| Ethics of Computing | | | | | | Melissa Nobles, dean of the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, recently invited a mix of MIT faculty to offer perspectives on the societal impacts of computing and artificial intelligence. One common vision: a world in which all of us are encouraged to discern the ethical implications of our endeavors. |
| Taking the lead in shaping the future of computing and artificial intelligence A popular expo highlights student creativity and ambition as the celebration of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing gets underway. |  |
|
| QS World University Rankings rates MIT No. 1 in 11 subjects for 2019 The Institute ranks within the top 2 in 17 of 48 subject areas. |  |
|
| Angela Belcher named head of the Department of Biological Engineering Biomedical engineering and energy expert to succeed Doug Lauffenburger; with her appointment, half of MIT engineering departments will be headed by women. |  |
|
| Twenty-five ways in which MIT has transformed computing From digital circuits to ingestible robots, the Institute has helped spearhead key innovations in the technology revolution. |  |
|
| A math problem solved though collaboration An MIT assistant professor assigns his undergraduates a frustrating combinatorics problem; their solution will soon be published in a leading journal. |  |
|
| A sorting hat like the one from “Harry Potter” // The Boston Globe MIT postdoc Nataliya Kosmyna demonstrated a device dubbed the “Thinking Cap” at MIT’s celebration of the new MIT Schwarzman College of Computing. It aims to help students build self-esteem and improve academic performance. |
|
| Tech could help stop bad moods before they strike // NBC Mach Professor Rosalind Picard discusses how wearable devices could be used to help detect and predict episodes of depression. |
|
| Looking to tech to avoid doctors’ offices and the ER // The New York Times Professors Regina Barzilay and Dina Katabi discuss their work developing new artificial intelligence systems aimed at improving health care. “It’s absolutely the future; it’s even the present,” says Barzilay. “The question is how fast do we adopt it?” |
|
| Frogs don’t boil. But we might. // The Washington Post “The gradual pace of change combined with our rapid adaptation of expectations could deceive us into thinking that our changing climates are not changing much at all, that they are normal,” writes research scientist Nick Obradovich. “They are not.” |
|
| | | To mark the beginning of Women’s History Month, meet Marie Celeste Turner, the first black woman to attend MIT as a student. Turner enrolled in 1905 along with her brother, Henry Charles Turner Jr. An architecture student, Turner ended up not completing her degree, but she considered herself part of the Class of 1909. She became a school teacher and was a leading expert in so-called peddler dolls, which portray women and men selling their wares. |
| |
Dane Kouttron, a special projects engineer at the MIT Nuclear Reactor Laboratory, has been turning heads with one of his personal side projects: a googly-eyed autonomous snowblower named Chomper. A past competitor on the popular reality show BattleBots, Kouttron recently told WBZ-TV that his creation features vision and obstacle avoidance systems, and can plow snow on its own for up to four hours. Chomper isn’t commercially available at present, but Kouttron definitely sees the appeal: to “sit out with your cup of tea and remotely pilot your snow moving machine from the comfort of your own home.” |
| | | Institute Professor Barbara Liskov (speaking) was one of the academic and industry leaders who participated in Tuesday’s “Perspectives from Luminaries” panel, part of the celebration of the new MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing. Professors Stefanie Mueller (left) and Vivienne Sze (center) moderated. “I was lucky to get into computer science very early, when there were huge problems just waiting to be worked on,” said Liskov, whose work has been recognized with many honors, including the Turing Award, considered the “Nobel of computing.” |
This edition of the MIT Weekly was brought to you by a winter wonderland. ☃️
Thanks for reading, and have a great week!
—Maia, MIT News Office |
|
|
