms of roof size, location, and Water Projects Board recommendations. Students spent time getting community feedback in terms of the projects’ cost and benefits to those in Ddegeya.

After all prototypes were made, the students presented them to the community, which provided input as to the usability of the design. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Despite more than 6,000 miles separating Ddegeya and MIT, the two communities continue to work together to implement the changes. EWB hopes to travel back to Uganda in January 2012 to implement the designs and build five systems including a 5,000-liter tank, pump, first flush, and gutters.

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Stand with Science: Sign the Online Petition by Nov. 21

by Nancy DuVergne Smith on November 17, 2011

in Public Service

MIT Science Policy Initiative members make the case in person during the 2011 Congressional Visits Day.

MIT Science Policy Initiative members make the case in person during Congressional Visits Day.

Want to support science and technology research and what it can do for America?

An MIT student group is calling on graduate students and others to sign an online petition asking the federal government to invest in science and technology research.

Sign up by the Nov. 21 deadline—that’s a tiny step ahead of the Nov. 23 deadline for Congress and the debt super-committee to reduce projected deficits by more than 1.2 trillion dollars over the next 10 years.

Stand with Science was started by members of the Science Policy Initiative, an MIT graduate student group, and directed toward the half million grad students and post-docs in the U.S., but signatures of alumni and all supporters of science are most welcome.

“As scientists, we tend to think our science speaks for itself, but it doesn’t,” says Johanna Wolfson, SPI president and a doctoral student in the MIT Department of Chemistry. “We have to recognize that and learn to speak for the importance of our research. That’s what this letter is about—not only getting scientists and engineers to answer the questions, ‘What has R&D done for the U.S.? What will it do for its future?’ but also to believe that it’s their job to answer those questions. Those are the questions that matter to taxpayers and the people writing the checks.”

Watch a video about the petition and learn more about the MIT student efforts.

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MIT Students Make Waves with Public Service Program

by Amy Marcott on October 31, 2011

in Campus Culture,Public Service,Student Life

Amphibious Achievement swimmersIn the spring of 2010, MIT students started Amphibious Achievement, a dual athletic and academic mentorship program for high school students in the Boston-Cambridge area. Since that time, they have been impacting the lives of local teens with a mind-body approach to learning.

The program runs every Sunday morning from 9:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. on MIT’s campus. During the athletic portion of the program, MIT student volunteers coach the high school students, deemed Achievers, in either swimming or crew. Athletics are followed by a re-energizing lunch and then an academic portion in which the same MIT students tutor in critical reading, grammar, and math.

Amphibious Achievement tutoring sessionAmphibious Achievement also runs a resume-building and interview skills workshop for Achievers on Monday afternoons called Career Days. This semester, the program is further expanding to include study halls on MIT’s campus to help students with their homework and to work individually with them throughout the week. Amphibious Achievement is provided free of charge to high school students; all funding comes from grants and donations, with some of its most substantial support from local businesses and donors.

Read how Amphibious Achievement is helping high school sophomore Valdwin Etienne prepare for college.

What is the program like from an MIT student’s perspective? Keep reading to find out.

Guest blogger: Shilpa Agrawal ’15

Swag has taken a completely new meaning. It is no longer just the short form of swagger, the confident strut that Soulja Boy made popular in his famous “Turn My Swag On.” Now it’s S.W.A.G.: Something We Achievers Got.

Amphibious Achievement rowersWe have S.W.A.G. when we walk down Mass. Ave. belting our cheer (Everywhere we go-o…People wanna know-ow…Who we a-are…So we tell them…We are achievers! Amphibious Achievers!). S.W.A.G. when we are stepping in the middle of lobby 7 while the rest of MIT is asleep on Sunday mornings. S.W.A.G. when we balance a red cup on our forehead while doing backstroke down the Z-Center’s pool. S.W.A.G when we pull out the ergs and row to “Lean with it, Rock with it.” And finally, S.W.A.G. when we are munching on our Au Bon Pain pastries competing in Jeopardy or dissecting articles from the Economist.

This clever acronym was thought up by an achiever in my very own group and completed our team name, Beantown S.W.A.G. But the creativity doesn’t stop there. Other groups take pride in their names such as the Amphibious Ballers, Team Vibe, and of course, resurrected from last year, T.G.I.S.: Thank God It’s Sunday.

But why exactly are our achievers so grateful that Sunday has come? Perhaps it is because all our achievers are passionate students and athletes: they want to succeed inside and outside the classroom and further their set of skills to apply to their own life. Perhaps because they have questions that we can answer: for them, it’s not just about accepting a way to go through prime factorization; it’s about understanding why. Perhaps because this program was designed by students, for students. The level that I feel able to connect with these students is much greater than the connection I feel any adult tutor would be able to have.

Once anyone, tutor or achiever, steps into the program, they are inspired to learn from everyone around them—academically and even just about life. Although the students came up with the name T.G.I.S., truth is, we are all pretty grateful.

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Alumni Guidance Pays Off for Young Inventors

by Amy Marcott on October 21, 2011

in Learning,Public Service

After receiving advice and guidance from alumni affiliated with the MIT Clubs of South Florida and Palm Beach, students from Northeast High School in Oakland Park, FL, recently received some good news—they are among 16 teams of students, teachers, and mentors selected to participate in the 2011–2012 Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams initiative.

The Science Museum of Minnesota InvenTeam testing out their mock dock, November, 2009.

The Science Museum of Minnesota InvenTeam testing out their mock dock, November, 2009.

Each group receives up to $10,000 in grant funding to create and pursue a yearlong invention project addressing a real-world problem. The Northeast High team will work on a natural disaster emergency relief filtration station. See the list of participating schools below.

The InvenTeam initiative aims to inspire a new generation of inventors through hands-on, practical learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Teams are encouraged to consider the needs of the world’s poorest people (those earning $2/day) when brainstorming invention ideas. MIT alumni volunteers from the Florida clubs helped the local students form a realistic and beneficial project.

Over the course of eight months, InvenTeams students will work with mentors to create a prototype to exhibit at June’s EurekaFest, the Lemelson-MIT Program’s public, multi-day celebration of the inventive spirit held on the MIT campus. Since the program’s inception in 2002, nearly a hundred InvenTeams have worked to better the world.

InvenTeams are encouraged to engage with professionals from industry and academia in their communities. To that end, the Alumni Association and alumni volunteers with the K-12 STEM education working group are currently helping match local MIT clubs with area teams. Contact your local club if you are interested in helping out. Even if you don’t live near a current 2011-12 InvenTeam, you can still assist a local school or group with the application for 2012-13, which is due in early spring.

The 2011–2012 InvenTeams & Proposed Inventions

East

  • Bergen County Academies (Hackensack, N.J.): E-waste power generator
  • Boy Scout Troop 703 (Brevard, N.C.): Ergonomic bariatric rescue system
  • Cornell Cooperative Extension of Essex County/4–H Club (Westport, N.Y.): Bio-sand water filter
  • Eastern Regional High School (Voorhees, N.J.): Ultraviolet water filtration and storage device
  • Landmark School (Prides Crossing, Mass.): Desalination drip irrigation system
  • Sidwell Friends School (Washington, D.C.): Gray water electricity generator
  • S.S. Seward Institute (Florida, N.Y.): Portable solar-powered autoclave for sterility

Central

  • Troy High School (Troy, Mich.): Mechanically assist stair climber
  • Williamston High School (Williamston, Mich.): Offshore rip current alert system

South

  • Clear Lake High School (Houston, Texas): Portable medical support system
  • East Central High School (Hurley, Miss.): Solar dry heat sterilizer
  • KIPP Houston High School (Houston, Texas): Air pollution absorbing paint
  • Northeast High School (Oakland Park, Fla.): Natural disaster emergency relief filtration station

West

  • Bishop Kelly High School (Boise, Idaho): Portable assistive writing device with magnetic damping
  • The Harker School (San Jose, Calif.): Aquatic thermoelectric generator
  • Lynden High School (Lynden, Wash.): Self-balancing recumbent trike

Working with a local InvenTeam isn’t the only K-12 STEM education initiative the MIT Clubs of South Florida and Palm Beach support. On Saturday, Oct. 22, they are jointly hosting a program called “My Life in Robotics” to help interest kids in science and engineering and the FIRST Robotics competition.

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Young Scientists and Babies: Alumni Go to Bat

by Nancy DuVergne Smith on September 30, 2011

in In the News,Public Service

The recent White House press conference looked a little like an MIT reunion—but its purpose was to announce the new National Science Foundation (NSF) Career-Life Balance Initiative, a 10-year plan to provide greater work-related flexibility to women and men in research careers.

The announcement was made Sept. 26 by White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director John P. Holdren ’65, SM ’66; National Science Foundation Director Subra Suresh ScD ’81, former dean of the MIT School of Engineering; and a White House official.

Gregg and Suresh pictured at the White House press conference. Kate Huntington PhD 06, CAREER Fellow, was among the 14 outstanding early career scientists invited to the event.

Gregg and Suresh pictured at the White House. Another MIT alum, Kate Huntington PhD '06, was among the 14 outstanding early career scientists invited to the event.

The policy effort was spurred by a young scientist who was the first NSF Postdoctoral Fellow to use a no-cost extension of a fellowship for maternity leave—Trish Gregg PhD ’08.

“This inspired my NSF program director to ask what practices were in place to aid early career scientists during these exciting life moments,” says Gregg. “And because of this, the NSF Postdoctoral solicitation and many of the CAREER grant solicitations now have specific language allowing scientists (male or female) to request no-cost extension and extended start dates for family leave. This is just one excellent example of the exciting work that is being done.”

Gregg needed some flexibility. She and her husband were commuting between the coasts after graduation—she had a post-doc at Columbia University to better understand magmatic processes within the crust at continental volcanoes and he was at Oregon State University. When they found out they were to become parents, Gregg was able to move her post-doc to Oregon, where she had colleagues, and get the fellowship flexibility. Her daughter, Liona, was born in 2009. Gregg  recently joined the OSU faculty as an institutional research association. “I am continuing our exciting work on super-eruptions, and also spinning up new projects to better understand the evolution of volcanic systems on other planets such as Mars, Venus, and Mercury.”

The White House effort aims to help make science, technology, engineering, and math careers more attractive to young people, particularly to women. “Too many young women scientists and engineers get sidetracked or drop their promising careers because they find it too difficult to balance the needs of those careers and the needs of their families,” said Suresh. “This new initiative aims to change that, so that the country can benefit from the full range and diversity of its talent.”

Perhaps Gregg is sharing important career lessons with her daughter already. “Our daughter loves volcanoes, too, and thinks that my studying volcanoes means that I actually know how to make them erupt. I’ll explain it to her when she is a little older.”

Learn about the new policy and about Gregg’s current research.

 

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Cyberbullying: Media Lab and MTV Respond with “Over the Line?” App

by Nancy DuVergne Smith on September 27, 2011

in In the News,Media,Public Service

Media Lab researchers are using the tools of technological innovation to tackle an old problem, bullying, in a new arena, cyberspace.

Watch a video of White House comments on working together to end bullying as an accepted practice and create a safer environment for children

Watch a 14-minute White House video on the joint effort to end bullying as an accepted practice.

In March, Henry Lieberman ʼ75, head of the Media Lab’s Software Agents research group, along with graduate students Karthik Dinakar and Birago Jones, joined President and Mrs. Obama and cabinet members at the White House for a Conference on Bullying Prevention.

One result is a new Web and iPhone app—developed by MTV and the Media Lab—called Over the Line? The software allows young people to share and rate personal stories of how technology is complicating social interactions, according to an Information Week Government article. People can share their stories via the application and others are invited to weigh in on whether the interaction has crossed the cyberbullying line.

“More than 9,000 users have submitted stories that have generated 325,000 ratings, information that stakeholders said is valuable in learning about the digital ethics of today’s youth, according to the [White House blog] post.

“To this end, MIT is using finds from data compiled from Over the Line? to help develop fast and effective responses to cyberbullying and try to prevent incidents before they happen…. MTV and MIT also are encouraging other researchers to learn by studying this data.”

Learn more about Over the Line and Ruminati: Tackling Cyberbullying with Computational Empathy, a research project of the Software Agents website.

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