March 5, 2022
Greetings! Here’s a roundup of the latest from the MIT community.
 
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Bridging Research and Industry
 
Not content with one degree, Nidhi Juthani decided to earn two via MIT’s PhD CEP program, pursuing a doctorate and an MBA. “It’s so specifically geared for people who want to go into business out of a PhD that it just made sense for me,” she says.
Top Headlines
Q&A: Elizabeth Wood on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
MIT historian analyzes the uncertain dynamics of a global crisis.
MIT Heat Island
School of Engineering welcomes new faculty
Seventeen new professors join the MIT community, with research areas ranging from robotics and machine learning to health care and agriculture.
Assessing connections in the brain’s reading network
State-of-the-art analysis of brain images from nearly 700 children has turned up surprisingly few links between white matter structure and reading ability.
MIT Heat Island
Gina Raimondo: “Let’s get back to the business of building microchips in America”
During a tour of MIT.nano, the commerce secretary argued for boosting domestic semiconductor research and manufacturing, to fight inflation and improve national security.
MIT Heat Island
Responding to the tragedy in Ukraine
A letter from President Reif describes steps MIT is taking to care for members of its community and discontinue the MIT Skoltech program.
MIT Heat Island
#ThisIsMIT
In the Media
What are the implications of the Russian attack on Ukraine? // NBC Boston
Carol R. Saivetz, a senior advisor for MIT’s Security Studies Program, discusses the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “The claims that this was all about NATO expansion are really false,” says Saivetz. “I think it’s much more about Putin’s imperial ambitions and this whole idea that unless he can put back together the Soviet Union that somehow Russia is not a great power.”
Three questions with Dean Nergis Mavalvala: Kicking off Women’s History month with a bright star // Podium
Professor Nergis Mavalvala, dean of the MIT School of Science, speaks with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai about what inspired her love of science, how to inspire more women to pursue their passions, and her hopes for the next generation of STEM students.
Ukrainian students at MIT ask Americans for support // GBH News
Sasha Horokh and Vlada Petrusenko, undergraduate students from Ukraine, spoke with Jim Braude on Greater Boston and asked Americans for support. “They’re staying in Ukraine, trying to stay calm and just do what they can to protect Ukraine,” Horokh said of their family and friends.
This imaging sensor sees right through you with terahertz waves // TechCrunch
MIT researchers have developed an “electronically steerable terahertz antenna array, which operates like a controllable mirror.” The new device “may enable higher-speed communications and vision systems that can see through foggy or dusty environments.”
Rusting batteries could help power the electric grid of the future // WBUR
Form Energy, a startup co-founded by MIT scientists, is focused on developing a low-cost way to transform the global electric system. The company has created batteries that are powered by rust and could one day “store energy generated by renewable solar and wind and release it back onto the grid when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn't blow.”
Thank You, Black Alumni
Danielle Geathers, Tatiana Ivy Moise, and Noah Harris made history in 2020 when they were elected as student body presidents of MIT, Wellesley College, and Harvard University, respectively, marking the first time in history the three institutions had Black students leading their student governments at the same time. In a new article, the students pay tribute to the Black alumni, activists, and community members who fought tirelessly to transform their campuses to places capable of electing Black student leaders. “Their work and achievements are integral parts of not only Harvard’s, MIT’s, and Wellesley’s history — but America’s history overall,” the students write.
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We are pleased that election dates have been set. We feel it’s fundamentally important that every eligible graduate student be given the opportunity to make their voice heard on this important matter.
—Chancellor Melissa Nobles and Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate and Graduate Education Ian Waitz, writing in a letter to MIT graduate students to share the news that the National Labor Relations Board has set April 4–5 as the dates for its on-campus election to determine whether MIT’s graduate students will form a union.
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