Volume 52, Number 16 Wednesday, February 13, 2008 TechTalk S e r v i n g Th e MIT Co mm u n i t y A ‘micropharmacy’ inside Implantable film can deliver drugs Anne Trafton sandwiches the drug molecules and holds News Office them in place. (Part of the reason the researchers chose to work with Prussian Blue is that the FDA has already found it A new thin-film coating developed at safe for use in humans.) MIT can deliver controlled drug doses When an electrical potential is applied to specific targets in the body following to the film, the Prussian Blue loses its implantation, essentially serving as a negative charge, which causes the film “micropharmacy.” to disintegrate, releasing the drugs. The The film could eventually be used to amount of drug delivered and the timing deliver drugs for cancer, epilepsy, diabetes of the dose can be precisely controlled by and other diseases. It is among the first turning the voltage on and off. drug-delivery coatings that can be remote- The electrical signal can be remotely ly activated by applying a small electric administered (for example, by a physician) field. using radio signals or other techniques “You can mete out what is needed, that have already been developed for other exactly when it’s needed, in a system- biomedical devices. atic fashion,” said Paula Hammond, the The films can carry discrete packets PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY Bayer Professor of Chemical Engineering of drugs that can be released separately, From left, Broad Institute postdoctoral associate Kris Wood, Bayer Professor of Chemical and senior author of a paper on the work which could be especially beneficial for Engineering Paula Hammond and chemical engineering graduate student Dan Schmidt appearing in the Feb. 11 issue of the Pro- chemotherapy. The research team is now show the thin film they have developed. The film releases drugs and other chemical agents ceedings of the National Academy of Sci- working on loading the films with different upon application of a small electrical field. ences. cancer drugs. The film, which is typically about 150 Eventually, devices could be designed engineering and one of the lead authors of tion. They can coat a surface of any size or nanometers (billionths of a meter) thick, that can automatically deliver drugs after the paper. shape, which offers more design flexibility can be implanted in specific parts of the sensing that they’re needed. For example, Other lead authors are recent MIT PhD than other drug-delivery devices that have body. they could release chemotherapy agents if recipients Kris Wood, now a postdoctoral to be microfabricated. The films are made from alternat- a tumor starts to return, or deliver insulin associate at the Broad Institute of MIT “The drawback to microfabricated ing layers of two materials: a negatively if a diabetic patient has high blood sugar. and Harvard, and Nicole Zacharia, now a devices is that it’s hard to coat the drug charged pigment and a positively charged “You could eventually have a signaling postdoctoral associate at the University of over a large surface area or over an area drug molecule, or a neutral drug wrapped system with biosensors coupled with the Toronto. in a positively charged molecule. drug delivery component,” said Daniel Because the films are built layer by See DRUGS The pigment, called Prussian Blue, Schmidt, a graduate student in chemical layer, it is easy to control their composi- Page 7

Anne Trafton News Office

It’s not unusual for MIT professors Tour de force and their students to socialize outside the laboratory. But here’s a word of warning to would-be members of Jeff Tester’s lab: You might want to think about getting in shape. Every spring, Tester leads a group of people, mostly his students and members of his lab, on a 65-mile bike trip along the Connecticut River from Lancaster, N.H., through Vermont and then into the Great North Woods of New Hampshire, near Canada. Some riders tack on an extra trip to the Cana- dian border at Fourth Lake that brings the round-trip total to about 100 miles. Tester and his wife, Sue, started making the trip, which includes an overnight stay at a former hunting-and- fishing lodge called the Glen, in Pitts- burg, N.H., more than 25 years ago. After a few years, students started ask- ing if they could join the trek through the breathtaking scenery of northern New England. “We decided to take whoever want- ed to go,” says Tester, the H.P. Meiss- ner Professor of Chemical Engineering and an avid cyclist. “For some of the students it becomes sort of a rite of pas- sage. It becomes a great achievement for them to make it to the Glen.” Over the years, more than 100 stu- dents and spouses have gone on the PHOTO / ROCCO CICCOLINI See CYCLE Professor Jeff Tester cycling toward Teton Pass, near the border between Idaho and Wyoming. Page 6

PEOPLE NEWS RESEARCH

LOUIS MENAND III IN THE WORLD: TOYING WITH THE RAINFOREST A SUPER SURPRISE Beloved political scientist, administrator passes Sloan student hopes to build sustainable toys in MIT physicists gain understanding of high- away at the age of 85. Honduras. temperature superconductors, the uses of which Page 2 Page 3 would be limitless. Page 5 DEFINING STRENGTHS X-CELLENCE MARKS THE SPOT Martha Gray, who will step down as HST director in Institute announces annual Excellence Awards. AUTISTIC SAVANTS EXPLAINED? July, is praised for her inclusiveness and optimism. Page 8 Picower researchers’ findings may reveal reason Page 3 behind mental disability phenomenon. Page 5 PAGE 2 February 13, 2008 PEOPLE MIT Tech Talk OBITUARIES Suresh to receive 2008 Eringen Medal Louis Menand III, political an advocate for civil rights throughout his of the Society of Engineering Science life. His personal passions were music, scientist and former key especially opera, and the natural environ- The Society of Engineer- medal, a cash prize and life- ment. He loved mountains both as scenery ing Science has chosen Subra time membership in the soci- administrator, 85 and as ski slopes. He was a member of the Suresh, Dean of the School of ety. In Suresh’s honor, the St. Botolph Club in Boston. Engineering and Ford Profes- society also plans to organize Sarah H. Wright Menand was a native of Menands, N.Y., sor of Engineering, to receive a special symposium devoted News Office a town named for his great-grandfather. the A.C. Eringen Medal for to the science and applica- He received his BA in political science 2008, one of the highest and tions of advanced material, cell from Middlebury College in 1944 and his most distinguished prizes and molecular biomechanics, PhD from the Maxwell School of Public awarded in recognition of “sus- and nanotechnology, to which Louis Menand III, a celebrated teacher Administration of Syracuse University in tained outstanding achieve- Suresh has made pioneering and political scientist who served three 1952. In 1943, at the age of 20, he enlisted ments in engineering science.” contributions. The list of recip- consecutive MIT administrations in senior in the U.S. Navy; he spent two years in In its annual meeting to be ients of the Eringen Medal leadership roles, died Jan. 30 of complica- the Pacific commanding a landing craft held this fall at the University in recent years includes the tions from cardiac surgery. He was 85. and participating in eight invasions before of Illinois at Urbana, Cham- late Nobel laureate Pierre de Menand came to MIT in 1968 as assis- Subra Suresh leaving the service in 1946 as a lieutenant, paign, Suresh will receive a Gennes. tant to the provost under MIT President junior grade. Howard Johnson; later, he was special Before coming to MIT, Menand was a assistant to provosts under former presi- Washington-based consultant to the Office AWARDS AND HONORS dent Jerome of Economic Opportunity for Upward Wiesner and Bound, a federal program to help disad- John C. Cox, the Nomura Professor of “contributions to data flow and multi-thread Paul Gray, pres- vantaged high school students prepare for Finance, has been elected as an American computing and the development of tools for ident emeritus college. He was dean of Bradford College Finance Association (AFA) Fellow. The the high-level synthesis of hardware.” and professor from 1956 to 1966. He also held faculty purpose of the AFA Society of Fellows is to Armstrong, the Chevron Professor of ­emeritus of elec- positions at Dartmouth College and Vas- recognize those members who have made Chemical Engineering, was honored for trical engineer­ sar College. a distinguished contribution to the field of “conducting outstanding research on non- ing and comput- Menand is survived by his wife, Cath- finance. No more than five candidates are Newtonian fluid mechanics, co-authoring er science. erine (Shults), of Boston; a son, Louis, of nominated each year, and current fellows landmark textbooks and providing leader- “Louis fell Cambridge and New York City; a daughter, elect a maximum of two new fellows. Cox ship in chemical engineering education.” in love with Constance Margowsky of Somersworth, was the sole Principal this special N.H.; a son, Nicholas Brock of Hammon- recipient of Research Sci- place even as ton, N.J.; and four grandchildren. this honor entist Victor the Institute In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent in the most W. Wong has embraced him. Louis Menand to Tutoring Plus of Cambridge, a commu- recent elec- been granted An erudite, cos- nity program assisting local high school tion. fellow status mopolitan, engaging individual with a fine students, where Menand had served as Elfatih by SAE Inter- sense of humor, he will be remembered president of the board of directors. Eltahir, pro- national, a with respect and much affection by his stu- fessor of civil leading mem- dents, his colleagues across the Institute and envi- bership soci- and by me,” said Gray. John Meyer, nuclear ronmental ety dedicated In addition to his administrative respon- engineering, to advanc- sibilities, Menand was a senior lecturer engineer, 76 and Samuel ing mobility in the political science department where Bowring, engineering he taught American politics, winning the MIT Professor Emeritus John Meyer, a Robert R. Arvind Robert Armstrong worldwide. Everett Moore Baker Memorial Award for nuclear engineer who spent more than 25 Shrock Pro- Wong, man- Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in years at MIT until his retirement in 2001, fessor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, ager of the Sloan Automotive Laboratory, 1988. He was well known for a course he passed away Jan. 11. He was 76. have been elected Fellows of the Ameri- was honored for “significant contributions developed, The Supreme Court and Con- An expert in numerical methods in can Geophysical Union (AGU). Fellows to the field of engine power cylinder lubri- stitutional Processes. engineering analysis of nuclear power sys- are elected based on their acknowledged cation, helping to bridge the gap between Profesor of Economics Jonathan Gruber tems, Meyer introduced models for tran- eminence in the Earth and space ­sciences, classic tribological studies in engine com- SB ’87, a former student of Menand, said, sient analysis of coolant flow in reactors their contributions to the scientific commu- ponent dynamics and development.” One “He was nothing less than an intellectual that could be handled by the limited com- nity and the advancement of the public’s of a select few who have won the SAE giant. Louis provided me with a moral com- puter capability emerging in the late 1950s understanding. This honor is bestowed on Lubricants Award twice, Wong was rec- pass for thinking about the world and policy and early 1960s. only 0.1 percent of the AGU membership ognized with the Arch T. Colwell Merit issues in the world. There is no way I would Meyer joined MIT’s Department of in any given year. Award in 1994. be where I am today without his incredible Nuclear Science and Engineering in 1975 Arvind and Robert C. Armstrong MIT graduate students Karima Nig- influence. I will miss him dearly.” to research mechanical analysis of nucle- have been elected to the National Acade- matulina and Michael Metzger recently Menand’s career reflected his commit- ar plant components. He helped develop my of Engineering. Academy membership received first- and second-place honors at ment to personal and public standards of quick simulation models of pressurized honors those who have made outstanding a poster session sponsored by the Nation- living a good life, one that provides cen- water reactors and boiling water reactors contributions to “engineering research, al Academies. Karima’s first-place poster tering and satisfaction with one’s own that reflected the effects of many impor- practice or education,” and to the “pioneer- focused on government and commu- accomplishments, according to his wife, tant flow and power variables, and could ing of new and developing fields of tech- nity interventions for stopping pandemic Catherine. be used to study a variety of normal and nology, making major advancements in tra- flu. Metzger earned second place for his Outside of MIT, Menand was a consul- near-normal operating conditions. ditional fields of engineering, or develop- poster, which outlined the use of decision tant on higher education and a member During his time at MIT, he also helped ing/implementing innovative ­approaches modeling to mitigate risks and damage in the American Civil Liberties Union, where develop an automated control logic for to engineering education.” hurricane emergencies. Both students are he served as vice chair of the Academic operation of the MIT reactors. Arvind, the Charles W. and Jennifer C. research assistants in the Center for Engi- Freedom Committee. Meyer is survived by his wife, Grace, Johnson Professor of Electrical Engineer- neering Systems Fundamentals within An unabashed Democrat, Menand was four children and 13 grandchildren. ing and Computer Science, was honored for MIT’s Engineering Systems Division.

PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY Given all the time people spend staring into computer screens these days, it’s understandable to sometimes ask whether the machines are looking back. These computer monitors on the fourth floor of Building 3 appear to provide the answer...

News Office Staff HOW TO REACH US Tech Talk is published by the News Office on Wednesdays during term time except for Writer...... David Chandler most Monday holiday weeks. See Production Schedule at web.mit.edu/newsoffice/ News Office Assistant Director/Photojournalist ...... Donna Coveney techtalk-info.html. The News Office is in Room 11-400, Massachusetts Institute of Editor Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139-4307. Telephone: 617-253-2700 Greg Frost Operations/Financial Administrator ...... Myles Crowley Web Developer/Editor...... Lisa Damtoft Postmaster: Send address changes to Mail Services, Building WW15, Massachusetts E-mail: [email protected] Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139-4307. Photojournalist Executive Director ...... Pamela Dumas Serfes web.mit.edu/newsoffice Donna Coveney Administrative Assistant II ...... Patti Foley Subscribers may call 617-252-1550 or send e-mail to [email protected]. News Manager...... Greg Frost Tech Talk is distributed free to faculty and staff offices and residence halls. It is also avail- Administrative Assistant II ...... Mary Anne Hansen Office of the Arts Production able free in the News Office and the Information Center. Carol Demers Director, Media Relations...... Patti Richards Senior Science & Domestic mail subscriptions are $25 per year, nonrefundable. Checks should be made web.mit.edu/arts payable to MIT and mailed to Business Manager, Room 11-400, MIT, 77 Massachusetts Engineering Editor...... Elizabeth Thomson Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139-4307. Writer...... Anne Trafton Printed on recycled paper Senior Writer...... Sarah Wright Periodical postage paid at Boston, MA. MIT Tech Talk NEWS February 13, 2008 PAGE 3 Inclusiveness, optimism among strengths of HST’s Gray

Elizabeth Dougherty community by guiding the creation of HST’s BioMatrix that trains experts in management and imbues in them a Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences mentoring program, its alumni association, and its advi- solid foundation in medical science. sory board and council. “Martha supported the notion of driving translational These accomplishments, says MIT Vice President research from the bench to the bedside and to business Last winter, Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Tech- for Research and Associate Provost Claude Canizares, and back well before it became the mantra of many oth- nology Director Martha Gray invited friends to join her for “together with Martha’s leadership in expanding outreach, ers,” says Joseph Bonventre, the Robert H. Ebert Pro- a Billy Collins poetry dinner. The evening would be styled resource development and the globalization of HST, have fessor of Medicine and HST at Harvard Medical School after the famed haggis- and scotch-infused Robert Burns created a lasting legacy.” Canizares has formed a search (HMS), and Gray’s co-director from 1995 until 2007. parties, she wrote in her invitation, only, like Collins’ poet- committee for the next HST director, chaired by Emery N. The introduction of these novel academic programs has ry, more “hospitable.” Brown, who has appointments at MIT and Harvard and is created a new kind of classroom environment in HST. That “Come step into the canoe with us,” the invitation read, an anesthesiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. environment, according to Mitchell, “mixes MD students, alluding to a quote from the former poet laureate: “Step- Gray’s success stems from her almost innate under- who are comfortable with the fuzzy logic of biology, engi- ping from the title to the first line is like stepping into standing of HST. After all, Gray has been connected with neers, who are accustomed to equations and principles a canoe. A lot of things can go HST ever since she started her career as a student in you can derive from, and business students, who wonder, wrong.” HST’s Medical Engineering and Medical Physics (MEMP) ‘How can I turn this into a business plan?’” The result? True. But as Gray well doctoral program. “Terrific cross-fertilization,” says Mitchell. knows, a lot of things can In 1987, she became one of the earliest HST faculty Similarly, Gray created a new kind of faculty for HST go right, too. In fact, it is her members. Her research—which contributed not just a that includes members from MIT, Harvard and the Har- emphasis on what can go right new understanding of cartilage and how it wears, but also vard teaching hospitals. Their diversity adds dimension that draws so many people to a new method for clinical diagnosis using functional mag- to the opportunities HST can provide to its students. her. Her optimism is why, on netic resonance imaging—is emblematic of HST’s mission. Plus, says Mitchell, they send students the message: an exceptionally snowy night Further, when she assumed the role of HST co-director in “You can do this too. You can be a PhD engineer in a in March, dozens of people 1995, she became the first woman to lead an academic sci- hospital. You can be an MD doing full-time basic science flocked to her home to read ence or engineering department at MIT. research.” poetry and to enjoy the chance But beyond this immersion, Gray herself personifies More recently, Gray has continued to expand HST’s meetings—an MIT student HST’s philosophy, which puts all professions and disci- reach. In November 2007, Gray signed an agreement with from the 1980s reunited with plines, as she says, “on equal footing.” She recognizes and the Indian government to establish a Translational Health Martha Gray an engineering professor, a lin- fosters unexpected connections—among physicians, engi- Sciences and Technology Institute in India. HST expects guist learning the ins and outs neers, students, business leaders and even government its first faculty fellows from India to arrive in the fall of of eBay, a physician, an artist officials—because of their potential to open doors to new 2008. and a writer chatting about osso bucco—that few other ideas that translate into real advancements in health. HST’s co-director, David Cohen, associate professor of hosts can conjure.­ “Martha has enthusiasm, vision and a positive out- medicine and health sciences and technology at HMS and This ability to bring people together has been a defin- look,” says Richard Mitchell, associate director of HST, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, expects to continue to ing strength for Gray, who is also the Edward Hood Tap- “and is able to, by the strength of her personality, build build on these foundations and to leverage the HST com- lin Professor of Medical Engineering and Electrical Engi- relationships.” munity to help its students put what they learn into prac- neering at MIT. During her 12 years of leadership at the While building many new connections, Gray has also tice. “Translational research is the way of the future,” says Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technol- remained firmly focused on building them to better serve Cohen. “HST is a paradigm for how to do it properly, for ogy (HST), which will come to a close July 1, the division HST’s students. “Because our students are so inspiring, I how to build relationships that will ultimately be the most has undergone fundamental transformations, almost all of have always been motivated to do my very best to provide beneficial to patients.” which hinged on the strength of her relationships. them with the most opportunities, the best resources and Moving forward, Gray maintains her enthusiasm for For instance, she turned a small, voluntary faculty into the most cutting-edge programs,” says Gray. what’s to come: “I’m excited about a future where collabo- a structured and defined community of more than 60 dedi- Her efforts resulted in the doubling of the MEMP pro- ration is the norm and where it is commonplace for physi- cated and bona-fide HST faculty members. She expanded gram during her tenure, as well as the addition of several cians, scientists, engineers and businesspeople to work HST’s academic programs to include novel approaches to new programs. The Biomedical Enterprise Program, for together to tackle and solve our most challenging medical educating biomedical innovators. And she widened HST’s instance, is a first-of-its-kind, three-year master’s program problems.”

forest and use it in a sustainable way, but Haughey says. Using his own experience likely, these people will end up with some there isn’t a sufficient market for it yet,” in manufacturing, Doescher hopes to ownership” of the company. Doescher says. “We’re trying to fill that introduce some of the efficiencies of mod- Doescher, who is entering the Tegu void.” And because the toys don’t require ern, automated factory systems to the pro- Toyworks project in MIT’s 100K Business the use of familiar woods like mahogany, cess, including computer numerical con- Plan Competition, visited Honduras this they will be able to use—and help build trol systems for initial shaping of pieces, January thanks to a small grant from the demand for—lesser-known species, such while also making use of local skills for Legatum Center to help lay the ground- Saving the rainforest as huesito, San Juan areno and selillon such tasks as finish-sanding by hand. Ini- work for the project. He hopes that over wood. tially, the labor will be local Hondurans, time the company can “migrate as much with … toys? The toys will be high-end, innova- but as quickly as possible the team hopes of the value added as possible to Hon- tive creations, whose designs are being to train locals to take over much of the fac- duras. If we can ultimately transition the finalized now. While many Honduran tory’s management as well. The U.S. team marketing and design to Honduras, that David Chandler craftspeople already make hand-carved would continue to use their expertise in would be a home run for us.” News Office wooden pieces, these have tended to be the areas of design, advertising and dis- relatively simple pieces designed for the tribution. In the World is a new column that local tourist market. These toys, designed In the longer term, they hope the explores the ways people from MIT are Villagers in tiny communities includ- for more lucrative markets, will enable the business will serve “as an incubator for using technology—from the appropriately ing Guayabo, Sawacito and Mahor, in the company to pay premium wages to their Honduran entrepreneurs, as people gain simple to the cutting edge—to help meet the rainforest of northeastern Honduras, used employees. a sense of what they can do,” says Chris needs of local people in places around the to take part in the rampant illegal trade in Doescher, who had prior experience Haughey. Doescher adds that “one of planet. If you know of a good example and mahogany, but recently they have formed working in a manufacturing plant, came the most important things will be to find would like the News Office to write about it, a cooperative and learned to harvest the to MIT specifically to develop his interest the right management down there. Most please e-mail [email protected]. prized wood in sustainable ways. Now, in combining entrepreneurial skills with they mostly use trees that have fallen natu- work in the developing world. He joined a rally or harvest them in a sustainable way team that had already been developing the from around the fringes of the nearby Rio toy-company plan, brothers Chris and Will Platano Biosphere Reserve, and remove Haughey and their partner John Herbold, planks from the forest, first on their backs, all of whom have experience in consult- then on muleback to avoid the disruption ing or finance (Chris left a job with Boston caused by heavy machinery. Consulting Group to work full-time for the They are working on getting certifica- new company). Chris Haughey also had tion for their wood from the Rainforest experience as a Christian missionary in Alliance, and they have one big customer, Honduras, where he assisted a home to the U.S. guitar company Gibson. Thanks get boys off the street of the capital city, to their new way of doing business, deal- Tegucigalpa. ing directly with the customer, they are “We see this great opportunity and earning 40 times more per board-foot of potential,” says Doescher, especially at lumber than they were before. a time when inexpensive, imported toys But they still have a problem: Gibson have been the subject of massive, widely doesn’t need enough of the wood to sus- reported recalls for problems including tain the cooperative. In order to continue lead paint. their sustainable logging, they need new “The U.S. market is moving toward customers. And that’s where MIT Sloan more-natural, more-sustainable products,” School master’s student Craig Doescher he says. “That helps to build our business comes in. case.” Doescher has joined a group of U.S. Tegu Toyworks hopes to have its first business and financial partners to help factory in operation, in the outskirts of launch a new business based in Hondu- Tegucigalpa, by early next year—although ras, called Tegu Toyworks, that will manu- if things go really well, they’d like to move facture wooden toys for export to stores in faster and have some products ready for the United States and Europe. They hope this year’s holiday season. “We’re work- to employ local Honduran craftspeople at ing on some pretty innovative designs,” the factory and to use the output of the Doescher says. “Our goal is not to have a PHOTO COURTESY / GTZ (GERMAN AGENCY FOR TECHNICAL COOPERATION) forest cooperative as their primary mate- me-too kind of product.” rial, providing them with a major new cus- One challenge in finalizing plans for A member of the Honduran woodcutting cooperative at work in the Biosphere Rio tomer. the factory is to determine “the right mix Platano, where they have been logging in a sustainable way under the guidance of the “They’re trying to preserve the rain- of automation versus hand labor,” Chris Rainforest Alliance and the State Forestry Administration. PAGE 4 February 13, 2008 RESEARCH MIT Tech Talk MIT applies engineering approach to studying biological pathways

Anne Trafton News Office

An MIT team has used an engineering approach to show that complex biological systems can be studied with simple models developed by measuring what goes into and out of the system. Such an approach can give researchers an alternative way to look at the inner workings of a complicated biologi- cal system—such as a pathway in a cell—and allow them to study systems in their natural state. The MIT researchers focused on a pathway in yeast that controls cells’ response to a specific change in the environment. The resulting model is “the simplest model you can ever reduce these systems to,” said Alexander van Oudenaarden, W.M. Keck Career Development Profes- sor in Biomedical Engineering and Associate Professor of Physics and senior author of a paper describing the work in the Jan. 25 issue of Science. Quantitative modeling of a biological pathway normally involves intense computer simulations to crunch all avail- able data on the dozens of relevant reactions in the path- way, producing a detailed interaction map. “These simulations are difficult to perform and inter- pret because many model parameters are not or cannot be IMAGE / NICOLLE RAGER FULLER, SAYO-ART experimentally measured. Moreover, because there are so Fantastic voyage many interconnected components in the network, it is dif- ficult to make reliable predictions,” said van Oudenaarden. In this image, targeted nanoparticles—each about 1/100th the size of a human cell and engineered to be stealthy Alternatively, a complex system can be treated as a within the body—deliver high doses of chemotherapy to cancer cells. A team of researchers led by Omid Farokhzad “black box,” where you don’t know what’s happening at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and MIT Institute Professor Robert Langer has demonstrated the precision inside but can figure it out by analyzing the system’s required to engineer a nanoparticle that is effective in targeted drug delivery. Details of their work were published in response to periodic inputs. This approach is widely used the January issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. in the engineering disciplines but has rarely been applied to analyze biological pathways. The technique is very gen- eral and could be used to study any cellular pathway with measurable inputs and outputs, van Oudenaarden said. “You don’t want to open the box, but you want to shake it a little,” he said. “Comparing the response when you River plants may play major role shake it fast to when you shake it slowly reveals important information about which chemical reactions in the path- way dominate the response.” In the new study, the “black box” is a pathway involving in health of ocean coastal waters at least 50 reactions. The pathway is activated when yeast cells are exposed to a change in the osmotic pressure of Denise Brehm flooding, but that practice has changed in recent years. their environment, for example, when salt is added to their Civil and Environmental Engineering Ecologists now advocate replanting, because vegetation growth media. provides important habitat. In addition, aquatic plants and The researchers controlled the inputs (bursts of salt) the microbial populations they support remove excess and measured output (activity of Hog1 kinase, an enzyme Aquatic plants in rivers and streams may play a major nutrients from the water. The removal of too many plants with a pivotal role in the yeast salt-stress response). role in the health of large areas of ocean coastal waters, contributes to nutrient overload in rivers, which can sub- They exposed the cells to salt bursts of varying fre- according to recent research from MIT’s Department of sequently lead to coastal dead zones—oxygen-deprived quency, then compared those inputs with the resulting Civil and Environmental Engineering. areas of coastal water where nothing can survive. One Hog1 activity. This work, which appeared in the Dec. 25 issue of the well-documented dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, fed by Using that data and standard methods from systems Journal of Fluid Mechanics (JFM), describes the physics nutrient pollution from the Mississippi River, grows to be engineering, they came up with two differential equations of water flow around aquatic plants and demonstrates the as large as the state of New Jersey every summer. that describe the three major feedback loops in the path- importance of basic research to environmental engineer- Nepf’s work, which describes how water flows into and way: one that takes action almost immediately and is inde- ing. This new understanding can be used to guide restora- through a plant canopy and how long it remains within pendent of the kinase Hog1, and two feedbacks (one fast tion work in rivers, wetlands and coastal zones by help- the canopy, can be used to find the right balance between and one slow acting) that are controlled by Hog1. ing ecologists determine the vegetation patch length and canopy and flow in a river. The fast feedbacks prevent the yeast cell from shrivel- planting density necessary to damp storm surge, lower Vegetation generates resistance to flow, so the veloc- ing up as water rushes out of the cell into the saltier envi- nutrient levels, or promote sediment accumulation and ity within a canopy is much less than the velocity above ronment. That is accomplished by increasing the cellular make the new patch stable against erosion. it. This spatial gradient of velocity, or shear, produces a concentration of glycerol, a byproduct of many cell reac- Professor Heidi Nepf, a MacVicar Faculty Fellow, was coherent swirl of water motion, called a vortex. Using tions. The presence of glycerol inside the cell balances principal investigator on the research. Brian White, a for- scaled physical models, Nepf and Ghisalberti described the extra salt outside the cell so water is no longer under mer graduate student at MIT who is now an assistant pro- the dynamic nature of these vortices and developed pre- osmotic pressure to leave the cell. fessor at the University of North Carolina, was co-author dictive models for canopy flushing that fit available field In the short term, glycerol concentration is immedi- with Nepf of the JFM paper. Marco Ghisalberti, a post- observations. The team showed that vortices control the ately increased by blocking the steady stream of glycerol doctoral associate at the University of Western Australia, flushing of canopies by controlling the exchange of fluid that normally exits the cell. In the long-term feedback worked with Nepf on some aspects of this research when between the canopy and overflowing water. Similar vorti- loop, Hog1 goes to the nucleus and activates a pathway he was an MIT graduate student. This work was support- ces also form at the edge of a vegetated channel, setting that induces transcription of genes that produce enzymes ed by grants from the National Science Foundation. the exchange between the channel and the vegetation. that synthesize more glycerol. This process takes at least Traditionally, people have removed vegetation growing The structure and density of the canopy controls the 15 minutes. along rivers to speed the passage of waters and prevent extent to which flow is reduced in the canopy and also the During the salt shocks, the short-term response kicks water-renewal time, which ranges in right away, but the cells also initiate the longer-term from minutes to hours for typical responses. submerged canopies. These time­ Other authors of the paper are Jerome Mettetal, a scales are comparable to those recent MIT PhD recipient; Dale Muzzey, a graduate stu- measured in much-studied under- dent in biophysics at Harvard; and Carlos Gomez-Uribe, ground hyporheic zones, suggest- a graduate student in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health ing that channel vegetation could Sciences and Technology. play a role similar to these zones in nutrient retention. In dense can- opies, the larger vortices cannot penetrate the full canopy height. Water renewal in the lower canopy is controlled by much smaller tur- bulence generated by individual stems and branches. “We now understand more pre- cisely how water moves through and around aquatic canopies, and know that the vortices control the water renewal and momentum exchange,” said Nepf. “Knowing the timescale over which water is renewed in a bed, and knowing PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY the degree to which currents are reduced within the beds, helps From left, graduate student Jerome Mettetal, Professor Professor Heidi Nepf of civil and environmental engineering investigates how balanc- researchers determine how the Alexander van Oudenaarden and Harvard graduate stu- ing the needs of flood reduction with the ecologic benefits of vegetation requires a size and shape of a canopy will dent Dale Muzzey report insights on how cells respond to precise understanding of how plants impact water flow. impact stream restoration.” external stimuli. MIT Tech Talk RESEARCH February 13, 2008 PAGE 5 MIT reveals superconducting surprise A better understanding of material could bring ‘endless applications’

Anne Trafton researchers looked at a state of matter News Office that superconductors inhabit just above the temperature at which they start to superconduct. MIT physicists have taken a step When a material is in a superconduct- toward understanding the puzzling ing state, all electrons are at the same nature of high-temperature superconduc- energy level. The range of surround- tors, materials that conduct electricity ing, unavailable electron energy levels with no resistance at temperatures well is called the superconducting gap. It is above absolute zero. a critical component of superconduction, If superconductors could be made to because it prevents electrons from scat- work at temperatures as high as room tering, thus eliminating resistance and temperature, they could have potentially allowing the unimpeded flow of current. limitless applications. But first, scientists Just above the transition temperature need to learn much more about how such when a material starts to superconduct is materials work. a state called the pseudogap. This state of Using a new method, the MIT team matter is not at all well understood, said made a surprising discovery that may Hudson. overturn theories about the state of mat- The researchers decided to investi- ter in which superconducting materials gate the nature of the pseudogap state exist just before they start to supercon- by studying the properties of electron duct. The findings are reported in the states that were believed to be defined by February issue of Nature Physics. the characteristics of superconductors: Understanding high-temperature the states surrounding impurities in the superconductors is one of the biggest material. ­challenges in physics today, according to It had already been shown that natural Eric Hudson, MIT assistant professor of impurities in a superconducting material, physics and senior author of the paper. such as a missing or replaced atom, allow Most superconductors only supercon- electrons to reach energy levels that are duct at temperatures near absolute zero, normally within the superconducting gap, but about 20 years ago, it was discovered so they can scatter. This can be observed that some ceramics can superconduct using scanning tunneling microscopy at higher temperatures (but usually still (STM). below 100 Kelvin, or -173 Celsius). The new MIT study shows that scatter- Such high-temperature superconduc- ing by impurities occurs in the pseudogap tors are now beginning to be used for state as well as the superconducting state. many applications, including cell-phone That finding challenges the theory that base stations and a demo magnetic-levita- the pseudogap is only a precursor state to tion train. But their potential applications the superconductive state, and offers evi- could be much broader. dence that the two states may coexist. “If you could make superconductors This method of comparing the work at room temperature, then the appli- pseudogap and superconducting state cations are endless,” said Hudson. using STM could help physicists under- Superconductors are superior to ordi- stand why certain materials are able to PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY nary metal conductors such as copper superconduct at such relatively high tem- Assistant Professor of Physics Eric Hudson transfers liquid helium to cool the scanning because current doesn’t lose energy as peratures, said Hudson. ­tunneling microscope he is using in his research on high-temperature ­superconductivity. wasteful heat as it flows through them, “Trying to understand what the thus allowing larger current densities. pseudogap state is is a major outstanding Once a current is set in motion in a closed question,” he said. Boyer and William Wise are also authors Nagoya University, Japan. loop of superconducting material, it will Lead author of the paper is Kamalesh of the paper, along with Takeshi Kondo of The research was funded by the flow forever. Chatterjee, a graduate student in physics. the Ames Laboratory at Iowa State Uni- National Science Foundation and the In the Nature Physics study, the MIT MIT physics graduate students Michael versity and T. Takeuchi and H. Ikuta of Research Corporation. Gene research may help explain autistic savants Deborah Halber Disease Control and Prevention estimate Picower Institute of Learning that one in 150 American children have an and Memory at MIT ASD. Occasionally, an autistic person has an outstanding skill, such as an incredible rote memory or musical ability. Such indi- Mice lacking a certain brain protein viduals—like the character Dustin Hoff- learn some tasks better but also forget fast- man played in the film “Rain Man”—may er, according to new research from MIT be referred to as autistic savants. that may explain the phenomenon of autis- Hung said that while it seems counter- tic savants in humans. The work could also intuitive that loss of an important synaptic result in future treatments for autism and scaffold protein would result in improved other brain development disorders. learning among the mice in this study, Researchers at the Picower Institute for the absence of this protein may “trap” the Learning and Memory at MIT report in mice’s synapses in a more plastic state, the Feb. 13 issue of the Journal of Neuro- which means the synapses are ready to science that mice genetically engineered respond to input but not maintain it in to lack a key protein used for building long-term memory. synapses—the junctions through which Aberrant synapse development and brain cells communicate—actually learned faulty structure of dendritic spines—tiny a spatial memory task faster and better protrusions on the surface of neurons that than normal mice. But when tested weeks receive messages from other neurons— later, they couldn’t remember what they are often associated with neurodevelop- had learned as well as normal mice, and mental disorders, including autism, in they had trouble remembering contexts humans. that should have provoked fear. Morgan H. Sheng, the Menicon Profes- PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY “These opposite effects on different sor of Neuroscience, Hung and colleagues From left, postdoctoral associate Albert Y. Hung and Menicon Professor of Neuroscience types of learning are reminiscent of the investigated the role in brain development Morgan H. Sheng report gene research that may explain the phenomenon of autistic mixed features of autistic patients, who and cognitive function of a protein called savants. may be disabled in some cognitive areas Shank1. Shank1 is one member of a family but show enhanced abilities in others,” of proteins that act as structural scaffolds that binds directly to Shank1 and is also tute postdoctoral fellow Fleur L. Kidd; said Albert Y. Hung, a postdoctoral associ- linking together different components of associated with autism. “We speculate that Picower Institute research assistant Clif- ate at the Picower Institute, staff neurolo- the synapse. In humans, mutations in the enhanced spatial learning might be a com- ford Sung; and Mark F. Bear, Picower Pro- gist at Massachusetts General Hospital closely related protein Shank3 have been mon feature of mouse models of autism, fessor of Neuroscience, HHMI investiga- and co-author of the study. “The superior linked to the autism spectrum of disorders and that it might reflect a pathological tor and director of the Picower Institute. learning ability of these mutant mice in characterized by impaired social interac- elevation of brain plasticity in the human Additional authors are from the University a specific realm is reminiscent of human tion, absent or delayed language develop- disease,” Hung and Sheng wrote. of Milan, the University of North Carolina autistic savants.” ment and repetitive behaviors. In addition to Hung and Sheng, a How- at Chapel Hill, and Fujita Health University Autism is one of a group of develop- The mice in the study had smaller den- ard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) in Japan. mental disabilities known as autism spec- dritic spines and weaker brain synapses. investigator, MIT authors are Picower This work was supported by the RIK- trum disorders (ASDs), in which a per- Their enhanced spatial learning is similar Institute research scientist Kensuke Futai; EN-MIT Neuroscience Research Cen- son’s ability to communicate and interact to that of mice engineered to have a muta- MIT biology graduate student Jubin Ryu; ter, the National Institutes of Health and with others is impaired. The Centers for tion in another protein—neuroligin3— Mollie A. Woodworth ’06; Picower Insti- HHMI. PAGE 6 February 13, 2008 NEWS MIT Tech Talk CYCLE Continued from Page 1 “We figured that if we could do west to east, we can certainly go from north to trip, which serves to build team spirit south. But it’s not as easy as you would among members of the lab, according to think. There are a lot of ups and downs,” Rocco Ciccolini, one of Tester’s graduate says Tester. students. Cycling across the continent has also “Much like the focus within our group, allowed Tester, who studies geother- cycling with Jeff has truly taught me how mal energy, to see hot springs in action to persevere through tough times and has firsthand—especially on his many trips really led me to appreciate group interac- through Yellowstone National Park. tion,” says Ciccolini. “We’re a team. We Tester and a few friends started the all look out for each other. Whether it’s first cross-country trip in 1998 and trav- venting to each other about reactor leaks, eled across Washington, Idaho, Montana, riding a shift in the support van, making North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, carb-loaded sandwiches to fuel the team, Michigan, Ontario, New York, Vermont, or being in charge of photo taking for the New Hampshire and Massachusetts over trip, all of our contributions are important four summers. They roughly followed and complementary.” a cycling route known as the “North- Ciccolini and other students whose ern Tier,” mapped out by the Adventure appetites for cycling are whetted by the Cycling Association. northern New England trip often join Tes- The route takes the riders through ter for an even greater challenge: pedaling vast wilderness, farmland and river val- across the United States. leys, mostly along paved roads and up and Tester, who took up cycling in 1978 down many hills. Along the way, cyclists after hurting his knee playing basketball, encounter some of the most scenic parts PHOTO / JIM HALE has already traversed the continent once of the United States. From left, Professor Jeff Tester, grad student Andy Peterson, former grad student Phil and is working on his second cross-coun- In Tester’s office hangs a photograph Marrone and grad student Rocco Ciccolini take a break at the Idaho border. try trip. he took of Logan Pass, which is on the The first trip took Tester and his com- Continental Divide, in Glacier National panions from Puget Sound, Wash., to Hing- Park, Mont., near the intersection of the across Montana and North Dakota to at the New Mexico-Mexico­ border. ham, Mass., over four summers. After that two cross-country routes. “It’s absolutely Fargo. “We had terrific roads, the people In the meantime, the annual trip to trek, they decided they were up for more. gorgeous, and not a lot of people go there,” were friendly, there was no traffic and the Glen will go on as usual. Tester and he says. minimal encounters with expected head- his wife have become close friends with Cross-country During one leg of the trip, Tester and winds,” Tester said. Betty Falton, who for more than 30 years In 2004, they embarked on another two of his graduate students who wanted Tester and his cycling companions has operated the lodge at First Connecti- cross-country trip, this time traveling to see the United States took a side trip hope to finish the fourth and final leg cut Lake, located in an area that supplied north to south along the Continental through Glacier National Park but wound of their north-south trip this year but pulpwood to many paper mills. Now that Divide. The group started the first of four up stranded for two days after an unex- haven’t set a date yet. They usually ride most of the mills are shut down, the area legs in Eureka, Mont., near the Canadian pected 15-inch snowfall in June. in the summer, but that could be difficult is near-total wilderness. border, and finished the third leg last sum- That was followed by one of the high- because they will be riding through desert “It’s pretty much just us, the loons and mer in Los Alamos, N.M. lights of the trip, a ride along Route 2 from Los Alamos to their final destination the moose,” Tester said.

No Tech Talk next week In honor of Presidents’ Day, there will be no Tech Talk on Wednes- day, Feb. 20. The next Tech Talk will be published on Feb. 27. For ongoing MIT news updates, please Grand pram go to the News Office web site, Architecture graduate student web.mit.edu/newsoffice/. Sofia Ponte relaxes in Dream- ing Lounge, which she built and designed. IT’S A FACT! Resembling a baby carriage for grown-ups, Ponte’s Dream- • Technicolor was developed in 1921 by an MIT alumnus, Herbert T. Kalmus ing Lounge offers a way to center ’03, who named the process in honor the student who has gotten off- of his alma mater, often called Tech balance: Settle in, pull the wooden by its early graduates. handle back and the canopy lifts • MIT’s first foreign student was a over your head. Canadian who enrolled with the sec- “Dreaming Lounge is a bubble ond class in the fall of 1865. There have been international students ever of air, a way to breathe and access since. In fall 2007, 2,883 foreign stu- inner categories of knowledge, dents, representing more than 110 like ethics and dreams. It’s a place countries, were enrolled at MIT. to combine the rational and the • According to the National Collegiate irrational,” says Ponte. Athletic Association, MIT ties Har- vard in sponsoring the broadest inter- Dreaming Lounge is on display collegiate athletics program in the in Barker Engineering Library country, with 41 varsity teams (21 for through Feb. 15. men, 17 for women, three coeduca- tional). • MIT paid or generated more than $25.3 million in real estate taxes in the 2007 fiscal year, making it Cam- PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY bridge’s largest taxpayer.

DDCF $2 million grant to fund MIT energy tech innovation review

A two-year, $2-million grant from the Doris Duke ­innovations. demonstration, early adoption and large-scale deploy- Charitable Foundation (DDCF) will enable research- Richard Lester, professor of nuclear science and ment of new energy technologies and services.” ers at the MIT Industrial Performance Center to con- engineering and director of the MIT Industrial Per- The grant is part of DDCF’s $100-million Cli- duct a comprehensive assessment of the energy tech- formance Center, is the principal investigator on the mate Change Initiative, launched last year with the nology innovation system in the United States. project. He said there is an urgent need to think cre- goal of building a clean-energy economy. The initial Using the DDCF grant, MIT researchers will atively and rigorously about how to improve the way round of grants from the Climate Change Initiative, assess the strengths and weaknesses of this system, in which new energy technologies are developed and announced last summer, focused on ways to speed and will consider the entire complex of incentives, rolled out. the adoption of existing clean-energy technologies, regulations, markets, and public and private insti- “Massive changes in the way energy is supplied including the design of optimal domestic and inter- tutions within which the development, demonstra- and used will be needed over the next few decades if national pricing policies for carbon dioxide and other tion, adoption and diffusion of new energy technolo- the world is to have a realistic chance of avoiding the greenhouse gases. In that round, MIT received a gies takes place. Their work will eventually lead to worst environmental and economic consequences of two-year, $500,000 grant to enable researchers at recommendations for improvements to federal and global climate change,” Lester said. “The U.S. role MIT’s Center for Energy and Environmental Poli- state research, development and demonstration poli- will be critical. While technological ingenuity will cy Research to conduct research and analysis that cies, as well as mechanisms for early adoption and be essential, it will be equally important to have an will help inform the U.S. policy process on climate large-scale deployment of supply- and demand-side institutional setup capable of supporting commercial change. MIT Tech Talk NEWS February 13, 2008 PAGE 7

DIGITALK: Where IT’s at Watch out for VMware licensed for use at MIT Sports, innovation share spear-phishing IS&T has signed an agreement with Information Services VMware to license its virtualization soft- and Technology (IS&T) ware for use at MIT. The agreement cov- asks all MIT faculty, staff ers VMware Lab Manager, VMware Infra- stage at Sloan event and students to be on structure Enterprise and VMware desktop guard against spear-phishing attacks products. Stephanie Schorow Ellen Brockley, co-founder and made through MIT’s e-mail system. Spear- Virtualization software enables the News Office Correspondent vice president of Motus Corporation phishing refers to attempts to steal per- creation of multiple independent operat- (which was founded by MIT alumni) sonal information from a targeted group ing systems (“virtual machines”) run- said co-founder Satayan Mahajan by sending an official-looking message ning simultaneously on a single machine. A love of sports can lead to exulta- had noticed his golf game was always that is actually a scam. In a recent attack Through virtualization, professors can tion and heartbreak. But it can also better when he played with a part- at MIT, e-mail that appeared to come from deliver specialized software to students lead to technical innovation, a point ner who was on the golf team. Being an account on campus requested that you in a course, or individuals can run a sec- emphasized in one of the panels dur- at MIT, he sought an “engineering send your password and other personal ond operating system on their computers. ing the second annual MIT Sloan solution.” This became a low-cost, information in a reply e-mail—or else have Virtualization software can also be used in Sports Business Conference, held wireless three-dimensional motion- your e-mail address deactivated from the data centers for server consolidation and Feb. 9. capturing vest that can be used for MIT database. effective management of IT resources. The sports conference, which fitness training. The company is now IS&T will never ask members of the The VMware desktop products (Fusion brought together major figures in the moving into medical applications. MIT community to send their login name for Macintosh and Workstation for Win- sports industry for in-depth, often “If you can tell how an object or password by e-mail. You should never dows/Linux) are available to early adopt- contentious, discussions, covered top- moves, you have all sorts of applica- reply to such messages. When IS&T ers for download at web.mit.edu/vmware. ics ranging from baseball and football tions,” Brockley said. learns of e-mail scams that target MIT, it These products can be installed and used analytics to managing high expecta- Determining “who won” can be a posts alerts on the 3DOWN web page at by all MIT faculty, staff and students on tions for a team. technical challenge. Douglas J. DeAn- 3down.mit.edu. MIT- and personally owned computers. A panel discussion on sports tech- gelis, founder and president of Lynx IS&T also recommends that you never For VMware Infrastructure Enterprise nology, moderated by Kim Blair, System Developers, described how share your password with anyone, includ- and Lab Manager, send your requests to director of MIT’s Center for Sports the combination of high-speed digi- ing IT support staff. Contact the IS&T [email protected]. Innovation, featured speakers from tal cameras and computers created Computing Help Desk at computing-help@ A team is being created this month to businesses that serve niche markets a “photo finish” system in 1992. The mit.edu if you have questions or concerns. explore how to best provide support for within the sports industry. system is now widely used in sports To learn more about IT security topics, see virtualization at MIT, with a goal of offer- The startup Yoonew—a kind of from track events to NASCAR races. web.mit.edu/ist/topics/security. ing support in the first quarter of FY09. stock market for sports tickets— The relationship between star IS&T recommends that only early adopt- came about when founder Gerry Wil- players and ticket sales is one of the Support for iPhone ers—who are able to support themselves son MBA ’04 went to Fenway Park to aspects of StatBridge, a software firm IS&T now provides limited support for and their users—should download and use try to get Red Sox tickets and came founded in 1999 by Matthew Marolda MIT e-mail and MIT’s Wi-Fi setup on the VMware Fusion or Workstation. away empty-handed. “He started that specialized in data visualization Apple iPhone. This mobile device offers sev- New group for network professionals thinking, Wouldn’t it be cool if there and analysis. eral breakthrough technologies, including were insurance for tickets?” said Dave Scarborough, executive vice full web-browsing capability, a robust e-mail MIT’s new NetPartners group taps into Wilson’s partner, Hagos Mehreteab president of Ticketmaster, described client and a multitouch user interface. the great pool of network architecture, MBA ’06. a future when fans come to events However, as is often true for first-gen- engineering and management knowledge The Yoonew web site lets fans bid “without tickets,” just as today pas- eration devices, the iPhone also needs in the MIT community. The group meets on tickets for “team fantasies” such sengers can fly on airlines without a improvement in several areas. At this on the third Tuesday of every month to as the Patriots getting into the Super physical ticket. time, it does not recognize personal cer- discuss issues that affect the networking Bowl and “fantasy matches,” such as Asked what advice the panel- tificates or synchronize calendar data wire- community—construction planning, moni- a future Patriots-Giants match, Meh- ists had for budding sports entre- lessly (though the latter is expected to be toring and management, support for high- reteab said. The company “brings preneurs, Brockley said, “Make addressed when Apple releases the iPhone performance computing, 10GB options and what’s traditionally found in financial sure your market is ready for the software development kit). In addition, layer 4-7 enhancements, to name a few. market to the ticket market.” technology.” because iPhone service is available only The group also hosts a mailing list for through AT&T, iPhone network coverage exchanging ideas and noting opportuni- at MIT is limited. You can find a full list ties of interest to networking profession- of known issues at itinfo.mit.edu/article. als on campus. To join the NetPartners php?id=8740. mailing list, go to mailman.mit.edu/mail- If you have questions about using the man/listinfo/netpartners. For a list of all Apple iPhone at MIT, visit itinfo.mit.edu/ user groups at MIT, visit web.mit.edu/ist/ product.php?vid=780 or contact the iPhone usergroups. Release Project Team at mobile-release@ Digitalk is compiled by Information mit.edu. ­Services and Technology. DRUGS Continued from Page 1 Stefani Wrightman, a 2006 MIT gradu- ate, and Brian Andaya, a recent graduate that is not planar,” said Wood. of the University of Rochester and sum- Another advantage to the films is that mer intern at the MIT Materials Process- they are easy to mass-produce using a vari- ing Center, are also authors on the paper. ety of techniques, said Hammond. These The research was funded by the National thin-film systems can be directly applied or Science Foundation, the Office of Naval patterned onto 3-D surfaces such as medi- Research and MIT’s Institute for Soldier cal implants. Nanotechnologies.

Bustani lectures to CLASSIFIED ADS Members of the MIT community may submit one ad each issue. Ads should be 30 words feature Boutros- maximum; they will be edited. Submit by e-mail to [email protected] or mail to Classifieds, Rm 11-400. Deadline is noon Wednesday the Ghali, Avishai week before publication.­ The Emile Bustani Middle East Semi- nar at MIT, now in its 22nd year, will pres- FOR SALE ent two lectures this spring on contempo- Hardwood coffee table by Nichols and Stone rary Middle Eastern affairs. in excellent condition. Simple, classic design. Convenient drawer on one end for napkins, On Feb. 25, Egyptian Finance Min- coasters. Dimensions 36”x36”. $125.00. ister Youssef Boutros-Ghali PhD ’80 will Contact Peggy at [email protected]. Photo avail- deliver a lecture titled “Building a Smart able. Economy: The Egyptian Experience.” On Men’s jacket: Size large, brown-leather look, April 1, author Bernard Avishai will deliv- below hip length, warm fleece lining through- er a lecture titled “Globalized Israel: Why out. Made in Italy. New, $35. Call Rosalie at Olmert’s Center Government Is the Last— 781-391-1307. and Best—Chance for a Peace Deal.” The seminar is funded by the Bustani family of Beirut, Lebanon, in memory HOUSING of the late Emile Bustani, who received For rent: ocean-front summer cabin, Mount the SB in civil engineering in 1933. The Desert Island, ME: 2BD/1BA w/living/kitchen area; picture windows, deck overlooking water; Bustani Middle East Seminar is sponsored stairway to beach. Mins from Acadia National by the Center for International Studies. Park, Bar Harbor. $1,000/week June-Sept. The Feb. 25 session is co-sponsored Contact Steve at 253-5757 or chorover@mit. by the MIT Department of Economics and edu. will begin at 4:30 p.m. in Room E51-315; Mature MIT Admin. Staff looking to stay in the April 1 session will begin at 4:30 p.m. Boston area for summer while I rent my home in Room E51-095. Both sessions are open to vacationers. Summer &/or fall sublet or house-sitting/pet-sitting wanted. Flex. dates to the public. poss. x3-9432 or 617-699-6893. PAGE 8 February 13, 2008 NEWS MIT Tech Talk

PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY Recipient of a Bringing Out the Best award, Coach Paul Dill leads his volleyball players to victory on the court but also prepares them to succeed in their lives after MIT.

Fostering Community: Ronald J. Legere, technical staff, Tactical Defense Systems, Lincoln Labora- Profiles in excellence tory; Anthony Pelletier, office assis- tant I, Department of Mathematics, School of Science. Nineteen to receive Excellence Awards Serving the Client: Theresa Benevento, administrative assis- Anne Trafton laboration, dedication, outreach, inclusive- always cheerfully available to help with tant II, Department of Econom- News Office ness, service and results. The program any registration or other academic issue, ics, School of Humanities, Arts, is designed to recognize individuals and according to colleagues who nominated and Social Sciences; Doris Lannoy teams for their exceptional contributions her for the award. Inslee, human resources profession- MIT is known for bringing out the best to their office, department or school—or “Shirley is a very humble person who is al, Laboratory for Information and in its students academically, but that ambi- to the Institute as a whole. unfailingly courteous to students, faculty Decision Systems, School of Engi- tion also applies to athletics. Dill, who has coached the women’s and staff and can always be counted on to neering; M. Jennifer Walsh, senior MIT’s men’s and women’s volleyball team for 12 years and men’s team for five answer everyone’s questions without hesi- human resources officer, Labor teams have achieved stellar success in years, teaches his players to set goals, take tation in person, by phone or by e-mail,” and Employee Relations, Human recent years, and much of the credit goes personal responsibility and become lead- said Gary King, undergraduate adminis- Resources Department; Shirley to Coach Paul Dill, who will receive a 2008 ers. To his players, he is more than just trator in the Department of Economics. Thompson, coordinator of registra- Excellence Award for Bringing Out the a coach. According to Dean, “He is also Even during high-stress times such as tion services, Registrar’s Office, Best. a source of inspiration, a person to go to Reg Day, Thompson is always ready and Dean for Undergraduate Education; “MIT Volleyball wouldn’t be the high- for advice and someone all his players can willing to help anyone who needs assis- ­Visitor Reception Services Team: quality program it is today without the tire- depend on.” tance with complicated problems. Karen Allen, administrative staff, less effort of Coach Dill,” said MIT senior Dill’s teams often end the season with a “She is dependable, warm and friendly Dollina Borella, security coordina- Ryan Dean, a team member who nominat- national ranking, but according to Stephen under all circumstances, even the most tor, Roslyn Wesley, administrative ed Dill for the award. Immerman, who also nominated Dill, his distressed. She clearly puts the needs staff, Thomas J. Zech, administrative The annual Excellence Awards, part of success is not all about winning. Though of those she serves over her own needs staff, Security Services Department, MIT’s Rewards and Recognition program, his teams post winning records, his real again and again, and with unfailing good Lincoln Laboratory. acknowledge innovation, leadership, col- achievement is giving his players the skills cheer. And she’s always right,” said Shan- Creating Connections: Theresa they need to succeed in their post-MIT non Larkin, graduate administrator for the A. Tobin, head librarian, Humani- careers. program in writing and humanistic stud- ties Library, MIT Libraries; Joshua “He agrees winning is nice, but he ies. Schuler, executive director, Lemel- knows that students at MIT don’t come “I was extremely impressed that on son/MIT Program, School of Engi- here to become professional athletes. fall term Reg Day this year, I must have neering. They come to achieve great things per- called Shirley 20 times. If you can believe Innovative Solutions: Margarita sonally and academically—to excel. He it, in the midst of this chaotic day, Shir- Hiett, associate staff, Space Systems knows his role in athletics is to give stu- ley answered her phone every time, was Analysis, Lincoln Laboratory; Alison dents tools they take with them after they never aggravated or agitated. She provid- Hynd, IDEAS competition and fel- leave MIT, tools they can [use to] achieve ed me and my students excellent service lowship coordinator, Public Service their dreams, become leaders and succeed that day, as she does every day,” said Janet Center, Division of Student Life, in whatever they choose to pursue,” said Fischer, graduate administrator in the Bringing Out the Best: Paul Immerman, senior associate dean for stu- Department of Electrical Engineering and Dill, Varsity volleyball coach, dent development, who recently served as Computer Science. DAPER Intercollegiate Sports, Divi- interim head of the Department of Athlet- The Excellence Awards ceremony will sion of Student Life; Ellen W. Faran, ics, Physical Education and Recreation. be held Feb. 26 in Kresge Auditorium, with director, MIT Press. Shirley Thompson, coordinator of reg- opening remarks from President Susan Unsung Hero: James M. Daley, istration services in the Registrar’s Office, Hockfield and a keynote address from project technician, Research Labo- will also be honored with an Excellence Deborah Fitzgerald, dean of the School ratory of Electronics; James Dunn, Award, in the Serving the Client category. of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. technical staff, Tactical Defense PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY Thompson processes grades, reg- Refreshments will be served beginning at ­Systems, Lincoln Laboratory; Gary Coordinator of Registration Services Shirley istration forms and add-drop forms, and 11:30 a.m., and the awards presentation A. Hackett, administrative staff, Thompson will be honored with a Serving handles cross-registration with Harvard. will start at noon, followed by a reception Human Resources Department, the Client award. Despite that huge volume of work, she is at 1 p.m. ­Lincoln Laboratory.