MIT Graduate Symposium Series

WORKSHOP: FACILITATING EFFECTIVE RESEARCH

• Nov-Dec 2018
• MIT Graduate Symposium Series Series
• Committee on Scholarly Interactions (CoSI)
• Sidney Pacific Graduate Community
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MIT Graduate Symposium Series

UROP Initiative: GRAD STUDENTS AND POST DOCS RESEARCH LIGHTNING TALKS FOR UROP RECRUITMENT AND MENTORSHIP

• Mar-Apr 2019
• MIT Graduate Symposium Series
• Committee on Scholarly Interactions (CoSI)
• Sidney Pacific Graduate Community
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MIT Graduate Symposium Series

LIFE, WELLNESS, AND RESEARCH AT MIT FOR UPCOMING STUDENTS

The workshop was geared toward graduate students and post-docs, with the goal to facilitate discussion about UROP mentoring best practices such as setting and managing expectations, project planning, and effective mentor-mentee communication among other topics. Ultimately, we hope these discussions foster more effective UROP research and advising relationships between undergraduates and their mentors. Attended by over 30 students across different departments at MIT. We are grateful to J. Alex Hoyt from the MIT UROP Office.

• August 2018
• MIT Graduate Symposium Series
• Committee on Scholarly Interactions (CoSI)
• Sidney Pacific Graduate Community
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MIT Graduate Symposium Series

UROP Initiative: GRAD STUDENTS AND POST DOCS RESEARCH LIGHTNING TALKS FOR UROP RECRUITMENT AND MENTORSHIP

• Sep-Oct 2018
• MIT Graduate Symposium Series
• Committee on Scholarly Interactions (CoSI)
• Sidney Pacific Graduate Community
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MIT Graduate Symposium Series

Lizbeth B. De La Torre

MIT Media Lab

The Intersection of Art and Science: Imagining our Future in Space

Speaker Bio

Lizbeth B. De La Torre is an MS candidate in the Media Lab's Space Enabled group. With an BFA in Entertainment Art, designing vehicles, props and environments for feature film, Liz uses design thinking methods and techniques to imagine the future of technology in space through a Hollywood lens. Liz comes to the Media Lab from The Studio at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where she worked on creative projects and tech demos for various space missions and pre-mission formulation for future missions. Apart from designing two NASA Travel Posters, she also co-lead research in astronaut devices and wearables for situational awareness and robotic interaction on Mars.

• August 2018
• MIT Graduate Symposium Series
• Committee on Scholarly Interactions (CoSI)
• Sidney Pacific Graduate Community
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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MIT Graduate Symposium Series

Ankur Podder

MIT School of Architecture and Planning

Hyperislandify (Hyper-Island-ify): Self-sustaining Small Islands, and their role in defining future of cities

Speaker Bio

Ankur hails from Andaman & Nicobar Islands of India, and works towards bringing “the islanders-perspective” to the table. Currently, Ankur is a second-year graduate student in SMARCHS Urbanism. He is also a graduate research assistant at Design Fabrication Lab at International Design Centre, MIT - where he explores intersection of Digital Fabrication, Design and IoT. Early this year, he participated in Harvard Business School to bring into the forum discussions on ‘local entrepreneurship in island economies’. He worked as a computational designer in Tokyo, Japan before starting his graduate studies. In Japan, he gave a talk in ‘Falling Walls’ Tokyo on Digital Divide. Back in India, he had collaborated with WikiHouse to start their first non-profit chapter in India. Ankur has a background in architecture through his undergraduate studies which he completed in 2015 from BIT Mesra, India.

Abstract

Small urbanized islands face geographic isolation, natural hazards, aid dependencies and resource constraints. Historically, we have painted the picture of small islands through lens of unsustainable and waste-producing tourism industry. Can we move beyond it? And if we do, what value does it entail for the future of cities all around the world? The purpose of this talk is to disseminate a vision with two foci. One: of self-sustaining small islands - a future where each small island becomes a hyper-localized circular economy. Two: scaling-up and replicating the learnings from self-sustaining small islands to intervene current course of dystopic noise-ridden bigger cities. Can small islands teach today’s megacities a thing or two? In order to achieve this, we look at existing industries in context of small islands that need to go through process and product innovation, leading to newer markets. We start with focusing on our ongoing research on self-sustainability in construction industry, where we embrace digital fabrication tools for post-disaster reconstruction and affordable permanent-housing in small islands. Upcoming pilot projects involve curating satellite-data and island-wide IoT for resource and environmental monitoring of such islands. We culminate by defining how islands will act as perfect test-beds for a range of projects, as there is value in starting ‘small’.

• July 2018
• MIT Graduate Symposium Series
• Committee on Scholarly Interactions (CoSI)
• Sidney Pacific Graduate Community
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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MIT Graduate Symposium Series

Ketian Zhang

MIT Political Science Department

Killing the Chicken to Scare the Monkey - Explaining Chinese Coercion in the South China Sea

Speaker Bio

I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Political Science department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where I am also an affiliate of the Security Studies Program. I recently defended my dissertation and will graduate in August 2018. In the 2017-2018 academic year, I am a Predoctoral Research Fellow in the International Security Program at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School. Beginning Fall 2018, I will be a Shorenstein Postdoctoral Fellow at the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University. I study coercion, economic sanctions, and maritime territorial disputes in international relations and nationalism in comparative politics, with a regional focus on China and East Asia. My dissertation project examines when, why, and how China uses coercion when faced with issues of national security, such as territorial disputes in the South and East China Seas, foreign arms sales to Taiwan, and foreign leaders’ reception of the Dalai Lama. I hold a B.A. in Political Science and Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and was previously a research intern at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C., where I was a contributor to its website Foreign Policy in Focus.

Abstract

Since 1990, China has used coercion for maritime territorial disputes in the South China Sea, despite adverse implications for its image. China is also curiously selective in the timing, target, and tools of coercion: China rarely employs military coercion, and it does not coerce all countries that pose similar threats. This paper offers a new theory of when, why, and how China coerces other states—and tests it against Chinese behavior in the South China Sea. I leverage a wealth of newly available primary documents and hundreds of hours of interviews with Chinese officials to trace the decision-making processes behind China's use and nonuse of coercion. Contrary to conventional wisdom, I find that China is a cautious bully that does not coerce frequently and tends to use military coercion less when it becomes stronger, relying instead on non-military tools. I also find that concerns with reputation for resolve and economic vulnerability are critical elements of Chinese decision-making regarding the costs and benefits of coercing its neighbors. China often coerces one target to deter others - "killing the chicken to scare the monkey." These findings have important implications for how we understand states' coercive strategies and the future of Chinese behavior in the region and beyond.

• May-June 2018
• MIT Graduate Symposium Series
• Committee on Scholarly Interactions (CoSI)
• Sidney Pacific Graduate Community
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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MIT Graduate Symposium Series

Richard Zhang

MIT Mathematics

Beyond Cambridge Analytica: the Future AI-Driven Political Campaigning

Speaker Bio

Richard is a second-year PhD candidate in applied mathematics. He’s working on a few different projects, hoping to eventually find one for his PhD. He got his bachelor’s degree from New York University in physics and mathematics. Born in Beijing, China, Richard immigrated to Canada when he was 10 years old. At 18, his family immigrated again to the United States. As a dual citizen of US and Canada, he often struggles to decide which team to cheer for when the Blue Jays plays against the Red Sox.
Richard is an enthusiast of international relations, social media, and artificial intelligence and its social & political impact. He has lived in nine cities across four countries, and speaks Mandarin as the first language, Russian as the second language, and English as the third language. He also loves Marvel movies, House of Cards, and Orange is the New Black

Abstract

Cambridge Analytica just filed for bankruptcy. The infamous political data consulting firm had caused a public outcry when a NYTimes article in March revealed the firm’s unconscionable collection of over 50 million Facebook user data to for the Trump campaign in 2016. Both tech firms and lawmakers quickly condemned CA and vowed for greater Internet privacy and data security. Cambridge Analytica may be crushed and gone, but its legacy lives on. The purpose of this talk is to explore the future of AI-driven political campaigning. We will start with a brief review of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, learn about the state-of-the arts of machine learning and its application to social research, and forecast what future political campaigns will look like. Some history of campaigning using voter data will also be discussed.

• May-June 2018
• MIT Graduate Symposium Series
• Committee on Scholarly Interactions (CoSI)
• Sidney Pacific Graduate Community
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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MIT Graduate Symposium Series

Ravikishore Kommajosyula

Mechanical Engineering and the Center for Computational Engineering

Leveraging Modern Computers for Computational Research

Speaker Bio

Ravikishore Kommajosyula is a PhD candidate in the Mechanical Engineering and Computational Science program in MIT. He works with Prof. Emilio Baglietto in the Nuclear Science and Engineering department on developing a mechanistic model to describe heat transfer in nuclear reactors, which is a very complex problem due to the presence of several competing physical mechanisms. Ravi holds a bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from BITS Pilani and a Masters degree in Computational Science and Engineering from the department of Computer Science in the Technical University of Munich.

Abstract

Computation has emerged as the third leg of scientific discovery to explore complex physical phenomenon that are intractable based on first-principle, and are either dangerous or expensive to experiment with. The exponential rise in the available computational power has been a major enabler in this process, allowing us to tackle problems that were deemed prohibitively large. This increase in computational power has been made possible by modern microprocessors by introducing parallelism at several levels, and therefore require the user to develop their applications to successfully leverage this parallelism. This talk introduces the field of computational science, explores a brief history of the development of modern computers, and focuses on how knowledge from computer science can be, and has been leveraged to perform computational research.

• April 2018
• MIT Graduate Symposium Series
• Committee on Scholarly Interactions (CoSI)
• Sidney Pacific Graduate Community
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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MIT Graduate Symposium Series

Morgan Frank

MIT Media Lab

AI, Automation, and the Resilience of Human Labor

Speaker Bio

Morgan Frank is a PhD candidate in the Scalable Cooperation research group at MIT’s Media Laboratory. Morgan received his bachelor’s in mathematics and computer science, and a master’s degree in applied mathematics with a graduate certificate in complex systems from the University of Vermont. Morgan uses his background as a computational social scientist, and he has performed computational research in a variety of traditional social science domains, including economics, sociology, demography, and political science.

Abstract

Spurred by rapid technological advancement, artificial intelligence (AI) and automation are expected to significantly disrupt current labor markets. Increasingly sophisticated AI augments the performance of cognitive labor, while robotics erode employment opportunities for other, thus connecting automation to growing wealth disparity and the potential for mass unemployment. Several barriers inhibit existing studies, including the lack of high quality data about the nature of work, lack of empirically-informed models of key micro-level processes, and insufficient understanding of how cognitive technologies interact with broader economic dynamics and institutional mechanisms. Specifically, technology does not act on employment opportunities directly, but, rather, specific technology influences demand for human labor to perform a specific workplace task or skill. In this presentation, we will explore the structure underlying the US labor system that connects specific skills to job titles and urban workers in an effort to better understand human resilience to automation in the age of AI.

• April 2018
• MIT Graduate Symposium Series
• Committee on Scholarly Interactions (CoSI)
• Sidney Pacific Graduate Community
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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MIT Graduate Symposium Series

Fatimagül Husain

MIT Science Writing

How Science Travels from the Lab to the NEWS

Speaker Bio

Fatima Husain is a student in the Graduate Program in Science Writing. An essayist-by-training, Fatima aims to make complex sciences tangible for all audiences. She writes often about earth, environmental, and atmospheric sciences. Her writing has been published in PBS's NOVA Next, MIT News, The College Hill Independent, the Catalyst Journal, The Brown Daily Herald, Johns Hopkins University's Imagine Magazine, the Lyrical Iowa journal, and in various other publications. Fatima is one of five Americans awarded the Taylor/Blakeslee Fellowship for her science writing.

Abstract

In her talk, Fatima will outline how science travels from the lab to the news. Fatima will also discuss easily employable tools for enhancing personal science communication -- many of which can be started in graduate school and continued throughout a scientific career.

• Feb-March 2018
• MIT Graduate Symposium Series
• Committee on Scholarly Interactions (CoSI)
• Sidney Pacific Graduate Community
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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MIT Graduate Symposium Series

Corban N Swain

Department of Biological Engineering

The Confluence of Scientific Inquiry and Artistic Expression

Speaker Bio

Corban Swain is a first-year Ph.D. student in Bioengineering. Growing up in Huntsville, Alabama and earning a Bachelors in Biomedical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis, he is excited by the potential for innovation that lies at the intersection of biology, engineering, and medicine. He is currently finishing lab rotations to decide the direction for his doctoral work. Outside of research, Corban has a passion for spoken-word poetry, competing nationally in 2013 and performing at many venues and events in St. Louis and his hometown. Corban also has more than seven years of experience as a professional photographer; his headshots have been showcased by more than 25 clients on their online profiles and in publications including Interiors + Sources Magazine and the Morehead-Cain Year in Review. Additionally, he was named the grand prize winner of the 2015 St. Louis Arch Photo contest.

Abstract

At the confluence of scientific inquiry and artistic expression lies my identity. Through spoken-word poetry, live programming, and traditional presentation I hope to explore how various forms of expression can help us to bridge connections between data, our communities, and even ourselves.

• Feb-March 2018
• MIT Graduate Symposium Series
• Committee on Scholarly Interactions (CoSI)
• Sidney Pacific Graduate Community
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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MIT Graduate Symposium Series

Claudia Lo

MIT Comparative Media Studies

When All You Have Is A Banhammer

Speaker Bio

Claudia Lo is a master's student at the Comparative Media Studies department. She works as a research assistant in the Game Lab, and as a volunteer moderator on Reddit and Twitch. Her research interests include queer and feminist games studies, critical code analysis, and developing a better vocabulary and understanding for online volunteer moderation.

Abstract

The popular wisdom about internet moderation is, simply: moderators remove stuff. But there is plenty that they do that don't fit in such a simple definition. Through research with large-scale Twitch esports moderators, we can see the social and communicative aspects of their work. From making their own moderation tools, creating new policies and developing ethical standards for moderation, what else do moderators do when all we give them is a banhammer?

• Feb-March 2018
• MIT Graduate Symposium Series
• Committee on Scholarly Interactions (CoSI)
• Sidney Pacific Graduate Community
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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MIT Graduate Symposium Series

Monika Avello

Department of Biology
MIT iREFS co-chair

Active Listening - Using Conflict Management Techniques for Effective Problem Solving

• November 2017
• MIT Graduate Symposium Series
• Committee on Scholarly Interactions (CoSI)
• Sidney Pacific Graduate Community
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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MIT Graduate Symposium Series

Elise Ledieu

Civil and Environmental Engineering
MIT iREFS co-chair

Active Listening - Using Conflict Management Techniques for Effective Problem Solving

• November 2017
• MIT Graduate Symposium Series
• Committee on Scholarly Interactions (CoSI)
• Sidney Pacific Graduate Community
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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MIT Graduate Symposium Series

Patrick White

MIT Nuclear Engineering

Understanding the Present and Future of Nuclear Power

Speaker Bio

Patrick White is a third-year PhD student in the Nuclear Science and Engineering Department at MIT. Patrick’s research focuses on regulation, licensing, and safety of current generation and advanced nuclear power plants. He received his B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 2012, with a focus in thermal and structural finite element modeling. Before coming to MIT, Patrick worked for at MPR Associates, an engineering consulting firm specializing in work with commercial nuclear power plants.

Abstract

For many people, “nuclear power” is a term that evokes danger and fear. For the engineers and scientists who study it, “nuclear power” is an incredible tool for global electrification and preventing significant quantities carbon emissions and particulate pollution. In this talk, we will review the basics of nuclear energy and discuss the potential for nuclear energy to help in the fight against climate change. We will also preview the potential for advanced nuclear reactor design to change the way we think about the safety and deployability of nuclear power plants.

• September 2017
• MIT Graduate Symposium Series
• Committee on Scholarly Interactions (CoSI)
• Sidney Pacific Graduate Community
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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MIT Graduate Symposium Series

Nicholas Triantafillou

MIT Mathematics

Recent and Not-So-Recent Developments in Sphere Packing

Speaker Bio

Nicholas Triantafillou is a 4th year PhD student studying arithmetic geometry in the math department. He particularly likes algorithms for computing invariants of algebraic varieties, arithmetic statistics, and problems which involve both pure mathematics and computer science.

Abstract

This is a talk about fitting as many balls as possible into a (really, really big) box. We'll explore some of the challenges in making this a mathematically precise question and in thinking about high-dimensional spheres. Along the way, we'll see some connections to computer science and number theory. The talk should be of particular interest to fruit vendors in 8 and 24 dimensions.

• September 2017
• MIT Graduate Symposium Series
• Committee on Scholarly Interactions (CoSI)
• Sidney Pacific Graduate Community
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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MIT Graduate Symposium Series

Lieutenant Commander Sjaak de Vlaming

US Navy & MIT Naval Construction and Engineering

Submarine Modular Construction

Speaker Bio

Born and raised in upstate South Carolina, LCDR de Vlaming graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 2005 with a degree in Mathematics. LCDR de Vlaming served on the USS LOS ANGELES (SSN 688) based in Pearl Harbor, HI from 2007 to 2010, ending the last three months of his tour in Bremerton, WA, where the LOS ANGELES was decommissioned. He subsequently transferred into Engineering Duty which focuses on submarine design, construction, and maintenance. He was the delivery officer for the USS JOHN WARNER (SSN 785) in Newport News, VA, before coming to MIT. His research interests concern improving shipyard data capture methods, including personnel allocation and accurate job duration planning.

• September 2017
• MIT Graduate Symposium Series
• Committee on Scholarly Interactions (CoSI)
• Sidney Pacific Graduate Community
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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MIT Graduate Symposium Series

Alpha Yacob Arsano

Sustainable Design Lab, MIT School of Architecture

Methods for Evaluating the Natural Ventilation Cooling Potential for Buildings

Speaker Bio

Alpha Yacob Arsano is a graduate student in Architecture and Building Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She was an academic fellow at Transsolar KlimaEngineering in Stuttgart, Germany. She had studied architecture at the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Planning (EiABC), in Addis Ababa Ethiopia and did architectural internship in Munich, Germany. Alpha's current research focus is on natural ventilation, thermal comfort and urban energy modeling.

Abstract

Cooling or comfort ventilation is the strategy of using natural ventilation to enhance thermal comfort. Historically and in vernacular architecture, it has been very important design element. However, in the 20th century, in the post-industrial age, the air conditioning technology grew faster. Regardless of climatic conditions, more and more buildings started to be built that are reliant on mechanical ventilation and cooling systems. I will be presenting our research on the comparison of methods for evaluating potential of natural ventilation. I would also talk about the alternative method we proposed and the prototype we implemented with the method. The major purpose of this study on cooling ventilation is to allow a design team explore maximum ventilation cooling potential right at the beginning of a project.

• August 2017
• MIT Graduate Symposium Series
• Committee on Scholarly Interactions (CoSI)
• Sidney Pacific Graduate Community
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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MIT Graduate Symposium Series

Jin Wu

MIT Integrated Design and Management

How to Make a Gibson Les Paul Electric Guitar

Speaker Bio

Jin is a second year graduate student in the Integrated Design and Management (IDM) program, a joint program in engineering, design, and business. She earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from University of Toronto and has had four years of design training. Jin is passionate about design and DIY projects.

Abstract

In this talk Jin will share with you her adventures in music instrument making and how anyone, including you, can make your own Gibson Les Paul electric guitar.

• August 2017
• MIT Graduate Symposium Series
• Committee on Scholarly Interactions (CoSI)
• Sidney Pacific Graduate Community
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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MIT Graduate Symposium Series

Olivia Fiebig

MIT Department of Chemistry

A STEMulating Field: Why Teaching Science Matters

Speaker Bio

Olivia Fiebig is a second-year graduate student in the MIT Department of Chemistry. A member of the Schlau-Cohen lab, she uses ultrafast spectroscopy to study energy transfer processes in photosynthetic systems. Olivia earned a BS in chemistry and a BA in physics from Rowan University in 2016. Besides research, Olivia’s passion is STEM education. As an undergraduate, she helped teach physics for two semesters as a learning assistant in Rowan’s Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC) program and worked to promote STEM education in middle schools through the New Jersey Governor’s STEM Scholars program. As a graduate student, she taught both lecture and lab courses in chemistry as a teaching assistant.

Abstract

The United States continues to fall behind in its preparation of primary and secondary students in the sciences. This is in part due to the shortage of qualified STEM educators in the American education system and a lack of support for the field. This talk will address the importance of STEM education, why individuals at the university level should care about this problem, and what they can do to improve the situation, including strategies for effective science teaching that they can apply to their own classrooms.

• August 2017
• MIT Graduate Symposium Series
• Committee on Scholarly Interactions (CoSI)
• Sidney Pacific Graduate Community
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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MIT Graduate Symposium Series

Ady Pathak

Center for Theoretical Physics, MIT Physics

Quest for precision mass measurement of the heaviest known elementary particle

Speaker Bio

I come from India. I lived in several cities growing up. For the most part I was in the state of Madhya Pradesh and during my high school my family moved to Punjab. I did my undergraduate in Mumbai in Physics at Indian Institute of Technology Bombay from 2007 till 2011. I have been a student in Center for Theoretical Physics at MIT since 2011 and expect to graduate in August, this year. I will be starting postdoc in physics at University of Vienna from September onwards. I have various interests outside of physics: I like doing music a lot: singing, playing guitar and piano. I also paint. I have been involved in various volunteering activities, both in and out of MIT during my PhD. I have been practicing Tai-Kwan-Do lately and love doing calisthenics exercises.

Abstract

This talk is about understanding the theoretical and experimental challenges we face in our journey to measure the mass of the top quark with sub percent precision, the heaviest known elementary particle. Every complexity in both theory and experiment we have faced so far has led us to develop unique and powerful tools. Some examples are such as the complex environment of a particle collider, the mysterious nature of strong nuclear force at short and long distances, and how quantum mechanics can change the meaning of a quantity that we understand to be constant in classical sense. I will discuss these ideas and developments, and guide you to the latest theoretical tools we have developed to measure the top mass.

• June 2017
• MIT Graduate Symposium Series
• Committee on Scholarly Interactions (CoSI)
• Sidney Pacific Graduate Community
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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MIT Graduate Symposium Series

Nazmus Saquib

Social Machines, MIT Media Lab

Sensei (Sensing Educational Interaction)

Speaker Bio

I am a PhD candidate at the Laboratory for Social Machines in MIT Media Lab. I design wearable and tangible sensor networks, and model human interactions using mathematics. Using these tools, my aim is to build intelligent machines that empower individuals and human networks. My current research focuses on instrumentation of early childhood classrooms to sense social and educational interactions, and creating AI driven interventions based on such data. I utilize RF sensing, machine learning, network science, and data visualizations to augment the capabilities of teachers and parents in helping their children learn efficiently. Other than being a researcher, I deeply care about mentoring under-privileged students who aim to become stellar researchers and technology leaders. I founded and direct an initiative in Bangladesh that teaches research methods, and scientific and design thinking mindset to undergraduate students.

Abstract

Understanding early childhood classroom activities and creating personalized lesson plans for every child is difficult to get right. Early childhood is one of the most important periods in human development. Children, for the first time, steps into a society outside his/her home and relatives, make friends, learn socially, and learn to construct knowledge actively. Inferring the needs of a particular child can be overwhelming for a teacher just by manual observation of the classroom. Despite the availability of cheap sensors, activity trackers, and powerful video mining algorithms, providing a personalized experience for a child in a social learning setting remains an unsolved problem. A children-centered sensing and data mining system that captures important trends in learning can empower the teachers and parents, and in turn the children in a classroom. I will present a ubiquitous system that was designed over two years by working closely with teachers, parents, and children in Montessori classrooms, with unobtrusiveness, low power consumption, robustness, teacher schedule, and appropriate sensing methods in mind. Using high resolution social proximity data collected from the sensing system, I will show some preliminary results that demonstrate the promise of unobtrusive, human-centered sensing in early childhood classrooms.

• June 2017
• MIT Graduate Symposium Series
• Committee on Scholarly Interactions (CoSI)
• Sidney Pacific Graduate Community
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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MIT Graduate Symposium Series

Riddhi Shah

Urban Studies + Planning, MIT School of Architecture & Planning

Kumej and Social Entrepreneurship

Speaker Bio

Riddhi is an architect by profession and currently pursuing Urban Planning at DUSP, MIT.She is interested in design, technology, and humanities. Before coming to MIT, she worked with RMA architects in Mumbai as a research associate for the exhibition titled ‘State of Architecture: Practices and Processes in India’. She also worked with TMD cell, a conservation firm in Mumbai and focused on developing techniques and channels to promote the local art of stitching.She is focused on developing innovative design solutions for educational environments.

Abstract

Kumej is a light, collapsible floor-seat for underprivileged children to carry and create their own comfortable work surface irrespective of the ground surface they are obliged to sit on.Partners Riddhi and Vishesh joined forces with a common goal: to serve underprivileged children by improving their learning environment.They are firm believers that this tool will improve school attendance and give children more reasons to enjoy learning.Kumej is continuously searching for solutions that change the learning experience of children all over the world.THe talk will cover the journey of the team so far.

• June 2017
• MIT Graduate Symposium Series
• Committee on Scholarly Interactions (CoSI)
• Sidney Pacific Graduate Community
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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MIT Graduate Symposium Series

CLAUDIA PÉREZ D'ARPINO

Interactive Robotics, MIT CSAIL

C-LEARN, a Method of Learning from Demonstrations

Speaker Bio

Claudia D'Arpino is a PhD Candidate in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department at MIT, advised by Prof. Julie A. Shah in the Interactive Robotics Group since 2012. She received her degrees in Electronics Engineering (2008) and Masters in Mechatronics (2010) from the Simon Bolivar University in Caracas, Venezuela, where she served as Assistant Professor in the Electronics and Circuits Department (2010-2012) with a focus on Robotics. Her research at CSAIL combines machine learning and planning techniques to empower humans through the use of robotics and AI. She participated in the DARPA Robotics Challenge with Team MIT (2012-2015). Her PhD research centers in enabling robots to learn and create strategies for multi-step manipulation tasks by observing demonstrations, and develop efficient methods for robots to employ these skills in collaboration with humans, either for shared workspace collaboration, such as assembly in manufacturing, or for remote robot control in shared autonomy, such as emergency response scenarios. Research website: http://people.csail.mit.edu/cdarpino/

Abstract

The use of robots for complex manipulation tasks is currently challenged by the limited ability of robots to construct a rich representation of the activity at both the motion and tasks levels in ways that are both functional and apt for human-supervised execution. For instance, the remote operator of an emergency response robot would benefit from planning assistance from the robot, as opposed to the currently used method of joint-by-joint direct teleoperation. In manufacturing, robots are increasingly expected to execute manipulation tasks in shared workspace with humans, which requires the robot to be able to predict the human actions and plan around these predictions. In both cases, it is beneficial to deploy systems that are capable of learning skills from observed demonstrations, as this would enable the application of robotics by users without programming skills. However, previous work on learning from demonstrations is limited in the range of tasks that can be learned and generalized across different skills and different robots. In this talk, I will present C-LEARN, a method of learning from demonstrations that supports the use of hard geometric constraints for planning multi-step functional manipulation tasks with multiple end effectors in quasi-static settings, and show the advantages of using the method in a shared autonomy framework.

• April 2017
• MIT Graduate Symposium Series
• Committee on Scholarly Interactions (CoSI)
• Sidney Pacific Graduate Community
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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MIT Graduate Symposium Series

Nancy Aggarwal

LIGO, Physics

Quantized light : are photons a friend or a foe?

Speaker Bio

Nancy Aggarwal is a 5th year Physics PHD student, working in the LIGO Lab at MIT since 2012. Her current research focusses on quantum measurements in the context of gravitational wave detectors – at the intersection of her two biggest passions Quantum Mechanics and General Relativity. Her work includes theoretical considerations for mitigation of quantum noise as well as experimental realization of technology that can improve the sensitivity of future GW detectors. She received her Bachelors in Technology in Engineering Physics in 2011 at Indian Institute of Technology Mumbai, with an Honors in Physics and a minor in Electrical Engineering. She was part of the LIGO team that was involved in the detection of gravitational waves from two merging black-holes in September 2015. She was awarded the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics in 2016, shared with all members of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration for that detection. She was also awarded the Graduate Women of Excellence award at MIT in 2015 for her leadership and contribution to reforms in the qualifying exams for physics PhD at MIT. She currently resides in Edgerton House on MIT Campus.

Abstract

LIGO uses interference of laser light to detect small disturbances caused by gravitational waves. The next generation of LIGO detectors will be limited by noise from quantization of light, aka photons. We plan to use specially engineered quantum states of light to mitigate this noise. These states are called squeezed states. In addition, the LIGO detectors are complex interferometers involving the interaction of quantum states of light with mirrors that are suspended mechanical oscillators. This optomechanical interaction between light and mechanical oscillators leads to yet more noise as well as instability. My work at MIT has been to study the optomechanical interaction, which is a nuisance for LIGO. At the same time though, I am also using it as a resource to generate squeezed light. This squeezed light can then be injected into LIGO to increase the total volume of the universe that we see gravitational waves from. In order to achieve this complicated goal, a lot of precision engineering is necessary. This engineering includes mechanical design and building, finite element analysis, vacuum systems, building feedback electronics etc. In my talk I will also try to connect engineering that most MIT graduate students love, to major developments in science – “Mens et Manus”.

• April 2017
• MIT Graduate Symposium Series
• Committee on Scholarly Interactions (CoSI)
• Sidney Pacific Graduate Community
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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MIT Graduate Symposium Series

Amy Zhang

Human Computer Interaction, MIT CSAIL

HCI Systems to Augment Online Discussion

Speaker Bio

Amy X. Zhang is a 4th year Ph.D. student in Computer Science at MIT CSAIL, advised by Prof. David Karger and a member of the Haystack Group. She works on designing and building systems to improve discourse, collaboration, and understanding on the web, with applications to social media, news, political discourse, education, and civic engagement. She also conducts research on computational analysis of large-scale social data to understand topics in the social sciences. Her general interests are social computing, HCI, and computational social science. Her research is supported by a Google Fellowship and NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.

Abstract

While systems for discussion on the internet have been around since its inception, they face many problems such as difficulties around scale, clashing perceptions of norms, harassment of individuals, polarizing interactions, and lack of context. In this talk, I'll give an overview of a diverse set of systems that I am working on to help solve the problems that existing online discussion systems. The first system, Wikum, tackles the problem of extracting important knowledge from long and tangled discussion threads through collective summarization. A second set of systems, Eyebrowse and Nota Bene, introduces discussion threads anchored to original pieces of content to provide context. Finally, I describe Murmur and Squadbox, two systems focusing on how to better support participants and moderators towards filtering and managing online conversation.

• April 2017
• MIT Graduate Symposium Series
• Committee on Scholarly Interactions (CoSI)
• Sidney Pacific Graduate Community
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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MIT Graduate Symposium Series

Honey Bajaj

Sloan School of Management and School of Engineering

Entrepreneurship Opportunities at MIT

Speaker Bio

Honey Bajaj is a leader in innovation and product design. She is a designer and entrepreneur with extensive work in India and United States. She is currently a researcher at MIT and co-founder of Avir Technologies for humanising technologies for creating impact in the Indian healthcare system. Recently, she was also awarded the MIT Legatum Entrepreneur Fellow for emerging market. Awarded inventor of the year 2016 in San Francisco, a decade of Honey's work has demonstrated the leadership and technical talent to develop and deliver outstanding products, including Embrace a low cost baby warmer which has saved over 200,000 babies in the world. In the past she has worked with organisation like Microsoft Research, MIT Media Lab,etc. She has always focused on designing for impact, especially among the largest, poorest segment of the world’s population. She has also led multiple workshops for corporates and schools on design thinking and innovation methodologies.

Abstract

This talk presents two sets cases of innovative products developed. The talk takes you through a personal journey of building products for impact.

• March 2017
• MIT Graduate Symposium Series
• Committee on Scholarly Interactions (CoSI)
• Sidney Pacific Graduate Community
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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MIT Graduate Symposium Series

Artem Dementyev

Responsive Environments, MIT Media Lab

ROVABLES, Miniature On-Body Robots as Mobile Wearables

Speaker Bio

Artem is a PhD student in the Responsive Environments Group at the MIT Media Lab. In his research he builds new sensor platforms. The application areas fall into many disciplines; tangible and wearable interfaces, robotics and medical applications. His research has been presented at various conferences (CHI, UIST, Ubicomp) and received UIST best paper award and honorable mention awards Artem received an undergraduate degree in Bioengineering at University of Maryland and Master in Electrical Engineering at the University of Washington

Abstract

Current wearable devices are limited to static artifacts fixed to the body or clothing. This severely restricts their functionality – for example, a wristband or even emerging technologies like stretchable electronic tattoos or smart fabrics are limited to one location and are not able to sense or actuate at other parts of the body or clothing. For a significant and emerging class of applications, we envision that such wearable devices can be akin to robotic rovers designed for autonomous exploration of the human body. Already, we developed Rovables, miniature robots that can move around on fabric and clothing using magnetic wheels. We have shown that this approach has potential in various wearable applications, such as displays, user interfaces, and fashion accessories.

• March 2017
• MIT Graduate Symposium Series
• Committee on Scholarly Interactions (CoSI)
• Sidney Pacific Graduate Community
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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MIT Graduate Symposium Series

JOHN MCCOY

MIT Brain and Cognitive Sciences

Finding the crowd's best answer

Speaker Bio

John McCoy is a Ph.D student in the Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department at MIT, where he is affiliated with the Computational Cognitive Science Group and the Sloan Neuroeconomics Lab. Amongst other awards, he is a South African recipient of the International Fulbright Science and Technology Award. He is interested both in the computational processes underlying human judgment and decision making, and applying our knowledge of such processes to issues in marketing and policy. He uses a combination of behavioral experiments and formal modeling, drawing on ideas from psychology, economics, marketing, Bayesian statistics, and computer science. Much of his current research focuses on the problem of aggregating judgments from many people, including in situations where the majority may be wrong and the truth may be unverifiable.

Abstract

Standard methods for extracting wisdom from the crowd can fail, since they overweight shallow information that is widely available, rather than the specialized information possessed by experts. I'll discuss a theoretically justified solution to this problem of extracting crowd wisdom, and show how it performs across a a range of domains.

• March 2017
• MIT Graduate Symposium Series
• Committee on Scholarly Interactions (CoSI)
• Sidney Pacific Graduate Community
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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MIT Graduate Symposium Series

Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao

Living Mobile Research Group, MIT Media Lab

DuoSkin, a functional, stylish on-skin interface that resembles metallic temporary tattoos

Speaker Bio

Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao is a Taiwanese born engineer/artist, currently a PhD student at the MIT Media Lab. Her research, themed Hybrid Body Craft, blends aesthetic and cultural perspectives into the design of on-body technologies. She also creates novel processes for crafting technology close to the body. Her research has been presented at various conferences and magazines (CHI, UbiComp/ISWC, TEI, UIST, ACM Interactions, IEEE Pervasive Computing), while receiving media coverage by CNN, TIME, Forbes, BBC Radio, Fast Company, WIRED, among others. She has worked at Microsoft Research developing cosmetics-inspired wearables, and is a recipient of the Google Anita Borg Scholarship. Her research was awarded a best paper honorable mention at ACM CHI.

Abstract

“Fashion is play, with the most profound of human questions: Who am I?” -Roland Barthes.
It is an innate human desire to play with and craft our appearance. With the miniaturization of electronic devices, technology has become a new material with which to craft and alter our appearances. Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao’s research practice rethinks the convergence of function and aesthetics on the skin. While most wearable technology looks into the future, Hybrid Body Craft builds upon existing habitual practices of decorating, ornamenting our bodies, and elegantly integrates technology to extend their purpose beyond decoration and into user interaction. This talk will present two examples: DuoSkin, a functional, stylish on-skin interface that resembles metallic temporary tattoos; and NailO, a fingernail mounted trackpad that doubles as a nail art sticker. While the newest technology of today will become obsolete tomorrow, craft is passed on and lives on throughout generations. How can we create wearable technology as a form of craft? Can it be customized to evolve with the wearer’s identity, while also celebrating the personalization of individual style?

• February 2017
• MIT Graduate Symposium Series
• Committee on Scholarly Interactions (CoSI)
• Sidney Pacific Graduate Community
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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MIT Graduate Symposium Series

Aaron Smargon

MIT EECS and Broad Institute

What’s the Big Deal About CRISPR?

Speaker Bio

Aaron Smargon is a Ph.D. candidate in EECS researching biology and bioengineering. His most recent work has been in discovering and characterizing novel RNA-targeting CRISPR systems. Aaron received his S.M. in EECS from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his A.B. in Astrophysical Sciences from Princeton University. He is also a Chair of the Sidney-Pacific Committee on Scholarly Interactions.

Abstract

Popular science is inundated with mentions of “CRISPR.” Beyond the catchy acronym, what’s the big deal? This lecture will explore the biological origins of CRISPR systems and how they have advanced existing biotechnology to accelerate what scientists can do in basic research and translational medicine.

• February 2017
• MIT Graduate Symposium Series
• Committee on Scholarly Interactions (CoSI)
• Sidney Pacific Graduate Community
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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