Volume 48 – Number 29 Wednesday – June 2, 2004 TechTalk S ERVING T HE M I T C OMMUNITY Diplomas and campus set for the big day About 2,205 undergraduates gift. The Rev. Robert M. Ran- and graduate students are sched- dolph, senior associate dean for uled to receive 1,114 bachelor’s students at MIT and an affiliate degrees, 1,161 master’s, 211 doc- minister at Harvard University’s torate and 10 Engineer degrees at Memorial Church, will deliver the MIT’s 138th Commencement on invocation. Friday, June 4 on Killian Court. Since becoming its 15th direc- Elias A. Zerhouni, direc- tor in May 2002, Zerhouni has ini- tor of the National Institutes of tiated a new research vision for Health, will deliver the principal the NIH, focusing the attention of address. President Charles M. the biomedical research commu- Vest will charge the graduates. nity on new pathways of discov- Other speakers include R. Erich ery, research teams for the future Caulfield, president of the Gradu- and reengineering the clinical ate Student Council, and Maria See COMMENCEMENT PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY Hidalgo, president of the Class of Rhododendrons in bloom are dressing up the campus for Friday’s Commencement exercises. 2004, who will present the class Page 7 Yeast tackles fibers linked to Alzheimer’s disease David Cameron an MIT professor of biology and lead researcher on Whitehead Institute the project. “This is the first time that anyone has found anything that can catalytically take apart an amyloid fiber.” Although the fibers are not neces- Amyloid fibers—those clumps of plaque-like sarily the cause of Alzheimer’s, they are associated proteins that clog up the brains of Alzheimer’s with it and with many other neurological conditions. patients—have perplexed scientists with their The finding follows years of study on a yeast pro- robust structures. Researchers don’t yet have a way tein called Sup35, which helps cells translate genetic to assail these resilient molecules. Now a team from information into strings of amino acids, the building MIT and the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical blocks of protein molecules. Sometimes Sup35 sud- Research reports that yeast may succeed where sci- denly forms amyloid fibers similar to those found in entists have not. Alzheimer’s patients. In yeast, however, this doesn’t In a study published online this week in the kill the cell. Rather, it is part of the cell’s normal journal Science, the researchers describe a natural biology, changing the types of proteins that the cell biological process by which yeast cells dismantle makes—changes that can sometimes be beneficial. IMAGE COURTESY / SCIENCE MAGAZINE amyloid fibers. In the upper left image, amyloid fibers at first resist any attempt to dis- “These proteins are remarkably stable,” said See ALZHEIMER’S rupt their structure. However, a protein called Hsp104 breaks them apart Susan Lindquist, director of the Whitehead Institute, Page 3 until (bottom right) they have been completely dissolved. Faculty votes to take national leadership role on diversity Arthur Jones and Denise Brehm also “urges the provost, academic Through the unanimously ulty Diversity, by school, depart- constant over the last five years, News Office deans, dean of graduate educa- adopted resolution, the faculty ment and laboratory, according to according to the report. tion and department heads to take also asks the provost to “provide terms of the resolution. The report also noted the fol- all necessary and sufficient steps guidance and direction as request- In a detailed explanation of the lowing application numbers and A bold step toward strengthen- to increase the percent of under- ed by the departments, including FPC report before the vote, Pro- selectivity (percentage admitted) ing the Institute’s diversity profile represented minority faculty by examples of best practices around fessor Rafael Bras, chair of the fac- for graduate students since 1999. was taken when the faculty com- roughly a factor of two within a the country, in order to achieve ulty, provided faculty and under- African-American—80 applied mitted “to taking a leadership posi- decade…” these goals.” graduate statistics over the years and 38 percent admitted in tion among our peer institutions The resolution urges the MIT Annual reports measuring the at MIT. 1999,198 applied and 40 percent in the recruiting and success of leadership to use identical meth- progress of the recruitment pro- For example, of the current admitted in 2000, 179 applied and underrepresented minority faculty ods to increase the percentage of cess—including the recruitment 6,228 graduate students, 113 are 31 percent admitted in 2001, 200 and graduate students.” underrepresented minority gradu- of women—are anticipated by the African-American, 153 Hispanic See DIVERSITY The resolution adopted by ate students by roughly a factor of faculty, the Faculty Policy Commit- and 16 Native American. Those the faculty at its May 19 meeting three within a decade. tee (FPC) and the Council on Fac- ratios have remained almost Page 2 NEWS PEOPLE CORPORATE CULTURE PLAYS ROLE KILLIAN GOES TO KETTERLE CANCER RESEARCH HONORED A new project looks at the impact on supply chains Wolfgang Ketterle is selected as the next Killian Robert Langer receives the Kettering Prize for his of sudden disruptions such as terrorist attacks or Faculty Achievement Award winner. work on drug delivery systems for treating cancer. natural disasters. Page 4 Page 5 Page 2 HITTING MACADAM WITH ADAM AWARDS PAGES RANDOM DINNER GUESTS A student is making a cross-country bike trek to MIT Tech Talk lists the names of the many students, A graduate student invites 300 to dine with her. raise money for FDNY Widow’s and Children’s Fund. faculty and staff who received awards this year. Page 3 Page 4 Pages 8-16 PAGE 2 June 2, 2004 NEWS MIT Tech Talk Team probes impact of FSILG panel terrorism on supply chain issues draft Ken Cottrill Nokia was able to recover quickly because part of its cor- A draft report from the Task Force on Frater- Center for Transportation and Logistics porate culture is to communicate bad news quickly through- nities, Sororities and Independent Living Groups, out the company. “When the tendency is to hide or delay which has been examining the challenges and oppor- negative information, the company concerned is generally tunities facing the FSILG community, has been sub- Why are some companies much better than others at slower to react when hit by the unexpected,” Sheffi said. mitted to President Charles M. Vest. The task force dealing with sudden supply chain disruptions? A research Resilient companies also are prepared organizationally was formed to frame recommendations for strength- project at MIT’s Center for Transportation and Logistics for supply chain interruptions. Part of the Nokia response ening and sustaining the FSILG system. is studying the impact of terrorism on supply chains and was to redesign its product so components from other The draft report is under review by the principal identifying what companies can do to be resilient when sources could be used. That required quickly calling stakeholders. A final report will be circulated to the disaster strikes. cross-functional teams of managers into action to make MIT community in the fall. Supply chains can be thrown into disarray for many the necessary changes. “I am very grateful to the task force for its dedi- reasons. A severe storm can delay urgently needed raw “Companies can use vulnerability maps to help them cation, preserverance and thoughtful recommenda- materials. A major dock strike can halt the movement of assess their level of exposure to sudden dislocations,” tions, which provide MIT with a pathway forward,” goods. Then there are low-probability, high-impact inci- Sheffi said. On such a grid, American Airlines has a rela- President Vest said of the draft report. dents such as an earthquake or terrorist attack. tively high vulnerability because the loss of a single aircraft Recommendations in the report included: Companies can learn to cope with crises like these and to a terrorist attack could have a catastrophic effect on its • Improve communications and working rela- minimize the disruption to their businesses. “Often the business. In comparison, McDonald’s is less exposed since tions among students, administration and alumni issue is cultural—making sure that damage control is built the closure of a single store or even group of stores would • Improve the financial health of the FSILGs and into the very fabric of the organization,” said Yossi Sheffi, not close the company’s network of 30,000-plus outlets. establish quality-of-life and infrastructure standards professor of civil and environmental engineering and engi- But the vulnerability map is changing. “The risks grow • Develop more effective recruiting practices neering systems and leader of the project. daily as global supply lines stretch, competition stiffens, • Develop effective roles and responsibilities for For example, a few years ago the production of comput- customers become more demanding and political instabil- all stakeholders er chips was halted by a fire at a large supplier. One major ity takes its toll around the world,” Sheffi said. Companies • Extend and more effectively manage the tran- customer, cell phone manufacturer Nokia, reacted quickly can become resilient by creating flexible supply chains and sition period and found alternative sources of the chips. Competitor ensuring that security is part of their corporate cultures. • Include