MIT Tech Connection
An MIT Alumni Association Publication
August 2016
What Do Conductors Do?
The term "maestro myth" raises a thorny question about what value conductors add to musical performance. Sarah Platte SM '16, who studied with the Media Lab's Tod Machover, decided to find the answer by using armbands with sensors to measure conductors' passionate gestures and muscle-tensions and by analyzing sound quality to measure musicians' reactions. Learn what she discovered.
Research & Discovery
Solve Big Problems at HUBWeek
Greater Boston's festival for the future, HUBWeek, includes Solve, MIT-hosted sessions that invite change makers to address global issues. Based at the Media Lab, Solve offers sessions Sept. 27-28 focusing on four areas: Make, Learn, Fuel, and Cure. Learn more and register to hold your place.
Alumni in Action
Storify Captures MIT Architects in Venice
See photos, stories, and social media posts that depict what architects, artists, and designers from the MIT community brought to the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale.
Come to MIT for the annual Alumni Leadership Conference
Looking for an opportunity to volunteer, hone your leadership skills, and give back to the Institute? Join MIT volunteers from around the world Sept. 23–24, and take part in nearly 50 best-practice leadership sessions led by alumni, current students, and staff. Take a moment to see the schedule, register, and make your hotel reservations. Both new and seasoned volunteers are welcome.
Olympic Spirits
Vibrating Footwear
New shoes help astronauts, earthlings sense and avoid obstacles.
Among the Great Whales
Travel with MIT faculty to Baja California, Sea of Cortez, January 21–28, 2017.
Carbon Nanotube "Stitches"
Method to reinforce materials could make airplanes lighter and stronger.
Where Muscles Join Nerves
New chip could help test drugs for ALS, other neuromuscular disorders.
A New Brass Rat on the Silver Screen
Kristen Wiig’s paranormal investigator in the new Ghostbustersfilm is the newest fictional MIT alumna.
Never Calculate Without Knowing the Answer!
Associate Professor Sanjoy Mahajan suggests a radical departure from the world’s calculator addiction: know the solution first. Sounds bizarre? Let him explain.
MIT Pokémon Go Fans Unite
The MIT Pokémon League, which meets weekly and is open to all (alumni encouraged to attend), dived in to Pokémon Go, a GPS-based mobile app on campus this summer.
About Tech Connection
Tech Connection, a monthly digest for alumni and friends of MIT published by the MIT Alumni Association, is available in HTML and online. Please email mitalum@mit.edu to subscribe.
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