For a few years, the now-famous 2.007 robot contest has included an optional electric vechicle section for students who favored crafting an experimental ride to a robot. But this year, EVs got an official final event all their own, with two parts: a 50-meter drag race and a hill climb up a four-story parking garage.

Chibikart, designed by grad student Charles Guan '11.

Charles Guan ’11, a grad student in mechanical engineering, taught this special 2.007 EV section, which students affectionately named 2.00gokart.

Guan has made a name for himself lately on the Interwebs for video of his own three-week CAD-to-completion project, Chibikart, an “ultra-small four-hub motor drive go-kart designed to test out the ability of the 100mm size hub motors to move a person without assistance,” according to Guan’s blog, Equals Zero. Chibikart exceeded his expectations in efficiency and power use at speed, even when climbing the parking-garage course. It’s also his first use of 80/20 slotted framing which is very popular for prototyping machines quickly. Read his entries about building the machine, and watch it in action in the video below.

As for the 2.007 section Guan taught, he details the semester and the student projects on his blog. A123Systems donated batteries. Here are the rules, as Charles posts on his website. Read through his post for his analysis of what he’d do differently next time:

“You had to use 1 to 3 of the A123 12V7 bricks in your design, or else if you do want a custom battery solution a charger must be included in the budget. You got one 8″ pneumatic tire for free, choice between one with a sprocket, one with a belt pulley, and a ‘front’ wheel i.e. no  attached drive parts. You didn’t have to use it—this was a last minute pre-term rule change, because I was about to make everyone use an 8″ drive wheel. This was to encourage some more diversity in design…and in the end, I’m glad it happened. There were just some seriously creative efforts that would have been hampered by a wheel requirement. Major components, including motor, controller, frame materials, power transmission components, and any other vital parts (such as the deck, for the only skateboard-style project) must be under $300 not including shipping costs. Hardware and some small incidental metal stock was [sic] not included.”

The drag race was held in a relatively smoothly paved back alley under the Brain & Cognitive Sciences complex. Securing a parking garage for the hill climb was more challenging. But Guan and others convinced campus officials they had taken appropriate safety precautions for the narrow turns at the ends of the garage—by setting up literal safety nets—and MIT Parking and MIT Police closed off an entire parking facility on a Sunday for the event.

Check out the highlight footage below. Scooters averaged 9 to 11 seconds, and Melonkart hit an 8.28 second run. Instructors also got in on the fun. Chibikart managed an 8.26 second run. “The cool part about it,” say Guan on his blog, “is now that there exists an official activity safety process for this kind of event, we could throw a go-kart race almost whenever.”

Jordan Marks ’14 discusses Next House history.

Around this time last year, a group of Next House residents decided that their dorm’s 30-year anniversary in 2012 would not go unnoticed. After nearly a year of planning and research, the group, which included Next House President Austin Brinson ’13, Jordan Marks ’14, and Dorian Burks ’14, culminated their work on April 29 with a daylong celebration of the Next House’s past, present, and future.

During the opening brunch, Marks unveiled a comprehensive 30-page Next House history, compiled with the collaboration of Next House residents from the past three decades.

Next House President Austin Brinson ’13

“We saw so many changes in the short time we’ve been here, and wanted to see how it’s changed over 30 years,” Marks says. “I sent an email to alumni and within a week, I had hundreds of emails in my inbox. People sent their old dorm room posters and pictures of old Next House t-shirts. It was so cool to get their side of the history.”

The Next House publication included history on the dorm’s name, hacks, and culture, plus alumni anecdotes and stories.

Dean for Student Life Chris Colombo

“The overwhelming feeling from alumni was that Next House really became their home. Alumni felt like the community was so close,” Marks says. “That’s still part of our culture today. It’s nice to know that community doesn’t end at graduation.”

Following Marks presentation, Brinson moderated a panel of alumni from various eras of Next House, whose stories illustrated the Next House’s always changing personality.

Nearly three decades of housemasters: (L-R) Bora and Liba Mikic, and Chris and Bette Colombo

Almost 75 former residents attended the ceremony, including all current and former Next Housemasters: Professor Bora Mikic ScD ’67 and his wife, Liba HM, who served for the dorm’s first 25 years; Muriel Medard ’89, ScD ’95 and her husband, John Simmons ’90, MBA ’97, who served from 2006 to 2008; and current housemasters Dean for Student Life Chris Colombo and his wife, Bette.

Next Act, a performance troupe founded by Next House students in early 1980s, highlighted the anniversary celebration. This year’s group performed “Curtains,” a murder mystery set in Boston’s theater district.

Click the image to learn more about the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory

MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory tackled a tough subject in its spring symposium: New Insights on Early Life Stress and Mental Health.

Picower scientists have moved beyond the understanding that children who experience neglect, abuse, and deprivation are prone to depression, anxiety, and addiction as adults. They are focusing basic research tools on understanding environmental, genetic, and developmental factors that can lead to potential interventions.

“Our society wounds children,” said Dr. Robert Anda, “it’s really sad and dark. When I got into this work, I had no idea how violent our culture is, how neglectful, and how systemic through all segments of society adversity is. If you look for it, you will find it.”

Dr. Anda described studies on Adverse Children Experiences (ACE) that show how having a battered mother or incarcerated father, or experiencing sexual abuse or neglect leads to lifelong problems. According to the ACE study, about two-thirds of the population has at least one of these experiences. The greater number of ACEs, the more likely individuals will have disrupted relationships, become victims of domestic violence, abuse alcohol or drugs, or suffer from mental illnesses. “The good news is that these things are highly preventable,” he said.

“Genes load the gun, and environment pulls the trigger,” said Andrew Garner, a pediatrician who spoke on Translating Developmental Science into Healthy Lives. Increasing the number of chronic or traumatic stresses changes the biology of an individual. “The ecology becomes biology and together they drive development across the lifespan.”

Understanding the biological impact of ACEs can help researchers develop potential interventions, said Picower Associate Director Matt Wilson in opening remarks.

“When we think about stress and how it impacts society, we can also think about the intersection of these environment factors with developmental and genetic factors. Unfortunately those vectors point to a vulnerable population—children.” Wilson said. “We also see the impact of early intervention and how this can translate into lifelong benefits and changes not just to individuals but to society.”

Watch videos of the April 18, 2012, talks – just click the program topics.

Couples on the banks of the Seine, Île Saint-Louis, Paris (© Owen Franken).

Curious about Owen Franken? View more of his work via the Franken Photo of the Week category, learn more in this profile, read a What Matters opinion column he wrote called “Life in Brownian Motion,” or visit his website.

Post-doc Stephen Steiner SM '06, PhD '12 dances his PhD thesis, “Carbon Nanotube Growth on Challenging Substrates: Applications for Carbon-Fiber Composites. Watch below.

How many times as a PhD student did you wish you could just bust a move and show people what your research was about instead of launching into some boring elevator pitch?

What? Never? Well, maybe you should try it. Enter the Dance Your PhD Contest, open to anyone who has ever completed a science-related PhD or who is a student pursuing a PhD.

The contest is the brainchild of John Bohannon, a writer and visiting scientist at Harvard who seeks to make science more accessible. Watch a TedxBrussels Talk…er…Tedx Dance by Bohannon called Dance vs. PowerPoint, a Modest Proposal, in which he (with help from performers from the Black Label Movement) practices what he preaches.

The 2012 contest just opened up a few weeks ago. Each category winner—physics, chemistry, biology, and social sciences—receives $500 and recognition by Science magazine. Grand prize is $1K and free travel and accommodation to attend TEDxBrussels in November. Entries are due Oct. 1, 2012.

Videos are judged by a group of scientists and artists on scientific merit, artistic merit, and creative combination of the science and art. Dances have to convey something essential about one’s PhD research so that the judges “get it.”

If you need inspiration, check out last year’s videos. Two of the record 53 entries were created by MITers. Though they did not win prizes, they both deserve huge props for heeding the contest website’s advice: “You’re a scientist. With your superpowers comes the responsibility to communicate the thrill of science to the public. Yes, sometimes in dance form. So dance like you mean it.” Oh, they mean it. Enjoy. Both entered in the chemistry category.

Post-doc Stephen Steiner SM ’06, PhD ’12 dances his PhD thesis, “Carbon Nanotube Growth on Challenging Substrates: Applications for Carbon-Fiber Composites.” Learn more about his research.

Current student Hoda Eydgahi SM ’08 dances her thesis, “Development and Application of an MCMC Algorithm for Obtaining the Joint Parameter Distribution in Biochemical Networks.” Learn more about her research.

Take a look at NASA’s Perpetual Ocean, a stunning visualization of worldwide ocean surface currents between June 2005 and December 2007. It stems from model output from the joint project between MIT and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab at Caltech called Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean, Phase II or ECCO2.

Here are the details, as noted on NASA’s Perpetual Ocean website:

ECCO2 uses the MIT general circulation model (MITgcm) to synthesize satellite and in-situ data of the global ocean and sea-ice at resolutions that begin to resolve ocean eddies and other narrow current systems, which transport heat and carbon in the oceans. ECCO2 provides ocean flows at all depths, but only surface flows are used in this visualization. The dark patterns under the ocean represent the undersea bathymetry. Topographic land exaggeration is 20x and bathymetric exaggeration is 40x.

Is it me or is there a little post-Impressionism going on here?

Left: NASA's Perpetual Ocean; right: The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh (public domain), via Wikimedia Commons.

Photo: Fluid Interface Group at MIT Media Lab

On May 2, a blog post on Fast Company lamented the lack of an interface that allows a user to drag files from a computer  to a smart phone with the swipe of a finger, eliminating the sometimes-convoluted process of transferring data between devices.

The story highlights a conceptualized interface developed by designer Ishac Bertran, but ultimately concludes that, for the idea to become reality, major developers like Amazon and Apple would have to seriously revise their devices. Not long after being posted, the story caught the eye of a surprised doctoral student in the MIT Media Lab.

From Fast Company:

Last week, we reported on a cool, if seemingly far-fetched, UI concept that’d let you drag files from your phone to your computer with a swipe of the finger. The idea is “so simple and clever, you wonder why it doesn’t exist already,” we wrote. Hours later, an email appeared in our inbox, subject line: “it exists!” The message came courtesy of Natan Linder, a PhD student in the Fluid Interfaces group at the MIT Media Lab.

The “it” referenced by Linder is Swÿp, an open-source software device created by Alexander List ’15 that facilitates a cross-app, cross-device data exchange using physical “swipe” gestures.

The Fluid Interfaces group exploited each device’s existing capabilities (no hacking) and used information such as the devices’s approximate  WiFi location and social media and email account details. The information is then tied to a real-time gesture, in this case a swipe.

From Fast Company:

Hold up two Swÿp-enabled devices next to each other, and they’re able to communicate in a language both understand: a hybrid of the digital and physical worlds.

Swÿp, which is still in its early research phase and not yet available as an app, could have potential applications ranging from photo swapping to sharing large files previously available via Dropbox or YouSendIt.

So, if you’re not sure a technical interface has been developed yet, check with MIT.

Would a device like this be valuable in your everyday professional or personal life? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook.

A mysterious portrait unveiled.

Guest blogger: Debbie Levey, CEE technical writer

During a redecoration of the Bush Room (10-105) in the early 1990s, the MIT Museum lent seven portraits of MIT luminaries to decorate the walls. Diana Strange HM, former secretary of the MIT Alumni Association (MITAA), recalled in a letter how all but one of the portraits were men, accompanied by biographical details. The exception was a woman in a lacy dress with no name or background provided. Rather than hang this portrait with no label, Robert B. Dimmick of the MITAA invited staff members to create a name and biography for her.

David Libby ’85 won the contest with a charming story of how “Mrs. Smith’s” generosity to MIT also created the building numbering system. “Robert and I came up with the idea of inventing a bio for her that would be a nod to MIT history as well as a bit of a hack, and would be just plausible enough that some might believe it,” said Libby.

“I was a little appalled when Robert actually posted it and thought we would get in trouble, but I believe Warren Seamans HM, director of the MIT Museum, was in on it and most people seemed pretty amused. Although I left the MITAA in 1994, I believe that the picture and label stayed up until the Bush Room was renovated in the late ’90s, and that it was occasionally pointed out on the tours given to potential students,” said Libby, now director of information technology for TERC, a not-for-profit in Cambridge involved in K-12 math and science education.

Reprinted here, the creative label provides a satisfying history replete with romance, sentiment, motivation, and a happy resolution for MIT and Mrs. Smith. (Note: the artist’s name is authentic.)

Margaret Norris Smith, Honorary Alumna

May 8, 1858‒March 5, 1935

Portrait by Carnig Eskergian, 1888

When MIT decided to move to Cambridge, the Corporation easily acquired all the land it needed on the bank of the Charles, with the exception of one parcel of land owned by a widow, Margaret Norris Smith. Richard C. Maclaurin, President of the Institute, went to visit her to learn the reasons for her hesitation.

She explained that in her youth, that area of Cambridge had once been water, but had subsequently been filled in. One day she had been walking out along the river when she spotted a young gentleman stranded a little ways out on an island—really not much more than a spot of mud. He was an MIT student, Macomber V. Smith (Class of 1877), a civil engineer who had gone out in a rowboat to test the soil in anticipation of the coming land fill, and his boat had drifted off. She sent for help, the young man was rescued, and he offered his profuse thanks. One thing led to another, and they were married on July 7, 1877. When her husband died tragically a few years later, she bought the mud island for sentimental reasons. This is why she could not sell the land to the Institute.

A week later, however, Maclaurin received a note from Mrs. Smith. She had been walking near the “spot of mud” and had seen a beaver. She regarded this as a sign that the land should belong to MIT. It was fitting, after all, since her husband had been an alumnus and an engineer pursuing his trade when he had been stranded. She imposed the condition that MIT’s address be 77 Massachusetts Avenue to commemorate their wedding day. Also, all buildings “west of island” had to be odd numbered, like 77.

The Alumni Association made Margaret Smith an honorary alumna shortly before her death in 1935. The two incidents are not believed to be related. The Bush Room is now located on the site of the mud island, and her portrait has been placed here as a reminder of her undying love and her generosity to MIT.

Dimmick pointed out that civil engineer “Macomber V. Smith” incorporated names of two prominent Boston-area construction companies at the time, Macomber and Vappi. The companies were headed by George Macomber ’48 and Vince Vappi ’48, both very active on alumni committees.

“Slowly a group of employees, alumni volunteers, and others joined an exclusive circle of cognoscenti of Mrs. Smith’s story,” recalled Dimmick. “The coup de grace came in the early 2000s, when Technology Review reported the story of Mrs. Smith as fact in the alumni section of the magazine. Her days were numbered after the embarrassment of the necessary retraction, and when the Bush Room underwent its gut rehab in 2002-2003, Mrs. Smith was packed off to the storerooms again.”

Thanks to Joan Parks Whitlow of the MIT Museum and Myles Crowley of the MIT Archives and Historical Collections for providing information.

Guest Blogger: Christine Tempesta, MITAA director of strategic initiatives

Professor emeritus Woodie Flowers signs photos for admitted students Sophia Wu and Anna Olson.

If you want to be inspired—by kids and adults alike—the World Championship for FIRST (For Inspirational and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a wonderful setting.

An MIT contingent for this year’s April 25-28 event included the co-chairs of the MIT-FIRST Alliance from the K-12 STEM Education Working group Mindy Garber ’82 and Matt Haggerty ’83, SM ’86, along with several Alumni Association and Admissions staff. They traveled to St. Louis, Missouri, for a dose of robots and enterprising global youth as well as visits with MIT alumni, current students, and admitted students who are mentors, coaches, volunteers, parents, or participants.

Admitted student Luther Banner wore his Mr. MIT shirt. Photos: Christine Tempesta.

We met dozens of alumni and students at all levels, which begin with six-year-olds in the Jr. FIRST LEGO™ League, then progress to FIRST LEGO™ League (FLL), FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC), and finally with 18-year-olds in FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC). Each participant and team has a FIRST story.

Take, for example, the tale of two admitted students in the class of 2016 and their appreciation of Woodie Flowers SM ’68, ME ’71, PhD ’73, national advisor to FIRST. Sophia Wu and Anna Olson participated on FRC Team 840 of Aragon High School in San Mateo, California, which won the Silicon Valley Regional Engineering Inspiration Award. But before they headed to St. Louis, the two young women visited MIT during Campus Preview Weekend. Their FRC mentor Vic Scheinman ’63 introduced them to Professor Warren Seering, who toured them through Flowers’ office. He said he thought the girls might “faint with excitement when I suggested they sit in (Woodie’s) chair.” At the championships, the students met Flowers at an MIT reception, where he autographed the pictures they took in his office.

Michael Teitel SM ’86 poses with his team, the Circuit of Life.

John Pflueger ’85, SM ’88, PhD ’91, representing Dell Computers, was excited that his FTC Team 2468 of Austin, Texas, had stepped up to the next level. Michael Teitel SM ’86 mentored rookie team FRC 3825 from Ventura County, California, with members from multiple schools and a catchy name—the “Circuit of Life.”

Local St. Louis alumnus Jeff Klohr ’87, SM ’88 was on hand as coach for his daughter’s FLL team. Admitted student Luther Banner of FRC Team 1985 was a Dean’s List Finalist last year and this year sported a team uniform with “Mr. MIT” printed on the back. Admitted student Cecilia Cisar of Cypress, Texas, was participating in her second championship along with her parents Al ’73 and Marilyn ’76.

One alumna was doing double time at the event. Sandra Contreras MBA ’06 formed a league of FLL teams last year, and this year her own FLL team made it to the championships. But she was also there as an employee of FIRST, who recruited her to work as a regional director after the championships last year.

MIT was represented on the podium where speakers like Megan Smith ’86, SM ’88, vice president of new business development at Google, and her classmate, Dean of Admissions Stu Schmill ’86, got rousing welcomes from the audience. At FIRST, geeks rule.

As we flew home, we were warmed once again to see students asking Woodie Flowers for autographs in the airport. On board the airplane, the flight crew saluted him, and all of the passengers gave the professor a round of applause.

For more, see photographs on the MIT K-12 STEM Alumni Network Facebook page and learn about the group and sign up.

A boat in Kerala, India (© Owen Franken).

Curious about Owen Franken? View more of his work via the Franken Photo of the Week category, learn more in this profile, read a What Matters opinion column he wrote called “Life in Brownian Motion,” or visit his website.