My Life At MIT

Starting Out

I began my career at MIT in the fall of 1992, a few months after graduating from high school. I stepped onto the express train in New York City and arrived 4 hours later in Boston, having not quite yet turned 18 years old.

Studies

While at MIT, I majored in VI-3. Translated into non-MIT speak, that's Computer Science and Engineering. I finished in the normal amount of time, and did my undergraduate thesis in mobile computer with Prof. Frans Kaashoek. (I'll explain more about all that in my Research Section).

Where to Live?

Bexley Hall, 46-52 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge.

One of MIT's most interesting features is that freshmen choose where they live-- either in one of MIT's many dormitories or fraternities. Of course, like all situations where people are allowed to make their own decisions, people are at risk of making mistakes, and I was no exception. I briefly lived off-campus in a fraternity called Theta Chi, until I came to my senses and moved back on campus into a dorm known as Bexley, which was much more interesting and much more fun. Yes, things didn't work out for me at first, but given the opportunity to make my own decisions, eventually I came out ok. That's what makes MIT unique. The MIT Administration and The Boston Globe, however, are trying to change all of that by forcing all freshmen to live on campus, and perhaps eliminating housing choice. Fortunately, some people know that "different" does not mean "wrong".

Where and With Whom to Hang Around?

Life in Bexley was, shall we say, interesting. One of my good friends at MIT was Manny Perez, a fellow Bexley resident. The funny this is that we don't quite remember how we met. However, we would frequently hang out at Bexley parties, such as the one-week-after-Halloween Halloween Party, and Bexley's unique annual Cross-Dressing Party.

MIT has a lot of interesting social circles, and I hung out at many of them. I frequently hung out at Senior House, an MIT dormitory (which doesn't house any more MIT seniors than any other dorm, by the way). One of their annual events which I always make sure to attend (even when I was living in Pittsburgh and Berkeley), is their annual party/BBQ Steer Roast. They certainly have their share of eccentric characters that I hung out with.

Another interesting place at MIT was TEP, also known as Tau Epsilon Phi, an MIT fraternity. While I was tempted, I never actually lived there, but I did hang out around there frequently. It was certainly another source of interesting people. I highly recommend getting a tour of the place. One of my friends is a TEP alum Eric Jorgensen, who I always make sure to visit while I drive back and forth across the country (and I've done it twice). Another person I knew from TEP was Golan Levin, who graduated in 1994, but came back in the fall of 1998 as a graduate student at the MIT Media Lab right before I did, so now we're classmates.

I graduated

Anyway, after four years at MIT, I graduated in June, 1996 and moved on to the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Carnegie Mellon University. But that's another story.

I just couldn't stay away

I live in a Cambridge apartment nearby campus above an ice cream store, a Chinese restaurant, and an Italian restaurant. It's fairly convenient. Many of my old friends from MIT live quite nearby.

I'm still at MIT, these days. You can read about any interesting events that have been going on in my What I'm Doing Now section.