March 22, 2006 Techtalk S ERVING T HE M I T C OMMUNITY Moving Toward Morphing Vehicles Elizabeth A

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Volume 50 – Number 21 Wednesday – March 22, 2006 TechTalk S ERVING T HE M I T C OMMUNITY Moving toward morphing vehicles Elizabeth A. Thomson News Office

Picture a bird, effortlessly adjusting its wings to catch every current of air. Airplanes that could do the same would have many advantages over today’s flying machines, including increased fuel efficiency. Now MIT engineers report they may have found a way for structures — and materials — to move in this way, essentially morphing from one shape into another. The discovery could lead to an airplane that morphs on demand from the shape that is most energy efficient to another better suited to agility, or to a boat whose hull changes shape to allow more efficient movement in choppy, calm or shallow waters. This science-fiction outcome, in the works for 20 years, has been unobtainable with conventional devices such as hydrau- lics, which aren’t practical for a variety of reasons — from cost to weight to ease of movement. MIT’s work involves a new application of a familiar device: the rechargeable battery. Papers describing the team’s prog- ress appeared earlier this year in Advanced Functional Materials and Electrochemical and Solid-State Letters. Batteries expand and contract as they are charged and recharged. “This has generally been thought to be something detrimental to batteries. But I thought we could use this behavior to another end: the actuation, or movement, of large- PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY scale structures,” said Yet-Ming Chiang, Professors Yet-Ming Chiang, left, and Steven Hall show components of their electrochemically actuated morphing rotor prototype (fore- the Kyocera Professor in the Department ground) as well as a reduced-scale model (long object) of a previous technology that uses piezoelectrics as the active materials. of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE). postdoctoral associate Yukinori Koyama, of Technology, ETH-Zurich) and Dimitrios from miniature motors to microposition- Chiang and Professor Steven R. Hall of aero-astro graduate student Fernando Sapnaras and Georg Baetz (University of ers. None, however, “can enable the large- the Department of Aeronautics and Astro- Tubilla and postdoctoral associate Kyung Karlsruhe, Germany). nautics led a team that also includes MSE Yeol Song, and three visiting students, Urs Several types of “active” materials are See MORPHING graduate student Timothy E. Chin and Rhyner (from the Swiss Federal Institute already used to move devices ranging Page 5 Work may speed Hockfield offers views interplanetary communications to higher ed commission Testifying at a public hearing held by programs that make connections to the MIT researchers have developed a tiny the U.S. Secretary of Education’s Commis- world of professional practice, and the use light detector that may allow for super-fast sion on the Future of Higher Education on of technology. She cited as examples a broadband communications over inter- Monday, March 20, in Boston, MIT Presi- range of MIT programs, including new planetary distances. Currently, even still dent Susan Hockfield urged the panel to degree offerings at the intersection of the images from other planets are difficult to champion increased financial support for life sciences and engineering; the MIT retrieve. higher education, stronger K-12 prepara- International Science and Technology Ini- “It can take hours with the existing tion, and the diversity and innovation that tiatives (MISTI), which places students in wireless radio frequency technology to have made American universities and col- professional internships abroad; and MIT get useful scientific information back leges models for the rest of the world. OpenCourseWare, which makes materials from Mars to Earth. But an optical link She urged the commission, in making from more than 1,200 MIT courses avail- can do that thousands of times faster,” said its recommendations, to resist the urge able free via the web. Karl Berggren, assistant professor in the to impose a standardized curriculum or “Curricular innovation is not optional Department of Electrical Engineering and mandatory testing. “My own belief is that for U.S. universities,” Hockfield said Mon- Computer Science (EECS). strengthening those aspects of higher edu- day. “It has been and will continue to be Berggren, who is also affiliated with the cation at the root of our success — access, the source of our vitality and our ability to Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE), innovation and competition — will be more respond to changes in the world.” developed the detector with colleagues effective than standardization, mandates Pointing out that Congress recently from the RLE, Lincoln Laboratory and PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY and penalties in promoting real, long-term cut $12 billion from the budget for student MIT Assistant Professor Karl Berggren of improvements,” she said. See HOCKFIELD See NANOWIRE electrical engineering and computer sci- Hockfield’s comments on educational Page 4 ence works on nanowires in the lab. innovation stressed curricular change, Page 4 NEWS RESEARCH

WORK BREAK BY A WHISKER EXPANSIVE THINKING Students head to the Gulf Coast for spring break to Neuroscientists discover Brain researchers find unexpected activity in the help the area recover from last summer’s hurricanes. an exquisite brain map linked visual cortex. Page 3 to the whiskers of rats. Page 5 ARTISTIC ADDITION Page 4 A ROUNDING ERRAND Sculptor Sarah Sze talks about her new work, ‘Blue Graduate student Amos Winter works to help Poles,’ which was just installed on the front of the Tanzanians get better wheelchairs. Sidney-Pacific Graduate Residence. Page 3 Page 7 PHOTO / WIKIPEDIA PAGE 2 March 22, 2006 NEWS MIT Tech Talk Educators meet, discuss K-12 outreach Change proposed

Sasha Brown links Cambridge Public School eighth- long learners. Ultimately youngsters need to grad panel at News Office graders with MIT students, Velasco knows to learn “how to be good learners,” he how important outreach can be, he said. said. faculty meeting After receiving the Howard Swearer It is also important for mentors to rec- Working with K-12 students benefits Student Humanitarian Award last year ognize different learning styles, Resnick Deborah Halber both children and their college-aged men- for his work with iMath, Velasco used the said. “Not everyone is successful in the News Office Correspondent tors, said Professor Mitchel Resnick of award funds — along with a matching con- same way,” he said. the MIT Media Lab, who gave the key- tribution from Chancellor Phillip Clay’s Finally, mentors must have respect note address at the first Continuum Con- office — to sponsor the conference. for their students and expect respect in Faculty chair Lorna J. Gibson presented ference, an event held to encourage more “The ultimate goal is to get more MIT return. “To be a good learner, you have to a proposal at the March 15 faculty meeting K-12 outreach on college campuses. students involved in Cambridge,” said take risks,” he said. In a nurturing envi- to restructure the Committee on Graduate “MIT students should not only be at the Velasco, who said he believes helping in ronment, students are more likely to take School Programs and rename it the Com- university,” said Resnick. “They should education provides a crucial service to a chance or try something new, he said. mittee on Graduate Programs. also be out in the world.” the community. “Education gives kids the Both the mentor and the student need Currently made up of 40 members, the The conference brought roughly 50 edu- means to pursue their dreams,” he said. to feel that they are gaining, he said. “The Committee on Graduate School Programs cators from the Cambridge Public Schools Resnick, a leader in educational tech- experience would be the most sustainable handles a variety of tasks, from recom- and other area universities to the MIT Stu- nology, is also heavily involved in K-12 if they (the mentors) feel like it is some- mending the adoption of new graduate dent Center on Evacuation Day (Friday, outreach as co-founder of the Computer thing for them too,” he said. degree programs to issuing formal com- March 17) — a holiday for local schools — Clubhouse network of after-school learn- Following Resnick’s talk, the audience plaints to underperforming graduate stu- to discuss outreach ideas and opportunities ing centers. “Kids are the future,” he said. broke into small working groups to dis- dents. in the Cambridge Public School system. During his talk, Resnick touched on cuss program development, recruitment The proposal would shrink the com- John Velasco, a graduate student in what qualities make for strong mentors. and communication. mittee to six elected faculty members plus political science, planned and coordinated He stressed that mentors ought to “share Susnowitz said she hopes the confer- the associate chair of the faculty and two the conference along with Public Service things they really care about. We all learn ence will spark interest and get the ball graduate student members. The dean for Center Director Sally Susnowitz and con- the most when we work on things we care rolling in terms of greater outreach. “We graduate students and the vice president ference coordinator Chandra Clarke. deeply about.” really want something to come out of this for research would be ex officio mem- As the creator of iMath, a program that Resnick encouraged mentors to be life- that is practical.” bers. The chair of the committee would be appointed by the chair of the faculty and faculty members would serve for three Isadore Singer to give years (terms currently last one year) to allow for more continuity, said Gibson, Killian lecture tomorrow who is the Matoula S. Salapatas Professor of Materials Science and Engineering. Anne Trafton The proposal will be put to a vote at the News Office April faculty meeting, but Dean for Gradu- ate Students Isaac M. Colbert said he “heartily approves” of the proposed chang- Institute Professor Isadore Singer, winner of the 2005-2006 es. Currently, he said, “it’s easier to tell James R. Killian Jr. Faculty Achievement Award, will deliver the who’s not on the committee than who is Killian Award lecture on Thursday, March 23. on the committee. A body that large can’t Singer will speak on “Some Geometry of the Past Half Century deal with the challenges graduate educa- and Its Historical Background” at 4:30 p.m. in the Stata Center’s tion is facing today at MIT and around the Kirsch Auditorium. world.” Singer, a world-renowned mathematician who joined the MIT Gibson said the hope is that a restruc- faculty after earning his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in tured committee will be able to “look at 1950, has made significant contributions in a wide range of math- broader, Institute-wide graduate policies. ematical fields, including geometry, analysis and algebra. With the shift to graduate education in In his talk, Singer will describe “the exciting evolution of the interdisciplinary fields and the corre- past 50 years in our understanding of geometry,” starting with his sponding increase in ad hoc interdisci- own experience at MIT in the early 1950s. plinary doctoral thesis committees,” more His talk will explain the Gauss-Bonnet oversight is needed, she said. formula and will also focus on collaboration She pointed out that more policies are between physicists and mathematicians, governing international graduate students, which has flourished in the past 30 years and MIT is competing for grad students because “physicists need sophisticated on a more global scale than in the past. A mathematical techniques to address prob- smaller committee may be able to accom- lems in string theory and because insights plish more substantive work and improve coming from physics have profoundly the graduate student experience at MIT, impacted mathematics.” she said. In 2004, Singer was awarded the Abel Prize for a series of papers he co-authored Open access Isadore Singer with Michael Atiyah. The papers also Concerned that taxpayer-funded earned the Bocher Prize from the Ameri- research is not accessible to the general can Mathematical Society in 1969, and in 2000, the society hon- public because of the tightly controlled, ored Singer with the Steele Prize for Lifetime Achievement. Singer proprietary system enforced by some jour- won the National Medal of Science, this nation’s highest science PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY nal publishers, the National Institutes of honor, in 1983. Health (NIH) is asking every NIH-funded The Killian Award was established in 1971 to recognize extraor- Let there be light scientist who publishes results in a peer- dinary professional accomplishments by full-time members of the A passerby is silhouetted in the hallway lights in the base- reviewed journal to deposit a digital copy of the article in PubMed Central (PMC), MIT faculty. A faculty committee chooses the recipient from can- ment of Building 1 on Wednesday, March 15. didates nominated by their peers for outstanding contributions to the online digital library maintained by the their fields, to MIT and to society. NIH. Not later than 12 months after the journal article appears, PMC will then provide free online access to the public. Director of Libraries Anne J. Wolpert Sloan rings bells on Wall Street, opening NASDAQ, NYSE and Vice President for Research Alice Gast discussed with the faculty MIT’s Two faculty members from the MIT Sloan School of Manage- company directors who have served since Sohu’s founding. response to this issue, which has been to ment have been ringing the bells on Wall Street. This past December, Professor Michael Cusumano, Sloan fac- support NIH researchers in complying Sohu.com, co-founded by its CEO, MIT alumnus Charles ulty member in Strategy and Technological Innovation and Entre- with the policy, and also to enable any MIT Zhang (Ph.D. 1994), and by Sloan Professor Edward Roberts, preneurship, also got to participate in an opening bell-ringing cer- researcher to use a more author-friendly founder/chair of MIT’s Entrepreneurship Center, celebrated its emony. He was there when Patni Computer Systems, founded by copyright agreement when submitting 10th anniversary as a company by ringing the opening bell for MIT Sloan graduate Narendra Patni (G.M. ’69), went public on the articles for publication. NASDAQ trading on Monday, March 13, in New York. Sohu has New York Stock Exchange on Friday, Dec. 8. Cusumano has been “The overwhelming majority of work been named the official and exclusive Internet content and sys- a director of the company for the past two years. produced by you is licensed back to you, tems sponsor for the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Patni is currently the sixth-largest Indian software company, and you can’t always use your own work Founded in Boston, the company is headquartered in Beijing, with more than 11,000 employees (including more than 2,000 in in the way you want to use it,” Wolpert with all of its 1,600 employees and activities based in China. The the United States) and 2005 revenues of approximately $450 mil- See MEETING company is one of China’s leading Internet portals, with revenues lion. It specializes in building customized software systems as well exceeding $100 million in 2005. Roberts and Zhang are the only as providing maintenance and engineering services. Page 6

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Permission is granted to excerpt or reprint any Printed on recycled paper Communications Assistant ...... Heather Manning Editorial/Production Assistant ...... Anne Trafton material originated in Tech Talk. MIT Tech Talk NEWS March 22, 2006 PAGE 3 Students plan Gulf Coast cleanup work over break Sasha Brown Fellowship (ACF). Park is not going along, rebuilding effort. helping Common Ground Relief — a com- News Office but he helped organize a trip for roughly “I hope the students will gain a more munity-initiated relief organization, estab- 40 MIT students from ACF and the United critical eye politically,” said Rachel Shiffrin, lished just after Katrina struck. Christian Fellowship. The group is headed MIT Hillel’s program director. Shiffrin is Wuestnick is no stranger to community Eschewing bathing suits and beaches to New Orleans for eight days through the going to Biloxi, Miss., with eight students. service on spring break. Every year he for hammers, saws and Tyvek suits might national InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. The MIT Hillel students will be doing roof- takes a group of students on a trip to assist seem odd to some, but 70 MIT students The students will leave on Saturday, ing work alongside students from several Habitat for Humanity, an organization that plan to do just that, spending their spring March 25, and stay through the following other schools, including Brown University, builds homes for low-income families. break next week in the hurricane-ravaged Saturday. the University of Delaware and University “Some of these students have gone with Gulf Coast repairing, rebuilding and gutting Park was amazed by the interest he saw of California at Berkeley. me every year,” said Wuestnick, adding that homes damaged by last summer’s storms. in aiding the Gulf region. “There are more The group will stay four nights in a tent there was more interest than usual this year. Several campus religious organizations people who want to help than there are community, where they will spend two The Protestant Student Community stu- are taking students to the area devastated opportunities to do so,” he said. nights listening to speakers discuss the his- dents will be headed into the heart of New by Hurricane Katrina last August. In most The group will be staying at a local tory of the Gulf Coast crisis and two nights Orleans, where they will don Tyvek suits cases, the trips were sponsored by the church in New Orleans and will be con- exploring Jewish learning and how their and respirators to protect themselves as national side of the group’s organization, tributing to clean-up and recovery as well work is contributing to their spiritual lives. they help gut homes damaged irreparably and all are highly subsidized. Students as anything else that is needed. “They will “This is not just a trip,” said Shiffrin. “It by the hurricane. are providing nominal amounts of money also spend some time talking about the is an opportunity to educate the students.” Although the spring break trips are toward their trips. social issues,” Park said. Twenty students from the Protestant already planned, the MIT Public Service “Most people have just really been want- For the groups going, the trip is as Student Community will also be headed to Center (PSC) has extended the deadline ing to do something,” said Daniel Park (S.B. much about understanding a complicated New Orleans on March 25 along with their for Hurricane Katrina Relief projects only 2001; M.Eng. 2002) of the Asian Christian situation as it is about contributing to the advisor, Rev. John Wuestnick. They will be to April 12. Visit web.mit.edu/mitpsc/. Grad students Building a better wheelchair help with Grad student business of aims to help rebuilding La. Tanzanians Amy MacMillan Sasha Brown Leaders for Manufacturing Program News Office

Subhrangshu Datta watched in dismay A graduate student in mechanical as images from Hurricane Katrina unfold- engineering spent last summer assess- ed on his TV screen last fall. He wanted ing wheelchair technology and availabil- to do more than just sign a relief check, ity in a country where only 3 percent of so the MIT Sloan School of Management those who need a wheelchair have one. graduate student put his business skills to In June 2005, Amos Winter traveled good use. to Tanzania on a public service fellow- “We are here at MIT in this fantastic ship to gather information for the Tan- Leaders for Manufacturing (LFM) pro- zania Training Center for Orthopedic gram with super-talented students. This Technologies in collaboration with San opportunity is right up our alley,” Datta Francisco-based Whirlwind Wheelchair said. LFM is offered jointly by MIT Sloan International. School of Management and the MIT “This is an area where I can make a PHOTO COURTESY / AMOS WINTER School of Engineering, and is hosted by real contribution,” he said. During his MIT graduate student Amos Winter and local technicians adapted this three-wheeled the Engineering Systems Division. time in Tanzania, Winter interviewed vehicle for use by the disabled. It is powered by a hand crank. Datta recruited fellow LFM students hundreds of wheelchair users about the Sabrina Chang, Julie Go, Phil Richards, challenges they face every day. lead to death, said Casey Phoenix, Wini Hebalkar and Aamir Most of the people he interviewed Winter. “That is a rela- Sundrani to assist the devastated city of had been paralyzed as children, but tively simple change New Orleans. had not received a wheelchair until to make,” said Winter. The group reached out to Louisiana- they were in their 20s or 30s. Many had Fitting a wheelchair based MIT alumni, manufacturing orga- spent years strapping sandals on their is a skill that can be nizations and others and offered to help. hands and crawling on the ground to taught at little cost. Eventually, they were introduced to Suzy get around, Winter said. One of Winter’s Potter, community development manager For many, a wheelchair or the lack goals is to educate at the Blood Center, a nonprofit commu- thereof was a major part of life, affecting those who manufac- nity service organization in New Orleans employment, marriage status and more. ture wheelchairs in that is the primary supplier of blood and “The wheelchair and the rest of their Tanzania. He plans blood components in South Louisiana and lives were completely intertwined,” said to spend the summer parts of South Mississippi. Winter. working on a manual Potter said the Blood Center had sus- The problems Winter encountered of basic mechanical tained $2 million in uninsured losses when were specific to the region, including engineering skills. 4 feet of rising water ruined all of its equip- the difficulties posed by the terrain, This September, he ment and hurricane winds damaged its poverty, social stigma and the lack of will present the manu- roof. The center, which served more than knowledgeable wheelchair technicians. al both to local techni- 50 area hospitals, employed more than 300 So, Winter said he tried to find solutions cians in Tanzania and people before the storms hit; the staff was that would use what the region offered. at the 2006 African downsized by two-thirds in October, she For example, after watching average Wheelchair Congress. said. Tanzanians pedal three-wheeled vehi- Working with Amy The MIT students flew to Louisiana at cles to and from work, Winter worked Smith, an instructor in the end of January and toured the ravaged with local technicians to design a hand- the Edgerton Center, region with Potter. The group also volun- crank to adapt them for use by the dis- Winter plans to run a teered for a day with Habitat for Humanity. abled. The system would allow wheel- public service design Datta and the others were stunned by chair users to travel long distances with- seminar in spring of the sights: “It looks like a war zone,” Datta out the fatigue associated with common 2007 in which students said. wheelchairs, which are built for maneu- will build on the ideas “I couldn’t believe that we were stand- verability rather than speed. he started in Tanzania. ing in the heart of a city five months after Local buses typically can’t accom- “I am looking for it to a disaster in one of the most resource-rich modate wheelchairs, so most who are be collaborative,” said countries of the world,” Hebalkar said. “I disabled need to find their own way to PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY Winter, who expects a had seen the after-effects of disasters in work, Winter said. Up to 30 percent of other countries (including India), and New Graduate student Amos Winter displays a wheelchair model large turnout. “It is a Tanzanian wheelchair-users travel more Orleans seemed like it was far from being currently being produced in Tanzania at a MacVicar Day problem that is appeal- than 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) over rocky rebuilt.” exhibit March 3 in the Stata Center. Winter is working on ing to people.” and dusty terrain each day. The students learned that the center’s technical solutions to the challenges faced by wheelchair Winter described Getting a wheelchair repaired can current priority is raising money through users in that country. his experience in Tan- also present daunting challenges in zania as life-changing. donations, so they are developing a finan- Tanzania, since many are imported and could save the user up to $200. “This will continue to cial and business plan that will ultimately parts are expensive. Bicycles, in com- Another problem Winter encoun- be a part of my future career,” he said. enable the center to write grant applica- parison, are plentiful and far less expen- tered was improperly fit wheelchairs. “It was inspirational.” tions and reach its goal of being fully oper- sive, so Winter suggested using bicycle A poor fit can lead to pressure sores, For more information, visit the MIT ational again by mid-2006. parts as replacement pieces. Over the which can become infected and painful. Public Service Center web site at web. All donations will be dedicated to life of a wheelchair, this small change In some cases, the infections can even mit.edu/mitpsc/. rebuilding and restoring the lab and relo- cating the storage and processing components farther inland, Potter said. PAGE 4 March 22, 2006 RESEARCH MIT Tech Talk Rat whiskers lead to map of brain HOCKFIELD Continued from Page 1 Cathryn DeLude their effort to understand how mental ill- creating the world’s most intricate whis- News Office Correspondent nesses, strokes or epilepsy affect the ker stimulator and a multineuron record- loans, Hockfield asserted that the United cortex. But the standard workhorse for ing device, they discovered a micro-map States needs to engage in “an informed studying how brains develop, the rodent, for directional cues within one barrel. public discussion of how the nation can Neuroscientists at the McGovern Insti- evolved to spend its time underground in Interestingly, this map looks similar to the pay for the education our young people tute for Brain Research at MIT have dis- dark tunnels, and it lacks such visual maps. pinwheel layout of the visual map for line need.” covered an exquisite micro-map of the Rats instead use their whiskers to navigate. orientation, as if nature reused a similar “Higher education is the best recipe we brain. It’s the size of the period at the end “Our finding suggests that high-reso- layout for similar functions. have for improving economic opportuni- of this sentence, and it’s in a most unex- lution sensory maps that can quickly and This directional map joins their recent ty and the quality of life for our citizens,” pected place — connected to the whiskers accurately handle many different kinds of discovery of a completely different kind Hockfield said. But, she noted, “Today’s on a rat’s face. sensory features are an essential hallmark of map spanning several whisker barrels, college graduation rates are closely cor- Based on discoveries in primates and of high sensory acuity, in whatever mode a frequency map reminiscent of the audi- related to family cats, scientists previously thought that of perception is most important to the tory system. Most likely, the frequency income: To sustain highly refined maps representing the com- animal,” Moore said. “It makes sense that information from many barrels gets wired our robust democ- plexities of the external world were the mammals develop intricate sensory maps together with the directional cues from racy and to compete exclusive domain of the visual cortex in in the sensory system that is crucial for within a single barrel, giving the rat the in a global market- mammals. This new map is a miniature them — like vision is for us or the whisker multidimensional cues it needs to know place, we need to schematic, representing the direction a system is for rodents.” how to negotiate the object before it. send an even high- whisker is moved when it brushes against The study also has important prag- er percentage of an object. Mapping coordinates matic implications. Rodents are an ideal our population on to “This study is a great counterexample The layout of whiskers on a rat’s face model system for studying brain function college and gradua- to the prevailing view that only the visual creates a topographic map, with one-to-one for many reasons, including the ease of tion.” cortex has beautiful, overlapping, multi- correspondence between a whisker and using cutting-edge genetic approaches, MIT itself, she plexed maps,” said Christopher Moore, a “barrel” of approximately 4,000 densely and they are currently used to study how noted, adheres to a principal investigator at the McGovern packed neurons. Like the grid coordinates mental illness, strokes and epilepsy affect need-blind admis- Susan Hockfield Institute and an assistant professor in the in the game Battleship, stimulating one the cortex. Discovering a highly refined sions and need- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sci- whisker barrel, say the third one in from sensory system in the rodents makes based aid, and meets ences, where he holds the Mitsui Career row D, or D3, tells the brain exactly what’s them even more appropriate as a model the full need of all admitted students: next Development Chair. A paper on the work happening at that location. for studying precise sensory processing year, some 57 percent of Institute under- appeared online in Nature Neuroscience Moore and his graduate student Mark in mammals. graduates will receive MIT scholarship on March 20. Andermann, the first author of the paper, “Finding a new map in the brain is a aid, totaling more than $60 million. Scientists are interested in studying hypothesized that a directional map lay truly exciting experience,” Moore said. Hockfield also underscored the need how fine-scale visual maps develop in the hidden within each barrel. However, the “It’s a little like traveling to an unexplored for a national effort to improve K-12 brain and process information as part of technology didn’t yet exist to find it. After island. It’s literally charting new territory.” schooling and urged the commission to work to foster innovation in education. In her remarks, Hockfield empha- sized that the United States needs to start improving math and science education in the K-12 years. “In an era in which science and technology increasingly shape major policy issues, responsible citizenship itself requires mathematic and scientific litera- cy. MIT will continue our efforts to help strengthen K-12 math and science education.” The commission, established by Sec- ❞ Higher education is the best recipe we have for improving economic opportunity and the quality of life for our citizens. Susan Hockfield MIT President

retary of Education Margaret Spellings in September 2005, is charged with ensuring “that America’s system of higher education remains the finest in the world and PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY continues to meet the needs of America’s Assistant Professor Karl Berggren used the machine behind him to make nanowires, new technology that may speed interplanetary diverse population by expanding opportunity, innovation and economic growth.” communications. Chaired by Charles Miller, former chair- man of the Board of Regents of the Univer- sity of Texas System, its members include NANOWIRE former MIT President Charles M. Vest. Hockfield was the first in a series of Continued from Page 1 imaging, but the most immediate applica- on the back of a refrigerator to broaden its distinguished college and university lead- tion is probably interplanetary communi- area of overlap with the laser light. ers to testify at Monday’s hearing. Also Moscow State Pedagogical University. cation, Berggren said. The wire is then cooled to just above among those invited to speak were Bos- The new detector improves the detec- Because of the vast distances between absolute zero. That temperature is the ton University President Robert Brown, tion efficiency for single photons to 57 planets, current optical systems would point at which it becomes a superconduc- former MIT provost, and Tufts Universi- percent at a wavelength of 1,550 nanome- require a large laser and a lot of power to tor and at which it can detect the absorbed ty President Lawrence S. Bacow, former ters (billionths of a meter), the same wave- send data at a high rate. And this would photons. If a photon is not absorbed the chancellor of MIT. length used by optical fibers that carry have to be done on spacecraft, which are first time it touches the wire, it bounces MIT Dean of Engineering Thomas L. broadband signals to offices and homes typically starved for power. So there is back and forth between the coiled nanow- Magnanti addressed the commission last today. That’s nearly three times the cur- a need for devices like the new detector ire and the mirror so it has more opportu- month at a similar field hearing in San rent detector efficiency of 20 percent. that can operate quickly and, because they nities to be absorbed. The more photons Diego. Magnanti recommended an “Open- The result will be real-time collection are more sensitive, receive signals from that are absorbed, the greater the efficien- CourseWare for Secondary Education” to of large amounts of data from space. The smaller lasers that do not use much power, cy of the detector. improve early education in math and sci- work may ultimately permit the transmis- Berggren said. Berggren and his colleagues published ence, and he suggested the federal gov- sion of color video between astronauts or Single-photon detectors have been their discovery in the January 23 issue of ernment provide incentives to universities equipment in outer space and scientists on made by MIT and other researchers in the Optics Express. His co-authors are MIT and colleges to develop OpenCourseWare Earth. past, but they have not been both speedy RLE post-doctoral researcher Kristine Ros- projects of their own. The detector, which uses nanowires and efficient at detecting light. The way fjord and RLE/EECS graduate students “At its best, higher education has trans- and superconductor technology, can sense Berggren and his colleagues improved the Joel Yang, Vikas Anant and Eric Dauler; formed lives and the nation’s economy, extremely low light or laser signals in efficiency was to add a “photon trap” to Lincoln Laboratory staff member Andrew and has become the envy of the world,” the infrared part of the optical spectrum the detector as well as an anti-reflection Kerman; and Boris Voronov and Gregory Hockfield said in conclusion. “The evolu- — down to a single photon, the smallest coating to keep light from bouncing off its Gol’tsman of Moscow State Pedagogical tion of these institutions and the system in and most basic unit of light. That has not surface. University. which they operate is far from complete, been possible using conventional optical The photon trap is an optical cavity con- The researchers are now working to but as we strive to define their 21st cen- systems. sisting of the nanowire detector, a carefully make the detector even more efficient. tury versions, let us build on their funda- The detector also could be applied to measured gap of glass and a mirror. The This work was funded in part by the U.S. mental strengths.” quantum cryptography and biomedical nanowire is coiled tightly like the metal Air Force. MIT Tech Talk RESEARCH March 22, 2006 PAGE 5 Research finds unexpected activity in visual cortex

Deborah Halber viously imagined, according to co-authors The neuron’s activity, the researchers ensure that sensory processing is reliable News Office Correspondent Marshall G. Shuler, MIT research affili- said, was related to the anticipation of the and reproducible.” ate, and Mark F. Bear, professor of brain reward. What’s more, neurons continued “These neurons were not acting in and cognitive sciences. The findings have to predict reward times associated with response to what the stimuli were, but For years, neural activity in the brain’s implications for understanding how our the light cues even in different situations. what they had come to mean,” Shuler said. visual cortex was thought to have only one brains imbue sensory experience with “This is a strong indication that learning The researchers are not sure whether job: to create visual perceptions. A new behavioral meaning. was actually occurring in the visual cor- the animal perceives this brain activity, study by researchers at MIT’s Picower Electrodes were implanted in the visual tex,” Shuler said. but they plan to explore how it may guide Institute for Learning and Memory shows cortex of adult rats. Initially, as expected, Brain activity corresponding to “reward appropriate behaviors. that visual cortical activity can serve anoth- their neurons responded only to light. How- timing has been observed in higher-order “We are pretty optimistic we can uncov- er purpose — connecting visual experi- ever, as the animal repeatedly experienced brain regions, but never in the primary er the mechanism” underlying this finding, ence with non-visual events. a light stimulus with the delivery of a drop visual cortex,” Bear said. “No one would Bear said. “There is a lot going on in the The study, which appeared in the of water, the neuronal activity changed. have expected to see it there because the brain that we have been unaware of, study- March 17 issue of Science, implies that And in many cases, the neuron continued visual cortex is thought to be a detector of ing anesthetized animals all these years.” sensory parts of the brain may be able to to be active after the light was extinguished the physical features of the environment, This work was supported by the How- accomplish more complex tasks than pre- until the water reward was delivered. with responses limited to those features to ard Hughes Medical Institute. MORPHING Noted economist Continued from Page 1 Clyde Prestowitz scale structural morphing we’ve been working toward,” Hall said. For example, some “smart materials” to give Miller talk called piezoelectrics can change shape in less than the blink of an eye, but they Sarah H. Wright do so on almost a microscopic level. News Office They wouldn’t be capable of moving a wing the distance necessary to affect flight. Economist Clyde Prestowitz, a veteran Similarly, shape-memory alloys have of the Reagan administration and promi- characteristics useful to large-scale actua- nent conservative critic of the policies and tion, but they require temperature control conduct of the Bush White House, will to work. deliver the annual Charles L. Miller Lec- “So to make them work you’ve got to ture at 4 p.m. on April 4, in the Bush Room keep them warm and insulate them. And (10-105). if you insulate them, it takes a long time The title of his talk is “The World to cool them down if you want them to Turned Upside Down: The Impact of the return to their original shape,” Hall said. Return of India and China to Their Histori- Those are not exactly optimum conditions cal Global Weight.” for seamless morphing. Prestowitz served as a counselor to the In the quest for materials that would secretary of commerce during Reagan’s allow such morphing, engineers have first term (1981-1985). In that role, he led recently focused on nature’s approach to U.S. trade and investment negotiations the problem. A plant that bends toward with Japan, China, Latin America and the light, quickly furls its leaves when Europe. touched, or pushes a concrete sidewalk A specialist in international trade policy aloft with its roots is essentially moving and economic competitiveness, Prestowitz fluids between cells. is the founder and president of the Eco- Chiang realized that the solid com- nomic Strategy Institute (ESI), a Washing- pounds used to store electrical energy ton, D.C., think tank. ESI engages in pub- in lithium rechargeable batteries could lic policy related to globalization. be made to work in a similar way. The In a 2005 opinion piece for the Boston movement of ions to and from these Globe, Prestowitz criticized the “conflu- materials during charging and recharg- ence of America’s consumerism with ing, he thought, was analogous to the the strategic, export-led growth policies moving fluids in plants. Could this be of many other countries” and character- a synthetic counterpart to nature’s solu- ized globalization as a “kind of pyramid tion? scheme” for the United States. To find out, Chiang and Hall began Prestowitz is the author of, most testing commercially available recharge- recently, “Three Billion New Capitalists: able batteries of a prismatic form, then The Great Shift of Wealth and Power to designed their own devices composed of the East.” graphite posts surrounded by a lithium Prestowitz, who has said his Republi- source. The results were promising. canism “came in the DNA,” has also writ- Among other things, they found that ten op-ed articles for prominent media in the batteries continued to expand and con- which he argues the Bush administration tract under tremendous stresses, a must PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY is mislabeling itself as conservative. for devices that will be changing the shape The current White House is “not con- of, say, a stiff helicopter rotor that’s also A head for civil engineering servative, it’s radical. It’s on the wrong exposed to aerodynamic forces. Senior Ira Simkhovitch helps move a model of an Easter Island head to test a track domestically. It’s on the very wrong Other key advantages of the approach: theory of how the Rapa Nui people moved the giant stone heads into position on track internationally. As a patriot, as a The electrically activated batteries can the island 1,500 years ago. This experiment, done Wednesday, March 15, was part conservative, as a Republican, it’s impor- operate at low voltages (less than five of Professor Herbert Einstein’s class in civil engineering design. For more photos, tant to try to change it,” Prestowitz wrote volts) as compared to the hundreds of visit web.mit.edu/newsoffice/. in a 2005 article for Mother Jones maga- volts required by piezoelectrics. The zine. materials that make up the batteries are also inherently light. “For things that fly, weight is important,” Hall said. AWARDS & HONORS The researchers have already dem- onstrated basic battery-based actuators Institute Professor Robert Langer was on Thursday, March 2, in Washington, ernment Award” at that organization’s that can pull and push with large force. named one of the “Fast 50: The People D.C. national convention held just a few days Later this year, they hope to demonstrate Who Will Change How We Work and Live Ioannis V. Yannis, professor of poly- after she began the SDM program. The the shape-morphing of a helicopter rotor over the Next 10 Years” in the March issue mer science and engineering, has been award is presented to an individual whose blade. The morphing capability should of Fast Company. The magazine writes selected as a member of the editorial outstanding achievements have contrib- allow for a more efficient design, ultimate- that Langer, who specializes in innova- board of the Institute of Physics’ newest uted to the field of engineering on a con- ly making it possible for a vehicle to carry tive drug delivery systems, “is so creative journal, Biomedical Materials. tinuous basis, through design, production, heavier loads. — and so astonishingly prolific — that it’s Marlene Manoff, associate head and management, research or any phase of Team members say that other applica- hard to imagine another scientist poised to collection manager at Dewey Humanities engineering, and resulted in significant tions, including miniaturized devices for have a major impact in so many different Library, has been honored with the Asso- impact. Micro-Electrical-Mechanical Systems ways over the next decade.” ciation of College and Research Libraries Sharon E. Gillett, principal research (MEMS), may flow from these initial dem- Alan V. Oppenheim, Ford Professor (ACRL) Women’s Studies Section Career associate in the Engineering Systems onstrations. of Engineering, is the 2005 recipient of Achievement Award. The award recogniz- Division’s Center for Technology, Policy The researchers emphasize that much the Signal Processing Education Award of es significant longstanding contributions and Industrial Development, and Michail work remains to be done, such as refining the Institute of Electrical and Electronics to women’s studies in the field of librari- Bletsas, director of computing at the the design of the battery for optimal opera- Engineers (IEEE) Signal Processing Soci- anship over the course of a career. The Media Lab, were recently named to the tion in a morphing vehicle. Chiang notes, ety. The award honors educators who have award will be presented during the Ameri- City of Boston’s WiFi Task Force, which is however, that “we’ve been able to demon- made pioneering and significant contribu- can Library Association annual conference charged with making Boston a world lead- strate the potential of this approach even tions to signal processing education. in June. er in wireless Internet access. The WiFi using these very unoptimized off-the-shelf Gregory Stephanopoulos, profes- Leticia Soto, who entered MIT’s Sys- Task Force will explore how the city can batteries.” sor of chemical engineering, was recently tem Design and Management (SDM) utilize its assets, such as streetlights and This work was funded by the Defense inducted as a fellow of the American Insti- program in January, was honored by the buildings, to create an innovative wireless Advanced Research Projects Agency tute for Medical and Biological Engineer- Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers system that works for Boston. The task (DARPA). ing. The 98 new members were inducted with the “Hispanic in Technology — Gov- force will deliver a report this summer. PAGE 6 March 22, 2006 NEWS MIT Tech Talk

NEWS YOU CAN USE Theater class gets a bit technical Police move now official Lauren Maurand The MIT Campus Police have officially Office of the Arts moved into their new headquarters at 301 Vassar St., Building W89. The building is just past Simmons Hall and is on MIT’s Shuttle and SafeRide routes. Theater may not be the first thing that MIT Campus Police will continue to be comes to mind when people think of MIT, available to respond to community needs but the music and theater arts section, at two additional locations on campus; which has been a part of the institution events registration is on the first floor of since 1987, sees a steady stream of student W31 (the former campus police building) interest. and other services are in the Stata Center. Classes in technical theater offer Emergency contact numbers will not instruction in the creation of scenery, cos- change, and the move to W89 will not affect tumes, lighting and sound effects. These patrol routes, said John DiFava, director of courses used to attract mainly juniors and security and campus police services. seniors because students wouldn’t elect The Vassar Street facility, formerly to take it until they had fulfilled their aca- occupied by the MIT Professional Learn- demic requirements, but now that seems ing Center, was designed for the Campus to be changing, according to Mike Katz, Police by Boston architectural firm Don- technical instructor in theater arts. ham and Sweeney. MIT Police Capt. David “We’re seeing a greater percentage Carlson coordinated the project and the of freshmen in the stagecraft class,” said move to W89. Katz, who will give a talk on “The Science DiFava, a 20-year veteran of the Mas- of Theater” at the Stata Center this Sun- PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY sachusetts State Police, wanted the facil- day, March 26. ity to accommodate the changing ways in According to Katz, in the 2005-06 aca- Theater arts instructor Mike Katz, right, shows students how to hang lights backstage at which police work is done — especially, demic year, underclassmen comprised Kresge Little Theater during stagecraft class on Thursday, March 16. The students are, the growing use of technology. almost half of his class, the highest per- from left, Maura Cordial, sophomore in electrical engineering and computer science; Nicole An open house for the community is centage of any year from 1998 until the O’Keefe, freshman in mechanical engineering; Steven Flowers, junior in management; and planned for later this spring. present. In previous years, underclass- Evan Taylor, junior in economics. The police also announced a new anon- men averaged only about 32 percent of the ymous tip line to report crime: 8-TIPS (x8- class. physically with the work and mentally dents even know anything about the the- 8477). Admissions Office Communications with the text of the shows they produce. ater department and its technical classes,” Manager Ben Jones confirms that in recent “Maybe we’re the essence of MIT,” said said Matt Abernathy, a senior physics years there has been a lot of student inter- Fregosi, referring to the “mind and hand” major who took a class in costuming to Tree removal est in technical theater. “I think it has to do motto. fulfill his humanities requirement. “If they Bartlett Tree Experts will begin remov- with the fact that we look for creative kids MIT’s theater arts program is not a did, I think more students would take tech- ing the great American elm in Killian who embrace the MIT motto (“mind and professional track program; students nical theater.” Court next week, because arborists recent- hand”), and technical theater seems to go can minor, but not major in theater. Katz On Sunday, March 26, Katz will conduct ly determined that it has reached its life hand in hand with that,” Jones said. believes this actually benefits both the stu- a F.A.S.T. (Family Adventures in Science expectancy and died, the Department of Perhaps surprisingly, technical theater dents and the section since it means that and Technology) program titled, “The Sci- Facilities announced. at MIT is not as technological as other the productions at MIT are designed and ence of Theater,” exploring the physics and Due to the size of the tree, it will take sev- areas at the Institute. Technical coordina- built by engineers, physicists, and others mechanical engineering involved in staging eral days to remove the branches, trunk and tor Bill Fregosi asks his students to create with technical expertise outside of theater a show. The presentation, which is free and roots. Occupants of the nearby buildings things with their own hands rather than who understand things like the physics open to the public, will be held from 2 to 4 and passersby should be aware that there computer-aided design. behind lighting design. p.m. in Room E32-141 of the Stata Center. will be noise associated with the removal. He said he wants them to be involved “I don’t think the majority of MIT stu- The MIT Museum is sponsoring the event. There are very few great elms left in New England due to Dutch elm disease. Although this elm has died, it does not show signs of Dutch elm disease. A large, red oak FACULTY tree will be planted in late April to replace Continued from Page 2 ride the publisher’s copyright agreement, new director of federal relations. She and the tree, the facilities announcement said. is available online at http://libraries.mit. Bonvillian met with presidential advisor told the faculty. Copyright exemptions edu/about/scholarly/ and other MIT web Alan Hubbard and Massachusetts Sens. that were carefully crafted to allow the sites. John F. Kerry and Edward M. Kennedy Awards nominations academy to teach and do research are “There is a distinct feeling among our and found them supportive of increased The deadline for Awards Convocation steadily being superseded by intellectual counterparts at large private and public funding for basic research to advance a nominations has been extended to Fri- property regimes that were developed for institutions that if MIT takes a reasonable shared agenda to support enhanced inno- day, March 24. More than 30 awards will the benefit of the entertainment industry. and principled position on this issue, other vation. be presented to professors, students and “What Disney wants, the academy gets, institutions will be encouraged to do like- However, Hockfield said that in light of other members of the MIT community. whether it suits your interests or not,” wise,” Wolpert said. the short congressional session and the Descriptions of the awards can be found Wolpert said. election year, she is “not confident there at web.mit.edu/awards/. Nominations can Among the reasons for universities Divestment from Sudan is sufficient bipartisan enthusiasm for get- be submitted by e-mail to [email protected] to support open access is the high cost Harvard, Stanford, Yale and Brown Uni- ting this passed this year.” or by mail to Room W20-549. associated with renting access to journals, versities and Amherst College are among which for MIT alone has grown in the past the private institutions of higher education decade from $2.6 million to more than $6 that plan to disinvest in companies doing million a year. business with Sudan, to protest political Gast said that a discussion group con- violence there. vened around the issue has revealed dif- MIT President Susan Hockfield told the ferent cultures across the MIT campus; faculty that the Executive Committee decid- some disciplines routinely share their ed in early March to reconvene MIT’s Advi- work on the Internet while others dissemi- sory Committee on Shareholder Responsi- nate findings solely through peer-reviewed bility, most recently active during the South proprietary journals. African divestment movement, to examine An amendment that can be attached to MIT’s investments in companies that may any publication’s copyright agreement was be doing business with Sudan. The com- disseminated to principal investigators in mittee, consisting of Corporation, faculty, February. “We have to wait and see how administration, and student representa- this plays out and see what feedback we tives, will “look at this issue seriously and get from publishers,” Gast said. The goal take appropriate action,” Hockfield said. is for MIT as an institution to work out agreements with publishers rather than Research funding make individual researchers fight their Hockfield also reported on her most own battles. More information, as well recent monthly trip to Washington, D.C., as the amendment, which would over- her first with William B. Bonvillian, MIT’s CLASSIFIED ADS Members of the MIT community may submit New in orig. box, Swarovski crystal backpack ance to a group of enthusiastic middle or high one classified ad each issue. Ads can be resub- VACATION miniature. Metal detail is 18k gold-plated. school students, one day a week, after school mitted, but not two weeks in a row. Ads should Martha’s Vineyard: Newly renovated 3+BR Comes with certificate of authenticity. Photos - total of 10-15 two-hour sessions per semes- be 30 words maximum; they will be edited. Chappaquiddick house on 1 acre. 1 mile to available. Located on campus. $30. Contact ter. Several positions available, helping students Submit by e-mail to [email protected] or mail beach and golf, 3 miles from Edgartown. $900 [email protected]. complete a range of projects. Contact Emily to Classifieds, Rm 11-400. Deadline is noon to $1100 wkly. 1 week June, 2 weeks August & Lin 617-354-7171 or emily@machinescience. Wednesday the week before publication. 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Each mentor will provide guid- MIT Tech Talk NEWS March 22, 2006 PAGE 7 Chinese scholar earns fellowship to explore race

Sarah H. Wright social sciences. constructed historically and For Teng, the research phase of her News Office Teng’s Burkhardt project crossculturally and to attain Burkhardt project is an “exciting” period is a “major departure” from a “fresh perspective on con- of “new discoveries and learning fascinat- her previous work, which temporary issues,” she said. ing details about people’s lives in the past,” explored Chinese colonial Teng also plans to offer a she said. An MIT professor of foreign languages representations of Taiwan. new course, “Eurasian Bira- Reading memoirs has shown her “for and literature whose research focuses on Teng’s book on that topic, cial Memoirs: 1900-2000,” those of ‘mixed’ European and Asian pre-modern Chinese ideas about race has “Taiwan’s Imagined Geog- and to organize readings descent, ‘race’ was lived very differently in won a Frederick Burkhardt Residential raphy: Chinese Colonial through the MIT Center for the U.S., Britain, Hong Kong, China, India, Fellowship from the American Council of Travel Writing and Pictures, Bilingual/Bicultural Studies Australia and other parts of the globe, Learned Societies (ACLS) for 2007-2008. 1683-1895,” was published (CB/BS) when she returns. even within the same time period. Emma Teng, associate professor of Chi- in 2004. “We have a significant “Many of the authors I have been read- nese studies, will spend a year in residence For her project on inter- number of students at MIT ing were truly global citizens who migrat- at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced racialism, Teng said she will who are biracial and/or ed multiple times during their lives; they Study, working on a comparative study be researching literature, Emma Teng bicultural, even multiracial describe how their racial identities were of Chinese and Chinese-American repre- racial theory and historical and multicultural. I hope the forced to shift as they moved to different sentations of Chinese-Western interracial documents. One major focus will be on class will provide students with a chance to geographic locations, with different social marriage and biracial identity at the turn Eurasian memoirs, she said. explore their own identity issues, but also norms and different laws,” she said. of the 20th century. Her personal goal for the project is to broaden their understandings by looking Teng was awarded the 2005 Levitan The Burkhardt is awarded to recently gain a greater understanding of how “bira- at larger historical and cultural contexts,” Prize and was a co-winner of the MIT Edg- tenured faculty in the humanities and cial” or “transracial” identities have been Teng said. erton Faculty Achievement Award. Famed sculptor adorns Sidney-Pacific Sze project

Sarah H. Wright News Office shows arts

Sarah Sze, internationally acclaimed funds at work sculptor and installation artist and winner of a 2003 MacArthur “genius” award, has installed a whimsical miniature fire escape Paul Crocetti on the front of MIT’s Sidney-Pacific Gradu- Office of the Arts ate Rsesidence. The new work, commissioned by MIT’s Percent-for-Art Program, is titled “Blue Sarah Sze’s whimsical fire escape at Poles,” in honor of Jackson Pollock’s 1952 Sidney-Pacific Graduate Residence is the drip painting by that name. Made of small ninth and newest project of MIT’s Per- blue steel ladders, balconies and stair- cent-for-Art Program, which allots up to ways welded into fire-escape-like clusters, $250,000 to commission art for each new “Poles” climbs to the roof of the six-story major renovation or building project on building from just above the front door. the Institute’s campus. Sze discussed her MIT work at an Founded in 1968 and administered by opening reception held at the graduate the List Visual Arts Center, the program residence on March 14. brings internationally known artists into A Boston native, Sze, 37, is widely the architectural design and planning pro- known for her intricate, site-specific instal- cess at MIT. In some cases, such as “Blue lations that hold galaxies of flotsam and jet- Poles,” artwork has been commissioned sam in suspended animation. “Blue Poles” after the building is completed. has a more direct, illustrative quality than The program is unusual for a private Sze’s other work. university, according to Patricia Fuller, She approached the MIT project by curator of public art at MIT. The Institute exploring the space, she said. “It’s a kind is the only such place that commissions of nondescript building, yet popular — stu- art in collaboration with building on a con- dents like it. I wanted to give their dorm sistent basis, she said. personality in its context and to emphasize The 50-year-old process of selecting playfulness and spontaneity. I hope it gives and installing art in new MIT buildings has the building character.” become a routine part of campus planning today. When each project begins, the director of the List Center serves as the chair of a site advisory committee, recommending ❞ artists to the committee and reviewing the development of their proposals. I wanted to give their But completing the Percent-for-Art Pro- cess is not always simple or easy. As with dorm personality in its much public art, the works themselves receive a variety of responses. context and to emphasize In dormitory projects, “Sometimes the students have a problem because that’s playfulness their space,” said Hiroko Kikuchi, education/outreach coordinator for the List and spontaneity. Center. But the intent, she said, is not Sarah Sze to impose art on people. “We make sure Internationally acclaimed sculptor we involve them in the art selection process and educate them about the art. You can’t really have 100 percent control. It’s “Blue Poles” certainly gives anyone a really interesting program, but so much looking at the building an altered sense patience is involved.” of scale and perspective. The artist’s two In the case of Sidney-Pacific, the com- favorite views are “looking straight down mittee that selected Sze and commis- into the piece as it tumbles into space” sioned “Blue Poles” included the archi- and looking at it from the inside of the tect, housemasters, house managers and dorm, so the patterns and grids formed students of the dorm. They chose Sze by surrounding buildings suddenly look from a short list of about a dozen artist- “strangely huge,” she said. PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY candidates, said Fuller. Sze’s first installation combined wit and Sculptor Sarah Sze stands outside the Sidney-Pacific graduate student residence on Friday, The Sidney-Pacific project was “more menace in an ephemeral 1991 piece con- March 17. Her new work, ‘Blue Poles,’ can be seen behind her, running up the side of the difficult” than some others, Fuller said, structed with friends during the first Gulf because the dorm was already built and building. War and destroyed by nature within a few filled with students and activities. days. “We built a grid of 10,000 cocktail- Other recent Percent-for-Art installa- sized American flags to blanket a lawn at foundry next door, and it was there that Calder, is in McDermott Court at MIT.) tions include Dan Graham’s “Ying/Yang Yale. It was a fun piece, definitely a sneaky Sze realized her plan to build her MIT In designing “Blue Poles,” Sze was Pavilion” in Simmons Hall and Matthew piece, and political, unlike my other work. piece as a “system, like an erector set, inspired by her childhood memories of Ritchie’s “Games of Chance and Skill,” It disintegrated into the grass.” so we wouldn’t have to use a crane. We fire escapes on apartment buildings near a three-part map of time and space that Since that time, Sze’s installations have brought it to the site as a 65-piece kit, her home, she said. graces the walls of the Zesiger Sports and been in solo exhibitions in New York, Lon- welding some into clusters and popping in Those rickety iron or wooden struc- Fitness Center. don, Paris and Boston and in group exhibi- others where there were gaps,” she said. tures, used both as places to relax and as Examples of art-and-architecture col- tions in the Whitney and Venice Biennials. Sze described her own work as related escape routes, are rarely found on new laborations on the MIT campus that pre- Sze made “Blue Poles” during a year- to Calder’s in its focus on gravity and air buildings; “Blue Poles” reconnects the Sid- date the formal Percent-for-Art Program long residency at Alexander Calder’s for- and play. “Calder’s is a hard trail to fol- ney-Pacific residence to its urban past and include Harry Bertoia’s altarpiece and mer studio in Sachet, France. The famed low, because those mobiles are so strong,” to the myriad ways people adapt to crowd- Theodore Roszak’s bell-tower, created for creator of mobiles and stabiles had a she said. (“The Big Sail,” a 1965 stabile by ing, anonymity and summer heat. Eero Saarinen’s MIT Chapel, built in 1955. PAGE 8 March 22, 2006 CALENDAR MIT Tech Talk

MIT EVENT HIGHLIGHTS MARCH 15-19

WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY March 22 March 23 March 24 March 25 March 26

Science/ Performance Architecture/ Humanities “Operation MIT Chapel “Arnold Varsity Sailing Gallery Talk Technology Planning Anaconda: Concert Newman: MIT hosts the Talk by List Lessons Ensemble 20th-Century race for the Visual Arts Learned” Trident: Maria Photographs” Marchiando Center staff Talk by Sean Naylor of Georgakarakou, soprano; Arnold Newman is per- Trophy. 9:30 a.m. in conjunction with Army Times. Noon-1:30 Panayotis Terzakis, bass haps the best-known Charles River. 258-5265. “America Starts Here Music Exhibit Reading Special p.m. Room E38-615. and percussion; Richard photographer of the — Kate Ericson and Interest 253-7529. Maloney, medieval and world’s legendary artists, International Mel Ziegler 1985-1995.” renaissance lutes, oud poets, politicians, actors Championship 2 p.m. List Visual Arts Gallery Talk and percussion. Noon. and scientists. 9:30 a.m.- of Collegiate Center. 253-4680. Talk by Jane MIT Chapel. 253-2826. 5 p.m. Room 10-150. A Cappella Farver, direc- 253-4444. — New England F.A.S.T. Business/ Film Sports Featured tor of the “Waiting Time Semifinals Program: “The Money Event List Visual Arts Center, Dynamics in Reading Featuring: University Science of in conjunction with Large-Scale of “The of New Hampshire Theater” “America Starts Here Queues” Downright Alabaster Blue, MIT A Family Adventures in — Kate Ericson and Talk by Petar Momcilovic Sexy Chorallaries, BU Science & Technology Mel Ziegler 1985-1995.” of the University of Adventures of Drew InAChord, The Harvard presentation. 2-4 p.m. Noon. List Visual Arts Michigan. 4:15–5:15 p.m. Durango” LowKeys, University Room E32-141. 452- Center. 253-4680. Room E40-298. 253- Book by Associate of Hartford L’Shir, 2111. 7412. Professor Thomas Mt. Holyoke College “Contem- DeFrantz; music and lyr- The M&Cs and BU plation and Killian Lecture ics by Michael Wartofsky, Treblemakers. 7:30–10 Education” Institute associate professor p.m. $12; $7 students. Talk by Father Professor at Berklee College of Kresge Auditorium. Thomas Keating, a Isadore Singer, Music. March 24-26. Trappist monk and winner of the 2005- $10, $6 MIT students. 8 founder of the Centering 2006 James R. Killian p.m. except 2 p.m. on Prayer Movement. 7-8:30 Jr. Faculty Achievement March 26. Kresge Little p.m. Room 10-250. Award, will speak on Theater. 253-4720. “Some Geometry of the STAY TUNED Past Half Century and Its Norooz Historical Background.” Celebration The robot designed 4:30 p.m. Stata Center, Persian New by MIT researchers Kirsch Auditorium. Year celebra- to help stroke victims PHOTO / JULIE MARR PHOTO / KATHY CHAPMAN tion. $10. 8 p.m. W20. with physical therapy Karaoke Night Lobdell. will be featured on Jazzed up with Gayle and Blake at the Thirsty CNN tonight during Multi-instrumentalist Charles Gayle, right, and Ear the 5-6 p.m. time slot. MacArthur-winning pianist Ran Blake, left, will jointly Must be 21+. Proper ID required. 8 Neville Hogan, profes- celebrate the release, for each, of a new solo piano p.m. The Thirsty Ear Pub. sor of mechanical engi- CD in a concert in Killian Hall on Saturday, April 1, at 258-9754 neering and brain and 8 p.m. Tickets are $10, $7 for students and seniors, cognitive sciences, will free for MIT students with valid ID. appear in the segment.

Go Online! For complete events listings, see the MIT Events Calendar at: http://events.mit.edu. Go Online! Ofﬁce of the Arts website at: http://web.mit.edu/arts/ofﬁce.

EDITOR’S CHOICE

“KING LEAR” BICYCLING SKILLS NEUROSCIENCE Mar.23 WORKSHOP Mar.23 SYMPOSIUM Mar.26 MIT Shakespeare Ensemble Presented by MassBike Hosted by Picower production. March 23-25. $8, Sala de Puerto Rico and sponsored by the Room 3-270 Institute. Keynote address, Room 46-3310 Commuting Task Group $6 students. 8 p.m. Noon “Unraveling Smell,” by Linda 7-9:15 p.m. of the Working Group on Buck of the Fred Hutchinson Support Staff Issues. Cancer Research Center.

MIT EVENT HIGHLIGHTS MARCH 27-APRIL 2

MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY March 27 March 28 March 29 March 30 March 31 April 1 April 2 SPRING BREAK WEEK 5th Picower- Gallery Talk Novartis “Arnold WAM!2006 WAM!2006 RIKEN Talk by Bill Lecture in Newman: Conference: Conference: 5th Picower- Neuroscience Arning, curator Organic 20th-Century “Women and “Women and RIKEN Symposium: of the List Visual Chemistry Photographs” the Media: the Media: Neuroscience New Frontiers in Arts Center, in conjunc- Talk by Jerrold Meinwald Arnold Newman is per- Making Noise, Making Making Noise, Making Symposium: Brain Science, From tion with “America Starts of Cornell University on haps the best-known Change” Change” New Frontiers in Molecules to Mind Here — Kate Ericson and “Chemical Studies of photographer of the All day. Stata Center. All day. Stata Center. Brain Science, From Session Two on learning Mel Ziegler 1985-1995.” Biotic Interactions.” 4 world’s legendary artists, Molecules to Mind and memory, chaired by 12:30 p.m. List Visual p.m. Room 6-120. 253- poets, politicians, actors Charles Gayle Gallery Talk Session one on tech- Matthew Wilson, profes- Arts Center. 253-4680. 1879. and scientists. Last day. and Ran Blake Talk by List nology, chaired by J. sor of brain and cognitive 9:30 a.m-5 p.m. Room CD Releases Visual Arts Troy Littleton, associate sciences. 9 a.m.-5:30 “Adventures List Visual Arts 10-150. 253-4444. Celebration Center staff professor of biology. 9 p.m. Room 46-3310 and in Arctic Center Film Celebration of the releas- in conjunction with a.m.-5:30 p.m. Room simulcast in 46-3002. Nunavik” Night MIT Anime es of their new landmark “America Starts Here 46-3310 and Simulcast in 253-4955. Talk by Henry I. “66 Scenes Club Weekly solo piano CDs. $10; $7 — Kate Ericson and 46-3002. 253-4955. Smith, professor of elec- from America.” 7 p.m. Showing students and seniors; free Mel Ziegler 1985-1995.” “Higher-Order trical engineering. 6:30–8 Bartos Theater. 253- 7 p.m. Room for MIT students. 8 p.m. 2 p.m. List Visual Arts “digital_ Variables and p.m. 4400. 6-120. Killian Hall. 354-6898. Center. 253-4680. minimal” the Concept Room 32-124. Projects by the of Function: WAM!2006 International MIT SENSEable How the History of Israeli Dancing Opening Folk Dancing City Laboratory. 9 a.m.-5 Mathematics Influenced ’80s Night Keynote Every Sunday. p.m. Wolk Gallery. 258- Modern Logic” Israeli dances Talk by Maria 8-11 p.m. 9106. Talk by Dimitri Constant, by Shlomo Hinojosa, senior cor- Student Center 2nd floor. research associate at the Maman, Moshiko, Moshe respondent for NOW on 253-FOLK. Free Dibner Institute. Noon- Eskayo, Israel Yakovee, PBS, anchor and manag- Intermediate 2 p.m. Room E56-100. Shlomo Bachar Shmulik, ing editor of NPR’s Latino Salsa Lesson 253-6989. and many others. 8–11 USA, and former urban 7-9 p.m. Room p.m. Room W20-202. affairs correspondent 50-140. Imobilare 253-FOLK. for CNN. 8 p.m. Room Breakdancing 32-123. Trivia Night Session Must be 21+. Open practice Proper ID session. 7-9:30 p.m. required. 8- Lobby 13. 11:30 p.m. Thirsty Ear Pub. 258-9754.