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Engineering an award-winning TV program
MIT faculty, students' perspective employed in PBS's 'Design Squad'
—by Lois Slavin, MIT Engineering Systems Division
Several MIT faculty and students were recently delighted to learn that Design Squad, the PBS series created to attract boys and girls in their 'tweens and teens to consider engineering as a profession, was named a winner of the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award. From hosting the show to advising behind the scenes, members of the MIT community have played an important role in developing and implementing this popular series.
It began in 2002, with Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Systems Daniel Frey, who served as the show's first adviser. In collaboration with series producers at WGBH-TV Boston, he created Design Squad's curriculum. Later, under Frey's guidance, MIT students (including Design Squad host Nate Ball '05, SM '07) participated in the show as part of the university's Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program.
MIT Welcomes 2008 Amgen Scholars
— By Michael Bergren, Associate Dean, Academic and Research Initiatives, UAAP
On Monday, June 9, 2008, the UAAP kicked off year two of its Amgen-UROP Scholars Program. Introduced in 2007 and funded by the Amgen Foundation, the Program recruits undergraduates interested in science and biotechnology, and places them in MIT laboratories to conduct summer research with MIT faculty. Thirteen of this year’s Scholars are MIT students, while fifteen have been recruited from universities around the country, including Duke, Winston-Salem State, Cornell, Texas Tech, University of Hawaii, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
After a successful first year, recruitment for the 2008 program began this past November. By February, almost four hundred applications had been received, more than twice the amount received for the 2007 program. Senior Associate Dean and UAAP Director Julie Norman was pleased with the response. “While the surge in the number of Amgen-UROP applications challenged our review process,” said Julie, “it is evident that excitement for the program has spread. It is remarkable to witness the passion of young scholars for research and the fact that so many are eager to have that experience at MIT.”
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