Instructor: Victor M. Quintas-Martinez

Questions? Contact Eric Trueswell (erictrue@mit.edu)

Special IAP Seminar hosted by the MIT Security Studies Program (SSP)

Abstract:

Historical account of the US military’s three major attempts at airborne aircraft-carriers along with why they ultimately terminated those programs/experiments. Further, a look at the future of this space and the impact of autonomous agents.

Speaker:

Nate Padgett 

Lieutenant Colonel Padgett is the United States Air Force’s 2023-2024 MIT Security Studies Program Military Fellow. Before coming to MIT, Lt Col Padgett served as the Senior Executive Officer for the Director of Staff, Headquarters Air Force, the Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia. He previously commanded the 60th Operations Support Squadron at Travis Air Force Base, California.

Sponsor:  MIT Security Studies Program (SSP)

Open to the MIT community
MIT is committed to providing an environment that is accessible to individuals with disabilities. If you need a disability related accommodation to attend or have other questions, please contact us at ssp-info@mit.edu.

One-day workshop leading to a holistic interdisciplinary discussion on urban vulnerable territories in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), with the aim of building a regional vision and advocating for systemic change. By analyzing common challenges in the LAC region—migration, climate, and urban inequality—we will examine specific cases and recent programs, such as the urbanization program of informal neighborhoods in Buenos Aires, Argentina; the Blocks of Care in Bogotá, Colombia; the Utopías in Iztapalapa, Mexico; and the National Urban Upgrading Program in Mexico.

This workshop seeks to bridge academia, think tanks, and practical applications, ultimately inspiring new utopian visions for the LAC region.

This event is open to the public and welcomes individuals with an interest in urban and environmental topics or a curiosity about the challenges faced by the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region. We extend the invitation to MIT students, alumni, faculty, as well as communities from other universities, and members of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and its network.

This workshop is the result of the collaboration between the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy; the Special Program for Urban and Regional Studies at DUSP, MIT; fellows (former and current) from the LOEB Fellowship at Harvard Graduate School of Design; and faculty members from The City College of New York, Columbia University and University of Texas.

To register: https://forms.gle/cwwb8MTaQaHhkugv7 

Are you interested in the exploration of existing and emerging decarbonization technologies, climate action, and how to plan for a carbon-free future? Do you want to know more about how MIT is working to decarbonize its own campus?

Join us for an IAP event to learn about the pathways to MIT’s campus decarbonization, including planning for the next energy era on campus, accelerating actions to reduce emissions today, and evaluating new technologies and strategies for the campus’s district energy system. This community event is open to students, staff, and faculty and will cover the topics of campus renewable energy, electrification, microgrids, resiliency, and more. Featuring in-depth presentations from Vice President for Campus Services and Stewardship Joe Higgins, Director of Sustainability Julie Newman, Professor Christoph Reinhart, and Senior Campus Planner Vasso Mathes, the forum concludes with a questions and answer session. Lunch will be provided. 

Please RSVP here.

Learn about how MIT’s Professor Hatton and his research group are using CO2 to tackle climate change on global scale through their research

Clean technology, or cleantech, encompasses innovative processes, products, and services designed to reduce carbon footprints and combat climate change. Join MIT's Professor Hatton as he delves into his research group's work to address climate change, with a particular focus on pioneering strategies for mitigating the impacts of carbon dioxide.

About the Speakers:

T. Alan Hatton: T. Alan Hatton is the Director of the David H. Koch School of Chemical Engineering Practice; Ralph Landau Professor of Chemical Engineering Practice; and Principle Investigator of the Hatton Research Group at MIT. As part of the MIT Energy Initiative, he co-directs the Center for Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage. His work focuses on the development of purification technologies of various kinds for use with air, water, and other substances.

About IAP:

This series is a part of MIT's 2024 Independent Activities Period (IAP), a flexible four-week period in January that allows faculty and students to engage in independent study and research, free from the constraints of regular classes.

About the TLO:

Our mission is to move innovations and discoveries from the lab to the marketplace for the benefit of the public and to amplify MIT's global impact. We cultivate an inclusive environment of scientific and entrepreneurial excellence, and bridge connections from MIT's research community to industry and startups, by strategically evaluating, protecting, and licensing technology.

Have you ever wondered how technology that’s developed in academic institutions is converted into a product for the public?

Have you ever wondered how technology that’s developed in academic institutions is converted into a product for the public? This process is known as technology transfer, and tech transfer professionals at research organizations all over the world evaluate new inventions, protect intellectual property, and license the technology to third parties, such as start-up ventures or existing companies, for development and commercialization.

At MIT, the Technology Licensing Office (TLO) supports MIT inventors throughout this process and plays a vital role in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

You'll hear from Lauren Foster and Deirdre Zammit, Associate Directors of the TLO, about the strategic approach MIT takes to move innovations from the bench to the marketplace.

About the Speakers:

Deirdre Zammit: Deirdre Zammit is MIT’s Associate Director of Licensing, Physical Sciences, leading the team that evaluates, protects, and licenses MIT innovations in the physical sciences. Deirdre’s professional experience includes roles managing and licensing corporate, academic, and federal laboratory intellectual property assets, with previous intellectual property management and licensing positions at Lucent Technologies, Agere Systems, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Naval Research Laboratory. Deirdre started her career as an engineer in the semiconductor industry and has also held global product manager, market manager, and corporate venture capital positions in industry.

Lauren C. Foster: Lauren focuses principally on licensing and commercialization of technologies in the biomedical, biotechnology, and medical device fields. Prior to joining MIT, she was Senior Director, IP and Technology Acquisition at Antigenics, Inc., a public biotechnology company, where she played an integral role in envisioning and implementing the company’s business, intellectual property, and technology strategies. Lauren was also a Technical Specialist at the law firm Lahive & Cockfield LLP where she focused on strategic development of intellectual property rights for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and universities.

Lauren holds a D.Sc. from Harvard University and a B.S. from Haverford College, and is a registered Patent Agent.

About the TLO:

Our mission is to move innovations and discoveries from the lab to the marketplace for the benefit of the public and to amplify MIT's global impact. We cultivate an inclusive environment of scientific and entrepreneurial excellence, and bridge connections from MIT's research community to industry and startups, by strategically evaluating, protecting, and licensing technology.

Many ideas that you develop incorporate things created by other people. In this session, learn when you need permission and how to get it.

Most things that you create incorporate elements created by other people. Whether it’s quotes and figures from scientific literature, or images used in an art project, “third-party content” is a part of most creative endeavors. In this session, learn when you need permission and how to get it.

About the Speakers:

Katie Zimmerman: Katie is the Director of Copyright Strategy for the MIT Libraries, where her role is to guide copyright decisions for use of library materials, negotiate content licenses, and help the Libraries and MIT community create and use copyrightable works to the fullest extent of the law. She has been with the MIT Libraries since 2016, and holds an M.L.I.S degree from the University of Pittsburgh and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Peter Bebergal: Peter is the Institute Use of Name Officer and also responds to incoming copyright requests for MIT owned images, video footage, and other materials. He has been with MIT for over 14 years.

About the TLO:

Our mission is to move innovations and discoveries from the lab to the marketplace for the benefit of the public and to amplify MIT's global impact. We cultivate an inclusive environment of scientific and entrepreneurial excellence, and bridge connections from MIT's research community to industry and startups, by strategically evaluating, protecting, and licensing technology.

Offers students alternative exploratory experience in teaching, learning, and researching. Through collaborative activities with open-ended experiments from diverse origins, participants re-create historical instruments and discoveries that challenged assumptions and sparked new investigations. Student curiosity and questions shape specific course content. Assignments include observations, experiments, readings, journal writing and sketching, and a final reflective paper. 

EC.S00/ EC.S12: The goal of this special IAP Learning Opportunity is to provide participants with a “how to” decarbonization manual, along with experiential learning opportunities through workshop-activities and field trips to Net Zero buildings in the greater Boston area. Elements of this Learning Opportunity include: 1) how to calculate a carbon footprint of a person, building, campus, city, country, 2) learning the basic science and engineering of decarbonization 3) examining case studies of 4th and 5th Generation geothermal district energy systems, such as the 1st 100% net zero campus, Colorado Mesa University 4) taking a deep dive into a D-Lab, Geo@MIT student team + MIT Alumni for Climate Action proposal for “100% Decarbonization of MIT Campus by 2035 via 6th Generation Geothermal District Heating and Cooling” 5) several field trips to Net Zero Buildings in the greater Boston area.

Design, build and test your own full-duplex radio with real-world hardware/software engineering!

Full-duplex technology is revolutionizing the wireless world! This system concept is fundamentally different that traditional radios that divide transmission and reception in either time and/or frequency. Future networks will leverage this emerging technology to improve efficiency and enhance mobile user experiences. This course will introduce students to the various self-interference cancellation techniques that enable full-duplex operation in wireless systems and will allow them to create their own full-duplex radios through hands-on engineering with real-world hardware/software.  Must register by 1/22/2024

Email Ken Kolodziej to register for the class at kenneth.koloddziej@ll.mit.edu

What is holography? It's not just beautiful art – it's also a range of measurement techniques that let you record a 3D light field. Come learn the theory of wave optics, interference, and diffraction, and then make your own holograms in our hands-on lab! See what your favorite image looks like when turned into a computer-generated hologram. We'll also do demos and visit the newly renovated MIT Museum, home of the world's most comprehensive collection of holographic art. No prior background required. Must register by 12/22/2023.

Email holography@ll.mit.edu to register. Limit 30 students. NOTE: All 5 class sessions are required.

Learn how MATLAB can be used to visualize and analyze data, perform numerical computations, and develop algorithms. Through live demonstrations and examples, you will see how MATLAB can help you become more effective in your coursework as well as in research. This session is targeted for students, faculty and researchers who are new to MATLAB.  However, experienced MATLAB users may also benefit from the session, as the MathWorks engineer will be covering some tips and tricks from the latest release of MATLAB.

Highlights

                · Accessing data from many sources (files, other software, hardware, etc.)

                · Using interactive tools for iterative exploration, design, and problem solving

                · Automating and capturing your work in easy-to-write scripts and programs

                · Sharing your results with others

                · Building and deploying GUI-based applications


Attendees must bring their own laptops.  MATLAB is not required to be installed.

Speaker Bio
Neha Sardesai is a Senior Education Application Engineer and is the dedicated technical resource for MIT. She partners with university customers to understand their technical and business challenges and identifies how MathWorks products can help address these challenges in education and research. She demonstrates the value of MATLAB and Simulink to grow their adoption in curriculum, research, and commercial projects. She received her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering with a focus on Biomedical Instrumentation from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 2016. She has been working at MathWorks for 6 years.

Can DALL-E Save Our Main Streets?

In a world where rapid technological changes risk threatening the survival of our main streets, can the ingenuity of generative AI help reimagine these quintessential spaces at the heart of our towns and cities?

Embark on a thought-provoking three-part journey that invites you to delve into the essence of main streets with DALL-E. Through the sharing of personal stories, a visit to a local main street, collaborative brainstorming, and innovative use of DALL-E prompts, we’ll bring to life a digital tapestry of what main streets have been, are, and what they could become.

Session 1: Reflecting on the Past (Tuesday, January 9, 2024 - 2 to 4 pm)

Harness DALL-E to awaken the spirit of our collective lived experiences of main streets in vivid digital form. 

Session 2: Observing the Present (Tuesday, January 16, 2024 - 2 to 5 pm)

Immerse yourself with a local visit to a present-day main street and aim to capture its essence through DALL-E prompts.

Session 3: Envisioning the Future (Tuesday, January 23, 2024 - 2 to 4 pm)

Participate in a collective visioning exercise where your ideas and DALL-E’s creativity will merge to design futures of transformed and thriving main streets.

Fueled by coffee and delightful pastries, the culmination of our creative sessions will form part of a unique digital collage to be shared with the MIT community, representing the collective visions of our main streets' past, present, and--most importantly--their future.

Limited to 12 participants, register by December 20 to secure your spot. Open to all, with a strong preference for those who can attend and fully engage in the three sessions.

Registration link here: https://forms.gle/7icaG28QJq2jSecj7

Facilitated by Fadi G. Haddad, Fulbright Canada Visiting Researcher at MIT’s Senseable City Lab investigating how big data can shed light on the dynamics and resilience of main streets. Email fhaddad@mit.edu for any questions.

This boot camp will introduce you to the fundamentals of deep learning. What are deep networks and how do they work? We will start by introducing the key data structures and algorithms used by neural nets. Then we will cover popular architectures that build upon these structures, including convolutional networks, residual networks, and transformers. We will look in detail at how these architectures have been applied to the field of computer vision, and we will also give examples of applications in other areas, such as natural language processing and scientific data analysis. The course will also include a hands on tutorial where you will run and code simple networks in Pytorch in your browser.

Part of the Expanding Horizons in Computing IAP series presented by the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing. See the full list of activities at computing.mit.edu/ExpandingHorizons.

Global Agencies and Urban Challenges – keeping an eye on the World Bank

January 29, 10:00 to 12:00
De-mystifying the evaluation of World Bank financed urban projects. How is it done and what do they mean? – really! 

The World Bank carries out a self-evaluation of each project it finances, and these evaluations are validated by the Independent Evaluations Group of the World Bank.  There is a systematic approach to assess the relevance, efficacy, and effectiveness of the operations resulting in project ratings.  The session will examine the evaluation process using several cases to exemplify the strengths and weakness of the approach.  These evaluations are in the public domain and are a rich source of information, data, and knowledge.

January 30, 10:00 to 12:00
Is the World Bank doing the right thing and is it doing it right? Urban Growth, Urban Resilience and Urban Waste Management

The session will discuss the findings and recommendations of three major Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) evaluations:  (i)  Managing Urban Spatial Growth: World Bank Support to Land Administration, Planning and Development; (ii) Building Urban Resilience: An Evaluation of the World Bank’s evolving approach, and (iii)  and Transitioning to a Circular Economy: An Evaluation of the World Bank Group Support for Municipal Solid Waste Management  (2010-2020).

Generative AI presents practical and societal challenges that are swiftly growing as the technology scales and is increasingly used. Generative models — some mimicking human capabilities — can be used alongside people to enhance project outcomes in domains from scientific discovery and education to industrial cases (i.e., material discovery, responsible AI, synthetic data, misinformation, and more). Focusing on the governance and regulatory angles, this workshop will convene scientists, technologists, administrators, industry professionals, and counsel to discuss mechanisms to oversee and guide the development of AI models developed in academia and academic-industry collaboration. In particular, three brainstorming sessions will explore mechanisms for developing responsible AI systems: data, the dataset used to define the models’ learning or the synthetic data generated; foundation models, their capabilities and colossal repository of information; and the impact of scaling models, from the growing number of parameters to democratizing miniaturized models and their increasing geographical and social impact.

Registration will open in early January.

Part of the Expanding Horizons in Computing IAP series presented by the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing. See the full list of activities at computing.mit.edu/ExpandingHorizons.

Starting a company is not just about technology!

Increase your knowledge and attend the Deshpande Center’s IAP course, “Legal Dos and Don’ts: What to Know When Starting Your Startup.” This seminar will feature expert insight into the legal issues to consider and minefields to avoid when you start a company.

Artificial intelligence leveraging multiple data sources and input modalities (tabular data, computer vision, and natural language) is poised to become a viable method to deliver more accurate results and deployable pipelines across various applications. This session aims to review progress in a variety of applications, including healthcare, meteorology and education, and discuss future directions.

Part of the Expanding Horizons in Computing IAP series presented by the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing. See the full list of activities at computing.mit.edu/ExpandingHorizons.

Join faculty from the MIT Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science for short talks on security.

Speakers:

• Ron Rivest: Welcome Remarks
• Henry Corrigan-Gibbs: Private Search
• Nickolai Zeldovich: Verification on Hardware
• Yael Kalai: Verification of Computation
• Vinod Vaikuntanathan: FHE

Part of the Expanding Horizons in Computing IAP series presented by the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing. See the full list of activities at computing.mit.edu/ExpandingHorizons.

The MIT authors of three recent books on design will talk about what design means in their domain, present examples of successful designs, and suggest prospects for the future of design in computing.

Design of Socio-Technical Systems
David Clark, Designing an Internet (MIT Press, 2018)

In this talk I will talk about the design principles of the Internet. I will describe how our understanding of system requirements evolved in the first decades, and how our changing understanding influenced the evolving design.  I will illustrate the space of system requirements and design options by looking at some alternative proposals for how to design an Internet, and the implications of some recent design proposals.

Design of Software Products
Daniel Jackson, The Essence of Software (Princeton University Press, 2021)

I’ll explain how successful innovations in software can usually be traced to just one or two “concepts” that offer new scenarios that, with seemingly small shifts, radically change how an application is used. I’ll give examples from apps such as Zoom, WhatsApp and Photoshop. I’ll also mention how viewing apps through concepts enables use of LLMs for code generation.

Design of Programs

Gerald Jay Sussman, Software Design for Flexibility (MIT Press, 2021)

It is hard to build systems that have acceptable behavior over a larger class of situations than was anticipated by their designers.  The best systems are evolvable: they can be adapted to new situations with only minor modification.  How can we design systems that are flexible in this way?

We have often programmed ourselves into corners and had to expend great effort refactoring code to escape from those corners.  We have now accumulated enough experience to feel that we can identify, isolate, and demonstrate strategies and techniques that we have found to be effective for building large systems that can be adapted for purposes that were not anticipated in the original design. I will illustrate such strategies with examples.

Part of the Expanding Horizons in Computing IAP series presented by the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing. See the full list of activities at computing.mit.edu/ExpandingHorizons.

This session will feature short talks by faculty from the MIT Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science on trustworthy systems.

Adam Chlipala, Correct-by-Construction Cryptographic Software: Important cryptographic algorithms have many different variations for different parameters and target hardware platforms, and conventionally, expert engineers need to reimplement an algorithm for each such combination, to get good performance.  The Fiat Cryptography project provides a generator that automates that specialization work that was previously highly manual.  As a bonus, the Fiat Cryptography code generator has a machine-checked mathematical proof of correctness.  It has been adopted to produce parts of a number of popular open-source libraries.

Srini Devadas, Security With Minimal Trust: We describe an approach to build computing systems that provide integrity of computation and data privacy for users while minimizing software and hardware that needs to be trusted.

Frans Kaashoek, Verifying Distributed Systems With Concurrent Separation Logic: Distributed systems are at the heart of cloud computing and bugs in them can lead to outages of Web sites. Unfortunately distributed systems are hard to get right because they must handle concurrency, crash recovery, replication, and reconfiguration, which interact in subtle ways.  A promising approach to verifying such systems (and thereby systematically eliminating bugs) is based on concurrent separation logic, which allows components to be verified independently yet handle tricky interaction between components.

Mengjia Yan, Principled Hardware Defenses Against Side-channel Attacks

Part of the Expanding Horizons in Computing IAP series presented by the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing. See the full list of activities at computing.mit.edu/ExpandingHorizons.

So, you've submitted your invention disclosure, spoken with patent counsel, and reviewed the application. What happens next?

This session will review the process that your application will undergo at the USPTO. We will cover, among other topics, some history, the Examiner’s role, prior art rejections, and the claims. We hope you will come away from this session with an understanding of how you can best contribute to the success of your patent application.

About the Speaker:

Paul Sorkin: Paul Sorkin is a Patent Attorney who worked in private practice and in-house at a major computer corporation prior to joining MIT TLO. He has prosecuted hundreds of patent applications and successfully obtained protection in diverse areas including medical devices, signal processing systems, semiconductors, and network technology.

About the TLO:

Our mission is to move innovations and discoveries from the lab to the marketplace for the benefit of the public and to amplify MIT's global impact. We cultivate an inclusive environment of scientific and entrepreneurial excellence, and bridge connections from MIT's research community to industry and startups, by strategically evaluating, protecting, and licensing technology.

This conference will achieve a confluence of two streams of commentary about Haiti’s struggle for true independence. More well-known is the discussion of the diverse interventions and influences of the international community – governmental and non-governmental, historical and contemporary – willingly enabled by a venal Haitian elite. A second factor, not as widely recognized but with deep social and political implications, is the systematic devalorization of Kreyòl – a national cultural treasure and the one language spoken by all Haitians and binding the entire nation together. The damage done by the denial of this fundamental facet of Haitian national identity is most dramatically and tragically seen in the educational sector, where it amounts to a violation of basic human rights.

So we will bring together two groups of scholars: academic, governmental, and journalistic experts on the real causes of Haiti’s afflictions, and linguists and educators with deep experience in confronting the “linguistic apartheid” characterizing official activities in Haiti, in the education sector and elsewhere. Our goal is to explore the deep connections between the issue of language-in-education and the larger issues of the economic exploitation and curtailment of sovereignty of Haiti.

At the conclusion of the conference, MIT's Center for International Studies will be hosting a Starr Forum, delivered by Dominique Dupuy, Ambassador of Haiti to UNESCO. For more information on the Starr Forum, please visit this link.

AGENDA:

9:00 AM - 9:15 AM

Welcome

9:15 AM - 10:30 AM

Panel 1: Elite domination / capture / closure and linguistic occupation

Moderator: Dominique Dupuy

Speakers: Jean Casimir, Nedgine Paul Deroly, Philippe-Richard Marius

10:30 AM - 11:00 AM

Break

11:00 AM - 12:15 PM

Panel 2: Educational challenges and opportunities: the long game

Moderator: Marc Prou

Speakers: Renauld Govain, Christine Low, Bertrhude Albert

1:30 PM - 2:45 PM

Panel 3: The “Outer peripheral trap”

Moderator: Nathalie Frédéric Pierre

Speakers: Robert Fatton, Jr, Scott Freeman, Malick Ghachem

2:45 PM - 3:15 PM

Break

3:15 PM - 4:30 PM

Panel 4: Control by the Core (Politics)

Moderator: Marlene Daut

Speakers: Brian Concannon, Jake Johnston, Alex Dupuy

4:30 PM - 4:45 PM

Conclusion

5:00 PM - 6:30 PM

Starr Forum featuring Dominique Dupuy, Ambassador of Haiti to UNESCO

Moderator: Michel DeGraff

SPONSORS:  MIT Center for International Studies (CIS), MIT Policy Lab, MIT Institute Community & Equity Office, MIT-Haiti Initiative

Special IAP Seminar hosted by the MIT Security Studies Program (SSP)

Abstract:

Logistics investments in force modernization have been low priority for the joint and service in the strategic transition from expeditionary deterrence focused on local and non-state actor threats to integrated deterrence where peer adversaries have the capability to challenge the global status quo. The most significant strategic implication in the increased capability of these actors the degradation of the United States’ multi-domain supremacy where regional access, once a presumption, is now at risk. Based on this strategic evolution, the modernization and investments in logistics capabilities directly influences adversary perceptions of strategic signaling in general and immediate deterrence and offers the ways and means to reinforce allied and partner perceptions through the persistent application of the functions of logistics. 

Speaker:

Marcus Gillett 

Lieutenant Colonel Gillett is the United States Marine Corp’s 2023-2024 MIT Security Studies Program Military Fellow. He has served in a variety of assignments in the Fleet Marine Forces to include: Company Command (2014-2015), Battalion Operations Officer and Executive Officer (2015-2017), and Commanding Officer of 9th Engineer Support Battalion (2021-2023). Lieutenant Colonel Gillett’s B-billet assignments include: Marine Officer Instructor at The Citadel (2011-2014), Commanding Officer, Recruiting Station Fort Lauderdale (2017-2020), and he served as a staff officer at Headquarters Marine Corps (2020-2021). 

Sponsor:  MIT Security Studies Program (SSP)

Open to the MIT community
MIT is committed to providing an environment that is accessible to individuals with disabilities. If you need a disability related accommodation to attend or have other questions, please contact us at ssp-info@mit.edu.

Session Time: 10:30am – 12:00pm EST, followed by TA hours - 12:00pm to 1:30pm

In this session, you will learn how to use MATLAB Online and GitHub to collaborate on MATLAB projects, version control their code, and ensure continuous integration. Following topics will be covered:

• What is MATLAB Online and GitHub?
• How to create, clone, and fork MATLAB projects on GitHub, and how to use MATLAB Online to edit and run them in a web browser.
• How to use GitHub to version and keep track of changes to MATLAB code, and how to resolve conflicts and merge branches.
• How to use GitHub actions to run tests for free and ensure continuous integration of MATLAB code.

Participants are expected to have basic knowledge of MATLAB and GitHub, and to have a MathWorks account and a GitHub account. The speaker will host TA hours after the talk, to address inquiries related to your research and projects.

Speaker Bio
Yann Debray is the product management team lead for MATLAB Online. His previous role was with the MATLAB Desktop and Language team, where he was focusing on the usages of MATLAB with Python. Prior to joining MathWorks in 2020, he has been working in the field of open-source scientific computing since 2014. He holds an Engineering Masters degree from the Arts & Métiers ParisTech Engineering School.

Session Time: 10:30am – 12:00pm EST, followed by TA hours - 12:00pm to 1:30pm

Computational notebooks have revolutionized the way we work, enabling us to seamlessly combine code, visualizations, and documentation in a single interactive environment. This workshop will provide you with a comprehensive understanding of how to leverage the full potential of MATLAB and Python using two amazing options for computational notebooks: MATLAB Live Scripts and Jupyter Notebooks. With hands-on exercises you will have the opportunity to use the MATLAB kernel in Jupyter, as well as practice some basic MATLAB and Python workflows, which will empower you to supercharge your data analysis, modeling, and visualization workflows.

Attendees must bring their own laptops.  Please also have access to MATLAB and your GitHub account set up.  The speaker will host TA hours after the talk, to address inquiries related to your research and projects.

Speaker Bio
María Elena Gavilán is a Technical Program Manager at MathWorks, supporting researchers and educators in engineering and science. Given her technical expertise with several engineering tools and languages like C++, Python and MATLAB, Maria supports projects that seek to increase the use of MATLAB alongside Open Source in research projects, particularly in applications involving AI and physical modeling.  María has extensive industry experience in numerical simulation projects (CFD and FEA) in the automotive and aerospace industries. María holds a BSc in Physics from the National University of Colombia, a MSc in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Purdue, and an MBA from UIUC.

The world is not so simple as to be divided between Pythonists and MATLABers. One of the great challenges in software development is to integrate different technologies or product stacks efficiently, streamlining development and facilitating collaboration between teams. In this sense, MATLAB provides flexible, bi-directional integration with many programming languages, including Python. This allows different teams to collaborate, integrating their developments and taking them to production regardless of their programming language preference.

In this session we will discuss how to work together with Python and MATLAB, being able to interchangeably call algorithms developed in one of the two languages from the other, thus expanding the possibilities when carrying out Data Science projects. The session focuses on and pivots around the different reasons why a Python user would call MATLAB algorithms, showing examples for the following use cases:

Highlights include:

• Calling Python libraries directly from MATLAB

• Calling a live MATLAB session from Python

• Package MATLAB analytics as royalty-free .py libraries


Attendees must bring their own laptops.  Set up information will be shared at the start of the workshop.  MATLAB is not required to be installed.

Speaker Bio
Neha Sardesai is a Senior Education Application Engineer and is the dedicated technical resource for MIT. She partners with university customers to understand their technical and business challenges and identifies how MathWorks products can help address these challenges in education and research. She demonstrates the value of MATLAB and Simulink to grow their adoption in curriculum, research, and commercial projects. She received her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering with a focus on Biomedical Instrumentation from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 2016. She has been working at MathWorks for 6 years.

Not a Metallurgy class! This veteran crash-course is coming back in full force and will have you head banging, air guitaring, and devil horn raising in no time! Learn everything you ever wanted to know about Heavy Metal, including how Metallica continues to evolve, why Lemmy IS God (RIP), how the genre tackles some of today's biggest sociopolitical challenges, why metal bands exist in every country on Earth, and why you're probably already a metalhead without even knowing it.  

WARNING: This series most definitely goes to 11!  Earplugs optional.

We'll look at metal cultures, explore the fringes of the most extreme forms of metal, and, of course, listen to some SCREAMING HEAVY METAL! This is guaranteed to be the most BRUTAL class ever offered at MIT! Anyone is welcome to join, and since we're remote again this year, seating isn't limited. Learn more about this series' past in the class archive!

Heavy Metal 101: Music and Culture

Monday January 15, 2024

An introduction to Heavy Metal. Topics include the musicology of Heavy Metal as well as an examination of Heavy Metal culture. This multimedia extravaganza covers everything you ever wanted to know about Heavy Metal!

Zoom Registration

Facebook Event

Music as Emotional Catharsis with Jason McMaster

Tuesday January 16, 2024

MIT Heavy Metal 101 is pleased to present guest lecturer, Jason McMaster. Jason McMaster, metal vocalist from bands including Watchtower and Dangerous Toys, will delve into the unique ways heavy metal serves as a form of emotional release and a coping mechanism for millions worldwide. Also a seasoned School of Rock educator for the past 18 years, Jason will discuss the process of song creation, from the intellectual spark to the physical act of crafting melodies with wood and wires, and how this genre has evolved into a therapeutic art form.

Zoom Registration

Facebook Event

Guitar Tablature Generation with Deep Learning with Pedro Sarmento

Wednesday January 17, 2024

MIT Heavy Metal 101 is pleased to present guest lecturer, Pedro Sarmento. Within the field of symbolic music generation with deep learning, most works focus on MIDI representations, but less attention has been paid to guitar-focused symbolic music using digital tablatures. Guitar Pro format tablatures are a type of digital music notation that encapsulates information about guitar playing techniques and fingerings. Tablatures are often the preferred way of notating music digitally amongst the rock and metal communities.  This presentation will showcase the findings concerning the generation of multi-instrument compositions in Guitar Pro with Transformer architectures. The talk will focus on (1) the DadaGP dataset, a corpus of Guitar Pro tablature data suitable for sequence models, (2) GTR-CTRL, conditioning methods for Transformer models for the task of guitar tablature generation that allow for control over instrumentation and musical genre, (3) ShredGP, methods for guitarist-style conditioned guitar tablature generation with Transformers and (4) ProgGP, a practice-based research approach for creating AI-generated but human-produced prog metal music.

Zoom Registration

Facebook Event

Innovating Metal Music with Technology with Jordan Rudess - LIVE In-Person and Online!

Thursday January 18, 2024

This class will take place online in-person on MIT's Campus in room 35-225 and will be livestreamed (if possible) and recorded for later viewing.

MIT Heavy Metal 101 is pleased to present guest lecturer, Jordan Rudess. Jordan Rudess, keyboardist for the progressive metal band Dream Theater and founder of Wizdom Music will share his expertise on the fusion of technology and metal music. Focusing on the innovative use of Riffler, an app for creating copyright-free guitar riffs, Jordan will also invite conversation regarding the roles of artificial intelligence and creativity in musical performance. This class will be an opportunity to gain insights from a pioneer in the integration of digital technology in metal music.

Zoom Registration

Facebook Event

Heavy Music Mothers: Extreme Identities, Narrative Disruptions with Joan Jocson-Singh and Julie Turley

Monday January 22, 2024

MIT Heavy Metal 101 is pleased to present guest lecturers, Joan Jocson-Singh and Julie Turley. The book Heavy Music Mothers: Extreme Identities, Narrative Disruptions is an exploration of women and heavy music and the ways in which women have historically engaged with musicking as mothers. Julie Turley and Joan Jocson-Singh, musicking mothers themselves, largely employ an ethnographic lens, foregrounded in powerful one-on-one original interviews as vignettes that narrate thematic patterns. Other chapters examine motherhood identity embedded in respective published rock music memoirs, discussions of rock performance as a site of maternal bonding, and themes that arise when heavy music mothers write about motherhood.

Zoom Registration

Facebook Event

The Physics of Shred with Dr. Gore

Tuesday January 23, 2024

MIT Heavy Metal 101 is pleased to present guest lecturer, Dr. Gore. Dr. Gore’s session will focus on the relationship between the physics of the electric guitar and the characteristic sounds of heavy metal guitars. Topics covered will include pickup design and placement, natural and artificial harmonics, multiscale/”fanned fret” guitars, the boons and banes of nonlinearity, and why distortion is so integral to the “heavy metal sound.” Dr. Gore will also perform some shredtastic demonstrations of each of these principles along the way.

Zoom Registration

Facebook Event

History of Heavy Metal: Part I

Wednesday January 24, 2024

A seminar examining the history of Heavy Metal from the late 1960s through the early 1990s. Topics will include Hard Rock, Archetypal Heavy Metal, and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM).

Zoom Registration

Facebook Event

Speaker: Ashesh Rambachan

Questions? Contact Eric Trueswell (erictrue@mit.edu)

Learn about the tools that can help you conduct research related to intellectual property.

When conducting research related to intellectual property, especially in the areas of patents and market research, there are some tools that you should keep in mind. In this session, Nick Albaugh, Management and Social Sciences Librarian for Innovation & Entrepreneurship from MIT Libraries, will explain the best tools to use as well as share more about:

- How to conduct a preliminary patent search using subscription-based and freely available tools

- How to find the most relevant market research using specialized resources

-How to gather material when a full market research report isn’t available

- How patent searching can inform market research and vice versa

About the Speakers:

Nick Albaugh: Nick is the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Librarian and Economics Librarian at the MIT Libraries and provides research assistance and consultations in these areas as well as business and management. He is a member of the MIT Libraries’ Urban Studies & Planning and Patents teams and also serves as a mentor for the MIT Sandbox Innovation Fund.

About the TLO:

Our mission is to move innovations and discoveries from the lab to the marketplace for the benefit of the public and to amplify MIT's global impact. We cultivate an inclusive environment of scientific and entrepreneurial excellence, and bridge connections from MIT's research community to industry and startups, by strategically evaluating, protecting, and licensing technology.

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required Limited to 35 participants

Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions

Prereq: Matrix Mathematics

Big Data describes a new era in the digital age where the volume, velocity, and variety of data created across a wide range of fields is increasing at a rate well beyond our ability to analyze the data.  Machine Learning has emerged as a powerful tool for transforming this data into usable information.  Many technologies (e.g., spreadsheets, databases, graphs, matrices, deep neural networks, ...) have been developed to address these challenges.  The common theme amongst these technologies is the need to store and operate on data as tabular collections instead of as individual data elements.  This class describes the common mathematical foundation of these tabular collections (associative arrays) that apply across a wide range of applications and technologies.  Associative arrays unify and simplify Big Data and Machine Learning.  Understanding these mathematical foundations allows the student to see past the differences that lie on the surface of Big Data and Machine Learning applications and technologies and leverage their core mathematical similarities to solve the hardest Big Data and Machine Learning challenges.

This interactive course will involve significant interactive student participation and a small amount of homework.   Those students who fully participate and complete the homework will receive a certificate of completion.

The MIT Press book "Mathematics of Big Data" that will be used throughout the course will be provided.

E-mail the instructor to sign up.

Instructors:

Hayden Jananthan - Research Scientist MIT Supercomputing Center - hayden.jananthan@ll.mit.edu

Jeremy Kepner - Fellow & Head MIT Supercomputing Center - kepner@ll.mit.edu

Signup Deadline: Dec 15

This seminar is designed to build your financial conflict of interest (fCOI) knowledge base in the context of MIT.

MIT’s sponsored research exceeds $750M annually, with funding received from federal agencies, private foundations, and industry. MIT also has a global reputation for its startup, innovation, and entrepreneurial culture with 30+ startups launched annually in collaboration with the MIT Technology Licensing Office (TLO).

This seminar is designed to build your financial conflict of interest (fCOI) knowledge base by presenting the history and evolution of the financial conflict of interest in research regulations, providing an overview of the COI process at MIT, and outlining the benefits of the collaborative efforts of the COI office and the MIT TLO to enable the entrepreneurial spirit of MIT.

About the Speakers:

Rupinder Grewal: Rupinder has served as MIT’s (first) COI officer for over 8 years, since 2012. Before assuming her current role, she spent 5 years in MIT's Technology Licensing Office working on MTAs, tangible property licensing, and multi-party research collaboration agreements. Prior to joining MIT, she spent over 10 years in research management roles in both academia and industry with a focus on research process development and improvement and implementation of high-throughput genomic platforms.

About the TLO:

Our mission is to move innovations and discoveries from the lab to the marketplace for the benefit of the public and to amplify MIT's global impact. We cultivate an inclusive environment of scientific and entrepreneurial excellence, and bridge connections from MIT's research community to industry and startups, by strategically evaluating, protecting, and licensing technology.

Learn how to solve a Rubik's Cube and receive a FREE RUBIK'S CUBE!

1/10: Beginner's method

1/17: CFOP method

1/24: Commutators

1/31: Blindfolded solving

Seats are limited to 20 people and registration is on a first-come-first-served basis.

Attendees are expected to participate in all four days.

Special IAP Seminar hosted by the MIT Security Studies Program (SSP)

Abstract:

Lieutenant Colonel Kristen Dewilde will discuss her experience in the US Air Force with Operation Allies Welcome, which aimed to resettle vulnerable Afghans in the US, many of whom worked with American forces in Afghanistan.

Speaker:

Kristen DeWilde

Lieutenant Colonel DeWilde is the United States Air Force’s 2023-2024 MIT Security Studies Program Military Fellow. Before this assignment, she served multiple operational flight surgeon roles, including Squadron Medical Element and Chief of Aerospace Medicine. Lt Col DeWilde was the commander of the 559 Aerospace Medicine Squadron.

Sponsor:  MIT Security Studies Program (SSP)

Open to the MIT community
MIT is committed to providing an environment that is accessible to individuals with disabilities. If you need a disability related accommodation to attend or have other questions, please contact us at ssp-info@mit.edu.

Pleasures of Poetry meets this IAP 2024 in 14E-304 from 1-2 p.m. every weekday from January 8-26, with the exception of MLK Jr. Day (Jan. 15). This popular activity – which aims to reach all those with an interest in poetry, regardless of experience level – has been offered every IAP for several decades. This will be the 28th year of Pleasures of Poetry at MIT. Each one-hour session is devoted to a poet or two, often a single poem, chosen by session leaders who volunteer to facilitate conversation for that day. Collaborative close reading is the aim and ideal of each hour. Some participants attend every session, but many others may drop in only once or twice during the series to discuss a favorite poet or poem, or to discover new favorites. The roster of poets is typically diverse — from classic Chinese poets to American poets laureate, and from such canonical figures as Shakespeare, Keats, Dickinson, and Bishop to contemporary poets including Louise Glück, Joy Harjo, Terrence Hayes, and many more. 

Free and open to the public; as well as staff, alumni, and students.

Pleasures of Poetry 2024 Poetry Booklet PDF 

Schedule: January 8 – January 26
(with the exception of MLK Day January 15th)
Building 14, 14E-304 @ 1:00-2:00pm

-

Mon 8 Stephen Tapscott and Tom Özden-Schilling
"An American Sunrise” by Joy Harjo

Tues 9 Peter Shor
"Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood” by William Wordsworth
“Immortality” by Matthew Arnold
"Reply to Mr. Wordsworth” by Archibald MacLeish

Wed 10 Mark Hessler
"Retreating Light”
“Grace”
"Parable" by Louise Glück

Thurs 11 Ben Mangrum
“sort by day, burn by night” Rita Wong

Fri 12 Avery Nguyen
”Triptych (#3)” by Diana Khoi Nguyen
“The Last Prom Queen in Antarctica” by Ocean Vuong

Mon 15 MLK Jr. Day (Institute Closed)

Tues 16 Anne Hudson
"Good Bones"
"Poem Beginning with a Line from Basho” by Maggie Smith

Wed 17 Moderator
"My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning

Thurs 18 Sandy Alexandre
”Abecedarian for Alzheimer's" by Joy Priest

Fri 19 Arthur Bahr
"Caelica - Sonnet 100” by Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke

Mon 22 Elizabeth Doran
"Et quoi penser du silence? (And What to Think of Silence?)"
"à toi (to you)" by Alejandra Pizarnik

Tues 23 Marah Gubar and Kieran Setiya
“Blocks World: The Lobster” by Emma Catherine Perry

Wed 24 Bronwen Heuer
"La loba (The She-Wolf)"
"Tú me quieres blanca (You Want Me White)"
"Cuadrados y ángulos (Squares and Angles)"
"Hombre pequeñito (Little Tiny Man)" by Alfonsina Storni

Thurs 25 Kevin McLellen
"States" by Kevin McLellan

Fri 26 Jessica Ruffin
“Spirit Matters” by Peter Rose

Overview: The focus of this workshop is to introduce the role of High Performance Computing (HPC) in research. Students will learn when to scale from their laptops to HPC, what challenges that introduces, and how to address those challenges with efficient HPC workflows. The MIT SuperCloud will be used for hands-on examples. Students should bring an existing research problem/application that they would like to scale as a project.

Pre-recorded lectures will be available before class and class time will be spent on hands-on activities and student research project work. Students taking the class for MIT credit must complete a short report on their project.

Jan 16 Introduction to Supercomputing Workflows and Systems

Jan 18 Serial Optimization and Parallel Speedup

Jan 23 Building and Running Parallel Workflows

Jan 25 Distributed Computing

Instructors: Lauren Milechin; Julie Mullen; Chris Hill

Panelists: Alonso Eduardo Bucarey (Amazon), Stacey Carlson (Uber), Pierre-Luc Vautrey (Meta), Ben Olken (Moderator)

Questions? Contact Eric Trueswell (erictrue@mit.edu)

Reason for God is an annual dinner series during IAP.  We host a guest speaker each night who will help us explore some of the big questions around the existence of God, Faith and Science, the Bible, Christianity, and Philosophy.  Come for a free catered meal and an engaing talk followed by Q and A.  Bring your questions. This series is designed for anyone - from the most skepitcal to those that believe in God and those who are spiritual, but not religious.  Come learn, come discuss, and come eat!  

Come for a day-long visit to learn about planning issues and efforts in the Forest City with the former Planning & Urban Development Director for Portland. We will travel by transit to experience how an innovative transit system works in a small city, and meet with city planning officials working on economic, housing, climate resilience and transportation issues.

Well known for its great architecture and food, Portland is rapidly becoming a place where climate migrants, affluent retirees, and those seeking urban amenities at a smaller scale are relocating. As a result, housing prices are up – as is homelessness. How does a Small City make sure any success is equitable? How do you make transit and walkability work in a place with relatively little traffic congestion? We will learn about how this small city by the ocean is trying to guide growth and change sustainably and justly. We will close out the day with a visit to a redevelopment district and one of the many tasting rooms in town, before taking the Downeaster train back to Boston.

This session will use this visit to learn about an emerging trend in urban development – the rise of the Small City. More than previous generations, Millennials are choosing to locate in these second- and third-tier cities as a way of balancing quality of life, employment opportunities, and the benefits of city amenities. The pandemic and increases in working “wherever” appear to be driving this trend even more quickly. How do we make sure current residents can stay when new residents inevitably drive up the cost of housing and create competition for employment? What about social services and the opportunity faced by New Americans, who are also living in Small Cities?

Be prepared for a long but interesting day, starting around 7 am. and returning to the Boston area around 8 pm. You should plan to dress for a Maine winter, including proper footwear, warm socks, and layers, as we will be walking outdoors for parts of the day.

Enrollment is limited to 12. Please send a short email of interest to Jeff Levine at jrlevine@mit.edu before 12/15/23.  Given limited spots and likely strong interest, admitted students must commit to attending, except in case of illnesses or other serious issues. Preference given to DUSP students.

Speaker: Dominique Dupuy, Ambassador of Haiti to UNESCO.

Moderator: Michel DeGraff, MIT professor of linguistics, director of MIT-Haiti Initiative, founding member of Akademi Kreyòl Ayisyen.

This Starr Forum will be at the conclusion of a day-long conference on linguistic barriers, exploitation and resistance in Haiti. For more information on the conference, please visit this link.

SPONSORS:  MIT Center for International Studies (CIS), MIT Policy Lab, MIT Institute Community & Equity Office, MIT-Haiti Initiative

Free & open to the public.

MIT is committed to providing an environment that is accessible to individuals with disabilities. If you need a disability related accommodation to attend or have other questions, please contact us at starrforum@mit.edu.

Sign up for Starr Forum emails to get notified about upcoming events.

A full listing of Starr Forums is available here.

The completion of Interstate Highways 93, 95 and 90 in Boston - known as the Central; Artery/Tunnel Project or the “Big Dig” - is a multi-faceted story of urban transportation policy and planning, citizen activism and its impacts on how transportation systems were built in the last decades of the 20th century through the present day, the resolution of extraordinary design and engineering complexities, and the politics of paying for such a massive infrastructure intervention. It is also a story about urban renewal - not in the classic mid-1950s sense but in a more modern sense of knitting communities together following the neglectful planning of mid-century America.

This IAP offering requires participants to listen to each of the 9 episodes of the recently released WGBH news podcast, “The Big Dig.”  Each 90 minute session will require participants to offer reaction, reflection and insights from the podcast, and provide an opportunity to I ask questions of two MIT lecturers and former state transportation secretaries: the architect of the Big Dig, Fred Salvucci, and the architect of the Metropolitan Highway System operating and funding legislation, Jim Aloisi.  Fred and Jim will facilitate the conversation and attempt to link lessons learned from the Big Dig to the planning and policy context that informs our thinking today.

Open to MIT community only (students, staff, faculty, DUSP alums).  To resister, email Jim Aloisi (jaloisi@mit.edu).

Learn about the Engine's approach to investments and supporting companies.

The Engine, built by MIT, is a venture capital firm that invests into "Tough Tech" companies and that provides a variety of services and facilities to those companies and to the greater "tough tech" ecosystem. This session will cover the Engine's approach to investments and how we support companies.

About the Speakers:

Reed Sturtevant: Reed is a General Partner on the investment team at The Engine. He serves as a Board Member for Celestial AI, Hyperlight, The Routing Company, Amide, Axoft, and Emvolon. Reed was a founder and Managing Director at Project 11 Ventures and Techstars Boston. He attended MIT and has a background in software. He ran Microsoft Startup Labs in Cambridge and was VP of Technology at Idealab, Boston. Early in his career he created Freelance Graphics which was acquired by Lotus Development Corp. He has been a lecturer at MIT Sloan and is a frequent speaker at MIT entrepreneurship courses and programs.

About the TLO:

Our mission is to move innovations and discoveries from the lab to the marketplace for the benefit of the public and to amplify MIT's global impact. We cultivate an inclusive environment of scientific and entrepreneurial excellence, and bridge connections from MIT's research community to industry and startups, by strategically evaluating, protecting, and licensing technology.

Most watches these days are electronic miracles, but we cannot easily get insight into how they work. The traditional mechanical watch is different in that we can see all of the parts and how they interact. A mechanical watch is a highprecision mechanical device with lots of clever ideas and insights that we can learn from.

Professor Sussman will explain the theory and design of the mechanical watch and its relationship to an electronic impulse-driven oscillator. There will be a discussion of friction (resistance) and its effect on Q and timing precision. He will explain why it is essential for the impulse to be supplied to the oscillator at the zero crossings of the angle, and why the oscillator will enter a limit cycle of a known amplitude.

In this lecture Professor Sussman will be assisted by Jack Kurdzionak, AWCI Fellow.

The lecture is scheduled for 2:00 PM, Friday, 19 January 2024, in lecture hall 32-141.

Special IAP Seminar hosted by the MIT Security Studies Program (SSP)

Abstract:

This presentation will walk the audience through the impacts made by technological advancement on war at sea, using examples from history to illustrate the transformation from the age of sail into the US’ current fleet and beyond.

Speaker:

Alan Janigian 

Lieutenant Commander Janigian is a United States Navy 2023-2024 MIT Security Studies Program Military Fellow. LCDR Janigian reported first to USS CINCINNATI (LCS 20) before LCS Crew 214 transferred to USS MANCHESTER (LCS 14). While on MANCHESTER he qualified as Tactical Action Officer and earned the 2020 Mine Division 12 Tactician of the Year Award. Successfully completing his tour as Combat Systems Officer, he fleeted up and currently serves as the Operations Officer.

Sponsor:  MIT Security Studies Program (SSP)

Open to the MIT community
MIT is committed to providing an environment that is accessible to individuals with disabilities. If you need a disability related accommodation to attend or have other questions, please contact us at ssp-info@mit.edu.

Special IAP Seminar hosted by the MIT Security Studies Program (SSP)

Abstract:

Colonel Karl Sondermann, US Army Logistics Officer and a trained active-duty Army Unit Historian will present a talk on recent US Army efforts to improve historical mindedness across our force while also better connecting with the American public. During his 20 year career, COL Sondermann has been empowered by Army leaders to pursue his graduate degree in Historic Preservation, selected as the Arlington National Cemetery Military Historian and Operations Officer, and encouraged to volunteer with numerous historic organizations; all while serving on active duty and using his experience to implement various historic initiatives to professionally develop his Soldiers. As we approach our nation’s semiquincentennial (250th) anniversary, this talk will provide career insights and reasons why modernizing how US Army Historians record, educate, and promote our nation’s history can help the US Military reverse current losses in public trust and confidence.

Speaker:

Karl Sondermann 

Colonel Sondermann is the United States Army's 2023-2024 MIT Security Studies Program Military Fellow. Prior to his arrival at MIT, he was assigned the J4- Director of Logistics, Special Operations Command Central at MacDill AFB, FL. Previous non-command assignments include deployments to Iraq for 15 months in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, a deployment to Afghanistan for 9 months in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, a deployment to Kuwait for 9 months in support of Operation Spartan Shield, two EUCOM assignments to Germany for 5 years, and a three-year assignment as the Operations Officer/Military Historian at Arlington National Cemetery.

Sponsor:  MIT Security Studies Program (SSP)

Open to the MIT community
MIT is committed to providing an environment that is accessible to individuals with disabilities. If you need a disability related accommodation to attend or have other questions, please contact us at ssp-info@mit.edu.

Join us to get an overview of copyright law with considerations of its history and relevance to IP.

Copyrighted works – whether writings, art, software, or media – are a major portion of the world’s creative, intellectual, and economic output. A discussion of copyright issues including commercial, research, academic licensing and open access/ open source. Join us for an overview with a TLO Officer and Copyright Program Associate!

About the Speakers:

Kevin Hogan: Prior to joining the TLO, Kevin at Bose Corp in various roles in Software and Embedded Systems product development for over 19 years. His latest role was managing licensing, royalties, compliance, and certifications for Bose consumer electronics products and technologies. Kevin holds an MBA from Boston College and where he participated in the ‘Leadership for Change’ program at the Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics, a year-long cohort dedicated to responsible leadership. Kevin also received a graduate certificate in Business Law from Cornell University and a number of graduate credits in Software Engineering from Brandeis University and UMASS Lowell. Kevin is a retired Navy Command Master Chief with over 30 years of Reserve and Active duty including numerous deployments supporting special warfare, aviation logistics and expeditionary missions around the globe.

Aidan Fowler: Aidan is a professional in the technology transfer and software licensing spaces, currently holding the position of Copyright Program Associate at MIT’s Technology Licensing Office. With a focus on software copyright, open source, and data, he brings valuable expertise to his role, driving the growth of software licensing and distribution at MIT. Over 4 years, Aidan has cultivated a rich professional background, encompassing education, consulting, and technology transfer. He holds a bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from Boston University, with a focus on technology innovation.

About the TLO:

Our mission is to move innovations and discoveries from the lab to the marketplace for the benefit of the public and to amplify MIT's global impact. We cultivate an inclusive environment of scientific and entrepreneurial excellence, and bridge connections from MIT's research community to industry and startups, by strategically evaluating, protecting, and licensing technology.

For IAP, the MIT Urban Planning Film Series will bring three special films to the screen, preceded by brief introductions, followed by short Q&A/discussions:

• Monday, Jan 8: Street Scene (Vidor, 1931)
• Thursday, Jan 18: The Lower Depths (Kurosawa, 1957)
• Monday, Jan 22: Hester Street (Silver, 1975)

All shows begin at 6pm, MIT room 3-133.  MIT community only.

See you at the movies...!

New things are built on what came before. If your work uses copyrighted material, you should know about fair use.

New things are built on what came before. If your work uses copyrighted material, you should know about fair use. What are your rights with regard to prior works? What requires permission and what doesn’t? This session will cover the basics of fair use for copyrighted works and leave you with an understanding of your rights, whether you are text mining the scientific literature, adapting a song, or sharing an image you found online.

About the Speakers:

Katie Zimmerman: Katie is the Director of Copyright Strategy for the MIT Libraries, where her role is to guide copyright decisions for use of library materials, negotiate content licenses, and help the Libraries and MIT community create and use copyrightable works to the fullest extent of the law. She has been with the MIT Libraries since 2016, and holds an M.L.I.S degree from the University of Pittsburgh and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

About the TLO:

Our mission is to move innovations and discoveries from the lab to the marketplace for the benefit of the public and to amplify MIT's global impact. We cultivate an inclusive environment of scientific and entrepreneurial excellence, and bridge connections from MIT's research community to industry and startups, by strategically evaluating, protecting, and licensing technology.

What is holography? It's not just beautiful art – it's also a range of measurement techniques that let you record a 3D light field. Come learn the theory of wave optics, interference, and diffraction, and then make your own holograms in our hands-on lab! See what your favorite image looks like when turned into a computer-generated hologram. We'll also do demos and visit the newly renovated MIT Museum, home of the world's most comprehensive collection of holographic art. No prior background required. Must register by 12/22/2023.

Email holography@ll.mit.edu to register. Limit 30 students. NOTE: All 5 class sessions are required.

Offers students alternative exploratory experience in teaching, learning, and researching. Through collaborative activities with open-ended experiments from diverse origins, participants re-create historical instruments and discoveries that challenged assumptions and sparked new investigations. Student curiosity and questions shape specific course content. Assignments include observations, experiments, readings, journal writing and sketching, and a final reflective paper. 

Pleasures of Poetry meets this IAP 2024 in 14E-304 from 1-2 p.m. every weekday from January 8-26, with the exception of MLK Jr. Day (Jan. 15). This popular activity – which aims to reach all those with an interest in poetry, regardless of experience level – has been offered every IAP for several decades. This will be the 28th year of Pleasures of Poetry at MIT. Each one-hour session is devoted to a poet or two, often a single poem, chosen by session leaders who volunteer to facilitate conversation for that day. Collaborative close reading is the aim and ideal of each hour. Some participants attend every session, but many others may drop in only once or twice during the series to discuss a favorite poet or poem, or to discover new favorites. The roster of poets is typically diverse — from classic Chinese poets to American poets laureate, and from such canonical figures as Shakespeare, Keats, Dickinson, and Bishop to contemporary poets including Louise Glück, Joy Harjo, Terrence Hayes, and many more. 

Free and open to the public; as well as staff, alumni, and students.

Pleasures of Poetry 2024 Poetry Booklet PDF 

Schedule: January 8 – January 26
(with the exception of MLK Day January 15th)
Building 14, 14E-304 @ 1:00-2:00pm

-

Mon 8 Stephen Tapscott and Tom Özden-Schilling
"An American Sunrise” by Joy Harjo

Tues 9 Peter Shor
"Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood” by William Wordsworth
“Immortality” by Matthew Arnold
"Reply to Mr. Wordsworth” by Archibald MacLeish

Wed 10 Mark Hessler
"Retreating Light”
“Grace”
"Parable" by Louise Glück

Thurs 11 Ben Mangrum
“sort by day, burn by night” Rita Wong

Fri 12 Avery Nguyen
”Triptych (#3)” by Diana Khoi Nguyen
“The Last Prom Queen in Antarctica” by Ocean Vuong

Mon 15 MLK Jr. Day (Institute Closed)

Tues 16 Anne Hudson
"Good Bones"
"Poem Beginning with a Line from Basho” by Maggie Smith

Wed 17 Moderator
"My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning

Thurs 18 Sandy Alexandre
”Abecedarian for Alzheimer's" by Joy Priest

Fri 19 Arthur Bahr
"Caelica - Sonnet 100” by Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke

Mon 22 Elizabeth Doran
"Et quoi penser du silence? (And What to Think of Silence?)"
"à toi (to you)" by Alejandra Pizarnik

Tues 23 Marah Gubar and Kieran Setiya
“Blocks World: The Lobster” by Emma Catherine Perry

Wed 24 Bronwen Heuer
"La loba (The She-Wolf)"
"Tú me quieres blanca (You Want Me White)"
"Cuadrados y ángulos (Squares and Angles)"
"Hombre pequeñito (Little Tiny Man)" by Alfonsina Storni

Thurs 25 Kevin McLellen
"States" by Kevin McLellan

Fri 26 Jessica Ruffin
“Spirit Matters” by Peter Rose

For IAP, the MIT Urban Planning Film Series will bring three special films to the screen, preceded by brief introductions, followed by short Q&A/discussions:

• Monday, Jan 8: Street Scene (Vidor, 1931)
• Thursday, Jan 18: The Lower Depths (Kurosawa, 1957)
• Monday, Jan 22: Hester Street (Silver, 1975)

All shows begin at 6pm, MIT room 3-133.  MIT community only.

See you at the movies...!

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required Limited to 35 participants

Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions

Prereq: Matrix Mathematics

Big Data describes a new era in the digital age where the volume, velocity, and variety of data created across a wide range of fields is increasing at a rate well beyond our ability to analyze the data.  Machine Learning has emerged as a powerful tool for transforming this data into usable information.  Many technologies (e.g., spreadsheets, databases, graphs, matrices, deep neural networks, ...) have been developed to address these challenges.  The common theme amongst these technologies is the need to store and operate on data as tabular collections instead of as individual data elements.  This class describes the common mathematical foundation of these tabular collections (associative arrays) that apply across a wide range of applications and technologies.  Associative arrays unify and simplify Big Data and Machine Learning.  Understanding these mathematical foundations allows the student to see past the differences that lie on the surface of Big Data and Machine Learning applications and technologies and leverage their core mathematical similarities to solve the hardest Big Data and Machine Learning challenges.

This interactive course will involve significant interactive student participation and a small amount of homework.   Those students who fully participate and complete the homework will receive a certificate of completion.

The MIT Press book "Mathematics of Big Data" that will be used throughout the course will be provided.

E-mail the instructor to sign up.

Instructors:

Hayden Jananthan - Research Scientist MIT Supercomputing Center - hayden.jananthan@ll.mit.edu

Jeremy Kepner - Fellow & Head MIT Supercomputing Center - kepner@ll.mit.edu

Signup Deadline: Dec 15

Learn how MATLAB can be used to visualize and analyze data, perform numerical computations, and develop algorithms. Through live demonstrations and examples, you will see how MATLAB can help you become more effective in your coursework as well as in research. This session is targeted for students, faculty and researchers who are new to MATLAB.  However, experienced MATLAB users may also benefit from the session, as the MathWorks engineer will be covering some tips and tricks from the latest release of MATLAB.

Highlights

                · Accessing data from many sources (files, other software, hardware, etc.)

                · Using interactive tools for iterative exploration, design, and problem solving

                · Automating and capturing your work in easy-to-write scripts and programs

                · Sharing your results with others

                · Building and deploying GUI-based applications


Attendees must bring their own laptops.  MATLAB is not required to be installed.

Speaker Bio
Neha Sardesai is a Senior Education Application Engineer and is the dedicated technical resource for MIT. She partners with university customers to understand their technical and business challenges and identifies how MathWorks products can help address these challenges in education and research. She demonstrates the value of MATLAB and Simulink to grow their adoption in curriculum, research, and commercial projects. She received her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering with a focus on Biomedical Instrumentation from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 2016. She has been working at MathWorks for 6 years.

Can DALL-E Save Our Main Streets?

In a world where rapid technological changes risk threatening the survival of our main streets, can the ingenuity of generative AI help reimagine these quintessential spaces at the heart of our towns and cities?

Embark on a thought-provoking three-part journey that invites you to delve into the essence of main streets with DALL-E. Through the sharing of personal stories, a visit to a local main street, collaborative brainstorming, and innovative use of DALL-E prompts, we’ll bring to life a digital tapestry of what main streets have been, are, and what they could become.

Session 1: Reflecting on the Past (Tuesday, January 9, 2024 - 2 to 4 pm)

Harness DALL-E to awaken the spirit of our collective lived experiences of main streets in vivid digital form. 

Session 2: Observing the Present (Tuesday, January 16, 2024 - 2 to 5 pm)

Immerse yourself with a local visit to a present-day main street and aim to capture its essence through DALL-E prompts.

Session 3: Envisioning the Future (Tuesday, January 23, 2024 - 2 to 4 pm)

Participate in a collective visioning exercise where your ideas and DALL-E’s creativity will merge to design futures of transformed and thriving main streets.

Fueled by coffee and delightful pastries, the culmination of our creative sessions will form part of a unique digital collage to be shared with the MIT community, representing the collective visions of our main streets' past, present, and--most importantly--their future.

Limited to 12 participants, register by December 20 to secure your spot. Open to all, with a strong preference for those who can attend and fully engage in the three sessions.

Registration link here: https://forms.gle/7icaG28QJq2jSecj7

Facilitated by Fadi G. Haddad, Fulbright Canada Visiting Researcher at MIT’s Senseable City Lab investigating how big data can shed light on the dynamics and resilience of main streets. Email fhaddad@mit.edu for any questions.

Learn how to solve a Rubik's Cube and receive a FREE RUBIK'S CUBE!

1/10: Beginner's method

1/17: CFOP method

1/24: Commutators

1/31: Blindfolded solving

Seats are limited to 20 people and registration is on a first-come-first-served basis.

Attendees are expected to participate in all four days.

Join us to get an overview of copyright law with considerations of its history and relevance to IP.

Copyrighted works – whether writings, art, software, or media – are a major portion of the world’s creative, intellectual, and economic output. A discussion of copyright issues including commercial, research, academic licensing and open access/ open source. Join us for an overview with a TLO Officer and Copyright Program Associate!

About the Speakers:

Kevin Hogan: Prior to joining the TLO, Kevin at Bose Corp in various roles in Software and Embedded Systems product development for over 19 years. His latest role was managing licensing, royalties, compliance, and certifications for Bose consumer electronics products and technologies. Kevin holds an MBA from Boston College and where he participated in the ‘Leadership for Change’ program at the Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics, a year-long cohort dedicated to responsible leadership. Kevin also received a graduate certificate in Business Law from Cornell University and a number of graduate credits in Software Engineering from Brandeis University and UMASS Lowell. Kevin is a retired Navy Command Master Chief with over 30 years of Reserve and Active duty including numerous deployments supporting special warfare, aviation logistics and expeditionary missions around the globe.

Aidan Fowler: Aidan is a professional in the technology transfer and software licensing spaces, currently holding the position of Copyright Program Associate at MIT’s Technology Licensing Office. With a focus on software copyright, open source, and data, he brings valuable expertise to his role, driving the growth of software licensing and distribution at MIT. Over 4 years, Aidan has cultivated a rich professional background, encompassing education, consulting, and technology transfer. He holds a bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from Boston University, with a focus on technology innovation.

About the TLO:

Our mission is to move innovations and discoveries from the lab to the marketplace for the benefit of the public and to amplify MIT's global impact. We cultivate an inclusive environment of scientific and entrepreneurial excellence, and bridge connections from MIT's research community to industry and startups, by strategically evaluating, protecting, and licensing technology.

Session Time: 10:30am – 12:00pm EST, followed by TA hours - 12:00pm to 1:30pm

In this session, you will learn how to use MATLAB Online and GitHub to collaborate on MATLAB projects, version control their code, and ensure continuous integration. Following topics will be covered:

• What is MATLAB Online and GitHub?
• How to create, clone, and fork MATLAB projects on GitHub, and how to use MATLAB Online to edit and run them in a web browser.
• How to use GitHub to version and keep track of changes to MATLAB code, and how to resolve conflicts and merge branches.
• How to use GitHub actions to run tests for free and ensure continuous integration of MATLAB code.

Participants are expected to have basic knowledge of MATLAB and GitHub, and to have a MathWorks account and a GitHub account. The speaker will host TA hours after the talk, to address inquiries related to your research and projects.

Speaker Bio
Yann Debray is the product management team lead for MATLAB Online. His previous role was with the MATLAB Desktop and Language team, where he was focusing on the usages of MATLAB with Python. Prior to joining MathWorks in 2020, he has been working in the field of open-source scientific computing since 2014. He holds an Engineering Masters degree from the Arts & Métiers ParisTech Engineering School.

EC.S00/ EC.S12: The goal of this special IAP Learning Opportunity is to provide participants with a “how to” decarbonization manual, along with experiential learning opportunities through workshop-activities and field trips to Net Zero buildings in the greater Boston area. Elements of this Learning Opportunity include: 1) how to calculate a carbon footprint of a person, building, campus, city, country, 2) learning the basic science and engineering of decarbonization 3) examining case studies of 4th and 5th Generation geothermal district energy systems, such as the 1st 100% net zero campus, Colorado Mesa University 4) taking a deep dive into a D-Lab, Geo@MIT student team + MIT Alumni for Climate Action proposal for “100% Decarbonization of MIT Campus by 2035 via 6th Generation Geothermal District Heating and Cooling” 5) several field trips to Net Zero Buildings in the greater Boston area.

Learn about the Engine's approach to investments and supporting companies.

The Engine, built by MIT, is a venture capital firm that invests into "Tough Tech" companies and that provides a variety of services and facilities to those companies and to the greater "tough tech" ecosystem. This session will cover the Engine's approach to investments and how we support companies.

About the Speakers:

Reed Sturtevant: Reed is a General Partner on the investment team at The Engine. He serves as a Board Member for Celestial AI, Hyperlight, The Routing Company, Amide, Axoft, and Emvolon. Reed was a founder and Managing Director at Project 11 Ventures and Techstars Boston. He attended MIT and has a background in software. He ran Microsoft Startup Labs in Cambridge and was VP of Technology at Idealab, Boston. Early in his career he created Freelance Graphics which was acquired by Lotus Development Corp. He has been a lecturer at MIT Sloan and is a frequent speaker at MIT entrepreneurship courses and programs.

About the TLO:

Our mission is to move innovations and discoveries from the lab to the marketplace for the benefit of the public and to amplify MIT's global impact. We cultivate an inclusive environment of scientific and entrepreneurial excellence, and bridge connections from MIT's research community to industry and startups, by strategically evaluating, protecting, and licensing technology.

Session Time: 10:30am – 12:00pm EST, followed by TA hours - 12:00pm to 1:30pm

Computational notebooks have revolutionized the way we work, enabling us to seamlessly combine code, visualizations, and documentation in a single interactive environment. This workshop will provide you with a comprehensive understanding of how to leverage the full potential of MATLAB and Python using two amazing options for computational notebooks: MATLAB Live Scripts and Jupyter Notebooks. With hands-on exercises you will have the opportunity to use the MATLAB kernel in Jupyter, as well as practice some basic MATLAB and Python workflows, which will empower you to supercharge your data analysis, modeling, and visualization workflows.

Attendees must bring their own laptops.  Please also have access to MATLAB and your GitHub account set up.  The speaker will host TA hours after the talk, to address inquiries related to your research and projects.

Speaker Bio
María Elena Gavilán is a Technical Program Manager at MathWorks, supporting researchers and educators in engineering and science. Given her technical expertise with several engineering tools and languages like C++, Python and MATLAB, Maria supports projects that seek to increase the use of MATLAB alongside Open Source in research projects, particularly in applications involving AI and physical modeling.  María has extensive industry experience in numerical simulation projects (CFD and FEA) in the automotive and aerospace industries. María holds a BSc in Physics from the National University of Colombia, a MSc in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Purdue, and an MBA from UIUC.

Speaker: Ashesh Rambachan

Questions? Contact Eric Trueswell (erictrue@mit.edu)

Not a Metallurgy class! This veteran crash-course is coming back in full force and will have you head banging, air guitaring, and devil horn raising in no time! Learn everything you ever wanted to know about Heavy Metal, including how Metallica continues to evolve, why Lemmy IS God (RIP), how the genre tackles some of today's biggest sociopolitical challenges, why metal bands exist in every country on Earth, and why you're probably already a metalhead without even knowing it.  

WARNING: This series most definitely goes to 11!  Earplugs optional.

We'll look at metal cultures, explore the fringes of the most extreme forms of metal, and, of course, listen to some SCREAMING HEAVY METAL! This is guaranteed to be the most BRUTAL class ever offered at MIT! Anyone is welcome to join, and since we're remote again this year, seating isn't limited. Learn more about this series' past in the class archive!

Heavy Metal 101: Music and Culture

Monday January 15, 2024

An introduction to Heavy Metal. Topics include the musicology of Heavy Metal as well as an examination of Heavy Metal culture. This multimedia extravaganza covers everything you ever wanted to know about Heavy Metal!

Zoom Registration

Facebook Event

Music as Emotional Catharsis with Jason McMaster

Tuesday January 16, 2024

MIT Heavy Metal 101 is pleased to present guest lecturer, Jason McMaster. Jason McMaster, metal vocalist from bands including Watchtower and Dangerous Toys, will delve into the unique ways heavy metal serves as a form of emotional release and a coping mechanism for millions worldwide. Also a seasoned School of Rock educator for the past 18 years, Jason will discuss the process of song creation, from the intellectual spark to the physical act of crafting melodies with wood and wires, and how this genre has evolved into a therapeutic art form.

Zoom Registration

Facebook Event

Guitar Tablature Generation with Deep Learning with Pedro Sarmento

Wednesday January 17, 2024

MIT Heavy Metal 101 is pleased to present guest lecturer, Pedro Sarmento. Within the field of symbolic music generation with deep learning, most works focus on MIDI representations, but less attention has been paid to guitar-focused symbolic music using digital tablatures. Guitar Pro format tablatures are a type of digital music notation that encapsulates information about guitar playing techniques and fingerings. Tablatures are often the preferred way of notating music digitally amongst the rock and metal communities.  This presentation will showcase the findings concerning the generation of multi-instrument compositions in Guitar Pro with Transformer architectures. The talk will focus on (1) the DadaGP dataset, a corpus of Guitar Pro tablature data suitable for sequence models, (2) GTR-CTRL, conditioning methods for Transformer models for the task of guitar tablature generation that allow for control over instrumentation and musical genre, (3) ShredGP, methods for guitarist-style conditioned guitar tablature generation with Transformers and (4) ProgGP, a practice-based research approach for creating AI-generated but human-produced prog metal music.

Zoom Registration

Facebook Event

Innovating Metal Music with Technology with Jordan Rudess - LIVE In-Person and Online!

Thursday January 18, 2024

This class will take place online in-person on MIT's Campus in room 35-225 and will be livestreamed (if possible) and recorded for later viewing.

MIT Heavy Metal 101 is pleased to present guest lecturer, Jordan Rudess. Jordan Rudess, keyboardist for the progressive metal band Dream Theater and founder of Wizdom Music will share his expertise on the fusion of technology and metal music. Focusing on the innovative use of Riffler, an app for creating copyright-free guitar riffs, Jordan will also invite conversation regarding the roles of artificial intelligence and creativity in musical performance. This class will be an opportunity to gain insights from a pioneer in the integration of digital technology in metal music.

Zoom Registration

Facebook Event

Heavy Music Mothers: Extreme Identities, Narrative Disruptions with Joan Jocson-Singh and Julie Turley

Monday January 22, 2024

MIT Heavy Metal 101 is pleased to present guest lecturers, Joan Jocson-Singh and Julie Turley. The book Heavy Music Mothers: Extreme Identities, Narrative Disruptions is an exploration of women and heavy music and the ways in which women have historically engaged with musicking as mothers. Julie Turley and Joan Jocson-Singh, musicking mothers themselves, largely employ an ethnographic lens, foregrounded in powerful one-on-one original interviews as vignettes that narrate thematic patterns. Other chapters examine motherhood identity embedded in respective published rock music memoirs, discussions of rock performance as a site of maternal bonding, and themes that arise when heavy music mothers write about motherhood.

Zoom Registration

Facebook Event

The Physics of Shred with Dr. Gore

Tuesday January 23, 2024

MIT Heavy Metal 101 is pleased to present guest lecturer, Dr. Gore. Dr. Gore’s session will focus on the relationship between the physics of the electric guitar and the characteristic sounds of heavy metal guitars. Topics covered will include pickup design and placement, natural and artificial harmonics, multiscale/”fanned fret” guitars, the boons and banes of nonlinearity, and why distortion is so integral to the “heavy metal sound.” Dr. Gore will also perform some shredtastic demonstrations of each of these principles along the way.

Zoom Registration

Facebook Event

History of Heavy Metal: Part I

Wednesday January 24, 2024

A seminar examining the history of Heavy Metal from the late 1960s through the early 1990s. Topics will include Hard Rock, Archetypal Heavy Metal, and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM).

Zoom Registration

Facebook Event

This seminar is designed to build your financial conflict of interest (fCOI) knowledge base in the context of MIT.

MIT’s sponsored research exceeds $750M annually, with funding received from federal agencies, private foundations, and industry. MIT also has a global reputation for its startup, innovation, and entrepreneurial culture with 30+ startups launched annually in collaboration with the MIT Technology Licensing Office (TLO).

This seminar is designed to build your financial conflict of interest (fCOI) knowledge base by presenting the history and evolution of the financial conflict of interest in research regulations, providing an overview of the COI process at MIT, and outlining the benefits of the collaborative efforts of the COI office and the MIT TLO to enable the entrepreneurial spirit of MIT.

About the Speakers:

Rupinder Grewal: Rupinder has served as MIT’s (first) COI officer for over 8 years, since 2012. Before assuming her current role, she spent 5 years in MIT's Technology Licensing Office working on MTAs, tangible property licensing, and multi-party research collaboration agreements. Prior to joining MIT, she spent over 10 years in research management roles in both academia and industry with a focus on research process development and improvement and implementation of high-throughput genomic platforms.

About the TLO:

Our mission is to move innovations and discoveries from the lab to the marketplace for the benefit of the public and to amplify MIT's global impact. We cultivate an inclusive environment of scientific and entrepreneurial excellence, and bridge connections from MIT's research community to industry and startups, by strategically evaluating, protecting, and licensing technology.

The world is not so simple as to be divided between Pythonists and MATLABers. One of the great challenges in software development is to integrate different technologies or product stacks efficiently, streamlining development and facilitating collaboration between teams. In this sense, MATLAB provides flexible, bi-directional integration with many programming languages, including Python. This allows different teams to collaborate, integrating their developments and taking them to production regardless of their programming language preference.

In this session we will discuss how to work together with Python and MATLAB, being able to interchangeably call algorithms developed in one of the two languages from the other, thus expanding the possibilities when carrying out Data Science projects. The session focuses on and pivots around the different reasons why a Python user would call MATLAB algorithms, showing examples for the following use cases:

Highlights include:

• Calling Python libraries directly from MATLAB

• Calling a live MATLAB session from Python

• Package MATLAB analytics as royalty-free .py libraries


Attendees must bring their own laptops.  Set up information will be shared at the start of the workshop.  MATLAB is not required to be installed.

Speaker Bio
Neha Sardesai is a Senior Education Application Engineer and is the dedicated technical resource for MIT. She partners with university customers to understand their technical and business challenges and identifies how MathWorks products can help address these challenges in education and research. She demonstrates the value of MATLAB and Simulink to grow their adoption in curriculum, research, and commercial projects. She received her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering with a focus on Biomedical Instrumentation from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 2016. She has been working at MathWorks for 6 years.

Overview: The focus of this workshop is to introduce the role of High Performance Computing (HPC) in research. Students will learn when to scale from their laptops to HPC, what challenges that introduces, and how to address those challenges with efficient HPC workflows. The MIT SuperCloud will be used for hands-on examples. Students should bring an existing research problem/application that they would like to scale as a project.

Pre-recorded lectures will be available before class and class time will be spent on hands-on activities and student research project work. Students taking the class for MIT credit must complete a short report on their project.

Jan 16 Introduction to Supercomputing Workflows and Systems

Jan 18 Serial Optimization and Parallel Speedup

Jan 23 Building and Running Parallel Workflows

Jan 25 Distributed Computing

Instructors: Lauren Milechin; Julie Mullen; Chris Hill

The completion of Interstate Highways 93, 95 and 90 in Boston - known as the Central; Artery/Tunnel Project or the “Big Dig” - is a multi-faceted story of urban transportation policy and planning, citizen activism and its impacts on how transportation systems were built in the last decades of the 20th century through the present day, the resolution of extraordinary design and engineering complexities, and the politics of paying for such a massive infrastructure intervention. It is also a story about urban renewal - not in the classic mid-1950s sense but in a more modern sense of knitting communities together following the neglectful planning of mid-century America.

This IAP offering requires participants to listen to each of the 9 episodes of the recently released WGBH news podcast, “The Big Dig.”  Each 90 minute session will require participants to offer reaction, reflection and insights from the podcast, and provide an opportunity to I ask questions of two MIT lecturers and former state transportation secretaries: the architect of the Big Dig, Fred Salvucci, and the architect of the Metropolitan Highway System operating and funding legislation, Jim Aloisi.  Fred and Jim will facilitate the conversation and attempt to link lessons learned from the Big Dig to the planning and policy context that informs our thinking today.

Open to MIT community only (students, staff, faculty, DUSP alums).  To resister, email Jim Aloisi (jaloisi@mit.edu).

So, you've submitted your invention disclosure, spoken with patent counsel, and reviewed the application. What happens next?

This session will review the process that your application will undergo at the USPTO. We will cover, among other topics, some history, the Examiner’s role, prior art rejections, and the claims. We hope you will come away from this session with an understanding of how you can best contribute to the success of your patent application.

About the Speaker:

Paul Sorkin: Paul Sorkin is a Patent Attorney who worked in private practice and in-house at a major computer corporation prior to joining MIT TLO. He has prosecuted hundreds of patent applications and successfully obtained protection in diverse areas including medical devices, signal processing systems, semiconductors, and network technology.

About the TLO:

Our mission is to move innovations and discoveries from the lab to the marketplace for the benefit of the public and to amplify MIT's global impact. We cultivate an inclusive environment of scientific and entrepreneurial excellence, and bridge connections from MIT's research community to industry and startups, by strategically evaluating, protecting, and licensing technology.

Special IAP Seminar hosted by the MIT Security Studies Program (SSP)

Abstract:

Lieutenant Colonel Kristen Dewilde will discuss her experience in the US Air Force with Operation Allies Welcome, which aimed to resettle vulnerable Afghans in the US, many of whom worked with American forces in Afghanistan.

Speaker:

Kristen DeWilde

Lieutenant Colonel DeWilde is the United States Air Force’s 2023-2024 MIT Security Studies Program Military Fellow. Before this assignment, she served multiple operational flight surgeon roles, including Squadron Medical Element and Chief of Aerospace Medicine. Lt Col DeWilde was the commander of the 559 Aerospace Medicine Squadron.

Sponsor:  MIT Security Studies Program (SSP)

Open to the MIT community
MIT is committed to providing an environment that is accessible to individuals with disabilities. If you need a disability related accommodation to attend or have other questions, please contact us at ssp-info@mit.edu.

Have you ever wondered how technology that’s developed in academic institutions is converted into a product for the public?

Have you ever wondered how technology that’s developed in academic institutions is converted into a product for the public? This process is known as technology transfer, and tech transfer professionals at research organizations all over the world evaluate new inventions, protect intellectual property, and license the technology to third parties, such as start-up ventures or existing companies, for development and commercialization.

At MIT, the Technology Licensing Office (TLO) supports MIT inventors throughout this process and plays a vital role in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

You'll hear from Lauren Foster and Deirdre Zammit, Associate Directors of the TLO, about the strategic approach MIT takes to move innovations from the bench to the marketplace.

About the Speakers:

Deirdre Zammit: Deirdre Zammit is MIT’s Associate Director of Licensing, Physical Sciences, leading the team that evaluates, protects, and licenses MIT innovations in the physical sciences. Deirdre’s professional experience includes roles managing and licensing corporate, academic, and federal laboratory intellectual property assets, with previous intellectual property management and licensing positions at Lucent Technologies, Agere Systems, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Naval Research Laboratory. Deirdre started her career as an engineer in the semiconductor industry and has also held global product manager, market manager, and corporate venture capital positions in industry.

Lauren C. Foster: Lauren focuses principally on licensing and commercialization of technologies in the biomedical, biotechnology, and medical device fields. Prior to joining MIT, she was Senior Director, IP and Technology Acquisition at Antigenics, Inc., a public biotechnology company, where she played an integral role in envisioning and implementing the company’s business, intellectual property, and technology strategies. Lauren was also a Technical Specialist at the law firm Lahive & Cockfield LLP where she focused on strategic development of intellectual property rights for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and universities.

Lauren holds a D.Sc. from Harvard University and a B.S. from Haverford College, and is a registered Patent Agent.

About the TLO:

Our mission is to move innovations and discoveries from the lab to the marketplace for the benefit of the public and to amplify MIT's global impact. We cultivate an inclusive environment of scientific and entrepreneurial excellence, and bridge connections from MIT's research community to industry and startups, by strategically evaluating, protecting, and licensing technology.

Come for a day-long visit to learn about planning issues and efforts in the Forest City with the former Planning & Urban Development Director for Portland. We will travel by transit to experience how an innovative transit system works in a small city, and meet with city planning officials working on economic, housing, climate resilience and transportation issues.

Well known for its great architecture and food, Portland is rapidly becoming a place where climate migrants, affluent retirees, and those seeking urban amenities at a smaller scale are relocating. As a result, housing prices are up – as is homelessness. How does a Small City make sure any success is equitable? How do you make transit and walkability work in a place with relatively little traffic congestion? We will learn about how this small city by the ocean is trying to guide growth and change sustainably and justly. We will close out the day with a visit to a redevelopment district and one of the many tasting rooms in town, before taking the Downeaster train back to Boston.

This session will use this visit to learn about an emerging trend in urban development – the rise of the Small City. More than previous generations, Millennials are choosing to locate in these second- and third-tier cities as a way of balancing quality of life, employment opportunities, and the benefits of city amenities. The pandemic and increases in working “wherever” appear to be driving this trend even more quickly. How do we make sure current residents can stay when new residents inevitably drive up the cost of housing and create competition for employment? What about social services and the opportunity faced by New Americans, who are also living in Small Cities?

Be prepared for a long but interesting day, starting around 7 am. and returning to the Boston area around 8 pm. You should plan to dress for a Maine winter, including proper footwear, warm socks, and layers, as we will be walking outdoors for parts of the day.

Enrollment is limited to 12. Please send a short email of interest to Jeff Levine at jrlevine@mit.edu before 12/15/23.  Given limited spots and likely strong interest, admitted students must commit to attending, except in case of illnesses or other serious issues. Preference given to DUSP students.

Reason for God is an annual dinner series during IAP.  We host a guest speaker each night who will help us explore some of the big questions around the existence of God, Faith and Science, the Bible, Christianity, and Philosophy.  Come for a free catered meal and an engaing talk followed by Q and A.  Bring your questions. This series is designed for anyone - from the most skepitcal to those that believe in God and those who are spiritual, but not religious.  Come learn, come discuss, and come eat!  

Most watches these days are electronic miracles, but we cannot easily get insight into how they work. The traditional mechanical watch is different in that we can see all of the parts and how they interact. A mechanical watch is a highprecision mechanical device with lots of clever ideas and insights that we can learn from.

Professor Sussman will explain the theory and design of the mechanical watch and its relationship to an electronic impulse-driven oscillator. There will be a discussion of friction (resistance) and its effect on Q and timing precision. He will explain why it is essential for the impulse to be supplied to the oscillator at the zero crossings of the angle, and why the oscillator will enter a limit cycle of a known amplitude.

In this lecture Professor Sussman will be assisted by Jack Kurdzionak, AWCI Fellow.

The lecture is scheduled for 2:00 PM, Friday, 19 January 2024, in lecture hall 32-141.

This conference will achieve a confluence of two streams of commentary about Haiti’s struggle for true independence. More well-known is the discussion of the diverse interventions and influences of the international community – governmental and non-governmental, historical and contemporary – willingly enabled by a venal Haitian elite. A second factor, not as widely recognized but with deep social and political implications, is the systematic devalorization of Kreyòl – a national cultural treasure and the one language spoken by all Haitians and binding the entire nation together. The damage done by the denial of this fundamental facet of Haitian national identity is most dramatically and tragically seen in the educational sector, where it amounts to a violation of basic human rights.

So we will bring together two groups of scholars: academic, governmental, and journalistic experts on the real causes of Haiti’s afflictions, and linguists and educators with deep experience in confronting the “linguistic apartheid” characterizing official activities in Haiti, in the education sector and elsewhere. Our goal is to explore the deep connections between the issue of language-in-education and the larger issues of the economic exploitation and curtailment of sovereignty of Haiti.

At the conclusion of the conference, MIT's Center for International Studies will be hosting a Starr Forum, delivered by Dominique Dupuy, Ambassador of Haiti to UNESCO. For more information on the Starr Forum, please visit this link.

AGENDA:

9:00 AM - 9:15 AM

Welcome

9:15 AM - 10:30 AM

Panel 1: Elite domination / capture / closure and linguistic occupation

Moderator: Dominique Dupuy

Speakers: Jean Casimir, Nedgine Paul Deroly, Philippe-Richard Marius

10:30 AM - 11:00 AM

Break

11:00 AM - 12:15 PM

Panel 2: Educational challenges and opportunities: the long game

Moderator: Marc Prou

Speakers: Renauld Govain, Christine Low, Bertrhude Albert

1:30 PM - 2:45 PM

Panel 3: The “Outer peripheral trap”

Moderator: Nathalie Frédéric Pierre

Speakers: Robert Fatton, Jr, Scott Freeman, Malick Ghachem

2:45 PM - 3:15 PM

Break

3:15 PM - 4:30 PM

Panel 4: Control by the Core (Politics)

Moderator: Marlene Daut

Speakers: Brian Concannon, Jake Johnston, Alex Dupuy

4:30 PM - 4:45 PM

Conclusion

5:00 PM - 6:30 PM

Starr Forum featuring Dominique Dupuy, Ambassador of Haiti to UNESCO

Moderator: Michel DeGraff

SPONSORS:  MIT Center for International Studies (CIS), MIT Policy Lab, MIT Institute Community & Equity Office, MIT-Haiti Initiative

Speaker: Dominique Dupuy, Ambassador of Haiti to UNESCO.

Moderator: Michel DeGraff, MIT professor of linguistics, director of MIT-Haiti Initiative, founding member of Akademi Kreyòl Ayisyen.

This Starr Forum will be at the conclusion of a day-long conference on linguistic barriers, exploitation and resistance in Haiti. For more information on the conference, please visit this link.

SPONSORS:  MIT Center for International Studies (CIS), MIT Policy Lab, MIT Institute Community & Equity Office, MIT-Haiti Initiative

Free & open to the public.

MIT is committed to providing an environment that is accessible to individuals with disabilities. If you need a disability related accommodation to attend or have other questions, please contact us at starrforum@mit.edu.

Sign up for Starr Forum emails to get notified about upcoming events.

A full listing of Starr Forums is available here.

Instructor: Victor M. Quintas-Martinez

Questions? Contact Eric Trueswell (erictrue@mit.edu)

Learn about the tools that can help you conduct research related to intellectual property.

When conducting research related to intellectual property, especially in the areas of patents and market research, there are some tools that you should keep in mind. In this session, Nick Albaugh, Management and Social Sciences Librarian for Innovation & Entrepreneurship from MIT Libraries, will explain the best tools to use as well as share more about:

- How to conduct a preliminary patent search using subscription-based and freely available tools

- How to find the most relevant market research using specialized resources

-How to gather material when a full market research report isn’t available

- How patent searching can inform market research and vice versa

About the Speakers:

Nick Albaugh: Nick is the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Librarian and Economics Librarian at the MIT Libraries and provides research assistance and consultations in these areas as well as business and management. He is a member of the MIT Libraries’ Urban Studies & Planning and Patents teams and also serves as a mentor for the MIT Sandbox Innovation Fund.

About the TLO:

Our mission is to move innovations and discoveries from the lab to the marketplace for the benefit of the public and to amplify MIT's global impact. We cultivate an inclusive environment of scientific and entrepreneurial excellence, and bridge connections from MIT's research community to industry and startups, by strategically evaluating, protecting, and licensing technology.

Special IAP Seminar hosted by the MIT Security Studies Program (SSP)

Abstract:

Logistics investments in force modernization have been low priority for the joint and service in the strategic transition from expeditionary deterrence focused on local and non-state actor threats to integrated deterrence where peer adversaries have the capability to challenge the global status quo. The most significant strategic implication in the increased capability of these actors the degradation of the United States’ multi-domain supremacy where regional access, once a presumption, is now at risk. Based on this strategic evolution, the modernization and investments in logistics capabilities directly influences adversary perceptions of strategic signaling in general and immediate deterrence and offers the ways and means to reinforce allied and partner perceptions through the persistent application of the functions of logistics. 

Speaker:

Marcus Gillett 

Lieutenant Colonel Gillett is the United States Marine Corp’s 2023-2024 MIT Security Studies Program Military Fellow. He has served in a variety of assignments in the Fleet Marine Forces to include: Company Command (2014-2015), Battalion Operations Officer and Executive Officer (2015-2017), and Commanding Officer of 9th Engineer Support Battalion (2021-2023). Lieutenant Colonel Gillett’s B-billet assignments include: Marine Officer Instructor at The Citadel (2011-2014), Commanding Officer, Recruiting Station Fort Lauderdale (2017-2020), and he served as a staff officer at Headquarters Marine Corps (2020-2021). 

Sponsor:  MIT Security Studies Program (SSP)

Open to the MIT community
MIT is committed to providing an environment that is accessible to individuals with disabilities. If you need a disability related accommodation to attend or have other questions, please contact us at ssp-info@mit.edu.

Generative AI presents practical and societal challenges that are swiftly growing as the technology scales and is increasingly used. Generative models — some mimicking human capabilities — can be used alongside people to enhance project outcomes in domains from scientific discovery and education to industrial cases (i.e., material discovery, responsible AI, synthetic data, misinformation, and more). Focusing on the governance and regulatory angles, this workshop will convene scientists, technologists, administrators, industry professionals, and counsel to discuss mechanisms to oversee and guide the development of AI models developed in academia and academic-industry collaboration. In particular, three brainstorming sessions will explore mechanisms for developing responsible AI systems: data, the dataset used to define the models’ learning or the synthetic data generated; foundation models, their capabilities and colossal repository of information; and the impact of scaling models, from the growing number of parameters to democratizing miniaturized models and their increasing geographical and social impact.

Registration will open in early January.

Part of the Expanding Horizons in Computing IAP series presented by the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing. See the full list of activities at computing.mit.edu/ExpandingHorizons.

Special IAP Seminar hosted by the MIT Security Studies Program (SSP)

Abstract:

This presentation will walk the audience through the impacts made by technological advancement on war at sea, using examples from history to illustrate the transformation from the age of sail into the US’ current fleet and beyond.

Speaker:

Alan Janigian 

Lieutenant Commander Janigian is a United States Navy 2023-2024 MIT Security Studies Program Military Fellow. LCDR Janigian reported first to USS CINCINNATI (LCS 20) before LCS Crew 214 transferred to USS MANCHESTER (LCS 14). While on MANCHESTER he qualified as Tactical Action Officer and earned the 2020 Mine Division 12 Tactician of the Year Award. Successfully completing his tour as Combat Systems Officer, he fleeted up and currently serves as the Operations Officer.

Sponsor:  MIT Security Studies Program (SSP)

Open to the MIT community
MIT is committed to providing an environment that is accessible to individuals with disabilities. If you need a disability related accommodation to attend or have other questions, please contact us at ssp-info@mit.edu.

New things are built on what came before. If your work uses copyrighted material, you should know about fair use.

New things are built on what came before. If your work uses copyrighted material, you should know about fair use. What are your rights with regard to prior works? What requires permission and what doesn’t? This session will cover the basics of fair use for copyrighted works and leave you with an understanding of your rights, whether you are text mining the scientific literature, adapting a song, or sharing an image you found online.

About the Speakers:

Katie Zimmerman: Katie is the Director of Copyright Strategy for the MIT Libraries, where her role is to guide copyright decisions for use of library materials, negotiate content licenses, and help the Libraries and MIT community create and use copyrightable works to the fullest extent of the law. She has been with the MIT Libraries since 2016, and holds an M.L.I.S degree from the University of Pittsburgh and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

About the TLO:

Our mission is to move innovations and discoveries from the lab to the marketplace for the benefit of the public and to amplify MIT's global impact. We cultivate an inclusive environment of scientific and entrepreneurial excellence, and bridge connections from MIT's research community to industry and startups, by strategically evaluating, protecting, and licensing technology.

Special IAP Seminar hosted by the MIT Security Studies Program (SSP)

Abstract:

Colonel Karl Sondermann, US Army Logistics Officer and a trained active-duty Army Unit Historian will present a talk on recent US Army efforts to improve historical mindedness across our force while also better connecting with the American public. During his 20 year career, COL Sondermann has been empowered by Army leaders to pursue his graduate degree in Historic Preservation, selected as the Arlington National Cemetery Military Historian and Operations Officer, and encouraged to volunteer with numerous historic organizations; all while serving on active duty and using his experience to implement various historic initiatives to professionally develop his Soldiers. As we approach our nation’s semiquincentennial (250th) anniversary, this talk will provide career insights and reasons why modernizing how US Army Historians record, educate, and promote our nation’s history can help the US Military reverse current losses in public trust and confidence.

Speaker:

Karl Sondermann 

Colonel Sondermann is the United States Army's 2023-2024 MIT Security Studies Program Military Fellow. Prior to his arrival at MIT, he was assigned the J4- Director of Logistics, Special Operations Command Central at MacDill AFB, FL. Previous non-command assignments include deployments to Iraq for 15 months in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, a deployment to Afghanistan for 9 months in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, a deployment to Kuwait for 9 months in support of Operation Spartan Shield, two EUCOM assignments to Germany for 5 years, and a three-year assignment as the Operations Officer/Military Historian at Arlington National Cemetery.

Sponsor:  MIT Security Studies Program (SSP)

Open to the MIT community
MIT is committed to providing an environment that is accessible to individuals with disabilities. If you need a disability related accommodation to attend or have other questions, please contact us at ssp-info@mit.edu.

Are you interested in the exploration of existing and emerging decarbonization technologies, climate action, and how to plan for a carbon-free future? Do you want to know more about how MIT is working to decarbonize its own campus?

Join us for an IAP event to learn about the pathways to MIT’s campus decarbonization, including planning for the next energy era on campus, accelerating actions to reduce emissions today, and evaluating new technologies and strategies for the campus’s district energy system. This community event is open to students, staff, and faculty and will cover the topics of campus renewable energy, electrification, microgrids, resiliency, and more. Featuring in-depth presentations from Vice President for Campus Services and Stewardship Joe Higgins, Director of Sustainability Julie Newman, Professor Christoph Reinhart, and Senior Campus Planner Vasso Mathes, the forum concludes with a questions and answer session. Lunch will be provided. 

Please RSVP here.

Panelists: Alonso Eduardo Bucarey (Amazon), Stacey Carlson (Uber), Pierre-Luc Vautrey (Meta), Ben Olken (Moderator)

Questions? Contact Eric Trueswell (erictrue@mit.edu)

Many ideas that you develop incorporate things created by other people. In this session, learn when you need permission and how to get it.

Most things that you create incorporate elements created by other people. Whether it’s quotes and figures from scientific literature, or images used in an art project, “third-party content” is a part of most creative endeavors. In this session, learn when you need permission and how to get it.

About the Speakers:

Katie Zimmerman: Katie is the Director of Copyright Strategy for the MIT Libraries, where her role is to guide copyright decisions for use of library materials, negotiate content licenses, and help the Libraries and MIT community create and use copyrightable works to the fullest extent of the law. She has been with the MIT Libraries since 2016, and holds an M.L.I.S degree from the University of Pittsburgh and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Peter Bebergal: Peter is the Institute Use of Name Officer and also responds to incoming copyright requests for MIT owned images, video footage, and other materials. He has been with MIT for over 14 years.

About the TLO:

Our mission is to move innovations and discoveries from the lab to the marketplace for the benefit of the public and to amplify MIT's global impact. We cultivate an inclusive environment of scientific and entrepreneurial excellence, and bridge connections from MIT's research community to industry and startups, by strategically evaluating, protecting, and licensing technology.

One-day workshop leading to a holistic interdisciplinary discussion on urban vulnerable territories in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), with the aim of building a regional vision and advocating for systemic change. By analyzing common challenges in the LAC region—migration, climate, and urban inequality—we will examine specific cases and recent programs, such as the urbanization program of informal neighborhoods in Buenos Aires, Argentina; the Blocks of Care in Bogotá, Colombia; the Utopías in Iztapalapa, Mexico; and the National Urban Upgrading Program in Mexico.

This workshop seeks to bridge academia, think tanks, and practical applications, ultimately inspiring new utopian visions for the LAC region.

This event is open to the public and welcomes individuals with an interest in urban and environmental topics or a curiosity about the challenges faced by the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region. We extend the invitation to MIT students, alumni, faculty, as well as communities from other universities, and members of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and its network.

This workshop is the result of the collaboration between the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy; the Special Program for Urban and Regional Studies at DUSP, MIT; fellows (former and current) from the LOEB Fellowship at Harvard Graduate School of Design; and faculty members from The City College of New York, Columbia University and University of Texas.

To register: https://forms.gle/cwwb8MTaQaHhkugv7 

Learn about how MIT’s Professor Hatton and his research group are using CO2 to tackle climate change on global scale through their research

Clean technology, or cleantech, encompasses innovative processes, products, and services designed to reduce carbon footprints and combat climate change. Join MIT's Professor Hatton as he delves into his research group's work to address climate change, with a particular focus on pioneering strategies for mitigating the impacts of carbon dioxide.

About the Speakers:

T. Alan Hatton: T. Alan Hatton is the Director of the David H. Koch School of Chemical Engineering Practice; Ralph Landau Professor of Chemical Engineering Practice; and Principle Investigator of the Hatton Research Group at MIT. As part of the MIT Energy Initiative, he co-directs the Center for Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage. His work focuses on the development of purification technologies of various kinds for use with air, water, and other substances.

About IAP:

This series is a part of MIT's 2024 Independent Activities Period (IAP), a flexible four-week period in January that allows faculty and students to engage in independent study and research, free from the constraints of regular classes.

About the TLO:

Our mission is to move innovations and discoveries from the lab to the marketplace for the benefit of the public and to amplify MIT's global impact. We cultivate an inclusive environment of scientific and entrepreneurial excellence, and bridge connections from MIT's research community to industry and startups, by strategically evaluating, protecting, and licensing technology.

Design, build and test your own full-duplex radio with real-world hardware/software engineering!

Full-duplex technology is revolutionizing the wireless world! This system concept is fundamentally different that traditional radios that divide transmission and reception in either time and/or frequency. Future networks will leverage this emerging technology to improve efficiency and enhance mobile user experiences. This course will introduce students to the various self-interference cancellation techniques that enable full-duplex operation in wireless systems and will allow them to create their own full-duplex radios through hands-on engineering with real-world hardware/software.  Must register by 1/22/2024

Email Ken Kolodziej to register for the class at kenneth.koloddziej@ll.mit.edu

Join faculty from the MIT Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science for short talks on security.

Speakers:

• Ron Rivest: Welcome Remarks
• Henry Corrigan-Gibbs: Private Search
• Nickolai Zeldovich: Verification on Hardware
• Yael Kalai: Verification of Computation
• Vinod Vaikuntanathan: FHE

Part of the Expanding Horizons in Computing IAP series presented by the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing. See the full list of activities at computing.mit.edu/ExpandingHorizons.

Global Agencies and Urban Challenges – keeping an eye on the World Bank

January 29, 10:00 to 12:00
De-mystifying the evaluation of World Bank financed urban projects. How is it done and what do they mean? – really! 

The World Bank carries out a self-evaluation of each project it finances, and these evaluations are validated by the Independent Evaluations Group of the World Bank.  There is a systematic approach to assess the relevance, efficacy, and effectiveness of the operations resulting in project ratings.  The session will examine the evaluation process using several cases to exemplify the strengths and weakness of the approach.  These evaluations are in the public domain and are a rich source of information, data, and knowledge.

January 30, 10:00 to 12:00
Is the World Bank doing the right thing and is it doing it right? Urban Growth, Urban Resilience and Urban Waste Management

The session will discuss the findings and recommendations of three major Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) evaluations:  (i)  Managing Urban Spatial Growth: World Bank Support to Land Administration, Planning and Development; (ii) Building Urban Resilience: An Evaluation of the World Bank’s evolving approach, and (iii)  and Transitioning to a Circular Economy: An Evaluation of the World Bank Group Support for Municipal Solid Waste Management  (2010-2020).

Starting a company is not just about technology!

Increase your knowledge and attend the Deshpande Center’s IAP course, “Legal Dos and Don’ts: What to Know When Starting Your Startup.” This seminar will feature expert insight into the legal issues to consider and minefields to avoid when you start a company.

This session will feature short talks by faculty from the MIT Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science on trustworthy systems.

Adam Chlipala, Correct-by-Construction Cryptographic Software: Important cryptographic algorithms have many different variations for different parameters and target hardware platforms, and conventionally, expert engineers need to reimplement an algorithm for each such combination, to get good performance.  The Fiat Cryptography project provides a generator that automates that specialization work that was previously highly manual.  As a bonus, the Fiat Cryptography code generator has a machine-checked mathematical proof of correctness.  It has been adopted to produce parts of a number of popular open-source libraries.

Srini Devadas, Security With Minimal Trust: We describe an approach to build computing systems that provide integrity of computation and data privacy for users while minimizing software and hardware that needs to be trusted.

Frans Kaashoek, Verifying Distributed Systems With Concurrent Separation Logic: Distributed systems are at the heart of cloud computing and bugs in them can lead to outages of Web sites. Unfortunately distributed systems are hard to get right because they must handle concurrency, crash recovery, replication, and reconfiguration, which interact in subtle ways.  A promising approach to verifying such systems (and thereby systematically eliminating bugs) is based on concurrent separation logic, which allows components to be verified independently yet handle tricky interaction between components.

Mengjia Yan, Principled Hardware Defenses Against Side-channel Attacks

Part of the Expanding Horizons in Computing IAP series presented by the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing. See the full list of activities at computing.mit.edu/ExpandingHorizons.

The MIT authors of three recent books on design will talk about what design means in their domain, present examples of successful designs, and suggest prospects for the future of design in computing.

Design of Socio-Technical Systems
David Clark, Designing an Internet (MIT Press, 2018)

In this talk I will talk about the design principles of the Internet. I will describe how our understanding of system requirements evolved in the first decades, and how our changing understanding influenced the evolving design.  I will illustrate the space of system requirements and design options by looking at some alternative proposals for how to design an Internet, and the implications of some recent design proposals.

Design of Software Products
Daniel Jackson, The Essence of Software (Princeton University Press, 2021)

I’ll explain how successful innovations in software can usually be traced to just one or two “concepts” that offer new scenarios that, with seemingly small shifts, radically change how an application is used. I’ll give examples from apps such as Zoom, WhatsApp and Photoshop. I’ll also mention how viewing apps through concepts enables use of LLMs for code generation.

Design of Programs

Gerald Jay Sussman, Software Design for Flexibility (MIT Press, 2021)

It is hard to build systems that have acceptable behavior over a larger class of situations than was anticipated by their designers.  The best systems are evolvable: they can be adapted to new situations with only minor modification.  How can we design systems that are flexible in this way?

We have often programmed ourselves into corners and had to expend great effort refactoring code to escape from those corners.  We have now accumulated enough experience to feel that we can identify, isolate, and demonstrate strategies and techniques that we have found to be effective for building large systems that can be adapted for purposes that were not anticipated in the original design. I will illustrate such strategies with examples.

Part of the Expanding Horizons in Computing IAP series presented by the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing. See the full list of activities at computing.mit.edu/ExpandingHorizons.

This boot camp will introduce you to the fundamentals of deep learning. What are deep networks and how do they work? We will start by introducing the key data structures and algorithms used by neural nets. Then we will cover popular architectures that build upon these structures, including convolutional networks, residual networks, and transformers. We will look in detail at how these architectures have been applied to the field of computer vision, and we will also give examples of applications in other areas, such as natural language processing and scientific data analysis. The course will also include a hands on tutorial where you will run and code simple networks in Pytorch in your browser.

Part of the Expanding Horizons in Computing IAP series presented by the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing. See the full list of activities at computing.mit.edu/ExpandingHorizons.

Artificial intelligence leveraging multiple data sources and input modalities (tabular data, computer vision, and natural language) is poised to become a viable method to deliver more accurate results and deployable pipelines across various applications. This session aims to review progress in a variety of applications, including healthcare, meteorology and education, and discuss future directions.

Part of the Expanding Horizons in Computing IAP series presented by the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing. See the full list of activities at computing.mit.edu/ExpandingHorizons.

Special IAP Seminar hosted by the MIT Security Studies Program (SSP)

Abstract:

Historical account of the US military’s three major attempts at airborne aircraft-carriers along with why they ultimately terminated those programs/experiments. Further, a look at the future of this space and the impact of autonomous agents.

Speaker:

Nate Padgett 

Lieutenant Colonel Padgett is the United States Air Force’s 2023-2024 MIT Security Studies Program Military Fellow. Before coming to MIT, Lt Col Padgett served as the Senior Executive Officer for the Director of Staff, Headquarters Air Force, the Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia. He previously commanded the 60th Operations Support Squadron at Travis Air Force Base, California.

Sponsor:  MIT Security Studies Program (SSP)

Open to the MIT community
MIT is committed to providing an environment that is accessible to individuals with disabilities. If you need a disability related accommodation to attend or have other questions, please contact us at ssp-info@mit.edu.