Tech Talk Kaiser, Sipser to Head Departments
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Volume 49 – Number 22 Wednesday – March 30, 2005 TechTalk S ERVING T HE M I T C OMMUNITY Students in Africa get web link to MIT labs Janet Wasserstein Office of Foundation Relations Students in Uganda, Tanzania and Nigeria can now perform sophisticated engineering and science experiments at MIT—without ever getting on a plane. “If you can’t come to the lab, the lab will come to you,” said Jesus del Alamo, co-principal investigator on the Africa proj- ect and a professor in MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Students at three African universities will be able to access five MIT labs via the Internet, thanks to an iLab Project part- nership between MIT’s Center for Educa- tional Computing Initiatives (CECI), Mak- erere University (Uganda), the University of Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania) and Obafemi Awolowo University (Nigeria). MIT faculty will work closely with their PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY African colleagues to introduce new labo- Christopher Banks of Baton Rouge, La., right, examines the workings of a disposable camera under the watchful eye of mechanical engi- ratory experiences and develop new con- neering Professor Martin Culpepper, during a ‘Take-Apart Learning’ workshop for high school students held March 24. The workshop was tent in several graduate and undergradu- part of ‘Engineering at MIT Is Fun Day,’ an event hosted in association with the National Society of Black Engineers convention. ate courses in fields ranging from electri- cal engineering to physics. “These additions to the curriculum will directly impact the education of hundreds of students,” said del Alamo. “The project is likely to have multiplicative effects that MIT builds bridges will add to its impact. This may come in the form of revamped curricula, students acquiring unique software engineering skills, and the broader use of computers to black engineers by students and teaching staff in engineer- ing education.” Professor L.O. Kehinde, coordinator Helps make NSBE convention a success of the iLab project at Obafemi Awolowo University said, “With the dearth of funds Becky Schneck “Empowering the World…One Engineer for the purchase of equipment for experi- MLOG Program, at a Time.” mentation, the iLab project is an important Center for Transportation and Logistics As its mission statement reads, NSBE’s intervention for African universities. Not purpose is “to increase the number of cul- only will it afford better access by more turally responsible black engineers who students to relevant experiments, it cer- Thousands of people from across the excel academically, succeed profession- tainly will also result in human and infra- country flocked to Boston last week for ally and positively impact the community.” structural development in partner African the 31st annual National Society of Black During the event that ran from March 23 universities.” Engineers Convention. Among the more through March 27, the society held true to The iLab project is an outgrowth of than 10,000 conference attendees packed its goals, offering an extensive list of pro- the Microelectronics WebLab, which into Hynes Convention Center were doz- fessional workshops, collegiate seminars PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY ens of MIT students, alumni, faculty and Student Jeremy Gilmore of Baton Rouge, See ILAB staff who dedicated their time and energy See ENGINEERS La., quickly discovers how a disposable Page 6 to the five-day event, which was themed Page 4 camera works during the workshop. D.C. trip focuses on resolving environmental disputes Sarah H. Wright resolving science-intensive environmental gram. The partnership is known as the graduate students Peter Brandenburg, News Office disputes to members of the Bush adminis- MIT-USGS Science Impact Collaborative, Anna Brown, Lindsay Campbell, Jennifer tration in Washington, D.C. or MUSIC. Peyser (project manager) and Basilia Yao. The MIT group, comprised of five stu- The group’s two-day Washington visit Each MUSIC group member will dis- Even as friends and foes of the Cape dents and one faculty member, is visiting is led by Herman Karl, co-director of cuss possible ways of applying the pro- and Islands Wind Farm Project prepare the Department of the Interior today. All MUSIC and a USGS Senior Scientist on gram’s consensus-building process known to revisit —and re-argue—the offshore six are participants in an MIT-based part- loan to MIT. The other co-director is Law- as “joint fact-finding.” This is a set of tech- turbines’ potential impact on Nantucket nership between the Department of Urban rence Susskind, Ford Professor of Urban See TRIP Sound, participants in an innovative MIT Studies and Planning (DUSP) and the U.S. and Environmental Planning. The MUSIC program will present new strategies for Geological Survey’s Science Impact pro- interns making presentations are DUSP Page 6 NEWS PEOPLE ARTS HOUSING ASSISTANCE TRANSLATOR HONORED AN OPEN ‘MIND’ A proposal outlined at the most recent faculty Ann Snodgrass of the Program in Writing and Film director Michel Gondry, who won an Oscar for meeting would help mitigate the high cost of housing Humanistic Studies has won a prestigious award from ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,’ will discuss for faculty members. the Academy of American Poets. his work Tuesday. Page 5 Page 2 Page 7 READY FOR PRIME TIME FAMILY TIME TAPPING INTO SUCCESS The Inauguration Committee has announced its President Susan Hockfield and her family share their A performance this weekend highlights Dianne plans for President Susan Hockfield’s big day. favorite music on WMBR-FM. Walker, a pioneer in the resurgence of tap dance. Page 5 Page 3 Page 7 PAGE 2 March 30, 2005 PEOPLE MIT Tech Talk Kaiser, Sipser to head departments Elizabeth Thomson the next five years,” said Dean of Science from MIT in 1987. News Office Robert J. Silbey in a letter to biology fac- Michael Sipser is a theoretical com- ulty and staff announcing the appoint- puter scientist recognized for his work on ment. complexity theory, automata and language Professor Chris Kaiser of the Depart- Kaiser succeeds Professor Robert theory, and algorithms. He is the author of ment of Biology and Professor Michael Sauer, who held the post for five years. the widely used textbook “Introduction to Sipser of the Department of Mathematics Silbey, the Class of ’42 Professor of the Theory of Computation.” have been named heads of their respective Chemistry, noted Sauer’s “leadership “Mike combines outstanding accom- departments. and dedication to the department…. plishments in mathematics with excellent Chris Kaiser Michael Sipser Kaiser is a leader in using yeast as a Bob has been a strong advocate for the intellectual and educational leadership,” model organism to study cell biological needs of the department, and he has Silbey said in a letter to math faculty and Sipser has been on the faculty of MIT processes. He has devised genetic and bio- been a great supporter of intellectual staff. “He was enthusiastically recom- since 1980; he was Chairman of Applied chemical systems to dissect the molecular and scholarly excellence in the School mended by the Mathematics Head Search Mathematics from 1998 to 2000. He mechanisms for intracellular trafficking of of Science.” Committee.” received his undergraduate degree in proteins. His research program has been Kaiser joined the MIT faculty in 1991 as Sipser succeeds Professor David Vogan mathematics from Cornell University and recognized with Markey Scholarship and an assistant professor of biology. In 1996 as department head; Vogan held the posi- earned his Ph.D. from the University of Searle Scholarship awards. he was promoted to associate professor, tion for five years. “David has been a truly California at Berkeley in 1979. “I am confident that Chris will make and in 2002 he became a full professor. He outstanding department head who has Sipser’s and Kaiser’s appointments as an outstanding head of biology, and I holds a B.S. in biochemistry from Harvard served both the department and the Insti- department heads were effective July 1, look forward to working with him over University and earned a Ph.D. in biology tute very well,” Silbey said. 2004. Poetry translator lauded Sarah H. Wright plumbs it, means more than emotions recalled News Office in tranquility. It has moral implications, which might not be transferable to the American envi- ronment. An MIT translator specializing in the work of an Ital- “What’s at stake historically is very dif- ian poet once called the “czar of the blush” has received ferent. In the United States, distortions of the 2004 Raiziss/de Palchi Fellowship from the Academy memory may be less problematic. Americans of American Poets for an English edition of his selected believe in self-creation, in inventing and re- poems. inventing their own narratives. For Sereni, Ann Snodgrass, a poet and essayist in her own right, there’s an obligation to memory; it’s about began translating Vittorio Sereni, a postwar Italian poet, 12 identifying the particular character of a his- years ago. She has been a technical instructor in the Pro- torical moment. Memory is access to history,” gram in Writing and Humanistic Studies since 1998. Snodgrass said. A sense of scrupulous conscientiousness in Sereni’s The actual work of translating the “fierce work prompted the “czar” reference. He was a “poet of intimacy of Sereni’s private voice” from Italian rigorous moral interrogation whose work shows how the to English, Snodgrass said, “gave way to the pressure from historical events somehow brands personal inclusiveness of his language. His poems pos- memory,” Snodgrass said. sess a roving worldliness; their humanity is uni- Sereni’s life (1913–1983) spanned devastating events versal.” in European and Italian history, including two world wars, Snodgrass has received awards from the PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY and he spent two years as a prisoner of war in Algeria.