Artificial Intimacy: Who Do We Become When We Talk to Machines?
MIT Alumni Association
MIT Alumni Association
Club of Princeton
Thursday, May 1, 6:00pm - 8:00pm (America/New_York)
Event Details
Come meet with fellow alumni/ae at our monthly happy hours on the 1st Thursday of every month!
Contact
Learn MoreClub of Chicago
Tuesday, May 13, 6:00pm - 8:00pm (America/Chicago)
Event Details
<div>
<h2><strong>MITCOC Presents: Faculty Speaker Reception with Nobel Laureate Professor Moungi Bawendi - Quantum Dots & Unexpected Applications</strong></h2>
<p>Have you ever wondered how technologies like LEDs, solar cells, and biomedical imaging became so advanced? The answer lies in a groundbreaking discovery in quantum dot research by Professor Moungi Bawendi, one of the most influential chemists of our era.</p>
<p>Quantum dots—tiny semiconducting crystals with remarkable optical and electronic properties—have transformed numerous industries. Central to this revolution was Professor Bawendi's pioneering hot-injection synthesis method, which enabled the production of high-quality, uniform quantum dots on a large scale. This innovation gave scientists an unprecedented ability to fine-tune these materials, tailoring their properties with precision for specific applications.</p>
<p>Today, Professor Bawendi's work drives advancements in a wide array of technologies, from vibrant LED displays to life-saving biomedical imaging tools. His research exemplifies how visionary science can open up limitless possibilities across industries.</p>
<p>Professor Moungi Bawendi, the Lester Wolfe Professor of Chemistry at MIT, has dedicated his career to exploring the science and applications of nanocrystals, particularly semiconductor nanocrystals—better known as quantum dots. Born in Paris, he moved to the United States as a child and went on to earn his bachelor's and master's degrees from Harvard University, followed by a PhD in chemistry from the University of Chicago. After completing postdoctoral research at Bell Labs, he joined MIT's chemistry faculty in 1990. In 2023, Professor Bawendi was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry as a co-recipient for his "discovery and synthesis of quantum dots."</p>
<p><img src="https://d2y9yy6rey1imf.cloudfront.net/shrine_store/uploads/networks/143…; alt="" width="180" height="199"></p>
<p>Professor Bawendi’s groundbreaking contributions continue to inspire and shape the future of science and technology.</p>
<p>join us for an evening with Professor and Nobel Prize winner Moungi Bawendi on May 13th from 6-8pm at McAndrews Held and Malloy, 500 West Madison, 35th Floor, Chicago, IL. A wine and cheese reception to follow. Registrants that want to participate virtually will receive details on May 10th.</p>
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Patron - $25</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Virtual (for Members and patrons) - $25</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">MIT10 - $25</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Club Member - $30</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Non-Member - $40</span></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial;">Please register by May 10th.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial;">Not a member of MITCOC? MIT alums, current students, and parents can <a href="https://alumcommunity.mit.edu/topics/26416/memberships"><strong>join here.</strong></a></span></p>
Club of Austin and San Antonio
Saturday, May 17, 3:00pm - 5:00pm (America/Chicago)
Event Details
Come geek out with local MIT alumni at a different brewery each month. MIT alumna, Nadia Eichfeld Lundy '99, has solicited the advice of her husband, John, a certified beer judge and homebrewer of 30+ years, to select a respected and well-tested establishment in the Austin area. ICover your own tab. Look for the Tim the Beaver cardboard cutout to find us.
Paid members of MITCASA get their first drink free!
This month, we will be meeting at Lazarus Brewing Co. Their urban taproom resides at the heart of their brewery, providing an insider's view of the brewing process from grain to glass. They have a wide range of beer on tap, as well as wines and cider. Food is available from Austin Chronicles 2023 Best Food Truck, Spicy Boys Chicken which does have vegetarian options.
Be sure to RSVP so we know what size table to grab.
Contact
Learn MoreClub of Austin and San Antonio
Monday, May 19, 6:00pm - 8:00pm (America/Chicago)
Event Details
MITCASA has a book club in San Antonio. We focus on popular STEM non-fiction or hard-science science fiction (not hard to read, but science-oriented) that will fit into our busy lives (no textbooks, Ph.D. theses, or thousand-page novels). We can choose other subjects, too. Each month, we’ll choose books for the following month by consensus.
The thirteenth meeting will be on Monday, May 19, 2025, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. We’ll meet at Rome’s Pizza at 5999 De Zavala Road, San Antonio, TX 78249. Rome’s Pizza has counter service featuring salad’s, pasta, sandwiches, desserts, and ... wait for it … pizza.
This month’s book is The Wood Age: How One Material Shaped the Whole of Human History by biology professor Roland Ennos. It is available from Amazon in paperback and hardcover form. It is also available from the San Antonio Public Library under a different title, The Age of Wood, in book, eBook, and audiobook form.
From the Amazon description:
Roland Ennos’ The Wood Age is a love-letter to the world’s most vital and yet most threatened material. It is the story of how wood has shaped our human experience from the earliest foragers to the modern four poster bed.
‘A stunning book on the incalculable debt humanity owes wood…’ John Carey, The Sunday Times
In a journey to appreciate how much wood matters – and has done since prehistory – Roland Ennos takes the reader chronologically through four key phases: the impact of wooded habits on the lives of primates; human emergence and the discoveries of fire and woodwork; wood’s role in an environment both pre- and post-industrialisation; and lastly, the possible future of wood in an
increasingly technologized world.
In an original and essential investigation, The Wood Age challenges the traditional model of
historical development – stone, bronze, iron – and instead guide readers through a revealing and
innovative wooded history of the world.
Contact
steven.j.alexander@alum.mit.edu
Learn MoreClub of Princeton
Thursday, May 22, 7:00pm - 9:15pm (America/New_York)
Event Details
Buy Tickets Direct Online (Recommended) or @Box Office |
MIT Club of Princeton Use with the General Admission option |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Contact
Learn MoreClub of Princeton
Friday, May 23, 1:45pm - 4:00pm (America/New_York)
Event Details
Buy Tickets Direct Online (Recommended) or @Box Office |
MIT Club of Princeton Use with the General Admission option |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Contact
Learn MoreClub of Princeton
Friday, May 23, 5:00pm - 7:00pm (America/New_York)
Event Details
Join us for our
50th Anniversary Celebration Dinner
Featuring the exquisite flavors, crafted with the finest seasonal ingredients by Princeton's premier Italian Restaurant
La Mezzaluna: A Taste of Italy
5:00 - 7:00 PM, May 23rd, 2025
at the
1 Preservation Place, Princeton
*Seating is limited
Immediately followed by a special guest appearance and keynote by celebrated journalist and author
Sylvia Nasar
A Pulitzer finalist and winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography, the book was adapted into a 2001 film that received four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
![]() |
![]() |
The powerful, dramatic biography of math genius John Nash, who overcame serious mental illness and schizophrenia to win the Nobel Prize.
“How could you, a mathematician, believe that extraterrestrials were sending you messages?” asked the Harvard visitor to the West Virginian with movie-star looks and Olympian manner.
“Because the ideas I had about supernatural beings came to me the same way my mathematical ideas did,” came the answer. “So I took them seriously.”
Thus begins the true story of John Nash, the intensely human drama of a mathematical genius who, early in life, made an astonishing discovery and stood on the brink of international acclaim when he slipped into madness.
Thanks to the selflessness of his devoted wife, Alicia, and the loyalty of the mathematics community, Nash emerged after decades of a ghostlike existence to win a Nobel Prize for triggering the game theory revolution.
Sylvia Nasar’s now-classic biography, which inspired an Academy Award-winning movie, is a drama about the mystery of the human mind, triumph over adversity, and the healing power of love.
"A Beautiful Mind" on Audible, Kindle, and Hardcover
Sylvia Nasar was a New York Times economics correspondent from 1991 to 1999 and the first John H. and L. Knight Professor of Journalism at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Nasar broke the story of John Forbes Nash Jr. in the New York Times and achieved international acclaim for her epic biographical study, A Beautiful Mind. Her biography of Nash, a mathematician, game theorist, and winner of the 1994 Nobel Prize in Economics, won the National Book Critics Circle Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. A drama about the mystery of the human mind in three acts, A Beautiful Mind inspired the eponymous Academy Award-winning movie by Ron Howard. Nasar followed up this triumph with 'The Grand Pursuit: The Story of Economic Genius', a sweeping history of the development of modern economics. Sylvia Nasar grew up in Germany and Turkey, the daughter of a German mother and Uzbek father who served as the CIA station chief in Ankara. Nasar's work has appeared in the New Yorker, BusinessWeek, the New York Times Book Review, and numerous other publications.
Contact
Learn MoreClub of Princeton
Friday, May 23, 7:00pm - 9:00pm (America/New_York)
Event Details
'John Nash at MIT'
![]() |
Sylvia Nasar was a New York Times economics correspondent and John H. and L. Knight Professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She is best known for her biographical book of John Forbes Nash Jr., A Beautiful Mind. Nasar broke John Nash's story in the New York Times. Her biography of Nash, A Beautiful Mind, won the National Book Critics Circle Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. A drama about the mystery of the human mind in three acts, A Beautiful Mind inspired the eponymous Academy Award-winning movie by Ron Howard. |
Contact
Learn MoreClub of Austin and San Antonio
Tuesday, May 27, 7:00pm - 8:00pm (America/Chicago)
Event Details
The Harvard Club of Austin invites the MIT Club of Austin and San Antonio to Taco Tuesday!
This month's event will be held at East Side King.
Registration not required. RSVP for a reminder email.
Contact
Learn MoreClub of Chicago
Saturday, June 14, 9:30am - 11:30am (America/Chicago)
Event Details
<p>Join us for our Family Friendly Bike and Brunch in the suburbs on Saturday June 14th at 9:30am to 11:30am. We will bike the Forest Preserve, a popular destination for outdoor enthusiasts, offering miles of scenic trails for biking, hiking, and running. Located just a short distance from the River Forest Metra stop, it's the perfect place for an easy bike ride through the woods. Along the way, we may see deer, foxes, and other wildlife. </p>
<p>Please RSVP to let us know if you are going to make it. If it is raining we will reschedule. Please also bring a bike lock and water to hydrate.</p>
<p><span class="tw-text-whisper">This will be an intermediate bike ride and suitable for all skill levels. </span>The trails are smooth, well-maintained and run along the Des Plaines river. We will follow along the Des Plaines River to Robinson Park. The park is named after Alexander Robinson, the English name of Potawatomi chief Chee-chee-pin-quay, born in 1787.The trek will be 20 miles and will take us up to Park Ridge where we can stop for brunch.</p>
<p><img src="https://d2y9yy6rey1imf.cloudfront.net/shrine_store/uploads/networks/143…; alt="June MITCOC Bike Path" width="467" height="276"></p>
<p>The group will start off at 9:30 from Thatcher Wood a short 5-'min ride north from the River Forest Train Station. For those arriving by car, you can park in the Thatcher Woods parking lot off of Chicago Avenue. If you are coming from Chicago, take the Union Pacific West line to River Forest, arriving at 8:50 in River Forest.</p>
<p><img src="https://d2y9yy6rey1imf.cloudfront.net/shrine_store/uploads/networks/143…; alt="Directions from River Forest Station" width="371" height="411"></p>
<p>We hope to see you there!</p>
Contact
Learn MoreClub of Princeton
Wednesday, June 18, 6:00pm - 8:00pm (America/New_York)
Event Details
Book Club
Wednesday, June 18th
The Impossible Man: Roger Penrose
and the Cost of Genius
Contact
Learn MoreClub of Austin and San Antonio
Tuesday, June 24, 7:00pm - 8:00pm (America/Chicago)
Event Details
The Harvard Club of Austin invites the MIT Club of Austin and San Antonio to Taco Tuesday!
This month's event will be held at Tacodeli.
Registration not required. RSVP for a reminder email.
Contact
Learn More