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Duane Boning named vice provost for international activities
With extensive international outreach experience as a faculty member and program leader, Boning brings a spirit of curiosity and collaboration to his new role.
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A force for health equity
After spending three weeks in Kenya working on water issues with Maasai women, Kendyll Hicks was ready to declare it her favorite among the international projects she’s participated in through MIT. As a volunteer with the nonprofit Mama Maji, Hicks spoke about clean water, menstrual hygiene, and reproductive health with local women, sharing information that […]
How door-to-door canvassing slowed an epidemic
Liberia was the epicenter of a high-profile Ebola outbreak in 2014-15, which led to more than 10,000 deaths in West Africa. But for all the devastation the illness caused, it could have been worse without an innovative, volunteer-based outreach program Liberia’s government deployed in late 2014. Now, a study co-authored by an MIT professor shows […]
President Reif testifies before Congress on U.S. competitiveness
No U.S. strategy to respond to competition from China will succeed unless it includes increased investment in research, a concerted effort to attract more students to key research fields, and a more creative approach to turning ideas into commercial products, MIT President L. Rafael Reif said in congressional testimony on Wednesday, Feb. 26. Reif spoke at […]
It all adds up
The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is more than a math competition for high schoolers: It’s also a springboard for subsequent success. The MIT delegation that annually dominates the Putnam Mathematical Competition is largely composed of alumni of the IMO and related math competitions. Many of these mathletes remain involved by producing training or prep courses […]
Instrument may enable mail-in testing to detect heavy metals in water
Lead, arsenic, and other heavy metals are increasingly present in water systems around the world due to human activities, such as pesticide use and, more recently, the inadequate disposal of electronic waste. Chronic exposure to even trace levels of these contaminants, at concentrations of parts per billion, can cause debilitating health conditions in pregnant women, […]
Dreaming big in a small country
When Miguel Brechner started planning a new ambitious plan to foster a new generation of data scientists in Uruguay and Latin America, he immediately thought of MIT. “There is no question that MIT is a world leader in science and technology. In Uruguay we are a small country, but we dream big.” Brechner is president […]
A road map for artificial intelligence policy
The rapid development of artificial intelligence technologies around the globe has led to increasing calls for robust AI policy: laws that let innovation flourish while protecting people from privacy violations, exploitive surveillance, biased algorithms, and more. But the drafting and passing of such laws has been anything but easy. “This is a very complex problem,” […]
What pharmacy students in Ethiopia can do with supply chain education
What might pharmacy students at Addis Ababa University learn from an MIT supply chain course? The answer is quite a lot. Research Scientist Alex Rothkopf of the MIT Humanitarian Supply Chain Lab recently taught a blended course to the Addis Ababa University (AAU) School of Pharmacy in Ethiopia. “I’ve never taught pharmaceutical students,” he says. […]
Benjamin Chang: Might technology tip the global scales?
The United States and China seem locked in an ever-tightening embrace, superpowers entangled in a web of economic and military concerns. “Every issue critical to world order — whether climate change, terrorism, or trade — is clearly and closely intertwined with U.S.-China relations,” says Benjamin Chang, a fourth-year PhD candidate in political science concentrating in […]
New theories at the intersection of algebra and geometry
As a self-described “classical type of mathematician,” Chenyang Xu eschews software for paper and pen, chalk and chalkboard. Walk by his office, and you might simply see him pacing about, deep in concentration. Walking — across campus to get a cup of coffee, or from his apartment to his office — is an essential part […]