Volume 53, Number 3 TechTalk Wednesday, September 24, 2008 S e r v i n g Th e MIT Co mm u n i t y

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6 7 of the Mass. Ave. Bridge RULERLength : 2,164.8 feet (or 364.4 ± an ear)

SMOOT ANNIVERSARY EVENTS: Oct. 4 reflects on his measurement Charles River clean up 11:30 a.m.-4 p.m. feat as 50th anniversary nears Volunteers from the MIT community and beyond gather at the Kresge Oval for a barbecue lunch before cleaning the shoreline of the Patrick Gillooly Charles River. MIT President Susan Hockfield, Oliver Smoot and other News Office guests will speak at 12:30 p.m. Visit web.mit.edu/smoot/schedule.htm to s his fraternity brothers laid his 5-foot, 7-inch frame end- register. to-end to measure the Massachusetts Avenue bridge one Herb Reed and the Platters Concert 5-6:30 p.m. Anight in October 1958, there was one distinct thought running through Oliver Smoot’s mind. Famed ’50s music group Herb Reed and the Platters play the MIT “It was pretty cold,” he said. at 5 p.m. Pre-show tickets available for $25 online at Smoot ’62 evoked memories recently about the night his web.mit.edu/smoot/platters.htm; tickets at the door (if available) $35. name became a unit of measurement as MIT prepares to cele- brate the 50th anniversary of the quirky MIT Big ’50s Party 6:30-11 p.m. hack. A series of events has been planned The MIT Club of Boston, the Class of 1962 and Lambda Chi See web.mit.edu/ for the weekend of Oct. 4. smoot for more Alpha fraternity sponsor a classic 1950s party at the MIT “Looking at the pictures, I think I Museum. Includes dedication of the “Smoot Stick,” alumni information on the had one sweater and I did have from Logarhythms, MIT’s all male acapella group and Oct. 4 festivities on gloves … but basically we music and food from the ’50s all had on windbreakers Ticket prices: General public $50; MIT Club and you get out in the of Boston member/guest $45; Lambda Chi middle of a bridge and it’s windy,” he said. Alpha fraternity alumnus $45; MIT Class of ’62 “Even if the temperature isn’t that low, it’s member/guest $45. cold out there.” In 1958, as a freshman at MIT and Lambda Chi Alpha pledge, the frater- PHOTO COURTESY OF THE nity pledgemaster hatched the idea to MIT MUSEUM use the shortest — and most scientifi- cally named pledge — to measure the bridge from Boston to Cambridge. Little did they know, however, that their activity would make its way into MIT, Boston and even Google lore. They also underestimated how difficult getting up and down PHOTO / NANCY DUVERGNE 364.4 times (plus or minus an SMITH, ALUMNI ASSOC. ear) would be. Oliver Smoot uPlease see SMOOT, PAGE 7

2 faculty, 2 alumni awarded MacArthur ‘genius’ grants Winners each get $500,000 in Marin Soljacic ’96, assistant professor week. “It was like a lightening bolt out of turned his attention to the causes of vault of physics, and John Ochsendorf, associate the sky,” he said. “I kept saying, ‘It’s not and buttress failures in French and Spanish unrestricted funds professor of architecture, will each receive possible, it’s just not possible.’” Romanesque churches. $500,000 in “no strings attached” support Ochsendorf, who has been at MIT since He and a group of students recently Anne Trafton over five years from the John D. and Cath- 2002, studies building technology, evaluat- designed England’s Pines Calyx dome, News Office erine T. MacArthur Foundation. ing the soundness of historical structures an energy-efficient structure built from The foundation named 25 new fellows with an eye toward identifying ancient local resources using a tile vaulting system Two MIT faculty members — a physi- on Sept. 23 for “their creativity, originality technologies for use in modern buildings. patented in the 19th century by Spanish cist and a structural engineer who studies and potential to make important contribu- His early studies investigated the architect Rafael Guastavino. architectural history — have won 2008 tions in the future.” construction of hand-woven, fiber-suspen- “In the 21st century, as we’re faced with MacArthur Fellowships, commonly known Ochsendorf, 34, said he has been “walk- sion bridges that spanned deep ravines in climate change and diminishing natural as “genius” grants. ing on air” since getting the news last the Inca Empire. More recently, he has uPlease see MACARTHUR, PAGE 5 PEOPLE RESEARCH CALENDAR Three faculty win NIH awards Tap into the trees State of the Institute

Oudenaarden, Ting and Regev have won Pioneer Awards MIT undergraduate and his colleagues find out how a MIT administrators, including President Susan Hock- from the National Institutes of Health. tree could be used to power fire-prevention sensors. field, will address the community at 11 a.m. on Monday.

PAGE 3 PAGE 4 PAGE 3 PAGE 2 September 24, 2008 u PEOPLE MIT Tech Talk

S M T WT Events F S Kagame underscores tech ties in Compton speech � Stephanie Schorow at MIT News Office correspondent

Connections between the technology- hungry countries of Africa and - Today savvy MIT community were underscored Thursday, Sept. 18, by the first democrati- • Iraq Reconstruction: Lessons cally elected president of the Republic of Learned. Christopher Kirchhoff, Rwanda and the first African leader to give Lead Writer, SIGIR (Special Inspector MIT’s prestigious Compton lecture. General for Iraq Reconstruction), will Paul Kagame, a former guerrilla leader speak from 12-1:30 p.m. in E38-615. whose forces helped halt the Rwanda genocide of 1994, told a packed crowd • MIT Energy Club Discussion in the Kresge Auditorium that for Africa Series: Solar to Chemical Energy to use its abundant natural resources to Conversions. Yogesh Surendranath will overcome poverty, “We must invest heavily speak from 6-7 p.m. in NW35, Thirsty in new levels of education and especially Ear Pub (in the New Ashdown House, knowledge institutions. This is where we 235 Albany St. Speech will focus on in Africa and Rwanda remain particularly “Solar-To-Fuels: The Importance of vulnerable.” Making Oxygen.” The vast majority of Kagame, a man described by MIT Presi- energy used by mankind is provided in dent Susan Hockfield as “one of Africa’s PHOTO / L. BARRY HETHERINGTON the source of chemical, carbon-based most promising young leaders” and some- fuels. All of this fuel originated from Rwandan President Paul Kagame delivers his Compton lecture on Sept. 18 in Kresge one unafraid of building a country on the Auditorium. biological solar-to-fuels conversion: basis of ideas, drew four standing ovations photosynthesis. Solar energy is the only — two during the introductions before he “The remotest areas of the country, with- he said. Now, the continent is becoming source of sufficient scale to meet future even spoke a word. out electricity, are linked to the (medical) increasingly “relevant” on the world stage: energy demand. Kagame, a soft-spoken man with a system by solar-powered mobile phones,” “Significant foreign investment is coming bespectacled, scholarly demeanor, talked he said. into Africa from Asia, especially China, Thursday, Sept. 25 slowly and deliberately about how science “This illustrates the almost limitless India, as well as the Gulf states.” and technology — particularly mobile ways these technologies can be used to Kagame made a direct appeal for more • MIT/WHOI 40th Anniversary technology — was accelerating economic sidestep our development challenges.” links between MIT and Rwanda. “I invite Symposium. 12:30-5 p.m. in E51. growth in Africa. Still, he added, “this is not enough.” you, MIT community, to be part of over- Symposium to celebrate the 40th He described how the mobile phone was The continent needs to train and retain coming our challenges and turning them anniversary of the establishment of the “leapfrogging” development. Africa is “the knowledge specialists — the “single most into opportunities,” he said. doctoral program between MIT and the world’s fastest-growing mobile telephone challenging task facing Africa,” he said. During a lengthy Q&A, Kagame fielded Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. market” and mobile-phone companies will Kagame said Africans look to places questions on topics such as what other invest $50 billion in the continent in the such as Boston as models because of the mobile technology might be helpful to • The Campaign and the Media. next five years, he said. productive interaction here among “knowl- Africa (he wasn’t sure) and how to encour- John Carroll, Boston University; Ellen Mobile phones have transformed ways edge centers,” business and government. age competent leadership and “good Goodman, Boston Globe; and Tom of doing business, stimulated the economy Boston, he noted, “transformed itself from governance” throughout the region. Rosenstiel, director, Project for Excel- by spinning off smaller retail enterprises a maritime trading port to the knowledge Sloan MBA student Erica Carlisle asked lence in Journalism, will speak from 5-7 and “reduced the barriers” among farmers, economy center that we see today.” how Rwanda would deal with its high p.m. in E15-070. How have American traders and consumers, he said. Africa seeks transformation as well. The birthrate (the country is the densest popu- news media responded to this historic “Africans are using mobile phones to current political stability and growth of lated in Africa). Kagame said education presidential campaign? Is it true, as retrieve savings, transfer funds, make democracy in Rwanda “is in sharp contrast would help to encourage families, which many have suggested, that the influ- payments and access student exam results.” to a decade ago” when it was uncertain have an average of six children, to reduce ence of newspapers and television Even AIDS treatment has been affected: if the country was even “a viable state,” that to half. has declined in the digital era? Have the media become more partisan and moving parts. One is seeking to find new, novel materials that polarized? Are they more preoccupied may be more efficient than existing thermoelectric compounds; with polls and campaign strategy than MITEI awards second another is developing thermoelectric systems that can be scaled up with substantive issues? Has the cover- to large power-producing plants; and the final group is examining age by traditional media been qualita- the potential of photonic crystals to capture energy from waste tively different from that by online news round of seed grants heat. sources? In this first of two forums on David Chandler Another solar thermal project, led by Leonhard Professor the campaign and the media, our speak- News Office of Civil and Environmental Engineering Harold Hemond and ers will offer report cards on the current Ronald C. Crane (1972) Professor of Mechanical Engineering state of American political journalism. The MIT Energy Initiative’s second round of seed grants for Ahmed Ghoniem, aims to develop larger installations that could energy research, announced last week, will go toward a wide array provide power to a village school or clinic. The solar concentrat- Friday, Sept. 26 of research topics ranging from microhydropower and solar-ther- ing system, using mirrored troughs to focus sunlight on liquid- mal power projects for developing countries to the development filled tubes and photovoltaic cells, could provide heat and power • Threatening Changes: Experimental of novel materials for insulation or power generation, to computer all from the same unit. Evidence on Americans’ Responses to software that can help to optimize Another project will try to Immigrants. Dan Hopkins, MIT, will energy use in cities or in a whole develop control systems for “self- speak. 12-1:30 p.m. in E53-482 as part nation. powered” devices, such as biomedi- of the MIT Political Science Work in Seventeen projects received cal sensors or therapeutic devices Progress Colloquia (WIP). grants in this second round, with that generate their own electricity URL: web.mit.edu/polisci/research/wip.html total funding exceeding $1.7 million. from the user’s movements or body A previous set of grants received heat so that they never require • The Great Glass Pumpkin Patch@ funding in January of this year, and battery replacement. And another MIT: Opening Reception. 5-8 p.m., MITEI will continue to award new will seek to develop new materials W16, Kresge Oval. 1,000 hand-blown grants twice each year. that will work better as either insula- glass pumpkins, created by artists from Among the new projects are two aimed at developing new tors or heat-conducting material for radiators or cooling systems. the MIT Glass Lab. Proceeds benefit solar-thermal systems to bring electric power as well as heating A project headed by Pappalardo Professor of Mechanical Engi- the MIT Glass Lab, where the MIT to rural villages in the developing world. One of these, headed neering Alexander Slocum will work on designs for far-offshore community can learn and practice the art by Rajeev Ram, professor of electrical engineering and associate windmills with a built-in energy storage system to provide of glassblowing. Pumpkin sales only on director of the Research Laboratory for Electronics, could capture on-demand power. The system would use water pumped inside Saturday, Sept. 27 (rain date: Sept. 28); leftover heat from existing solar cookers, or even from conven- a huge concrete base as storage for energy produced by the wind no sales at reception. tional wood-burning stoves, that are in use in many villages in turbine, and the platform could also be connected to wave or URL: web.mit.edu/glasslab/sales_pumpkin. Asia. The solid-state thermoelectric devices would produce about current generating systems. html 20 watts of power to provide reading lights that are 150 times For a full list of all the grant recipients and their projects, please more energy-efficient, as well as cleaner, than the kerosene lamps go to web.mit.edu/mitei/news/spotlights/recipients-09-08.html. now in use. Funding for the new grants comes from MITEI’s founding Three other groups receiving the grants are also working and sustaining members, supplemented by funding from the on thermoelectric systems — solid-state devices that generate Singapore-MIT Alliance, the Chesonis Family Foundation, David electricity from temperature differences, without the need for any desJardins, and other private donors.

News Office Staff HOW TO REACH US Writer...... David Chandler Tech Talk is published by the News Office on Wednesdays during term time except for Assistant Director/Photojournalist ...... Donna Coveney most Monday holiday weeks. See Production Schedule at web.mit.edu/newsoffice/ News Office Operations/Financial Administrator ...... Myles Crowley 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 Managing Editor, MIT home page...... Susan Curran Web Developer/Editor...... Lisa Damtoft Postmaster: Send address changes to Mail Services, Building WW15, Massachusetts E-mail: [email protected] Executive Director ...... Pamela Dumas Serfes Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139-4307. Administrative Assistant II ...... Patti Foley web.mit.edu/newsoffice Photojournalist News Manager...... Greg Frost Subscribers may call 617-252-1550 or send e-mail to [email protected]. Donna Coveney Editorial & Production Asst...... Patrick Gillooly Administrative Assistant II ...... Mary Anne Hansen Tech Talk is distributed free to faculty and staff offices and residence halls. It is also avail- Office of the Arts Media Specialist...... Teresa Herbert able free in the News Office and the Information Center. Communications Assistant...... Jen Hirsch Production Domestic mail subscriptions are $25 per year, nonrefundable. Checks should be made Senior designer...... Rebecca Macri web.mit.edu/arts Patrick Gillooly payable to MIT and mailed to Business Manager, Room 11-400, MIT, 77 Massachusetts Director, Media Relations...... Patti Richards Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139-4307. Senior Science & Printed on recycled paper Engineering Editor...... Elizabeth Thomson Periodical postage paid at Boston, MA. Writer...... Anne Trafton MIT Tech Talk u NEWS September 24, 2008 PAGE 3

S M T WT Events F S 3 faculty win ’08 NIH � Alex van at MIT Pioneer Awards Oudenaarden Elizabeth Thomson Career Development Professor in Biomed- Sunday, Sept. 28 News Office ical Engineering and a professor of physics, • Energy Regatta at MIT. 9 a.m.-12 “will explore the role of random variables p.m. at 51, MIT Sailing Pavilion. The Three MIT faculty are among 16 scien- in gene expression during cellular develop- MIT Francophone Club and the world- tists nationwide to receive 2008 Pioneer ment and specialization.” class oil company Total invite you to a Awards from the National Institutes of Regev, an assistant professor of biology sailing event open to all MIT students. Health for their “pioneering — and possi- also affiliated with the , Alice The event will be followed by a recep- bly transforming — approaches to major “will examine how the regulatory networks Ting tion at the Sailing Pavilion on Saturday challenges in biomedical and behavioral that control cell function change over time evening. This event is a unique oppor- research.” in development, disease and evolution,” tunity to meet fellow MIT students and Professors Alexander van Oudenaarden, according to the NIH. Total representatives in a fun atmo- Aviv Regev and Alice Y. Ting will each Ting, the Pfizer-Laubach Career Devel- sphere! All sailing levels welcome. Non- receive $2.5 million over five years. opment Associate Professor of , sailors welcome as spectators. Interest Now in its fifth year, the Pioneer Award “will develop new technologies to image in oil engineering, energy and operation program is designed to support individual and study proteins in living cells.” research is a plus. This event is limited scientists of exceptional creativity at any Previous Pioneer winners from MIT to 50 people and open to MIT only. career level. include Emery Brown of the Harvard- URL: total-sailing.mit.edu “These highly creative researchers are MIT Division of Health Sciences and tackling important scientific challenges Technology and the Department of Brain Aviv with bold ideas and inventive technologies and Cognitive Sciences (2007) and Arup Regev Monday, Sept. 29 that promise to break through barriers and K. Chakraborty, the Robert T. Haslam • The State of the Institute. Speak- radically shift our understanding,” said Dr. Professor of Chemical Engineering, ers include: President Susan Hockfield, Elias A. Zerhouni, director of the NIH. Chemistry and Biological Engineering Provost L. Rafael Reif, Chancellor Phil- Van Oudenaarden, the W.M. Keck (2006). lip L. Clay, Executive Vice President and Treasurer Theresa M. Stone. 11 a.m. in W16, Kresge Auditorium. A lunch CMSE wins six-year, $19.2M NSF grant reception will follow the forum. Amid an increasingly challenging federal Energy Storage and Conversion, seeks to completely new IRG. A seed competition Wednesday, Oct. 1 funding environment, MIT’s Center accurately model, predict and determine will begin this fall. • Come celebrate MIT women’s history for and Engineering how thermodynamics, phase behavior and The new grant, awarded through NSF’s and learn about MIT’s extraordinary (CMSE) has won a six-year, $19.2 million kinetics are modified at the nanoscale. Materials Research Science and Engineer- first alumna, Ellen H. Swallow (Rich- National Science Foundation grant that The second, Mechanomutable Hetero- ing Centers (MRSEC) program, will also ards, chemistry, Class of 1873) at this will support research, K-12 educational nanomaterials, will develop new dynami- allow CMSE to continue two other key one-woman show presenting Ellen in outreach programs and vital shared experi- cally tunable multicomponent hetero- programs: shared experimental facilities her own words. From 7-9 p.m. in Room mental facilities. geneous nanostructured systems with an and K-12 outreach. 4-370. Ellen Swallow Richards (ESR) “CMSE is privileged to be able to bring emphasis on mechanical behavior. Every year some 700 to 800 individual applied her brilliant mind, chemis- some of the Institute’s finest research- The final group, Multimaterial Multi- researchers use CMSE facilities for materi- try training and organizing finesse to ers together to perform interdisciplinary functional Nano-Structured Fibers, will als analysis, crystal growth and prepara- concerns that all people care about — materials research that can impact the explore the design, fabrication, character- tion, electron microscopy, and X-ray clean water, air, pure food. Joyce Beery current and future needs of society,” said ization and physical phenomena of a new diffraction. “Our facilities are critically Miles will first portray Ellen as a young CMSE Director Michael Rubner, the class of multicomponent nanoscale fiber important to the MRSEC program as well student before Vassar and during her TDK Professor of Materials Science and materials. as to the broader MIT community and Vassar days. The second scene covers Engineering. “We’re excited about moving The NSF grant will also support two beyond,” Rubner said. “We are gratified her initial days at MIT and in the forward with a new research program that smaller projects: Engineering Living that we will be able to continue support of Women’s Chemistry lab, and finally, represents the culmination of a two-year Cells via Nanomaterials, and New States these facilities and expand them in coming the show will depict ESR’s last 10-15 internal and external review process.” of Frustrated and Correlated Materials. years.” years of professional activity, including Through the new program, research CMSE also plans to provide seed funding The center also has a strong educa- the 1893 Columbia World Exposition will be conducted in three interdisciplin- for research that has the potential to rede- tion program directed toward graduate in Chicago, her work with the New ary research groups. One, the Design fine the direction of an existing interdisci- students, undergraduates, middle- and England Kitchen, and the Lake Placid of Nanomaterials for Electrochemical plinary research group (IRG), or lead to a high-school students, and K-12 teachers. Conference. URL: http://alumweb.mit.edu/groups/ amita/

MIT named to AARP Submit your events! Log on to events.mit.edu to top employer list add your events to MIT’s online calendar. Select events will be MIT has once again been named to AARP’s list selected from the online calendar of the 50 Best Employers for Workers Over 50, a to be published in Tech Talk each distinction the Institute has won three other times in Wednesday. the past five years. AARP’s annual rankings, announced this week by AARP CEO Bill Novelli, recognize employers across AWARDS the country that excel at recruiting, retraining and retaining mature workers. The Institute ranked 14th on the list and was the &HONORS second-highest ranking college or university, behind Cornell University, which was ranked first overall. Marine Technology Society MIT was also named to AARP’s list in 2006, 2005 and 2003. honors MIT student work Thirty- The Marine Technology Society’s seven percent Student Section at MIT (13Seas) was of MIT honored with the Outstanding Student employees are Section Award at the MTS’s annual age 50 and Awards Luncheon on Sept. 16. This is older, and the third year in a row the MIT section their average PHOTO / SUSAN COHEN has won the award. tenure is 16.7 years. Stratton medal awarded to Margaret McDermott Some Margaret McDermott HM ’90, a major benefactor of the arts at MIT DeRon Brown wins Boston practices MIT whose generosity also supports students scholarships and faculty chairs, Globe football award has in place to received the Catherine N. Stratton Medal in the Arts during a reception at support its workforce over age 50 include: her home in Dallas. The award features a stylized portrait of Stratton and is MIT junior DeRon Brown earned the • A seminar series from MIT’s Center for given to individuals who have made significant contributions to the Council New England region’s top weekly honor Work, Family and Personal Life on the aging for the Arts at MIT or the arts at MIT. in football last week after being selected workforce and eldercare; The award was designed by Suzana Lisanti, senior communications as the Boston Globe Gold Helmet award • Recruiting through attending job fairs and strategist, and created in the MIT glass lab by instructor Peter Houk. In winner following the Engineers’ impres- workshops in connection with Operation attendance at the reception were Margaret McDermott, Mary McDermott sive victory against Mass. Maritime. A.B.L.E. of Greater Boston, which provides Cook, Irwin Grossman ’52, Bill ’60 and Jean Booziotis, Tom ’57 and Effie Brown delivered the second-highest training and employment services for mature McCullough, Margaret Anne Cullum and Susan Cohen, director of the single-game rushing total in school workers. Council for the Arts. Letters of tribute to McDermott from MIT President history while MIT opened the fall slate More details can be found online at www.aarpthe- Susan Hockfield, Associate Provost Philip Khoury and Brit d’Arbeloff SM with two straight wins for the first time magazine.org. ’61 were read and a champagne toast was given, followed by lunch. since 2004. PAGE 4 September 24, 2008 u RESEARCH MIT Tech Talk Preventing Satellite forest fires

ALERT! Fire Started 10:32AM Tue Aug 12 2007: 43o 45’19.23oN Node 713 116o02’34.39W Moisture levels Elev 5153 ft LOW Surrounding fuel loading data available Run simulation? with tree

Fire Service power monitoring station

Existing weather station GRAPHICS / REBECCA MACRI Sensor system runs on electricity generated by trees

Elizabeth Thomson was produced or how to take advantage of the News Office power. MIT researchers and colleagues are work- In a recent issue of the Public Library of ing to find out whether energy from trees can Science ONE, Zhang and MIT colleagues power a network of sensors to prevent spread- report the answer. “It’s really a fairly simple ing forest fires. phenomenon: an imbalance in pH between What they learn could also raise the possibil- a tree and the soil it grows in,” said Andreas ity of using trees as silent sentinels along the Mershin, a postdoctoral associate at the CBE. nation’s borders to detect potential threats such The first author of the paper is Christopher as smuggled radioactive materials. J. Love, an MIT senior in chemistry who has The U.S. Forest Service currently predicts been working on the project since his freshman and tracks fires with a variety of tools, including year. PHOTO / CHRISTOPHER HUANG remote automated weather stations. But these To solve the puzzle of where the voltage MIT senior Christopher Love and colleagues are working to stations are expensive and sparsely distributed. comes from, the team had to test a number of find out whether energy from trees can be used to prevent Additional sensors could save trees by provid- theories — many of them exotic. That meant forest fires. ing better local climate data to be used in fire a slew of experiments that showed, among prediction models and earlier alerts. However, other things, that the electricity was not due manually recharging or replacing batteries, to a simple electrochemical redox reaction often at very hard-to-reach locations, makes (the type that powers the “potato batteries” this impractical and costly. common in high school science labs). The team The new sensor system seeks to avoid this also ruled out the source as due to coupling to Temperature/humidity sensor problem by tapping into trees as a self-sustain- underground power lines, radio waves or other ing power supply. Each sensor is equipped electromagnetic interference. with an off-the-shelf battery that can be slowly Testing of the wireless sensor network, which recharged using electricity generated by the is being developed by Voltree Power (http:// tree. A single tree doesn’t generate a lot of voltreepower.com), is slated to begin in the power, but over time the “trickle charge” adds spring on a 10-acre plot of land provided by the Bioenergy harvesting up, “just like a dripping faucet can fill a bucket Forest Service. battery charger over time,” said Shuguang Zhang, one of the According to Love, who with Mershin has researchers on the project and the associate a financial interest in Voltree, the bioenergy director of MIT’s Center for Biomedical Engi- harvester battery charger module and sensors neering (CBE). are ready. “We expect that we’ll need to instru- The system produces enough electricity to ment four trees per acre,” he said, noting that allow the temperature and humidity sensors to the system is designed for easy installation by wirelessly transmit signals four times a day, or unskilled workers. immediately if there’s a fire. Each signal hops “Right now we’re finalizing exactly how the from one sensor to another, until it reaches an wireless sensor network will be configured existing weather station that beams the data by to use the minimum amount of power,” he satellite to a forestry command center in Boise, concluded. Idaho. The original experiments were funded by Scientists have long known that trees can MagCap Engineering, LLC, through MIT’s produce extremely small amounts of electric- Undergraduate Research Opportunities ity. But no one knew exactly how the energy Program.

CALLING ALL FACULTY on th The News Office wants to hear your thoughts on election issues. MIT e A new series, scheduled to debut next week and run until Election Day, aims to give MIT faculty members a chance to weigh in on major campaign issues. This week’s question: What should  be the next president’s top priority in the areas of science and ELECTION technology? Answers should be limited to 100 words, and can be e-mailed to Stephanie Schorow at [email protected]. MIT Tech Talk u RESEARCH September 24, 2008 PAGE 5 Why chemotherapy works for some people and not others Examining cargo MIT cell findings could predict individuals’ responses at the atomic level Anne Trafton News Office nuclear resonance fluorescence, though Imaging technology it wasn’t his main research focus. MIT researchers have shown that cells could help detect nuclear “All of the sudden it dawned on me from different people don’t all react the that this might be a viable technique” to same way when exposed to the same DNA- material inside cargo detect explosives, he says. damaging agent — a finding that could without opening the doors Bertozzi patented his idea and several help clinicians predict how patients will companies were interested in develop- ing the technology but the government’s respond to chemotherapy. Anne Trafton interest waned, and the project didn’t The research team from MIT’s Center News Office for Environmental Health Sciences get off the ground. However, every- (CEHS) and the Departments of Biologi- PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY More than 11 million cargo contain- thing changed after Sept. 11, 2001, and ers enter U.S. ports annually and Bertozzi resurrected the idea. cal Engineering and Biology, identified CEHS Director Leona Samson a group of 48 genes that can predict how that number is expected to dramati- “The damage to our nation’s susceptible an individual is to the toxic cally increase in the next 20 years. The economy from the effects of an attack compound, known as MNNG. The work in each cell line, they could predict cell U.S. Customs and Border Protection through the supply chain with a nuclear appears in the Sept. 18 online edition of sensitivity to MNNG from the expression agents might benefit from technology weapon (WMD) would be enormous Genes and Development. of just 48 specific genes, with 94 percent developed by an MIT professor, which and would adversely affect all segments MNNG, a DNA-damaging compound accuracy. could enable screeners to examine the of our population, seriously altering our similar to toxic chemicals found in tobacco Several of those 48 genes have already contents of a cargo container for the nation’s culture,” Bertozzi said. “We are smoke and in common chemotherapy been linked to cancer, said Samson, but presence of radiological or nuclear developing new technologies that will agents, usually kills cells by inducing it was not known that their expression material without having to open the provide significant improvement over irreparable DNA damage. However, the is already altered before exposure to the container. existing nonintrusive researchers found a wide range of suscep- DNA damaging agent. MIT Professor inspection technolo- tibility among cells taken from healthy This study is specific to MNNG, William Bertozzi’s new gies to help ensure people. but similar efforts are now underway technology reveals ❞ that our nation is safe “A cell line from one person would be in Samson’s lab to predict individuals’ the cargo’s atomic We’re in a very different from such attacks.” killed dramatically, while that from another responses to other toxic agents, including composition, which is In about a minute, person was resistant to exposure,” said cisplatin, a common chemotherapy agent, an enhancement over realm than what we the detector can deter- Rebecca Fry, former MIT research scien- and temozolomide, used to treat brain current systems. The originally thought it mine what’s inside a tist and lead author of the paper. “It wasn’t cancer. technology could also container, without known that cell lines from different people Fry, the lead author of the paper, is be used for cargo vali- would be used for. opening it. And unlike could have such dramatic differences in now an assistant professor at the Univer- dation for tax revenue X-rays, NRFI can responses.” sity of North Carolina School of Public compliance, prod- Bob Ledoux detect the isotopic Toxic agents such as MNNG create Health. Other authors are Peter Svensson, uct safety or origin former MIT professor composition of a lesions in DNA, provoking the cell to a postdoctoral fellow in CEHS; Chandni certification. material even when it’s defend itself with a variety of DNA-repair Valiathan, a graduate student in computa- Bertozzi and shielded by lead. and other pathways. However, every indi- tional and systems biology; Emma Wang private-capital backed Passport Systems NRFI technology vidual expresses slight differences in the and Brad Hogan, technical assistants in Inc., are developing the technology, detects the energy level of photons genes involved in those pathways. CEHS; Sanchita Bhattacharya, former known as nuclear resonance fluorescence emitted by nuclei as they decay. “Even if everyone is exposed to exactly CEHS research scientist; James Bugni, imaging (NRFI), with additional fund- Every element, and every isotope the same things, they would respond former CEHS postdoctoral fellow; and ing from the Department of Homeland of an element, emits photons with a differently, because we’re all genetically Charles Whittaker, a research scientist in Security and Office of Naval Research. specific energy level. Thus NRFI can different,” said Leona Samson, senior the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Unlike X-rays, which only reveal the distinguish not only between different author of the paper, director of CEHS, Cancer Research. two-dimensional shape of an object, elements, but different isotopes of the and an American Cancer Society Research The research was funded by the NRFI can determine the atomic compo- same element, such as uranium-235, professor. National Institute of Environmental sition of cargo — whether it’s a harm- which is used in nuclear weapons, and The team members found that after Health Sciences and the National Cancer less shipment of televisions or a load of uranium-238, which is not. measuring the expression of every gene Institute. radioactive uranium-235, which can be Such detectors could also help protect used to make a nuclear bomb. U.S. economic interests by checking Bertozzi, along with former MIT to make sure a container reportedly professor Bob Ledoux and Gordon Baty filled with, for example, low-grade ’61, SM ’63, PhD ’67, founded Pass- stainless steel products isn’t actually port Systems in 2002. At the time, they carrying higher grades that would look MACARTHUR: 2 faculty win ‘genius’ grants intended to use their detectors to find the same to an X-ray scanner and thus traditional explosives, but in the past avoid payment of the correct tariffs. Continued from Page 1 resonances can wirelessly transfer power few years, the company and the U.S. The applications for verification in over a few meters — an advance that could resources, our buildings may look more like government have also turned its atten- commerce are numerous. be used to wirelessly recharge laptop buildings from the past,” Ochsendorf said. tion to detecting nuclear threats. Ledoux says the company has a good computers, cell phones and other Ochsendorf said that of the “We’re in a very different realm than grasp on the science underlying the devices. five universities where he has what we originally thought it would be detection system and has identified Soljacic said the MacArthur studied and taught, MIT is the used for,” Ledoux said. signatures for the bomb-making materi- funding will allow him to work only one where his current work Bertozzi, a professor of physics, first als they are trying to detect. They have on innovative research that might would be possible. “I never found came up with the idea more than 15 recently completed a successful test of not be funded by traditional a university where I could do such years ago, after Pan Am Flight 103 was the technology for the U.S. govern- sources. interdisciplinary work so easily,” blown up by terrorists. As a graduate ment and are now looking to develop “When you have something he said. “At MIT it’s not the student at MIT, Bertozzi had studied commercial products. exception but the norm.” that you believe is a really good idea, but it’s pretty risky — some ‘Completely overwhelming’ John people might think it’s too far Soljacic, who has been an assis- Ochsendorf out — it’s much harder to get tant professor at MIT since 2005, funding,” he said. was also shocked upon receiving word of Soljacic was a Pappalardo Fellow in his award. When MacArthur Foundation MIT’s Department of Physics from 2000 Fellows Program Director David Socolow to 2003 and a principal research scientist in called with the news, he first asked Soljacic the Research Laboratory of Electronics at if he was alone. MIT from 2003 to 2005. Soljacic said yes, he was in the car on the Two MIT alumni were also named way to pick up his son from school. MacArthur Fellows: Andrea Ghez ’87 and “He said, ‘Do you think you could pull Adam Riess ’92. over? I don’t want anything to Ghez, a professor of astronomy happen to you,’” Soljacic said. at UCLA, works on improving “It’s just completely overwhelm- the spatial resolution and preci- ing because it’s so unexpected. It’s sion of instruments used to peer a great and unexpected honor.” at regions of the central galaxy. Soljacic, 34, is a theoretical Her work allows for very precise physicist whose work on elec- analysis of stars and black holes. tromagnetic waves is important Riess, a professor of physics for understanding fundamental and astronomy at Johns Hopkins principles of optical physics and University, was a leading for development of devices such Marin contributor to the finding that as switches for optical computers Soljacic the universe is not only expand- and wireless power transmitters. ing, but its rate of expansion is Recently, he and his colleagues demon- accelerating. He is now designing experi- strated both theoretically and experi- ments and devices to detect and measure mentally that strongly coupled magnetic dark matter. PAGE 6 September 24, 2008 u NEWS MIT Tech Talk

PHOTO / PATRICK GILLOOLY Ray, left, and Tom Sun-tracking device Magliozzi, right, of NPR’s ‘Car Talk,’ listen wins student prize to students at a talk on Window coatings, wind generators from the $10,000 top award to $1,000 for the fourth- alternative- place finishers. energy and power unit also win The winning team, called Heliotrope, chose to vehicles. imitate the way plants track the sun across the sky by David Chandler using the difference in temperature between shaded and News Office sunny areas to change the properties of the material supporting solar photovoltaic cells. The system, once A team of three students who designed a system built, is completely passive, requiring no power source that could allow solar power panels to track the sun or electronics to control the movement. Solar cells that without motors or control systems won top honors track the angle of the sun can be 38 percent more effi- Click and Clack last week — and a check for $10,000 — in the finals of cient at generating power than those that are mounted a competition aimed at developing innovative energy in a fixed position, explained team member George technologies. Whitfield, a graduate student in DMSE. This was the second annual MADMEC — which The team explored several different variations of glimpse cars of stands for Making And Designing Materials Engineer- the proposed system, using various materials including ing Contest — and it offered students six categories of polymers and bimetallic strips. The system that shows engineering challenges related to producing innovative the most promise, they said, mounts solar panels at the the future solutions for energy-related problems in the developing top of a curved arch made of a pair of metals such as world. The contest is co-sponsored by MIT’s Depart- aluminum and steel, which should be durable enough NPR’s Magliozzi brothers in ment of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE) to withstand the elements with little or no maintenance. and by corporate sponsors Dow Chemical, Saint “We wanted to show this concept in action,” Whit- ‘chock-full’ tour of MIT Gobain and General Motors. field explained as he demonstrated a scale model of the The competition began last spring, and all four of arch by shining a spotlight to warm up one side and The star mechanics of NPR’s “Car Talk” got a sneak the teams that made it to the finals won prizes, ranging cause the arch to bend, tilting the solar panel toward preview at MIT last week of the kinds of innovative cars and the light. “Our prototypes are cheaper than existing automotive technologies that their listeners might be calling systems” for tracking the sun, he said, and could be in about in years to come. built from materials that are readily available in devel- “I’m encouraged that so much is going on here, as you’d oping nations. expect from MIT,” said Ray Magliozzi ’72, after he and his The second-place winner was a team that worked brother Tom ’58 — better known on their radio program as on a way to make inexpensive coatings for windows Click and Clack — received a tour Friday of various MIT that would block infrared light, thus allowing daylight projects aimed at future alternative vehicles. They also heard through while blocking the sun’s heat to reduce the presentations from five student groups working on such need for air conditioning. Third place went for simple projects. wind generators that could be placed alongside a road “It was a chock-full day — I felt like I was a student again,” to produce electricity from the movement of passing Ray said after hearing presentations from MIT professors cars. And the fourth prize went to a simple attachment Robert Armstrong, deputy director of the MIT Energy Initia- for a bicycle that could allow it to generate electricity to tive, Yang Shao-Horn of the Electrochemical Energy Labora- charge batteries, such as those used in the One Laptop tory, and Gerbrand Ceder of Materials Science and Engineer- Per Child computers. ing, as well as from student leaders of the Energy Club, the “I was very impressed with all the entries,” said Ned Solar Electric Vehicle Team, the Electric Vehicle Team, the Thomas, DMSE head and Morris Cohen Professor of Vehicle Design Summit, and Biodiesel@MIT. Materials Science and Engineering. The department “Car Talk,” produced in Cambridge, has been on the air for will definitely plan on holding another MADMEC 31 years, the Magliozzis said, and now attracts between 10,000 competition starting next spring, he said. and 15,000 calls every week from listeners asking for advice about their car problems. While originally the focus was on the cars themselves, increasingly “the show has become about people’s relationship with their cars,” Ray said. Noting the importance of reducing the greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, he said “our goal is to have people drive a lot less.” PHOTO / NED THOMAS “It’s pretty stupid that we’re making cars that get 20 MIT senior Ryan Bonaparte was miles to the gallon,” Tom said. But if today’s high gas prices part of a MADMEC team that continue, “it won’t take that long” for that to change. worked on a way to harness Ray said that he was impressed by the work the students are energy from a waving flag. doing on developing alternative cars, and told them that “the responsibility of saving the planet is in your hands.” There are dire consequences from the way we currently get and use fuel for vehicles, he said. “Save us!” Q&A with Neal Stephenson? Celebrated author Neal Stephenson, in the last eight years or so, so I haven’t people who can’t pay it back. If we had known primarily for his speculative fiction had to look into those topics very much. more bankers who adopted a long-term works, visited MIT Sunday to speak to fans “The Baroque Cycle” and the World War view of their responsibilities, we might not and sign copies of II part of “Cryptonomicon” obviously be in the middle of a financial crisis that his books, includ- required a lot of historical reading and the is blowing away 150-year-old investment ing his latest new novel, “Anathem,” has quite a bit of banks. novel, “Anathem.” philosophy and metaphysics, shading over MIT News Office into some fundamental physics questions Is there anything in your new novel (or correspondent such as the many worlds interpretation of Q:the previous novels) that you would like Stephanie Schorow quantum mechanics. MIT students to focus on as in “Hey, I could caught up with create THAT”? Or, conversely, for them to Stephenson ahead Why do you think that aspects of your think, “Oh boy, I never realized the conse- of his appearance Q:novels (such as the “Metaverse” in quences of creating THAT.” and posed him a “Snow Crash”) seem to “come true”? It’d be a big impediment to my few questions by In the case of the Metaverse, the A:getting any work done if I were e-mail. Here are A:answer is: because it’s so obvious. A always sitting there thinking to myself his responses: similar remark could be made of Google “Hmm, I’d better not write that down Earth. in case some MIT student decides to Do you see a relationship between the implement it.” Even worse would be if I Q:inspiration for science fiction/speculative Was there any one idea or concept that somehow got the notion in my mind that I fiction and actual science? Q:inspired your new novel “Anathem”? could lead us to a brighter future by play- They play off of each other in a way Does it in any way reflect today’s culture or ing Pied Piper to a lot of MIT students. A:that’s pretty interesting. Each side politics? Or do you prefer the reader to decide Having said that, “The Diamond provides ideas for the other. that? Age” depicts some nasty consequences of In general I prefer the reader to molecular nanotechnology that it would In preparing your fiction, how much (if A:decide, but I don’t want to be totally be good to avoid, and so whenever I run Q:at all) do you look into actual research Sphinx-like and so I’ll permit myself to into a molecular nanotech person I nag into media, digital technology or other sciences? say a little. As far as culture and politics can think of any number of ways in which them to think about what kind of immune How about history? are concerned, the important theme is having a longer attention span can be system we are going to have to engineer in Depends on the book. I haven’t writ- long-attention-span vs. short-attention- useful. But I’ll name one. Bankers with order to protect ourselves from this kind of A:ten a thing about modern technology span thinking. I’m sure that your readers long attention spans don’t lend money to technology. MIT Tech Talk u NEWS September 24, 2008 PAGE 7 SMOOT: Measurement feat marks 50th anniversary PHOTO / MARK MORELLI Continued from Page 1 Vice President “I don’t think any of us had the slightest idea how for Human much work was involved with lying down, getting Resources up,” he said. “They had to help me a great way across Alison Alden the bridge. I started by doing a push-up, and then I couldn’t even do that. It deteriorated from there.” As they neared the end of their task, a police van drove by, and made a U-turn back toward the students. Luckily, it was a false alarm — but Smoot notes that today their activity probably would garner more scrutiny. PHOTO / PATRICK GILLOOLY “How would something like this be looked at Smoot admits he’s not as strong as he used to be, today? Would the cops in the car stop and make a but otherwise the results should be the same. U-turn and check things out,” he said. “Or would “Well as far as I can tell, and I think the meter they see five or six male adults on the bridge with stick we’re going to give to the MIT Museum will something that looked like canisters.” confirm, I haven’t really shrunk yet,” he laughed. After the job was done, Smoot said he and his “I’m surprised.” compatriots didn’t give much thought to what And Smoot enjoys the distinction of being both would happen to the “Smoot marks.” He graduated a decorated professional in the standards industry in 1962, started law school at Georgetown Univer- (serving as a vice president Information Technology sity shortly thereafter, and got married in 1964. Industry Council and chairman of the American “There was a lot going on, so I basically didn’t National Standards Institute’s Board of Directors) give it a thought,” he said. “I don’t recall actually and a standardized unit of measurement himself. thinking about it, or getting a note or having a A Smoot is recognized enough that it’s even conversation with my brothers.” possible to use Google’s calculator function to That was until he gave an interview to a reporter change any measurement into Smoots. at the now-defunct “Holiday magazine” who was “It’s interesting to see how far apart things are,” investigating the strange marks on the bridge that Smoot noted. “Say it’s 400 miles from Washington were repainted each year by incoming Lambda Chi to Boston — it’s much more than that [in Smoots].” Q&A with Alison Alden Alpha students. Then, he said, it seemed to take off. 378,268 Smoots to be exact — plus or minus an ? And if he had to do it all over again, today? Well, ear. In the following interview, Human Resources Vice President Alison Alden shares her vision for MIT staff and her priorities for the coming year.

Q: What is your vision for staff at MIT? Just as MIT is known for its excellence in teaching and research, our goal is to build that same high level of energy and focus for learning and development opportunities on the staff side. I want employees to thrive in their jobs here and feel they are part of a world-class workplace. We need to actively invest in our staff just as we do with our students. We also need to build a more diverse and balanced employee population. To do our best work and solve the most complex problems, our staff should reflect the diversity of the community at large.

Q: What do you mean by “development?” I think there are three things that characterize a workplace that values development. First, faculty and managers find ways in their daily interactions with their staff to provide encouragement and to create opportunities for growth. Second, the environ- ment is such that employees feel empowered to seek feedback and view their development as a shared responsibility with their manager and with the Institute; in other words, they are active participants. Third, the workplace, in this case MIT, provides the infrastructure — the tools, programs and resources — to facili- tate this occurring.

Q: Can you talk more about what MIT is prepared to do to support this? We’re still in the building phase but the foundation has certainly been laid. One current focus is extending our formal classroom training to help staff become stronger supervisors and managers. We will offer “Essentials of Managing” three times You don’t know Jack this year and are in the midst of a pilot for managers who already PHOTO / PHILIP BAILEY have some experience in their roles. There will be a big push on the importance of giving feed- More than 1,000 hand-blown glass pumpkins, squashes and gourds in all sizes, shapes, colors and back and developing our talent. Employees need to know how designs will transform the Kresge Oval into a colorful “Great Glass Pumpkin Patch” on Friday and they’re doing on the job, potential opportunities for growth on Saturday, Sept. 26-27. Visitors can buy their favorite autumnal orb for prices range from $20-$200, that job, and they should receive coaching/mentoring from their depending on the piece’s size and complexity. Many of the works feature not only vivid colors, but managers. The cycle of giving feedback is often referred to as swirls, stripes, spots, curlicues and unusual stems. performance development. We know that there are tremendous benefits to managers, employees and the Institute when time and The glass pumpkins were created by students and instructors in MIT’s Glass Lab, where members of thought are invested in performance development practices. the MIT community learn and practice the art of glassblowing. Proceeds from this event benefit the I’m also excited about a new peer connection program for lab, an art program connected with MIT’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the support staff. The idea is to provide new MIT support staff Materials Processing Center. For more information, visit web.mit.edu/glasslab/sales_pumpkin.html. with an experienced colleague who can help them navigate MIT during their first year. We want this to be very practical — so new support staff learn how to get things done at MIT. CLASSIFIED ADS

Q: What are some other priorities in the year ahead? Members of the MIT community may submit one ad tained, towing package included, exterior: white, interior: We continue to work with the Office of the Provost to iden- each issue. Ads should be 30 words maximum; they grey, working heat/ac, power locks, power windows, pow- tify what is important for attracting and retaining faculty. For will be edited. Submit by e-mail to [email protected] er mirrors, power seats, keyless entry, cruise control, anti- or mail to Classifieds, Rm 11-400. Deadline is noon theft system. Contact Stefanie home: (978) 887-0961, cell: example, accessibility of childcare is a high priority area. We also Wednesday the week before ­publication. (978) 790-7710 know that it’s critical for new faculty and senior leaders to get support upfront when they arrive at MIT, and as result we will Dining Table or Conference Table, Mahogany, contempo- pilot a customized orientation program for this population. FOR RENT rary, pedestal base, 6’L x 3’W x 29.5” H, four cushioned Look for new programs and benefits related to wellness, in Vermont vacation home for rent. Okemo mountain resort chairs, dark green fabric. 1 yr. old, like NEW condition, partnership with our colleagues at MIT Medical. We know access road, newly built 3bdrm home, great location. ss used twice. $650. Please call Barbara at (603) 529-8208 or through the hugely successful getfit program what can happen kitchen, hardwood floors etc. call 617-650-7361 [email protected] when people work together and take responsibility for a healthier MIT. FOR SALE Classic Schwinn Unicycle, 24 inch whitewall tubular tire, Attention also will be focused on creating programs that help adjustable seat height, lots of fun, easy to learn, $70, Pe- people develop skills to do their jobs better and faster. Often, 1994 Mini Cooper S/JCW, Metallic Blue with Black Top and ter, 617-262-2620 staff have to learn on their own, which is typically not efficient Mirrors, 24,000 miles, excellent condition, loaded, $19K. Contact Fred Mueller at 617-576-6948 (leave message). 2000 Citation 37 ft. trailer w/2-bedrooms (never been on or effective. Through the work of a cross-functional group at Photos and details available on craigslist. the road). Located at Chewonk campgrounds in Maine. MIT, the Training Alignment Team, training curriculum will be Asking $14,500 or best offer. Please call Joe at 978-664- developed for specific roles at the Institute. First up is curricu- Pottery Barn round country dinning room table with 2 4414. lum for people who have responsibilities for sponsored research leaves. 42” table expands to 72” with leaves. Asking $75. administration. Call 617-723-3826 Tewksbury town house. Great location. 2 large bedrooms, We invite you to look for more details about these and other 1.5 baths, new carpeting, garage, lots of storage. One priorities in upcoming issues of Tech Talk. 1996 Explorer. 4 Wheel drive automatic, 4 door, 4.0L V6 pet allowed. Clubhouse/tennis courts. Low condo fee. engine, 161,000 miles, good running condition, well main- $229,000. Call Bill at 781-249-3991. PAGE 8 September 24, 2008 u RESEARCH MIT Tech Talk

Finding its BEDROOM Robot wheelchair responds to own way user’s spoken commands BATHROOM

David Chandler News Office IT researchers are developing a new kind of autonomous wheelchair that can learn all Mabout the locations in a given building, and then take its occupant to a given place in response to a verbal command. Just by saying “take me to the cafeteria” or “go to my room,” the wheelchair user would be able to avoid the need for controlling every twist and turn of the route and could simply sit back and relax as the chair moves from one place to another based on a map stored in its memory. “It’s a system that can learn and adapt to the user,” says Nicholas Roy, assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics and co-developer of the wheelchair. “People have different preferences and different ways of referring” to places and objects, he says, and the aim is to have each wheelchair personalized for its user and the user’s environment. Unlike other attempts to program wheelchairs or other mobile devices, which rely on an intensive process of manually capturing a detailed map of a building, the MIT system can learn about its environ- ment in much the same way as a person would: By being taken around once on a guided tour, with impor- tant places identified along the way. For example, as the wheelchair is pushed around a nursing home for the first time, the patient or a caregiver would say: “this is my room” or “here we are in the foyer” or “nurse’s station.” Also collaborating on the project are Bryan Reimer, a research scientist at MIT’s AgeLab, and Seth Teller, professor of computer science and engineering and head of the Robotics, Vision, and Sensor Networks (RVSN) group at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL). Teller says the RVSN group is developing a variety of machines, of various sizes, that can have situational awareness to “learn these mental maps, in order to help people do PHOTO / PATRICK GILLOOLY DEN what they want to do, or do it for them.” Besides the Nicholas Roy, assistant professor of aeronautics and wheelchair, the devices range in scale from a location- astronautics; and Seth Teller, professor of computer aware cell phone all the way up to an industrial forklift science and electrical engineering, stand next to that can transport large loads from place to place the robotic wheelchair they co-designed that can outdoors, autonomously. navigate based on verbal commands. Outdoors in the open, such systems can rely on GPS receivers to figure out where they are, but inside buildings that method usually doesn’t work, so other a real nursing-home environment with patients at the approaches are needed. Roy and Teller have been Boston Home in Dorchester, a facility where all of the exploring the use of WiFi signals, as well as wide-field nearly 100 patients have partial or substantial loss of cameras and laser rangefinders, coupled to computer muscle control and use wheelchairs. systems that can construct and localize within an inter- As the research progresses, Roy says he’d like to add nal map of the environment as they move around. a collision-avoidance system using detectors to prevent “I’m interested in having robots build and maintain the chair from bumping into other wheelchairs, walls a high-fidelity model of the world,” says Teller, whose or other obstacles. In addition, Teller says he hopes to central research focus is developing machines that have add mechanical arms to the chairs, to aid the patients situational awareness. further by picking up and manipulating objects — For now, the wheelchair prototype relies on a WiFi everything from flipping a light switch to picking system to make its maps and then navigate through up a cup and bringing it to the person’s them, which requires setting up a network of WiFi lips. nodes around the facility in advance. After months of The research has been funded preliminary tests on campus, they have begun trials in by Nokia and Microsoft.

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