Volume 51 – Number 22 Wednesday – March 21, 2007 TechTalk S ERVING T HE M I T C OMMUNITY Team maps huge math structure Writing the character table for E8 brought international happiness Elizabeth Thomson ly spells the future for how longstanding math Underlying any symmetrical object, such as a News Office problems will be solved in the 21st century. sphere, is a Lie group. Balls, cylinders or cones MIT’s David Vogan, a professor in the are familiar examples of symmetric three-dimen- Department of Mathematics and member of sional objects. An international team of 18 mathematicians, the research team, presented the work Mon- Mathematicians study symmetries in higher including two from MIT, has mapped one of the day, March 19 to a standing-room-only crowd in dimensions. E8 has 248 dimensions. largest and most complicated structures in math- Room 1-190. His talk, “The Character Table for “What’s attractive about studying E8 is that it’s ematics. If written out on paper, the calculation E8, or How We Wrote Down a 453,060 x 453,060 as complicated as symmetry can get. Mathemat- describing this structure, known as E8, would Matrix and Found Happiness,” was peppered ics can almost always offer another example that’s cover an area the size of Manhattan. with jokes and laughter. harder than the one you’re looking at now, but for The work is important because it could lead E8, (pronounced “E eight”) is an example Lie groups E8 is the hardest one,” Vogan said. to new discoveries in mathematics, physics and of a Lie (pronounced “Lee”) group. Lie groups See BIG MATH other fields. In addition, the innovative large- were invented by the 19th-century Norwegian David Vogan scale computing that was key to the work like- mathematician, Sophus Lie, to study symmetry. Page 4 MIT conference portrays black architects’ journey Deborah Halber News Office Correspondent

Architecture has one of the worst track records for attracting minority practitioners. Why that is true, and what can be done to change it, was the topic of a two-day conference at MIT, “Architec- ture Race Academe: The Black Architect’s Journey.” Only 1.5 percent of regis- tered architects in the Ameri- can Institute of Architects (AIA) are black, a statistic only mar- ginally higher than it was 40 years ago, according to keynote speaker Ted Landsmark, direc- tor of Boston Architectural Col- lege. Architecture is in danger Robert Coles of becoming a shrinking niche profession and not providing service to all the people of the world who need architects, he said. Although MIT is not alone in graduating small numbers of PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY black architects (most working architects receive their degrees March madness at historically black colleges If April is the cruelest month, March may be the most annoying: Balminess, followed by snow and ice storms, brought and universities), Mark Jar- scenes like this to campus, along with pervasive mood swings. zombek, professor of archi- tecture, said he hopes that 10 years from now, “MIT will no longer be seen as an example of Mark Jarzombek the problem, but an example of the solution.” Robotic brace aids stroke recovery “The first step to change is to recognize our own failures Worn on the arm, NeuroRobotic device is lightweight, portable publicly,” Jarzombek said at the Deborah Halber on her own for the first time since the stroke. “It was conference. “We have to see News Office Correspondent incredible to be able to move my arm again on command,” the problem as a broad cultural she said. “Cooking, dressing, shopping, turning on light issue in the field for whom all of switches, opening cabinets—it’s easier now that I have us should have laid claim.” The At age 32, Maggie Fermental suffered a stroke that left two arms again.” goal of the conference, he said, her right side paralyzed. After a year and a half of conven- The device—which sensed Fermental’s electrical mus- is to explore how to bring the tional therapy with minimal results, she tried a new kind cle activity and provided power assistance to facilitate her issue more into the mainstream of robotic therapy developed by MIT engineers. A study to movements—also altered her brain. of architectural discussions. appear in the April 2007 issue of the American Journal of Following a stroke, the destruction of brain cells leads Adèle Naudé Santos, dean of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation shows that the device, to loss of motor function. With painstakingly repetitive the School of Architecture and which helped Fermental, also had positive results for five exercise therapy, other neurons can take over some of the Planning, said that MIT takes Janet Helms other severe stroke patients in a pilot clinical trial. lost function. Devices such as the MIT-developed robotic on issues—such as those raised Fermental, a former surgical nurse, used the rehabilita- brace can help people exploit their neural plasticity--the tion device 18 times over nine weeks. After 16 sessions, See CONFERENCE See BRACE Fermental, now a stroke education nurse at Beth Israel Page 6 Hospital, was able to fully bend and straighten her elbow Page 8 NEWS RESEARCH ARTS

ATHLETIC DIRECTOR NAMED SPACENET—THE SUPPLY CHAIN DESERT STORM Julie Soriero, ‘Sportswoman of Colorado’ nominee, MIT researchers deliver the goods from Earth to Scheib’s ‘This Place Is a Desert’ premieres at will lead MIT athletics. moon to Mars and back. Boston’s ICA. Page 2 Page 4 Page 7

RIDING THAT TRAIN TRACING TUMOR BIRTHS ‘CRACKBERRY’ OR CAREER TOOL? Biodiesel@MIT wins Ecomagination contest. A missing protein causes cells to become MIT Sloan researcher studies just how addictive Page 5 precancerous. those teensy gadgets are. Page 4 Page 7 PAGE 2 March 21, 2007 NEWS MIT Tech Talk Julie Soriero is new dept. head and athletic director DIGITALK: WHERE IT’S AT Julie Soriero, director of athletics at Colorado College, According to Benedict, Soriero brings to MIT has been named MIT’s new department head and director experience leading a Division III institution with All about hardware of athletics, physical education and recreation, Dean Larry strong Division I and Division III programs, as well as Information Services and G. Benedict has announced. Soriero will join MIT as an comprehensive club and intramural programs. She comes Technology (IS&T) would like associate professor on July 1, though she with outstanding accomplishments in the to invite members of the MIT will likely visit campus this spring as part areas of alumni relations and fundraising, community to a forum on the of preparing for her new role. while managing a large operating budget recommendation process for desktop In making the announcement, Benedict and organizing and defining the scope of and mobile computing hardware. The said, “We are thrilled that Julie will be a new building. Soriero also saw several event will be held from 1:30 to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, joining us as our new athletic director and of Colorado College’s teams excel and April 4, in the Sala De Puerto Rico in the Student department head. She brings a depth and be represented in NCAA tournaments, Center (W20). breadth of experience balancing Division often in consecutive years. IS&T’s Hardware Core Team was chartered I and Division III programs, as well as Soriero began her career in athletics in 2006 to collect both vendor information and values that are exceptionally aligned with after receiving her S.B. degree in community input on best practices for purchasing those of MIT.” health and physical education from new computers and peripherals. The team will share Soriero comes to MIT after having Pennsylvania State University and her insights from its meetings with vendors at the April served at Colorado College for nine years, Ed.M. degree in sports psychology from forum. If you have ideas for improving the computer most recently as director of athletics. Prior Temple University. purchasing process at the Institute, this is your to her appointment as director, she served Soriero has received multiple forum. Colorado College as the interim director of honors and awards. She is currently The Hardware Core Team consists of athletics concurrently with various other serving on the board of the National representatives from the Computing Help Desk, the roles such as head women’s basketball Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Computer Buying Advice Group, the Administrative coach, director of events, senior women’s Administrators and the executive board Desktop Renewal Program and the four platform administrator and senior associate athletic Julie Soriero of the National Association of Collegiate coordinators (Windows, Macintosh, Linux and director. In addition, she previously has Directors of Athletics. Among her mobile devices). If you have input for the team, send held leadership positions at Philadelphia University as other accomplishments, she was elected to the executive mail to [email protected]. head women’s basketball coach and associate director of committee of the Association of Division III Independent For IS&T’s current hardware recommendations, athletics and at the University of Pennsylvania as head Institutions, nominated for the “Sportswoman of Colorado” see the Computing Buying Advice page at web.mit. women’s basketball coach. award, named one of Philadelphia’s 40 Defining Women, edu/ist/services/hardware/presales.html. “Julie has an obvious love of athletics and is very recognized as the Women’s Sports Foundation “All- student-focused,” said Laura Capone, senior associate American Coach,” and named Coach of the Year multiple SAP upgrade over Patriot’s Day weekend dean for student life and chair of the search committee. times. An SAP Production system upgrade that will “Her enthusiasm is infectious and it was clear that she is Additional information, including Soriero’s curriculum bring MIT up to the most current release of SAP is one who constantly strives for excellence for herself and vitae, will be available online at web.mit.edu/dsl/ scheduled for Patriot’s Day weekend. The SAP Pro- for students.” fromthedean/announcement.html. duction environment will be unavailable beginning at 7 p.m. Friday, April 13, and will return to service at 6 a.m. on Tuesday, April 17. Review group addresses medical recommendations SAP, ECAT and all SAPweb activity, including The working group convened by President Susan will better enable MIT to manage these challenges in the Employee Self Service (ESS), time sheet entry/ Hockfield in December 2005 in response to the report future. Going forward, the Medical Department and Bene- approval, requisitioning, journal vouchers and cred- of the Task Force on Medical Care for the MIT Commu- fits will continue the creative partnership they have estab- it card verification will be inaccessible during this nity has completed its work, reviewing and successfully lished to develop a comprehensive health, wellness, and maintenance period. The Data Warehouse will be addressing all 41 of the report’s recommendations, The- disability strategy for our community.” available during the cutover weekend. The upgrade resa Stone, executive vice president and treasurer, has Her letter highlighted some of the actions taken to will not change SAPweb and ESS transactions; EHS announced. address the report’s recommendations. SAPweb applications will have a new look but the In a letter to the MIT community, Stone wrote, “On “With respect to the Medical Department, major same functionality. End-user training requirements the basis of careful analysis, the Institute has dedicated accomplishments to date have included increased clinical are expected to be minimal. resources for new personnel and programs while work- staffing, including both internists and nurses; improved IS&T will provide more specific information ing to ensure that existing investments are used most access and services in mental health, dental, and well- on system availability at web.mit.edu/sapbiz and effectively. In many cases, the implementation process has ness programs; and the development of new tools for qual- through other communications. If you have ques- meant the introduction not only of new practices but also ity assessment. We have also assessed and enhanced the tions about the upgrade, contact Kevin Lyons of new tools for assessment and ongoing improvement. financial management systems and processes that support ([email protected]) or Sandy Pata ([email protected]). The activities of the working group have also built a team our provision of medical care, so that our investments in Engineering books online that will continue to work collaboratively to advance these clinical services can have the greatest long-term impact. issues in the future.” The Center for Health Promotion and Wellness contin- Through the MIT Libraries’ subscription to Stone commented, “This initiative has strengthened Books24x7, the MIT community has online access both our medical services and our health insurance pro- See MEDICAL to hundreds of books on information technology and computer science. Now the MIT community grams, while establishing a process and framework that Page 6 can also access Books24x7’s Engineering Pro Col- lection, a multidisciplinary reference resource. It offers hundreds of engineering books from myriad Faculty will meet today publishers, including MIT Press, IEEE, John Wiley Survey gives MIT a & Sons, Cambridge University Press and McGraw- A regular meeting of the faculty will be held on Wednes- Hill. day, March 21 at 3:30 p.m. in Room 32-123. Agenda items To check out this online collection, go to the chance to talk back will include: Books24x7 web site at library.books24x7.com. • Continued discussion on the report from the Task libproxy.mit.edu. Under “Browse Topics” on the Do you have suggestions for new ways to share Force on the Undergraduate Educational Commons right, select “Engineering Topics” from the drop- information about your events, research or depart- down menu, and choose from the list of categories. ment news on campus? Which new technologies • Proposal to disband the committee on faculty-adminis- You can also view recently added books, the Top would you like MIT to consider using to share tration 10 books from last week, or do your own custom news and information? How do you get the latest • Changes to Section 1.73.5 of “The Rules and Regula- search. If you have feedback about this new ser- MIT scoop that interests you? tions of the Faculty” vice, you can reach the staff at Barker Engineering Library via the comments page at libraries.mit.edu/ This week, faculty, staff, students and alumni • Report on the change of the Biological Engineering barker/ask-barker.html. are being invited to participate in an online sur- Division to the Department of Biological Engineering vey about MIT communications practices. You will MIT Linux users: Stand and be counted! have the opportunity to offer insights about topics • Resolution on the death of Professor Meyer of interest to you, along with preferred methods • Remarks from President Susan Hockfield To better understand the needs of the Linux com- munity at MIT, IS&T has created the Linux “Stand for sharing and receiving MIT news and informa- • Topics arising and questions for the president, provost tion. Your participation in this research effort will and Be Counted” survey. If you’re a Linux user and and chancellor would like to cast your vote for the distributions, influence the development of evolving methods of products and services that are important to you, communication at MIT. The survey is being spon- visit web.mit.edu/surveys/linux between March 21 sored by Vice President of Institute Affairs Kirk and March 30. The survey should take less than 10 Kolenbrander and MIT Alumni Association Vice No Tech Talk next week minutes to fill out. President and CEO Elizabeth Garvin. There will be no Tech Talk on Wednes- To find out more about current Linux offerings at Please take a few minutes to complete the day, March 28. The next Tech Talk will be MIT, go to web.mit.edu/ist/topics/linux. survey when you receive the e-mail invitation. If published on April 4. For ongoing MIT news you have any questions, you may contact comm- updates, please go to the News Office web site, Digitalk is compiled by Information Services and [email protected]. Technology. web.mit.edu/newsoffice/.

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Permission is granted to excerpt or reprint any Printed on recycled paper Communications Assistant ...... Heather Manning material originated in Tech Talk. MIT Tech Talk NEWS March 21, 2007 PAGE 3 Two from MIT win Franklin Institute Awards Two MIT professors have won 2007 Franklin Institute Awards, joining the august company of past winners includ- ing Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison and Orville Wright. Professor Emeritus Klaus Biemann of the Department of Chemistry and Merton C. Flemings, the Toyota Profes- sor of Materi- als Processing, Emeritus, are two of nine 2007 Franklin Insti- tute Laureates. Winners are being honored “for their signifi- cant discoveries and achieve- ments, which Klaus Biemann directly impact our daily lives or contribute to our present and future well-being.” Biemann will receive the Benjamin Franklin Medal in chemistry “for pioneer- ing the development of mass spectrom- etry, used to determine structure of com- plex molecules including sequencing of PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY peptides and proteins, thus enabling the Architecture and planning dean Adele Santos, left; Ted Landsmark, director of Boston Architectural College, center, and Ho Yung Chang, field of proteomics.” architecture department head, welcomed participants to ‘Architecture Race Academe: The Black Architect’s Journey.’ Flemings, who is also director of the Lemelson-MIT Program, will receive the Benjamin Franklin Medal in materials engineering “for contributions to under- standing aspects of solidification of metal- Mentoring, inclusiveness draw lic alloys (and) the development of (the) aspiring architects to the field Past Franklin winners include Ruth Walker degrees from MIT, in 1974 and 1976, and architecture. Albert Einstein, Thomas News Office Correspondent later a doctorate from UCLA. And because the numbers are so small, After spending many years at universi- the discussions made clear, each black Edison and Orville Wright. ties in his home state of Texas, he now architect makes an individual journey. Wes Henderson got his first career teaches architecture at Florida A&M Uni- Many of the architects chose their path in counseling in elementary school, he told versity. response to specific pieces of advice they the audience at the Saturday, March 17 Henderson noted that the exchange got from trusted mentors—counsel that semi-solid metalworking industry, which session of the two-day conference, “Archi- with his first-grade teacher was but one probably took moments to impart but has helps make sporting equipment, house- tecture Race Academe: The Black Archi- example at the conference of how a spe- been remembered ever since. hold appliances and cars strong and light.” tect’s Journey.” cific bit of well-timed advice made a differ- Sass, for instance, said that he had The new laureates will receive their In the first-grade classroom of the seg- ence in the life of someone who would go been advised to take the time to develop awards April 26 at the end of a weeklong regated elementary school he attended, on to become an architect. a personal portfolio of work—not always a series of events and activities at the Frank- his teacher noticed the houses he was The numbers in the room were small— top priority for debt-laden new graduates. lin Institute open to middle school, high drawing and told him, “Oh, you should be just a few dozen on the gray, rainy Satur- “I get the feeling that most people…don’t school and college students, as well as the an architect!” day morning after Friday’s big snowstorm. know how desperately important that is,” general public. “I hadn’t really put a name to what I But then the numbers of blacks in as a preparation for academic appoint- These events include the Laureates’ was doing, but she did that for me,” Hen- architecture are small. In some catego- ments. Laboratory, which will feature interactive derson said last weekend of that first-grade ries—black professors who are full-time Some implicit recommendations for demonstrations illustrating the specific teacher. faculty at a top-tier institution—they can universities seeking to welcome more concepts behind each laureate’s work, and He remembered the advice and ulti- be counted literally on the fingers of one Meet the Scientists, a lively discussion and mately heeded it. hand, according to numbers presented by See ARCHITECTS Q&A session geared toward students. He went on to earn two architecture Lawrence Sass, MIT assistant professor of Page 6 Visiting Iraqi journalist ranks culture over conflict Stephanie Schorow on March 29. Shia were oppressed. more in-depth stories that will help Ameri- News Office Correspondent She will also write a study on the Iraq “But that didn’t stop them from getting cans understand the context of the current situation—focusing on family issues— married to each other. They didn’t say, violence. which she hopes “will be studied by the ‘Oh, he’s Sunni and she’s Shia,’ and they In her own research, Ahmed will delve Iraqi journalist Huda Ahmed never tells American administration.” couldn’t marry each other. Nobody felt into women’s issues; she wants Americans questioners whether she is a Sunni or Shia Ahmed, who is her 30s, does not go that way. to understand the nuances of Iraqi wom- Muslim. Such a question, she believes, is by her full name or have her photo taken, “Saddam was trying to have this gap— en’s lives, such as why an Iraqi woman not only inappropriate but underscores a even in the relative safety of Cambridge. to build this seed. He worked so hard on may choose to wear a veil or headscarf. dangerous lack of understanding of Iraqi Her name has appeared on hit lists, and that. Apparently he succeeded now.’’ Women started wearing scarves during history. she is keenly aware of the dangers of jour- American administrators in Iraq the embargo of Saddam’s era to mourn The American media is so focused on nalism posed amid the chaos caused by attempted to put more Shia in power after deaths from an unusual surge in cancer the Shia-Sunni split that “there is no need warring insurgent groups. “Some of them Saddam’s fall, to redress inequities, but cases and other health problems and to to talk about it,” she said. “If you ask, you don’t announce why they kill such a politi- quotas and lists that identified leaders as show their faith. After 2003, many contin- bring it into existence.” cian or such an engineer or doctor or jour- Sunni or Shia just enhanced religious ten- ued to wear a scarf to show commitment All she will say, and she says it proudly, nalists,” she said. “They just hit them and sion. When the Shia began to die in bomb- to the new post-Saddam politics; others is: “I am an Iraqi Muslim.” they go.” ings, religious differences seemed irrecon- wore scarves out of concern for security in A journalist who was recognized for Yet she remains hopeful—because, she cilable, she said. the new religious atmosphere. bravery while covering combat during the explained, Iraqis are hopeful people—that Ahmed, who was born and raised in “But don’t ever think that this woman, siege of Najaf in southern Iraq, Ahmed is her homeland will gain some kind of nor- Baghdad and graduated from the Col- who wears a veil (scarf) because she was currently at MIT’s Center for International mal life. lege of Languages of Baghdad University, influenced by the Islamic party, that she Studies as a recipient of the International She does not believe, for example, that became interested in journalism after the is not strong, that she is not outspoken or Women’s Media Foundation’s Elizabeth sectarian violence was inevitable after the American invasion of 2003, when she start- that she cannot beat you and men in her Neuffer Fellowship. The nine-month fel- fall of Saddam Hussein. ed doing translation and other research speech,” Ahmed said. lowship to study human-rights journalism “Sunni and Shia used to live together. work for the Washington Post. “We cov- Iraqi women “are powerful, I tell you. is sponsored in memory of the Boston Sunni and Shia are both Muslims,” she ered all the stories you could ever think of: And they are trying hard not to be left Globe reporter who was killed while on said. “They have differences but that hot spots, bombings, politics, culture,” she behind,” she said. “They feel that this is assignment in Iraq in 2003. doesn’t mean they have to fight each said. She later worked for Knight-Ridder. their chance and even if it takes a long Ahmed will take classes at MIT and other. We have intermarriage. We have In the process, she got an education time, they have to do it.” Harvard, serve internships at WBUR mixed tribes, mixed families. Of course, in American journalism and in what the The Elizabeth Neuffer Forum on with National Public Radio and possi- there are fanatic families on both sides. American media will or will not cover. For Human Rights and Journalism will be held bly at two American daily newspapers, Sunnis were favored by Saddam Hussein, example, she wishes the American press March 29 at the John F. Kennedy Presi- and participate in the Elizabeth Neuffer but they were favored before that, even by would focus on the lives of Iraqis and Iraqi dential Library. For more information, go Forum on Human Rights and Journalism the Ottomans. And even before that, the culture as well as Iraqi politics and provide to www.iwmf.org/programs/neuffer. PAGE 4 March 21, 2007 RESEARCH MIT Tech Talk Engineers create SpaceNet—the supply chain Network of nodes could ensure deliveries to the moon

Deborah Halber To make such a scenario possible, a chi-Levi, professor of engineering systems News Office Correspondent reliable stream of consumables such as and civil and environmental engineering, fuel, food and oxygen, spare parts and created SpaceNet, a software tool for mod- exploration equipment would have to eling interplanetary supply chains. The If you think shipping freight from Cin- make its way from the Earth to the moon latest version, SpaceNet 1.3, was released cinnati to El Paso is challenging, imagine as predictably as any Earth-based delivery this month. trying to deliver an oxygen generation unit system. Or more predictably: One missed The system is based on a network of from the Earth to a remote location on the shipment could have devastating conse- nodes on planetary surfaces, in stable moon. quences when you can’t easily replenish orbits around the Earth, the moon or By 2020, NASA plans to establish a essential supplies. Mars, or at well-defined points in space long-term human presence on the moon, To figure out how to do that, MIT where the gravitational force between the potentially centered on an outpost to be researchers Olivier L. de Weck, associate two bodies (in this case, the Earth and the built at the rim of the Shackleton crater professor of aeronautics and astronautics moon) cancel each other out. These nodes near the lunar South Pole. and engineering systems, and David Sim- act as a source, point of consumption or transfer point for space exploration logis- tics. “Increasingly, there is a realization that crewed space missions such as the Inter- national Space Station or the buildup of a lunar outpost should not be treated as isolated missions, but rather as an inte- grated supply chain,” said de Weck. The International Space Station already relies on periodic visits by the space shuttle and automated, unpiloted Russian Progress re- supply vehicles. While “supply chain” usually refers to the flow of goods and materials in and out of manufacturing facilities, distribution centers and retail stores, de Weck said that a well-designed interplanetary supply chain would operate on much the same principles, with certain complicating fac- tors. Transportation delays could be sig- nificant—as much as six to nine months in the case of Mars—and shipping capacity will be very limited. This will require mis- sion planners to make difficult trade-offs between competing demands for different This graphic describes a mathematical structure similar to but much smaller than E8. The corresponding picture for E8 would take 800 9-by-12-inch pages to print at the resolution of this graphic. The connections in the graph, and the colors of the types of supplies. connecting edges, are shorthand describing the geometry of the structure. A reliable supply chain will “improve exploration capability and the quality of scientific results from the missions while minimizing transportation costs and reduc- ing risks” to crew members, de Weck said. BIG MATH SpaceNet evaluates the capability of Continued from Page 1 be fun to try to find interpretations of our chemistry. This project will be invaluable their solitary style. “People will look back on the way to solving this problem. vehicles to carry pressurized and unpres- work in some of those appearances,” said for future mathematicians and scientists,” on this project as a significant landmark and The Atlas team consists of 18 research- surized cargo. It also simulates the flow of “E8 was discovered over a century ago, Vogan. “The uniqueness of E8 makes me said Sarnak, who was not involved in the because of this breakthrough, mathematics ers from around the globe. The core group vehicles, crew and supply items through in 1887, and until now, no one thought the hope that it should have a role to play in work. will now be viewed as a team sport,” said consists of Adams and Vogan, plus Dan Bar- the trajectories of a space supply network, structure could ever be understood,” said theoretical physics as well. So far the work The magnitude and nature of the E8 cal- Brian Conrey, executive director of AIM. basch (Cornell), John Stembridge (Univer- taking into account how much fuel and Jeffrey Adams, project leader and a math- in that direction is pretty speculative, but culation invite comparison with the Human The E8 calculation is part of an ambitious sity of Michigan), Peter Trapa (University time are needed for single-sortie missions ematics professor at the University of I’ll stay hopeful.” Genome Project. The human genome, project sponsored by AIM and the National of Utah) and Marc van Leeuwen (University as well as multiyear campaigns in which Maryland. “This groundbreaking achieve- “This is an exciting breakthrough,” said which contains all the genetic information Science Foundation known as the Atlas of of Poitiers). (Until his death in 2006, Fokko an element or cargo shipment might have ment is significant both as an advance in Peter Sarnak, a professor of mathematics of a cell, is less than a gigabyte in size. The Lie Groups and Representations. The goal du Cloux, of University of Lyon, was also a to be prepositioned by one set of vehicles basic knowledge, as well as a major advance at Princeton University and chair of the sci- result of the E8 calculation, which contains of the Atlas project is to determine the uni- member.) Additional team members include or crew members while being used by in the use of large-scale computing to solve entific board at the American Institute of all the information about E8 and its repre- tary representations—roughly speaking, Dan Ciubotaru, the CLE Moore Instructor another. complicated mathematical problems.” Mathematics (AIM). “Understanding and sentations, is 60 gigabytes. This is enough symmetries of a quantum mechanical sys- in MIT’s Department of Mathematics, and In addition to determining a logi- The mapping of E8 may well have unfore- classifying the representations of E8 and to store 45 days of continuous music in MP3 tem—of all the Lie groups (E8 is the largest Alfred Noel, a professor at the University of PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY cal route, SpaceNet also allows mission seen implications in mathematics and phys- Lie groups has been critical to understand- format. of the exceptional Lie groups). This is one Massachusetts at Boston and an MIT visit- architects, planners, systems engineers ics that won’t be evident for years to come. ing phenomena in many different areas of The mapping of E is also unusual of the most important unsolved problems of ing scholar. David Simchi-Levi, professor of engineering systems and civil and environmental engineer- 8 and logisticians to focus on what will be “There are lots of ways that E8 appears mathematics and science, including alge- because it involved a large team of math- mathematics. The E8 calculation is a major For more information on E8 visit aimath. ing, left, and Olivier L. de Weck, associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics and in abstract mathematics, and it’s going to bra, geometry, number theory, physics and ematicians, who are typically known for step and suggests that the Atlas team is well org/E8/. engineering systems, developed software that helps figure out the logistics of shipping See SPACENET food, fuel, space exploration equipment and other supplies from Earth to other planets. Page 6 MIT bioengineers identify role of key protein in tumor growth

Anne Trafton explained that those tissues act as fertile by the fact that 14-3-3 sigma is missing When p58 function is restored, the cells News Office “soil” for tumor development. “Tumors in normal tissue that surrounds tumors, resume normal division. grow in epithelial tissues that are already which suggested that its function is lost The work demonstrates the importance deranged for some reason, and something very early in tumor development. Once of studying translation factors and the cell MIT researchers have identified how a about that soil makes it better able to grow the researchers started investigating the signaling pathways that affect them, Yaffe missing protein causes tissue to become weeds,” he said. protein, they eventually unraveled a com- said. Most research on gene regulation precancerous—a finding that could help Loss of 14-3-3 sigma in dysplastic tissue plex signaling pathway whose disruption focuses on transcription factors, which doctors identify patients at high risk to could serve as a marker to help doctors leads to the failure of cell division. control which DNA sequences are tran- develop tumors. predict whether tumors will develop. “Our They discovered that 14-3-3 sigma is scribed into mRNA, but now “we’re at the Most breast and prostate tumors are hope is that it will be possible to monitor most active during mitosis, when it helps beginning of understanding another wave missing the protein, known as 14-3-3 control production of proteins nec- of regulation,” which takes place at the sigma, but until now it has not been essary for division. Although 14-3-3 translation level, he said. clear what role it plays in tumor sigma interacts with many proteins, The lead author of the paper is for- growth. The MIT researchers report the research team focused on its mer MIT postdoctoral fellow Erik Wilker. in the March 15 issue of Nature that relationship with a single protein, a Other authors are Marcel van Vugt, a post- when the protein is knocked down, translation factor known as eIF4B. doctoral fellow at the Center for Cancer dividing cells fail to separate fully Translation factors are proteins Research (CCR); Steven Artim of the CCR and become precancerous. that help determine the mix of pro- and MIT’s Department of Biology; Paul “The cells try to divide and try teins that a cell produces. Transla- Huang, a professor in the Harvard-MIT to divide, and they just give up. tion occurs when a messenger mol- Division of Health Sciences and Technol- They can’t finish cytokinesis (the ecule known as mRNA carries infor- ogy and Department of Biological Engi- final stages of cell division),” said mation encoded by DNA to a cell neering; Christian Petersen, a former MIT Michael Yaffe, associate profes- organelle called the ribosome, which postdoctoral associate; Christian Rein- sor of biology and biological engi- “translates” the mRNA sequence hardt, a postdoctoral fellow in the CCR and neering and leader of the research Michael Yaffe Phillip Sharp into a protein. biology; Yun Feng of the CCR and biol- team. Failing to divide completely, The translation factor eIF4B ogy; MIT Institute Professor Phillip Sharp; the cells recombine into a single cell forms part of an enzyme that allows Nahum Sonenberg of McGill University; with two nuclei. 14-3-3 expression in these ‘benign’ con- mRNA to unwind so the ribosome can and Forest White, an assistant professor of Such fused, or binucleate, cells have ditions, a subset of which may not be so read its sequence. When 14-3-3 sigma is biological engineering. recently been shown to be precursors to benign,” said Yaffe, who is also affiliated knocked out, eIF4B is not produced, and The research was funded by the Anna cancer cells. They are often found in so- with MIT’s Center for Cancer Research, mRNA for the protein p58 cannot be trans- Fuller Fund, the National Institutes of called “dysplastic” tissue, which consists the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, lated. p58 plays a critical role in the final Health, the European Molecular Biology of cells that are not fully normal but are and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Cen- splitting of one cell into two during mito- Organization, the David H. Koch Cancer not cancerous, said Yaffe. ter. sis, so when it is missing, the cells cannot Research Fund, and a Burroughs-Well- Comparing tumors to weeds, Yaffe The researchers were initially intrigued fully divide. come Career Development Award. MIT Tech Talk RESEARCH March 21, 2007 PAGE 5

GRAPHIC COURTESY / DAVID VOGAN, MIT

This graphic describes a mathematical structure similar to but much smaller than E8. The corresponding picture for E8 would take 800 9-by-12-inch pages to print at the resolution of this graphic. The connections in the graph, and the colors of the connecting edges, are shorthand describing the geometry of the structure.

be fun to try to find interpretations of our chemistry. This project will be invaluable their solitary style. “People will look back on the way to solving this problem. work in some of those appearances,” said for future mathematicians and scientists,” on this project as a significant landmark and The Atlas team consists of 18 research- “E8 was discovered over a century ago, Vogan. “The uniqueness of E8 makes me said Sarnak, who was not involved in the because of this breakthrough, mathematics ers from around the globe. The core group in 1887, and until now, no one thought the hope that it should have a role to play in work. will now be viewed as a team sport,” said consists of Adams and Vogan, plus Dan Bar- structure could ever be understood,” said theoretical physics as well. So far the work The magnitude and nature of the E8 cal- Brian Conrey, executive director of AIM. basch (Cornell), John Stembridge (Univer- Jeffrey Adams, project leader and a math- in that direction is pretty speculative, but culation invite comparison with the Human The E8 calculation is part of an ambitious sity of Michigan), Peter Trapa (University ematics professor at the University of I’ll stay hopeful.” Genome Project. The human genome, project sponsored by AIM and the National of Utah) and Marc van Leeuwen (University Maryland. “This groundbreaking achieve- “This is an exciting breakthrough,” said which contains all the genetic information Science Foundation known as the Atlas of of Poitiers). (Until his death in 2006, Fokko ment is significant both as an advance in Peter Sarnak, a professor of mathematics of a cell, is less than a gigabyte in size. The Lie Groups and Representations. The goal du Cloux, of University of Lyon, was also a basic knowledge, as well as a major advance at Princeton University and chair of the sci- result of the E8 calculation, which contains of the Atlas project is to determine the uni- member.) Additional team members include in the use of large-scale computing to solve entific board at the American Institute of all the information about E8 and its repre- tary representations—roughly speaking, Dan Ciubotaru, the CLE Moore Instructor complicated mathematical problems.” Mathematics (AIM). “Understanding and sentations, is 60 gigabytes. This is enough symmetries of a quantum mechanical sys- in MIT’s Department of Mathematics, and The mapping of E8 may well have unfore- classifying the representations of E8 and to store 45 days of continuous music in MP3 tem—of all the Lie groups (E8 is the largest Alfred Noel, a professor at the University of seen implications in mathematics and phys- Lie groups has been critical to understand- format. of the exceptional Lie groups). This is one Massachusetts at Boston and an MIT visit- ics that won’t be evident for years to come. ing phenomena in many different areas of The mapping of E8 is also unusual of the most important unsolved problems of ing scholar. “There are lots of ways that E8 appears mathematics and science, including alge- because it involved a large team of math- mathematics. The E8 calculation is a major For more information on E8 visit aimath. in abstract mathematics, and it’s going to bra, geometry, number theory, physics and ematicians, who are typically known for step and suggests that the Atlas team is well org/E8/.

MIT biodiesel student group wins national Ecomagination Challenge The Biodiesel@MIT team was 10 min- thought they were giving the presenta- utes into its PowerPoint presentation—a tion for MIT Energy Initiative education talk the group had given many times to task force chair Angela Belcher, profes- drum up support for bringing a biodiesel sor of biological engineering and materi- processor to campus—when there was a als science and engineering, and being loud knock on the Building 56 conference videotaped for a new MIT task force web room door. MTV veejay Gardner Loulan page on student energy-related initia- burst in, mike in hand, with an oversized tives, that their proposal was the best of bunch of green balloons in tow. the 10 finalists. “Hey, I hate to interrupt, but I’m here Matt Zedler, one of the biodiesel on behalf of GE and mtvU to tell you that group’s organizers and a senior mechani- you have won the Ecomagination Chal- cal engineering major from Richmond, Va., lenge!” he said. Then it was hugs, hand- said that the carefully planned surprise shakes and high-fives all around. announcement was, in fact, a surprise. That was how Biodiesel@MIT—a stu- “We weren’t sure what was going on,” he dent-led initiative to turn used vegetable said, adding that he had been checking oil from campus dining facilities into the challenge web site all morning for the biodiesel fuel for MIT diesel campus vehi- March 15 announcement. cles—found out they had won a national In addition to the $25,000 grant, MIT contest and $25,000 from GE and mtvU, gets an mtvU Earth Day concert and fes- MTV’s 24-hour college network. The tival headlined by Angels & Airwaves in grant will go toward a biodiesel processor April. All students are invited. in a solar-powered filling station on the “MIT wants to ‘walk the talk’ on energy MIT campus. and the environment, and I believe that The group was one of 10 finalists in the this project will pave the way for more Ecomagination Challenge, which encour- student-led campus sustainability initia- aged student involvement in campus tives,” said Joseph D. Roy-Mayhew, a greening and raising awareness for sus- junior chemical-biological engineering tainability. Student groups from across the major who first looked into the feasibility country submitted proposals for projects of an on-campus biodiesel processor dur- that would make their campuses more ing a January 2006 IAP class sponsored

environmentally friendly. by the Laboratory for Energy and the PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY Projects were judged on ecology, Environment. He further developed the economics and creativity. Britta Bar- idea with support from a Campus Sustain- Biodiesel@MIT first-year students Katie Rowe, left, and Katrina Ellison embrace while junior rett from GE corporate communications ability UROP through the Environmental Joe Roy-Mayhew, left, and senior Matt Zedler high-five moments after learning their group told the eight students in the room, who Programs Office. had won a national ‘green campus’ challenge sponsored by GE and mtvU. PAGE 6 March 21, 2007 NEWS MIT Tech Talk MIT a cappella group rules over rivals with Van Halen, Gorillaz The MIT Logarhythms “took the a tions, bringing fist-pumping to their a cap- cappella cake” in a victory over a cappella pella rendition of ‘Jump’ complete with groups from Harvard, Tufts and Brandeis the soloist’s dead-on ‘regular guy’-styled at a sold-out concert, “All A Cappella LIVE impression of David Lee Roth. They also at the Majestic.” The Logs ruled thanks to performed Jet’s ‘Are You Gonna Be My audience votes. Girl’ as a duet, with choreography that The afternoon event was broadcast live ranged from hand movements to dance to on WERS radio from the Cutler Majestic slapstick to running around the entire the- Theater in Boston on Sunday, March 11. ater searching for the song’s titular ‘Girl.’ The show featured live sets from four When the Logs closed with the Gorillaz’ area a cappella acts—Brandeis Voicemale, ‘Feel Good Inc.,’ it was the first standing Harvard Lowkeys, MIT Logarhythms and ovation of the show,” Meyer wrote. Tufts Beelzebubs—which gave vocals-only The eight-piece, all-male Brandeis renditions of classic and contemporary Voicemale opened its set with an energetic pop hits, often with accompanying hand medley moving with ease from “Can’t Stop motions and dance moves. Loving You” (Phil Collins) to “Here It Goes The Logarhythms, an all-male 16-piece Again” (OK Go). The co-ed, 16-piece Har- group wearing jeans, caps and color- vard Lowkeys offered “California Dream- ful ties, performed their “extensive vocal in’” (The Mamas and the Papas), Shawn harmonies with such attitude, humor and Colvin’s “Sunny Came Home” and Robyn’s charisma that the audience and the judges “Show Me Love.” were floored,” wrote Jon Meyer for WERS. The Tufts Beelzebubs closed the after- “I have never heard Van Halen convert- noon show with two vocal percussionists, ed into a cappella. The feat frankly appears multiple soloists and a strip tease; they got impossible. But the Logs defied expecta- the day’s second standing ovation. PHOTO / DANIEL BERSAK Architect and MIT alum Wes Henderson advocated mentoring to encourage and guide as- MIT Federal Credit Union announces piring architects. annual award and scholarship programs MIT Federal Credit Union Memorial Helping People Award is an annual award CONFERENCE Scholarship Program presented to one member who has exem- ARCHITECTS plified the meaning of “People Help- The MIT Federal Credit Union has Continued from Page 3 Continued from Page 1 ing People” in the MIT community. The established a memorial scholarship to award recipient will receive $2,000 and will black architects-in-training: by women scientists in 1999—and doesn’t honor former MITFCU staff and volun- choose a charity from a pre-approved list • Make better use of black alumni as shy away from them. Increasing diversity teers who have contributed to the success to receive an additional $2,000 donation. recruiters; follow up with alumni who have on campus is one of MIT’s major priorities, of the credit union. Three $1,000 scholar- The award will be presented at the MIT- written letters of recommendation. This she said, and to ensure that the School ships will be awarded annually. The schol- FCU annual business meeting on April 24. isn’t always done, Henderson said. of Architecture and Planning helps meet arships will be presented to the recipients The application deadline is March 30. • Pay attention to the visuals on cam- Institute-wide goals, the school has hired at the MITFCU annual business meeting To obtain eligibility requirements and pus: Even something as simple as display- MIT alumna Robbin Nicole Chapman as on April 24. applications for either program, visit www. case photos of racially mixed intramural manager of diversity recruitment. 2007 MIT Federal Credit Union mitfcu.org. sports teams can telegraph a message of “You’re taking on an entire profession Anyone with questions should contact inclusion. that has chosen to ignore these issues,” People Helping People Award Program Maria Connelly at x3-3579 or mariac@mit. • Ensure that black students have not Landsmark said, pointing out that there The MIT Federal Credit Union People edu. only appropriate academic preparation but are only 29 licensed black architects in familiarity with the way things are done at Massachusetts. Part of the problem is lack a particular university. of awareness of the field, a lack of role Henderson credited Dolores Hayden, models, a perception that architects don’t formerly of MIT and now of Yale, for facili- make much money and a lack of ability tating his admission to UCLA. “She helped to develop private practices because new me see I needed to do more writing, go to business is tied to social connections not more conferences.” readily available to young minority practi- He also credited Stanford Anderson, tioners, he said. professor of architecture at MIT, as a men- Catalysts for change, Landsmark tor who wouldn’t perhaps define himself as said, might include sponsored programs a mentor but who “maybe inadvertently” to introduce 6- to 14-year-olds to design gave him some opportunities, including a professionals, because most architects, field trip to Paris. “Did he take me?” Hen- regardless of race or gender, cite early derson asked rhetorically. “No, he took exposure to someone in the field as a fac- the whole class.” But Henderson benefited tor in choosing the field; recruiting design along with everyone else. Mentors like school faculty of color outside of tradition- these “let me see what an academic does,” al recruitment tracks; monitoring govern- he said. ment and foundation diversity programs Not everyone, though, was convinced to see if they work; increasing the visibility that structured mentoring is the best way of architects of color; and collecting better to get more blacks into architecture. “It’s data on who enters the profession. not about who can take you by the hand Conference speaker Ellen Weiss, Fav- and lead you through the system,” as one rot Professor at the Tulane University participant put it. “It’s about getting more School of Architecture, presented a bio- people interested in architecture as a pro- graphical sketch of Robert R. Taylor, the fession.” first academically trained black American Janet E. Helms, Augustus Long Profes- architect. Taylor, MIT’s first black gradu- IMAGE COURTESY / OLIVIER DE WECK sor of counseling psychology and director ate, went on to teach at Tuskegee Institute of The Institute for the Study and Promo- in Alabama, where he designed most of The SpaceNet supply chain relies on a web of surface and landing nodes for interplanetary tion of Race and Culture at Boston Col- the campus buildings. Taylor’s primarily trucking. The model above includes the MIT campus as a launch site—or an in-joke among lege, gave the morning’s keynote address. horizontal buildings have finely tuned pro- the researchers. Panels focused on teaching and practicing portions and classical porticos, many dis- architecture; panelists included MIT alum- playing Tuskegee’s richly textured home- SPACENET nus Robert T. Coles (photos on page 1). made bricks. Continued from Page 4 manage and track assets with the goal of creating a “smart exploration base” that needed to support crewed exploration mis- could increase safety and save astronauts MEDICAL sions. and explorers precious time. Continued from Page 2 force web site: mit.edu/task-force/medi- SpaceNet 1.3 is written in MATLAB, a Mars on Earth cal/final/final-march-07.html. Further high-level technical computing language ues to advance its efforts to help members information will be available in coming To experience an environment as close and interactive environment for algorithm of the community to adopt and maintain issues of MIT Tech Talk and the Faculty as possible to harsh planetary conditions, development, data visualization, data anal- healthy behaviors, attitudes and lifestyles,” Newsletter. MIT conducted an expedition to Devon ysis and numerical computation. she noted. The members of the working group Island in the Canadian arctic in 2005. The The SpaceNet development team The Institute has also increased the were Tricia Fay, director of benefits, Sher- researchers established a semipermanent includes MIT graduate students, postdoc- share of health insurance costs it bears win Greenblatt, then executive vice presi- shelter at the existing NASA-sponsored toral associates and research staff led by “in order to slow the rate of premium dent and treasurer, Bill Kettyle, director of Haughton-Mars Research Station (www. de Weck and Simchi-Levi. They are aided increases for plan subscribers. We have MIT Medical, Jim Morgan, controller, and marsonearth.org) and compiled an inven- by partners at Caltech’s Jet Propulsion also evaluated and negotiated favorable Israel Ruiz, director of finance. tory of materials at the base, including key Laboratory, Payload Systems Inc., which plans and/or pricing for medical care, den- Stone also noted, “We remain deeply items such as food, fuel, tools and scien- provides science and engineering services tal care and prescriptions. Looking ahead, grateful to Professor Paul Joskow and his tific equipment, while carefully tracking for spaceflight applications, and NASA the analytical framework is in place to sup- colleagues on the Medical Task Force for inbound and outbound flights. industry partner United Space Alliance. port even more effective use of the health providing us with such a thoughtful and They also experimented with modern For more information on SpaceNet 1.3, insurance premiums paid by MIT and comprehensive assessment on which to logistics technologies, such as radio fre- go to spacelogistics.mit.edu. members of the community,” Stone wrote. build even stronger health care programs quency identification, that autonomously This work was funded by NASA. A final report is available at the task for the Institute’s faculty, students and staff.” MIT Tech Talk ARTS March 21, 2007 PAGE 7 In Scheib’s ‘Desert,’ love goes all wrong Jay Scheib, assistant professor in music and theater arts, has created a new work, “This Place Is a Desert,” a study of love gone wrong produced in collaboration with media artist Leah Gelpe. “Desert” will be premiered at Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) from March 22 to 25 as the new waterfront museum’s inaugural theater production. Conceived as a workshop with the Kre- takor Ensemble in Budapest and developed at MIT, “This Place Is a Desert” unfolds in fragments: The action occurs through windows, reflected in mirrors, behind half- drawn curtains and projected live onto a wide screen looming above the stage. Scheib, who’s also directing MIT Dra- mashop’s upcoming production of “Our Town,” spoke to Lynn Heinemann of the Office of the Arts about his ICA “Desert” venture. Q: How did you achieve the distinction of being the new ICA’s first theatrical pro- duction? A: David Henry, the curator at the ICA, has a real passion for cross-disciplinary performance works, especially those that use new and known technologies in live performance. I delayed the premiere of “This Place Is a Desert” so that it could happen here in Boston. Q: Will you be using the ICA’s incred- PHOTO COURTESY / MIT SLOAN ible view of Boston in the show? Melissa Mazmanian is researching how BlackBerry users balance the efficiency and lifestyle effects of their gadgets. A: The play takes place on the water- front, more or less. We have changed the text to incorporate the view. Q: You’ve said that Italian modern- ist filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni MIT Sloan study asks: Does BlackBerry inspired you. How? A: Antonioni used human life itself as a mode of artistic expression by observing equal ‘CrackBerry’ or career essential? and in some cases unleashing the social forces that surround and inform a charac- Sarah Foote and Michelle Choate others who set their alarms on the Black- tend to see is a gradual blurring of the ter’s actions. He fixates on those individu- MIT Sloan School of Management Berry and check their messages first thing lines between ‘work time’ and ‘personal als for whom technological advancement in the morning.” time’ by device owners. Some people feel provides a sense of profound anguish, Mazmanian is working with sev- more productive when they use a Black- helplessness and loss. These were Anto- One might expect a doctoral student eral companies to conduct the research, Berry. Others feel compelled to stay in the nioni’s heroes. And now they are mine. conducting research on BlackBerry including law firms, investment banks and loop. Many also feel trapped by the social Q: You call “Desert” a “motion por- usage to own one or more of the handheld an apparel manufacturer. (The companies expectation to be constantly available,” trait.” What is that? devices. But Melissa Mazmanian, a fourth- participating in the study prefer to remain Mazmanian said. A: A motion portrait is a portrait that year MIT Sloan doctoral student, doesn’t anonymous.) “Being from MIT is a great Many of the people she has spoken moves. The experience of the piece is live, own one, and she prefers it this way. entrée, as far as people taking you serious- with have become emotionally attached to but the dramaturgy is cinematic, hopping Mazmanian’s study of how people use ly,” she said. Mazmanian spent the month the devices, she noted. One man she inter- from one world to the next. What just hap- the BlackBerry in their everyday lives has of January in southern California, studying viewed accidentally dropped his BlackBer- pened informs what happens next—this is already drawn attention in the Wall Street the sales team of the apparel manufactur- ry onto a train track and jumped down to how we understand the piece as an audi- Journal and The Independent and on er, as the mobile nature of sales gave her get it without really thinking of the conse- ence. The piece accumulates in motion National Public Radio. Her research won additional opportunities to explore Black- quences. (He was fine.) Afterwards, she and in dialogue. And hence a motion an Academy of Management award in its Berrys in use. said, he was surprised by his own actions. portrait encompasses an intimate look at division last summer. What she has found to date is that But to many people, the device is that valu- an impotent world, described in intimate When Mazmanian first began her BlackBerry use has a large impact on able. motions, framed by intimate screens above research, which has been funded by the the workplace landscape, affecting expec- Mazmanian acknowledged the negative the stage. National Science Foundation, she decid- tations of work turnaround, employee stereotypes of electronic-device dependen- Q: Are all the videos used in the pro- ed it was best not to have preconceived availability, personal interactions and the cy. “There are a lot of good, helpful, ratio- duction shot live? notions, and thus she never purchased a increasingly rare notion of free time. Of nal reasons that people use BlackBerrys,” A: Nothing is pre-taped. We have a BlackBerry. course, like society in general, many of the she noted. number of fixed cameras as well as a cam- “My goal is to try to figure out the per- people in the research study claim they Working with MIT Sloan professors era operator who moves with the actors. sonal and social challenges that go into have become “addicted” to using their JoAnne Yates and Wanda Orlikowski, Leah (Gelpe) and I think in terms of four negotiating norms. I’ve found that people BlackBerrys—thus the moniker “Crack- Mazmanian hopes to complete her screens, four visual lines, much like a com- struggle with when and where is it okay to Berry.” research in time for her first baby, due in poser would think in terms of four instru- use their BlackBerry,” Mazmanian said. One group of professionals who had early June. She plans for two more years mental lines. “I’m lucky because people want to talk taken time during their annual partners’ in the doctoral program. “This Place Is a Desert” will be per- about their BlackBerry use. It’s an easy retreat to discuss their ever-increasing use Does Mazmanian regret not owning a formed March 22 at 7:30 p.m., March 23 project to describe and it hits enough of of BlackBerrys found that even after the BlackBerry? She said no. But she did miss and 24 at 8 p.m. and March 25 at 2 p.m. a nerve with people that they’re eager to partners established shared guidelines an opportunity to be a guest speaker on at Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art share. They light up when talking about they could not stop using their BlackBer- “Talk of the Nation,” a radio show on NPR, (100 Northern Ave., Boston). Tickets cost how it affects their lives,” she said, adding, rys during firm meetings, she said. because she did not receive the e-mail invi- $20; $15 for ICA members, students and “I’ve heard of people who wake up in the “It was fascinating; they just couldn’t tation in time. She hopes, she said, to par- seniors. middle of the night to check their e-mail, even keep to their own rules. What we ticipate next time.

Mark Doty will read poems at MIT ICA presents Machover work The List Visual Arts Center will many magazines, including the Atlantic MIT Media Lab composer Tod Macho- the New York Times. April 6 is the event’s present a poetry reading by Mark Doty Monthly, the London Review of Books, ver, known for his innovativeness as a Boston premiere. today, Wednesday, March 21, at 6:30 Ploughshares, Poetry and the New musician and as a creator of new technol- Media arts and sciences graduate stu- p.m. in the Stata Center, Room 32-144. Yorker, and in “The Norton Anthology ogy for musical instruments, will present dent Mike Fabio helped design the tech- The author of seven books of poems, of Contemporary American Poetry.” an evening performance of work commis- nology and sound infrastructure for the among them “School of the Arts,” Doty has received the National Book sioned for the Grammy Award-winning event. “Source,” “Sweet Machine,” “Atlantis” Critics Circle Award, the Los Angeles Ying Quartet. For more information and to and “My Alexandria,” Doty has also Times Book Prize, a Whiting Writers The concert at Boston’s Institute for reserve tickets, please go to www. published three volumes of nonfiction Award, two Lambda Literary Awards Contemporary Art will feature Machover’s icaboston.org/programs/performance/ prose—“Still Life with Oysters and and the PEN/Martha Albrand Award composition “…but not simpler…” on Fri- subpage?keyword_id=28189. Lemon,” “Heaven’s Coast” and “Fire- for First Nonfiction. He is the only day, April 6, at 8 p.m. at the ICA’s water- Machover’s work will also be featured bird.” American poet to have received the T.S. front site. this spring in other venues, including Doty has contributed an essay to Eliot Prize in the United Kingdom. Built around Machover’s new string a concert piece on “Music, Mind and the catalogue accompanying the cur- Doty lives in New York City and in quartet commissioned by the Ying, the Health,” to be presented at the Media rent List Center exhibition, “Sensorium: Houston, Texas, where he is the John upcoming concert of continuous music Lab’s “Human 2.0” symposium in Kresge Embodied Experience, Technology and and Rebecca Moores Professor in the brings together works from diverse peri- on May 9 and the world premiere of Contemporary Art,” on view through graduate program at the University of ods and styles, from Bach to Beethoven, “VinylCello,” his new work for Hyper- April 8. This reading is hosted by the Houston. Cage to Carter, Byrd to the Beatles. The cello and live DJ, to be performed by Matt List Center. For more information, call x3-4680 concert also includes original electronic Haimovitz, DJ Olive with Kent Nagano Doty’s poems have appeared in or visit web.mit.edu/lvac. interludes. The concert premiered last sea- and the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra on son in New York and was given a rave by May 11. PAGE 8 March 21, 2007 RESEARCH MIT Tech Talk BRACE Continued from Page 1 recipients of a grant from MIT’s Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation. The center funds novel early- increasingly recognized ability of the brain to rewire itself stage research and connects MIT’s innovators with the in response to experience and training. resources needed to increase their commercial viability. The robotic therapy device, which is awaiting FDA The robotic therapy device received Deshpande grants in approval, was tested on stroke patients at MIT’s Clinical 2002 and 2003. Research Center and at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospi- “We saw this as a novel technology with the potential to tal in Boston. According to the researchers, the results have a significant impact on the quality of life for people,” show that “the ability of the device to provide a ‘power said Charles Cooney, faculty director of the Deshpande assist’ to…muscle groups may help close the feedback Center and a professor in the Department of Chemical loop of brain intention and actual limb movement that is Engineering. “This study proves we were right.” believed to be a key component of cerebral plasticity in The wearable, portable, lightweight robotic brace slides motor recovery.” onto the arm. By sensing the patient’s electrical muscle The study showed that the severely impaired patients’ activity through electromyography (EMG)—which detects arm function improved, on average, 23 percent after using muscle cells’ electrical activity when they contract—and the brace, and the arm muscle tightness typical of stroke sending that data to a motor, it allows stroke patients to victims was significantly reduced. control their affected limbs. When used under the supervision of an occupational or Cost-effective rehabilitation physical therapist, the device can be used to help patients In the United States, there are 5.7 million stroke sur- progress from basic motor training, such as lifting boxes vivors and 700,000 new cases per year. Stroke is the or reaching for a light switch, to more complex tasks such single leading cause of disability in the United States. as carrying a laundry basket or flipping a light on and off Many of the medical devices aimed at treating patients while holding an object with the unaffected limb. afflicted with neurological disorders have not fundamen- According to the study researchers—Dr. Joel Stein, tally changed in decades, or require costly, high-risk brain Kathryn Krebs and Richard Hughes, of Harvard Medical implants. School and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, and MIT The robotic therapy device was one of the first graduates Kailas Narendran and John McBean—even peo- ple who have experienced a stroke years ago may be able to use the device to regain mobility. “This brace will allow people who have suffered from neurological trauma to rebuild strength, rehabilitate and gain independence,” said Woodie Flowers, Pappalardo Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT, who led the original research team that developed the device. “The joint brace is easily controlled by the user and appears to be cost-effective. It could afford self-driven therapy for a PHOTO COURTESY / MYOMO, INC. large patient population.” Maggie Fermental, a stroke survivor and study participant, Relearning how to move regained full motion at the elbow after 18 hours using the In 2002 and 2003, Flowers, along with then-students device and has maintained her progress to date. Narendran and McBean, developed a working prototype of the active joint brace. The first prototype system enabled paralyzed victims with certain kinds of spinal cord inju- ries to move their arms. In 2004, Narendran and McBean won the MIT $50K business plan competition and shortly afterward started the Boston-based company Myomo (an acronym for “my own motion”) to develop a new class of medical technology they call NeuroRobotics. “NeuroRobotics noninvasively helps people suffering from neurological trauma regain mobility by facilitating their ability to relearn how to control affected muscles and neurological pathways,” Narendran said. “Unlike other systems that stimulate or move the muscle for a patient, NeuroRobotics is embedded in light- weight wearable devices that actually adjust to a person’s body and use the person’s own electrical muscle activity signal to initiate and control movement,” McBean said. “Without the device, many of the individuals we test- ed were simply unable to complete the movement and thus had no practical way to improve their performance through practice,” Stein said. “By allowing the user to complete an intended movement through its ‘power assist’ PHOTO COURTESY / MYOMO, INC. function, the device helps the user improve his or her The device is a lightweight elbow brace that employs an PHOTO COURTESY / MYOMO, INC. performance through practice. Thus the device acts as a EMG sensor that sits on the surface of a user’s bicep or The device facilitates tricep extension to assist with func- facilitator of the innate capability of the human brain to tricep muscle, depending on desired motion. Proportional tional exercises, such as sit to stand. improve function through practice.” assistance is delivered through the portable control unit.

PHOTO COURTESY / MYOMO, INC. PHOTO COURTESY / MYOMO, INC. PHOTO COURTESY / MYOMO, INC. A stroke survivor who used the device has reported that he Subjects who have used the device report an improved A study participant reported the ability, post trial, to be able can now open the refrigerator door with his affected arm ability to perform bilateral tasks, such as carrying a laundry to carry a glass with the unaffected limb, while flipping a and use his unaffected arm to remove items. basket. light switch on or off with the affected limb.