MIT: Independent Activities Period: IAP

IAP 2014 Activities by Category - Engineering

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"Fuel Your Mind" -- A Primer on Transportation Fuels, Current and Future

William H. Green, Professor of Chemical Engineering, Jim Simnick, George Huff

Jan/30 Thu 09:00AM-05:00PM 66-168

Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
Limited to 60 participants

How is crude oil converted into gasoline and other transportation fuels? Is the gasoline available in Boston the same as what is available in Chicago?  What are biofuels and what is driving the demand for these fuels of the future? Which fuel properties matter for performance? Please join us in this short course offered by engineers from BP and Prof. Green to answer these questions, and to gain a better understanding of transportation fuels, and fuel processing technology. 

Projections and recent history suggest significant shifts in the transportation fuels system over the next few decades, but no one is sure how things will actually develop. This mini-course will give you a more complete perspective on the many issues involved when fuel standards or regulations shift and when new types of fuel feedstocks become available.

Experiences so far with E85 (and CNG) illustrate some of the realities which make it very challenging to introduce alternative fuels which are not compatible with existing engines and infrastructure.

Topics Include:

Sponsor(s): Chemical Engineering
Contact: Prof. William H. Green, 66-352, 617-253-4580, whgreen@mit.edu


"Horses and Thunder" -- Meeting the Energy Needs and Oil Exploration and Production in the Deepwaters

Ahmed Ghoniem, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Ryan Yeley

Jan/29 Wed 09:00AM-05:00PM 3-333

Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
Limited to 57 participants

How will we meet our growing energy needs in the future, especially for transportation, which is heavily dependent on oil? More and more oil is discovered and produced offshore, in deeper and deeper water. How do we know where and how to drill for oil? What are some of the engineering challenges in working at 5000’ of water? How do we produce it efficiently, bring it to shore safely, and beyond? What are some of the recent developments in science and engineering that will take us further? This short course will discuss: 1. Energy needs and role of offshore oil 2. Exploration - the idea phase 3. Drilling - the discovery and development phase 4. Production - the extraction phase 5. Transportation - getting it to market 6. Recent science and engineering developments We will look at the Thunder Horse field located in the Gulf of Mexico. Starting with 1999, this field has contributed > 5% of the oil produced within the United States. Since then, oil has been discovered further out and effort is underway to produce from these fields.

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up, lunch provided.

Sponsor(s): Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering
Contact: Prof. Ahmed Ghoniem, 3-344, 617) 253-2295, ghoniem@MIT.EDU


A World Without Meshes? Learn How to Code Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics

Alexandre Guion and Giancarlo Lenci, Graduate Students

Jan/21 Tue 10:30AM-12:00PM 1-273
Jan/22 Wed 10:30AM-12:00PM 1-273
Jan/23 Thu 10:30AM-12:00PM 1-273
Jan/24 Fri 10:30AM-12:00PM 1-273

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: General programming skills

Are you interested in learning more about meshless approaches for simulating flows? Do you want to build your own code and participate in fun challenges?  Are you interested in discovering hands-on how smoothed-particle hydrodynamics models work, and which applications they are used for?  

Please join us in this new short course, which starts with an introduction to Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and meshless approaches, including key governing equations and methodologies.  Afterwards, an implementation of smoothed-particle hydrodynamics to solve flow fields is performed through hands-on coding sessions, with an emphasis on unsteady free-surface flows.  The course  ends with an application to a real-life case, and a final competition for fun between students. 

Sponsor(s): Nuclear Science and Engineering
Contact: Alexandre Guion; Giancarlo Lenci, NW12-306; NW12-238, 617-417-5693;, aguion@mit.edu


Adventures in Scanning Electron Microscopy

Donald Galler, Research Engineer

Enrollment: Advance sign up. First come, first serve basis.
Sign-up by 01/01
Limited to 8 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: None

The seminar is an introduction to the basic operation of a scanning electron microscope. The basic operating principles will be covered and the attendees will be trained on the use of the microscope.

This is a modern scanning electron microscope with several advanced features: low pressure chamber, computer controlled positioning stage.   The SEM is equipped with an energy dispersive spectroscopy system for elemental analysis.  Attendees will also be familiarized with the operation and capabilities of the EDS system. Attendees are encouraged to bring samples for exploration.

Sponsor(s): Materials Science and Engineering
Contact: Donald Galler, 4-133, 617-253-4554, dgaller@mit.edu


Jan/13 Mon 09:00AM-05:00PM SEM lab room 4-141, 1 hour lunch break
Jan/15 Wed 09:00AM-05:00PM SEM lab room 4-141, 1 hour lunch break

NA

Donald Galler - Research Engineer


Ahead of Their Time: From the Antikythera Mechanism to the Anti-Beatles

V. Michael Bove, Jr.

Jan/16 Thu 01:00PM-02:30PM E15-443

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Prereq: none

From the well-known to the obscure, from nonlinear fiction to fuel-cell vehicles and touchscreen maps, we celebrate a collection of technological, artistic, and other achievements that appeared tens, hundreds, or even a thousand years before the rest of the world caught up with them. Attendees are encouraged each to bring a favorite example of their own.

Sponsor(s): Media Arts and Sciences
Contact: V. Bove, E15-448, 617 253-0334, VMB@MEDIA.MIT.EDU


(CANCELED) ASME National Student Design Competition

Ayantu Regassa, ASME Liason

Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
Limited to 20 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: None

ASME holds a national design competition each year. This year the competition is controlling a UAV accross an obstacle course, drop off a payload, and return. Students will design and manufacture UAVs in teams of 3 to 4. The student teams will compete at the end of this course and the winning team will have the opportunity of moving on to the Regional Competition. Winners of the Regional Competition win cash prizes and a chance to compete at the National Competition!

 

Sign up by filling out this form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1tIx_tanG64_E4L7CylS4wdwDgpxIV1QKJY45BeMAejA/viewform

Sponsor(s): Mechanical Engineering
Contact: Ayantu Regassa, ayantur@mit.edu


Lab Sessions

Jan/13 Mon 12:00PM-02:30PM Beaver Works Lab
Jan/15 Wed 12:00PM-02:30PM Beaver Works Lab
Jan/17 Fri 12:00PM-02:30PM Beaver Works Lab
Jan/22 Wed 12:00PM-02:30PM Beaver Works Lab
Jan/24 Fri 12:00PM-02:30PM Beaver Works Lab
Jan/27 Mon 12:00PM-02:30PM Beaver Works Lab
Jan/29 Wed 12:00PM-02:30PM Beaver Works Lab

Beaver Works is located at 300 Technology Square on the 2nd floor (NE45-202).


Aurora Flight Sciences R&D Center Tour

Sue Arnold, Operations Manager

Jan/23 Thu 03:30PM-05:00PM 4 Cambridge Center, Lobby

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/22
Limited to 20 participants

Aurora Flight Sciences is a leading small business in the field of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Servicing customers from the Air Force to NASA, Aurora spans the entire field from research to full-scale system design and development, to prototyping, flight testing, and production. Aurora's Cambridge Research Office works extensively with MIT faculty, students, and labs to conduct leading research in guidance & control, autonomy, advanced structures, space systems, propulsion, and vehicle concepts & prototyping. Visit Aurora for a company overview, details on some of our projects, and a tour of the Cambridge research facility. Bring an ID to be admitted to the tour. Will depart promptly at 3:30 pm from the Lobby of 4 Cambridge Center  (corner of Broadway and Ames Street).

Co-sponsored by Aurora Flight Sciences.

Sponsor(s): Aeronautics and Astronautics
Contact: Marie Stuppard, 33-202B, 617 253-2279, MAS@MIT.EDU


Autonomous Aerial Sensing Platform Jan06 - Jan31

Julie Shah, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Aeronautics & Astronautics, Yaniv Turgeman, Head of Research, Senseable City Lab, Chris Green, Research Fellow, Senseable City Lab

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 12/13
Limited to 15 participants
Attendance: attendance thru Jan preferred, flexible
Prereq: Experience in one of the skillsets listed below

Do you have experience in quadcopters, environmental sensors, embedded development, digital fabrication, mechanical engineering, web development, any of the above?

Interested in working on new and unseen applications of UAV technology?

Through January we are developing autonomous flying vehicles to dynamically sense and map the invisible phenomena of the environment around us. As Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology begins to move into increasingly civic applications, this project will propose and demonstrate UAVs as a responsive infrastructure deployable across cities, that can help us deeper understand our surrounding environments, and solve real-world problems. We are starting with the Charles River Basin, facing a series of environmental challenges that are little understood, relatively unmapped and difficult to gather further information on... which is where our technology steps in.

Sensors, autonomous flight, fabrication methods and data visualisation techniques will be developed, combined and deployed to create an aerial, real-time, spatiotemporal sensing platform.

ps:  IAP UROP positions are available for this project - please indicate this in your reply.

Senseable City Lab:  http://senseable.mit.edu/

Interactive Robotics Group:  http://interactive.mit.edu/

 

Sponsor(s): Aeronautics and Astronautics
Contact: Chris Green, 9-209, 617 324-4474, CJGREEN@MIT.EDU


Jan/06 Mon 09:30AM-05:30PM 9-209

Julie Shah - Assistant Professor, Dept. of Aeronautics & Astronautics, Yaniv Turgeman - Head of Research, Senseable City Lab, Chris Green - Research Fellow, Senseable City Lab


Aviation Accident Investigation or Agatha Christie for Engineers

Brian Nield (Boeing Commercial Airplane)

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/06
Limited to 24 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: Spreadsheet Skills (Excel); Some Familiarity with Aviation

Commercial aviation is extremely safe, in part due to knowledge gained from studying accidents. The investigation process and some of the most significant accidents are discussed. In addition, participants will have the opportunity to work with their peers in a small, self-directed, investigative team to solve a realistic (but fictional) aircraft accident mystery. New information on the crash will be given out each session as you piece together the facts to determine what caused the accident and build recommendations for improving flying safety.

Sponsor(s): Aeronautics and Astronautics
Contact: Liz Zotos, 37-219, x3-7805, zotos@mit.edu


Aviation Accident Investigation

Jan/07 Tue 02:00PM-03:00PM Room 33-319
Jan/08 Wed 02:00PM-03:00PM Room 33-319
Jan/09 Thu 02:00PM-04:00PM Room 33-319

Brian Nield (Boeing Commercial Airplane)


Bell Helicopter Textron Short Course: An Introduction to Rotorcraft

David B. Smith '05, Chief Engineer, Short Light Single Program

Jan/15 Wed 10:00AM-04:00PM Room 37-212
Jan/16 Thu 10:00AM-01:00PM Room 37-212

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/13
Attendance: Repeating event, particpants welcome at any session
Prereq: None

The helicopter possesses a unique capability unlike any fixed wing counterpart.  Long ago, physics determined that vertical lift would face enormous challenges.  As proof, consider that a commercially certified helicopter (first introduced by Bell) arrived almost 50 years after the Wright Brothers’ initial “fixed-wing” flight.  Rotorcraft engineers must resolve daunting issues in stability and control, aerodynamics, dynamics, and performance, while managing weight, cost, and complexity.  Bell Helicopter is the world leader in rotary wing technology, with a military and commercial product line.  Our V-22 Tiltrotor is the world’s fastest rotorcraft and our commercial operations service a world-wide fleet on all continents.  This short course is intended to expose engineers to fundamental principles that govern the rotor system and will introduce some of the unique challenges faced in rotary wing aircraft development. Students will find the advanced material more interesting by participating in the first session.  Attendance at both sessions is strongly encouraged.

Presenters from Bell Helicopter include: David B. Smith '05, Chief Engineer, Short Light Single Program; David King , Chief Engineer, 525 Relentless; Dr. Albert Brand , Director, Flight Technology & Simulation.
  

Co-sponsored by Bell Helicopter.

Sponsor(s): Aeronautics and Astronautics
Contact: Marie Stuppard, 33-202B, 617 253-2279, MAS@MIT.EDU


Biotech Business Information for Engineers and Scientists

Courtney Crummett, Bioinformatics and Biosciences Librarian

Jan/15 Wed 04:00PM-05:00PM 14N-132 DIRC

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/15
Limited to 30 participants


It's not brain surgery...it's market research. This session will introduce scientists and engineers to information resources that cover biotechnology industries and markets. We will use realistic examples and hands-on exercises with key resources to demonstrate how to match your ideas and discoveries with the opportunities and realities of the marketplace. Please register for this event.

If you're not interetsed in biotechnology a companion session will feature resources and examples geared for the engineering sciences:

Business information for engineers and scientists  Tuesday Jan 28  4:00PM-5:00PM 14N-132 (DIRC)

Sponsor(s): Libraries, Biology
Contact: Courtney Crummett, 14S-134, 617 324-8290, CRUMMETT@MIT.EDU


Bring Learning to Life by Engaging Students with Maple

Maplesoft Staff

Jan/23 Thu 02:00PM-03:00PM E17-121

Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
Limited to 40 participants

Every day Maple helps educators all over the world to bring complex problems to life for their students, enabling them to focus on mastering concepts rather than the mechanics of solutions.  This presentation will offer educators a quick and easy way to learn some of the fundamental concepts of Maple, and by learning a few simple techniques you will be able to use Clickable Math(TM) features to compose, visualize, and solve a wide variety of mathematical problems without commands.  This presentation will also provide an introduction to some of the technical documentation features in Maple, including the use of interactive components such as buttons and sliders.  Just teach the math - not the tool!

Sponsor(s): Information Services and Technology
Contact: Kim Koserski, 519-747-2373, kkoserski@maplesoft.com


Charles Stark Draper Laboratory Tour

Draper Education Office

Jan/30 Thu 02:00PM-03:30PM 555 Tech Square, Meet in Lobby of 555 Tech Square

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/24
Limited to 20 participants
Prereq: Must be a U.S. citizen.

While still the MIT Aero-Astro department's Instrumentation Lab, we developed the computers and guidance systems that sent men to the moon. Now known as Draper Laboratory, our work spans everything from
guidance, navigation & control of vehicles that fly, swim, crawl, roll, walk and soar to development of micro-miniaturized electronics and devices, to biomedical devices,signal processing, and information exploitation. The tour will begin with an introduction to the Draper Laboratory, its history, and major projects. We will then visit several areas of the Laboratory and see some of its project activities. Restricted to U.S. citizens who must bring a government issued ID (such as a driver’s license) to be admitted to the tour and registration must be confirmed by Draper at least 24 hours in advance. Will depart from the Draper Lab Reception Lobby, 555 Technology Square, Cambridge (next to NE43). Co-sponsored by the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, http://www.draper.com//.

To sign up for the tour, contact Marie Stuppard, mas@mit.edu, 617-253-2279.
  

Sponsor(s): Aeronautics and Astronautics
Contact: Marie Stuppard, 33-202B, 617 253-2279, MAS@MIT.EDU


Cold Fusion 101: Introduction to Excess Power in Fleischmann-Pons Experiments

Peter Hagelstein, Mitchell Swartz

Jan/27 Mon 10:30AM-01:30PM 4-145
Jan/28 Tue 10:30AM-01:30PM 4-145
Jan/29 Wed 10:30AM-01:30PM 4-145
Jan/30 Thu 10:30AM-01:30PM 4-145
Jan/31 Fri 10:30AM-01:30PM 4-145

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Repeating event, particpants welcome at any session

Excess power production in the Fleischmann-Pons experiment; lack of confirmation in early negative experiments; theoretical problems and Huizenga's three miracles; physical chemistry of PdD; electrochemistry of PdD; loading requirements on excess power production; the nuclear ash problem and He-4 observations; approaches to theory; screening in PdD; PdD as an energetic particle detector; constraints on the alpha energy from experiment; overview of theoretical approaches; coherent energy exchange between mismatched quantum systems; coherent x-rays in the Karabut experiment and interpretation; excess power in the NiH system; Piantelli experiment; prospects for a new small scale clean nuclear energy technology.

Sponsor(s): Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Peter Hagelstein, plh@mit.edu


Concurrent Learning-Based Adaptive Dynamic Programming for Autonomous Agents

Warren Dixon, Professor of Mechanical and Aero Engineering, U. of Florida

Jan/15 Wed 11:00AM-12:00PM 4-149

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Prereq: none

Analytical solutions to the infinite horizon optimal control
problem for continuous time nonlinear systems are generally not possible
because they involve solving a nonlinear partial differential equation.
Another challenge is that the optimal controller includes exact knowledge
of the system dynamics. Motivated by these issues, researchers have
recently used reinforcement learning methods that involve an actor and a
critic to yield a forward-in-time approximate optimal control design. This
presentation describes a forward-in-time dynamic programming approach that
exploits the use of concurrent learning tools where the adaptive update
laws are driven by current state information and recorded state information
to yield approximate optimal control solutions without the need for ad hoc
probing. Applications are presented for autonomous systems including robot
manipulators, underwater vehicles, and fin controlled cruise missiles.
Solutions are also developed for networks of systems where the problem is
cast as a differential game where a Nash equilibrium is sought.

Description of speaker: Warren Dixon is a Professor at the University of
Florida in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department and has published 3 books,
an edited collection, 9 chapters, and over 250 refereed journal and
conference papers and has received numerous awards for his work.

Sponsor(s): Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
Contact: Quanquan Liu, quanquan@mit.edu


(CANCELED) Data Center Engineering w/Action Lab

Albert Rabassa, Data Center Engineer

Enrollment: 20 participants + 20 listeners.
Sign-up by 01/03
Limited to 40 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: Participants (20): Windows Laptops

A Corporate or Enterprise Class data center is perhaps one of the largest technical and financial investments facing corporate planners today.  The stakeholders include: CEOs, CFOs, CIOs, CTOs, systems engineers, computer engineers, electrical engineers, mechanical engineers, fire & safety engineers, LEED engineers, and ultimately- the end users of the data center.  Data center designs must meet the system requirements of the organization and its users, drive energy efficiencies, and be ecologically responsible.  Cost constraints demand that the design be future-proof.  Attendees will be exposed to two-year’s worth of information and lessons learned in two-days.  The Action Lab will be limited to 20 participants- as a highly specialized GUI based CFD airflow modeling tool will be loaded on their laptop.  An additional 20 Listeners will be permitted.  No prior experience is required.  Topics will start with high level management and mission decisions.  These topics will be displaced by increasing technical details, concepts, and CFD modeling.  We will conclude by touring a 10MW data center (MGHPCC).

Contact: Albert Rabassa, arabassa@mit.edu


Management & Engineering Topics

Jan/07 Tue 09:00AM-03:00PM tbd

Day-1.  Introduction.  Overview.  Management Decisions.  Engineering Details.  Introduction to CFD Action Lab.

Albert Rabassa - Data Center Engineer


CFD Modeling and Data Center Tour

Jan/09 Thu 09:00AM-03:00PM tbd, Participanring laptop. Data Center Tour Optional.

Day-2.  Technical wrap-up, airflow modeling, and Q&A.  We will end at 12-noon with an optional trip to the new MGHPCC data center to see a 10MW data center in action.

Albert Rabassa - Data Center Engineer


Designing Real-Time Control Systems

Jeannie Sullivan Falcon, Chief Engineer in Control & Simulation

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: LabVIEW

This is an introductory seminar on Designing Control Systems with NI’s System Design Tools that will cover the following topics:

Space is limited. Reserve your spot today at: http://sine.ni.com/nievents/app/offering/p/offeringId/1747663/site/nic/country/us/lang/en

Attendees will receive:

If you are new to LabVIEW but wish to take this course, you should attend the LabVIEW 3 Day Boot Camp on Jan 14-16.

Sponsor(s): Mechanical Engineering
Contact: Jeannie Falcon, Jeannie.falcon@ni.com


Jan/21 Tue 09:00AM-05:00PM Room 1-004
Jan/22 Wed 09:00AM-05:00PM Room 1-004

Jeannie Sullivan Falcon - Chief Engineer in Control & Simulation


Electric Power System Modeling for a Low Carbon Economy

Ignacio Perez-Arriaga, Visiting Professor

Enrollment: For-credit students have priority. Otherwise: first come, first served
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: Advised to bring a laptop and have familiarity with GAMS

This 5-session intensive activity will present power system analysis techniques that will help in modeling and understanding the role of electric power systems in a carbon-constrained economy. The massive deployment of intermittent renewable electricity generation, the anticipated surge of active demand response or the development of smart grids are among the challenges that have to be faced by the mathematical models for optimization, analysis and simulation of the complex decision making processes in power systems. Apart from a theoretical description of the presented models, the instructors will provide the students with a collection of prototypes that will allow them to run study cases and to understand the effect of the different mathematical formulations on the outcomes. Also the use of these models in some real-world applications will be presented.

Also available for credit: ESD.S30

Stellar: stellar.mit.edu/S/course/ESD/ia14/ESD.S30/

Sponsor(s): Engineering Systems Division, MIT Energy Initiative
Contact: Karen D. Tapia-Ahumada, katapia@mit.edu


Intro to Power Systems

Jan/27 Mon 09:00AM-11:00AM E51-057

Several models for short, medium and long term will be reviewed. A hands-on approach will be followed to show the basics of the models.

Andres Ramos - Professor, Javier Garcia-Gonzalez - Professor from UP Comillas


Optimal Power Flow in Electricity ...

Jan/27 Mon 11:00AM-01:00PM E51-057

... Networks & Concepts of Nodal Pricing

Practical session: Use a transmission constrained DC economic dispatch model prototype in GAMS.

Javier Garcia-Gonzalez - Professor from UP Comillas


Unit Commitment of Generation Plants

Jan/28 Tue 09:00AM-11:00AM E51-057

The use of a UC model in European projects for the evaluation of the impact of integrating renewable generation and electric vehicles in the Spanish system will be presented.

Andres Ramos - Professor, Javier Garcia-Gonzalez - Professor from UP Comillas


Stochastic UC & Profit-Based UC

Jan/28 Tue 11:00AM-01:00PM E51-057

Practical session: The session will include the use of GAMS prototypes: cost-based UC, and a profit-based UC.

Andres Ramos - Professor, Javier Garcia-Gonzalez - Professor from UP Comillas


Mid-term Hydro-Thermal Coordination

Jan/29 Wed 09:00AM-01:00PM E51-057

Advanced topic: Stochastic Dual Dynamic Programming (SDDP)

Practical session:The session will include the use of GAMS prototype for mid-term planning.

Andres Ramos - Professor, Javier Garcia-Gonzalez - Professor from UP Comillas


Modeling the Behavior of Market...

Jan/30 Thu 09:00AM-01:00PM E51-057

... Participants in the Medium Term: Market Equilibrium Models

Reviews relevant problems and the associated numerical analysis techniques.

Andres Ramos - Professor


Capacity Expansion of Electricity...

Jan/31 Fri 09:00AM-01:00PM E51-057

... Transmission Networks

Use of models in defining the transmission network needed to transport a large amount of electricity from far-away renewable resources to the main loading centers will be presented. European paradigmatic application cases of Desertec, Medgrid and eHighWay2050 will be analyzed.

Andres Ramos - Professor


Essentials of Mechanical Assembly

Daniel Whitney, Sr Research Scientist, Emeritus

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/06
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: none

This is a non-credit version of a previously offered graduate course 2.875 Mechanical Assemblies: Their Design, Manufacture, and Role in Product Development.  This version covers the basic technical content including Key Characteristics, Constraint, Modeling of Assemblies, Variation, and the Datum Flow Chain.  Extra lectures on Product Architecture and Assembly Economics are also included.  The classes comprise four days with three lectures of 1.5 hours each with the following schedule: 8:30 - 10 am; 10:30 - 12:00; 1:00 - 2:30 pm.  Students should sign up by sending an e-mail to dwhitney@mit.edu.

Sponsor(s): Leaders for Global Operations, Mechanical Engineering
Contact: Daniel Whitney c/o Laura Zaganjori, (617) 258-5620, dwhitney@mit.edu


Daily class sessions

Jan/21 Tue 08:30AM-02:30PM 3-370
Jan/22 Wed 08:30AM-02:30PM 3-370
Jan/23 Thu 08:30AM-02:30PM 3-370
Jan/24 Fri 08:30AM-02:30PM 3-370

Daniel Whitney - Sr Research Scientist, Emeritus


Finding the Lowest Airfares -- Understanding Airline Pricing and Distribution

Dr. Peter Belobaba, Principal Research Scientist, Program Manager, MIT Global Airline Industry Program

Jan/13 Mon 01:00PM-02:30PM , Room 33-206

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

Why is airline pricing so complicated and why do airline fares change so often? This talk explains the theory and practice of airline pricing and revenue management -- how airlines determine prices and how many seats to sell at each price. The links between these models and internet distribution channels provide insights into the search for the best fares and itineraries.

Sponsor(s): Aeronautics and Astronautics
Contact: Marie Stuppard, 33-202, x3-2279, mas@mit.edu


Forces Frozen

Caitlin Mueller, PhD Candidate

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/13
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions

This 3-day workshop explores the world of structural ice shells, inspired by Swiss engineer and designer Heinz Isler (1926-2009).  We will start by researching and designing ice/fabric forms and the methods for making them, and will then spend the second day building formwork and rigging systems.  On the final day, we will construct a landscape of frozen structures on and around Krege Oval and share the work with friends and colleagues in a public exhibition.

Geared mainly toward undergraduates in courses 1 and 4 but open to all.

 

** Please contact Caitlin Mueller, caitlinm@mit.edu, to enroll **

Sponsor(s): Architecture
Contact: Caitlin Mueller, MIT PhD Student, Structural Design Lab, caitlinm@mit.edu


Forces Frozen: Session 1

Jan/21 Tue 10:00AM-03:00PM TBA-9-250, Bring a laptop if you have one

Caitlin Mueller - PhD Candidate, William Plunkett - MIT S.M. Student, Course 4, John Ochsendorf - Professor


Forces Frozen: Session 2

Jan/22 Wed 10:00AM-03:00PM TBA 9-250, Bring a laptop if you have one

Caitlin Mueller - PhD Candidate, William Plunkett - MIT S.M. Student, Course 4, John Ochsendorf - Professor


Session 3 - *TBA exact date (~1/23-31)

Jan/23 Thu 10:00AM-03:00PM TBA-Kresge Lawn/Oval, laptop if have one/VERY WARM OUTDOOR GEAR

Caitlin Mueller - PhD Candidate, William Plunkett - MIT S.M. Student, Course 4, John Ochsendorf - Professor


FT-IR Sampling Capabilities in CMSE

Tim McClure

Jan/27 Mon 10:00AM-01:00PM 13-2137

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/24

The Center for Materials Science and Engineering's Analysis Shared Experimental Facility has an extended range FT-IR Microscope with a variety of sampling accessories that are available for the use of researchers. Come find out about the many sampling options now available for FT-IR.  Pre-register via e-mail.

Sponsor(s): Center for Materials Science and Engineering
Contact: Tim McClure, 13-4149, x8-6470, mtim@mit.edu


Fundamentals of Reservoir Simulation

Ali H. Dogru, Visiting Scientist

Jan/21 Tue 01:00PM-03:00PM Room 33-419, Subsequent meeting times may change.
Jan/22 Wed 01:00PM-03:00PM Room 33-419, Time subject to change.
Jan/23 Thu 01:00PM-03:00PM Room 33-419, Time subject to change.
Jan/24 Fri 01:00PM-03:00PM Room 33-419, Time subject to change.
Jan/27 Mon 01:00PM-03:00PM TBA, Time subject to change.
Jan/28 Tue 01:00PM-03:00PM TBA, Time subject to change.
Jan/29 Wed 01:00PM-03:00PM Room 33-419, Time subject to change.
Jan/30 Thu 01:00PM-03:00PM Room 33-419, Time subject to change.
Jan/31 Fri 01:00PM-03:00PM Room 33-419, Time subject to change.

Enrollment: Advance sign-up recommended as space is limited.
Attendance: Repeating event, particpants welcome at any session
Prereq: 2.25, 16.910J or 16.920J

Reservoir simulation is a key technology in the oil and gas industry.  Primarily, it is used to manage oil and gas production from the existing reservoirs, estimating reserves, predicting future production (income), making decisions where to drill, how many wells to drill, size of the separation plants (cost). Reservoir simulators are also used in designing production strategies for the new fields.

A reservoir simulator is scientific software running hardware from a cell phone or to a supercomputer. It is composed of a set of nonlinear coupled partial differential equations describing multi-phase, multi component compressible fluid flow in porous media and associated pipeline networks.  This workshop describes the relevant PDEs constituting the simulator, thermodynamics constraints and rock fluid interaction relationships and the discretization of the PDEs. The size of the system can vary from a few unknowns to billions of unknowns.  Sparse linear solvers to solve the resulting large linear system of equations are discussed.


The workshop is hands on and interactive. Students are expected to write computer programs on their own or in groups and discuss the findings in class. No specific computer language is required.  At the end of the workshop, students learn how to write a three-dimensional multi-phase, multi-component reservoir simulator with production and injection wells.  The activity is offered through the first week of February.

Sponsor(s): Aeronautics and Astronautics
Contact: Prof. David Darmofal, darmofal@mit.edu


Hands-on Computational Imaging & Spectroscopy

Dr. Christy Fernandez-Cull

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/10
Limited to 20 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: SEE IMPORTANT MESSAGE BELOW

Course will focus on hardware and simulation exercises associated with computational imaging and spectroscopy systems;  students build a coded aperture spectrometer. Computational imager and spectrometer design explore non-isomorphic mapping from the object plane to the image plane of an optical architecture. This course will focus on non-traditional sensor design in simulation and delve into some hands-on approaches to hardware design. We will begin the course with a discussion associated with basic principles of ray optics and wave optics and delve into coded aperture imaging and spectrometer design. Participants will build their own spectrometer and assess performance characteristics of coded aperture imagers and light field sensors alike. A brief overview of past and present state-of-the-art computational imagers will be discussed. Supplies and MATLAB starter coded will be provided.

Session Leaders: Dr. Christy Fernandez-Cull, Research Staff, Dr. Evan Cull, Research Staff, Professor Ramesh Raskar,MIT Professor, Dr. Robert Freking, Research Staff,  Dr. Christopher Barsi, Postdoctoral Associate

*This work is sponsored by the Department of the Air Force under Air Force Contract #FA8721-05-C-0002. Opinions, interpretations, conclusions and recommendations are those of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the United States Government.

Sponsor(s): Lincoln Laboratory
Contact: Dr. Christy Fernandez-Cull, LIN-S4-247, (781) 981-8284, compimagspeccourse@ll.mit.edu


Jan/14 Tue 10:00AM-12:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, See Important Message Below
Jan/15 Wed 10:00AM-12:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, See Important Message Below
Jan/16 Thu 10:00AM-12:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, See Important Message Below

All sessions will be held at Beaver Works @ 300 Technology Square, 2nd Floor.

Special Meeting Information:  All participants must supply their own laptops with MATLAB installed.  MATLAB experience required.  Please bring your cell phone to class.


How will Big Data, Systems on a Chip, and Field Programmable Gate Arrays affect Measurement and Control Systems?

Joshua Brown, Boston Academic Field Engineer, National Instruments

Jan/29 Wed 01:00PM-03:00PM E25-119

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Prereq: None

Researchers often need to leverage the latest technology to develop measurement and control systems. These technologies often require a high level of specialized knowledge to implement successfully. However, researchers typically work in small teams with limited development resources. This seminar will discuss what technologies are impacting system design, provide an overview of National Instruments' platform approach to system design, and discuss how this approach can increase the productivity of small research teams.


No advanced registration necessary, but interested participants can register at http://sine.ni.com/nievents/app/offering/p/offeringId/1763790/site/nic/country/us/lang/en to access technical resources and interact with the developer community.

Sponsor(s): Institute for Medical Engineering & Science
Contact: Thomas Heldt, 617 324-5005, THOMAS@MIT.EDU


Introduction to Mechatronic and Robotic Applications Using MapleSim

Maplesoft staff

Jan/23 Thu 03:00PM-04:00PM E17-121

Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
Limited to 40 participants

MapleSim is a tool for modeling and analyzing mechatronic systems that relieves the burden typically associated with using traditional simulation tools to develop high-fidelity models.  This next-generation graphical tool will dramatically reduce your time and costs associated with up-front analysis, virtual prototyping, and parameter optimization of system designs.  With its intuitive, multi-domain modeling environment and powerful multibody modeling tools, MapleSim is uniquely suited to developing mechatronic systems, including applications such as robotics, guidance systems, active stabilizers, vibration attenuators, and "X-by-wire" systems found in road vehicles and aircraft.

In this presentation, a modeling and simulation expert from Maplesoft will demonstrate MapleSim's unique capabilities when designing systems where open-loop, closed-loop, kinematic, and dynamic behaviors need to be considered.  Tools for transferring work into an existing control development toolchain, and real-time simulation systems (for hardware-in-the-loop testing) will also be presented.

Sponsor(s): Information Services and Technology
Contact: Kim Koserski, 519-747-2373, kkoserski@maplesoft.com


Introduction to Process Simulation for non-Chemical Engineers

Randall Field, Executive Director, Conversion Research Program

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/15
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions

This course is intended to introduce non-chemical engineers to the tools used in conceptual process development and analysis.  Aspen Plus was originally developed at MIT and it is now widely used by the process industries for research & development, engineering and operations.  Students will learn the basics of process modeling through a combination of lectures, tutorials and hands-on problem sets, with coaching.  Non-chemical engineering students who are planning to use Aspen Plus for research projects are encouraged to attend this course. 

By the end of the course, students should be comfortable with creating system level models of steady-state processes.  They will understand how to provide their own equations into the process model, how to create information feedback loops and the basics of flowsheet convergence.  Thermodynamic models will be used during the course, but the details of how to select the thermodynamic models will not be covered in this course; reference materials will be recommended.

Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative
Contact: Randall Field, E19-370P, 617-324-2391, rpfield@mit.edu


Jan/21 Tue 01:00PM-05:00PM 56-167
Jan/22 Wed 01:00PM-05:00PM 56-167
Jan/23 Thu 01:00PM-05:00PM 56-167
Jan/24 Fri 01:00PM-05:00PM 56-167

Randall Field - Executive Director, Conversion Research Program


Introduction to Surface Analysis Part 1: Auger Electron Spectroscopy and XPS

Libby Shaw

Jan/21 Tue 02:00PM-05:00PM 13-2137

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/17
Prereq: none

CMSE's Shared Experimental Facilities include several useful tools for looking at the structure and chemical composition of solid surfaces, with a sampling depth of a few atomic layers. This afternoon seminar is a general introduction to two of these techniques: Auger Electron Spectroscopy and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). We will summarize how each technique works, its strengths and limitations, and some of the research questions these methods help to answer. See also "Introduction to Surface Analysis Part 2" (Tuesday, January 28).

Sponsor(s): Center for Materials Science and Engineering
Contact: Libby Shaw, 13-4149, x3-5045, elshaw@mit.edu


Introduction to Surface Analysis Part 2: Scanned Probe Microscopies

Libby Shaw

Jan/28 Tue 02:00PM-05:00PM 13-2137

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/24

CMSE's Shared Experimental Facilities include several useful tools for characterizing solid surfaces with a sampling depth of a few atomic layers.  This afternoon seminar introduces a fascinating class of techniques which use a tiny mechanical probe to characterize the topography and material properties of surfaces.  With a primary focus on Atomic Force Microscopy, we will summarize how each technique works, its strengths and limitations, and some of the research questions these methods help to answer.  See also "Introduction to Surface Analysis Part 1 on January 21.

Sponsor(s): Center for Materials Science and Engineering
Contact: Libby Shaw, 13-4149, 2535045, elshaw@mit.edu


Introduction to Transmission Electron Microscopy

Jan/22 Wed 02:00PM-03:30PM 13-2137

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

The lecture provides an introduction to the fundamental principles of transmission electron microscopy. Topics covered include the illumination system, electron lenses and their aberrations, image formation and resolution. A variety of imaging and analysis techniques and their roles specific to inorganic materials, such as crystallography, diffraction patterns and high resolution imaging are to be present with practical demonstration.  This presentation will also introduce TEM sample preparation techniques for a wide range of materials, including metals, semiconductors, powders and thin films.

Contact: Yong Zhang, 13-1034, 617 253-5092, YZHANG05@MIT.EDU


LabVIEW - 3 Day Boot Camp

Josh Brown, National Instruments Engineer, Jeff Steele, National Instruments Academic Program Manager

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/08
Limited to 24 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: None, but basic programming skills helpful. LAPTOP REQUIRED

If you’re new to programming with LabVIEW or looking to improve your existing skills, this free hands-on course introduces you to graphical programming with LabVIEW system design software.  You’ll learn fundamental skills to develop data acquisition, instrument control, data logging and measurement analysis applications as well as have an opportunity to take the Certified LabVIEW Associate Developer (CLAD) exam, a globally recognized entry-level certification exam, for free. 

What You Will Learn

Space is limited.  Reserve your spot today at:

http://sine.ni.com/nievents/app/offering/p/offeringId/1737642/site/nic/country/us/lang/en

Attendees will receive

Sponsor(s): Mechanical Engineering
Contact: Josh Brown, josh.brown@ni.com


Jan/14 Tue 09:00AM-05:00PM 35-122, Bring your laptop.
Jan/15 Wed 09:00AM-05:00PM 35-122, Bring your laptop.
Jan/16 Thu 09:00AM-05:00PM 35-122, Bring your laptop.

Josh Brown - National Instruments Engineer


MathWorks: Accelerating MATLAB Algorithms and Applications

James Cain, Manager - Experimental Learning Environments, OEIT

Jan/30 Thu 01:00PM-03:30PM 4-231

Enrollment: Register at link below:

Analyze data, develop algorithms, and create models and applications – all more quickly. In this session we will present strategies and techniques to accelerate your MATLAB computations, and highlight ways that you can use MATLAB with HPC environments without needing to be an expert in parallel programming with CUDA or MPI.

The acceleration topics covered include:

-Parallel computing on multicore processors and GPUs

-Scaling computations to clusters and clouds

-Generating and incorporating C-based functions that can be scaled with your code base

We will describe the underlying acceleration technology, and explain when it is most applicable.

 

MathWorks at MIT IAP 2014

MathWorks is hosting six sessions during MIT's Independent Activities Period (IAP) 2014. Join us to learn how you can use MATLAB and Simulink for technical computing and application development in engineering, math, and science. Attend as many sessions as you like.

Please visit the following URL for more information and to register for this session:

http://www.mathworks.com/company/events/seminars/mit_iap14/index.html

Sponsor(s): Office of Educational Innovation and Technology, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Tim Mathieu, Tim.Mathieu@mathworks.com


MathWorks: Explore, Visualize, and Analyze Your Data with MATLAB

James Cain, Manager - Experimental Learning Environments, OEIT

Jan/28 Tue 10:00AM-12:00PM 4-163

Enrollment: Register at link below
Limited to 85 participants

MATLAB is a high-level language that allows you to quickly perform computation and visualization through easy-to-use programming constructs. 

In this session, you will learn how to use MATLAB to gain insight into your engineering and scientific data. With the MATLAB language, interactive tools, and built-in math functions, you can explore and model your data, build customized analyses, and share your discoveries with others.

During this seminar, you will see how to:

-Access data from files and spreadsheets

-Manage complex and messy data

-Plot data and customize figures

-Perform statistical analysis and fitting

-Generate reports and build apps

This session is for students, faculty, and researchers who are new to MATLAB. Experienced MATLAB users may also benefit from the session, which features capabilities from recent releases of MATLAB.

 

MathWorks at MIT IAP 2014

MathWorks is hosting six sessions during MIT's Independent Activities Period (IAP) 2013. Join us to learn how you can use MATLAB and Simulink for technical computing and application development in engineering, math, and science. Attend as many sessions as you like.

Please visit the following URL for more information and to register for this session:

http://www.mathworks.com/company/events/seminars/mit_iap14/index.html

 

Sponsor(s): Office of Educational Innovation and Technology
Contact: Tim Mathieu, Tim.Mathieu@mathworks.com


MathWorks: Introduction to MATLAB - Problem Solving and Programming

James Cain, Manager - Experimental Learning Environments, OEIT

Jan/28 Tue 01:00PM-05:00PM 4-163

Enrollment: Register at link below
Limited to 85 participants

MATLAB is a high-level language that allows you to quickly perform computation and visualization through easy-to-use programming constructs. This hands-on lab presents the essentials you need to use MATLAB for your classes or research.

In this session, we import historical temperature data collected in the Northern Hemisphere from an external file, plot the data over time, then perform some analysis to view the data trend to determine if global warming is happening. You’ll learn how to write a MATLAB script and publish it to a format for sharing, such as HTML. You’ll also learn how to write your own MATLAB functions, use flow control, and create loops.

By the end of the session, you’ll have learned to create an application in MATLAB.

Key topics include:

-Navigating the MATLAB desktop

-Working with variables in MATLAB

-Calling MATLAB functions

-Importing/extracting data

-Visualizing data

-Conducting computational analysis

-Fitting data

-Automating analysis with scripts

-Publishing MATLAB programs

-Programming in MATLAB

Note: Attendees should bring a laptop to this hands-on lab.

MathWorks at MIT IAP 2014

MathWorks is hosting 6 sessions during MIT's (IAP) 2014.  Attend as many sessions as you like.

Please visit the following URL for more information and to register for this session:

http://www.mathworks.com/company/events/seminars/mit_iap14/index.html

Sponsor(s): Office of Educational Innovation and Technology
Contact: Tim Mathieu, tim.Mathieu@mathworks.com


MathWorks: Introduction to Simulink for Dynamic Systems Modeling and Simulation

James Cain, Manager Experimental Learning Environments, OEIT

Jan/29 Wed 09:00AM-12:00PM 35-225

Enrollment: Register at link below:
Limited to 85 participants

Simulink is an environment for multidomain simulation and Model-Based Design for dynamic and embedded systems. It provides an interactive graphical environment and a customizable set of block libraries that let you design, simulate, implement, and test a variety of time-varying systems in multiple domains, including communications, controls, and signal, video, and image processing.

Using specific, real-world examples, we show you how to model and simulate dynamic systems as part of a top-down design workflow. We start by modeling and simulating the differential equations governing the system dynamics using an approach based on first principles. We then show how to use additional domain-specific libraries for system design and architectural modeling to create more detailed models as physical networks of components. We present examples from a variety of domains, including electrical and mechanical, and for a variety of applications, including both control systems and digital signal processing.

 

MathWorks at MIT IAP 2014

MathWorks is hosting 6 sessions during MIT's IAP 2014. Join us to learn how you can use MATLAB and Simulink for technical computing and application development in engineering, math, and science. Attend as many sessions as you like.

Please visit the following URL for more information and to register for this session:

http://www.mathworks.com/company/events/seminars/mit_iap14/index.html

 

Sponsor(s): Office of Educational Innovation and Technology
Contact: Tim Mathieu, Tim.Mathieu@mathworks.com


MathWorks: Machine Learning with MATLAB

James Cain, Manager - Experimental Learning Environments, OEIT

Jan/30 Thu 10:00AM-12:00PM 4-231

Enrollment: Register at link below:

Machine learning techniques are often used for data analysis and decision-making tasks such as forecasting, classification of risk, estimating probabilities of default, and data mining. However, implementing and comparing machine learning techniques to choose the best approach can be challenging. In this session, you will learn about several machine learning techniques available in MATLAB and how to quickly explore your data, evaluate machine learning algorithms, compare the results, and apply the best technique to your problem.

Highlights include unsupervised and supervised learning techniques such as:

-K-means and other clustering tools

-Neural networks

-Decision trees and ensemble learning

-Naïve Bayes classification

-Linear, logistic, and nonlinear regression

MathWorks at MIT IAP 2014

MathWorks is hosting six sessions during MIT's Independent Activities Period (IAP) 2014. Join us to learn how you can use MATLAB and Simulink for technical computing and application development in engineering, math, and science. Attend as many sessions as you like.

Please visit the following URL for more information and to register for this session:

http://www.mathworks.com/company/events/seminars/mit_iap14/index.html

Sponsor(s): Office of Educational Innovation and Technology, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Tim Mathieu, Tim.Mathieu@mathworks.com


MathWorks: MATLAB and Simulink with Raspberry Pi - A Hands-On Workshop on Hardware Support

James Cain, Manager - Experimental Learning Environments, OEIT

Jan/29 Wed 01:00PM-04:00PM 35-225

Enrollment: Register at link below
Limited to 20 participants

Addressing the growing need in curriculum and research for low-cost, easy-to-use hardware and software environments, this session describes the built-in support in MATLAB and Simulink for prototyping, testing, and running Simulink models on Raspberry Pi.

Simulink includes the capability to program Arduino, Raspberry Pi, LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT, and other low-cost hardware platforms. This hands-on workshop introduces the hardware support capabilities in Simulink. Participants develop, simulate, and test custom algorithms and implement the code on an embedded system from within the Simulink environment. Lab modules include examples of video and image processing algorithms, from very simple video in/out handling to more sophisticated processing such as object recognition and edge detection. The workshop provides practical hands-on experience and gives attendees an understanding of the potential for use in the classroom, research, and student projects.

Participants will:

-Design, simulate, and test custom algorithms in Simulink

-Implement these algorithms on embedded hardware

-Discover the ease of using Simulink to program

Note:

Necessary software and Raspberry Pi Kits will be made available to attendees for the duration of the workshop.We have a limited class size for this workshop. Register now and we will contact you to confirm your seat.Faculty, staff and graduate students will be given preference as attendees.

Visit the following URL for more information: Mathworks_IAP_2014

Sponsor(s): Office of Educational Innovation and Technology, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Tim Mathieu, Tim.Mathieu@mathworks.com


Patent Searching Fundamentals

Howard Silver

Jan/14 Tue 04:00PM-05:00PM 14N-132 (DIRC)
Jan/24 Fri 12:00PM-01:00PM 14N-132 (DIRC)

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/24
Limited to 30 participants
Attendance: Repeating event, particpants welcome at any session

You won’t come out of this session qualified to be a patent attorney, but you will be able to successfully find patent references from all over the world and know how to obtain patent text and diagrams. The session will be a hands-on practicum that will help de-mystify the patent literature and expose attendees to key resources for finding patents.

Please register for one session:

January 14, 4:00-5:00 pm

January 24, 12:00-1:00 pm

Sponsor(s): Libraries, Technology Licensing Office
Contact: Howard Silver, 14S-134, 617 253-9319, HSILVER@MIT.EDU


Patents-Past, Present and Future

Dick Schulze

Jan/14 Tue 05:15PM-06:45PM 1-150

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/14
Limited to 40 participants

UPOP Mentor Dick Schulze ’67 presents an entertaining look at some amusing – and some technological breakthrough – patents of the past, talks about how to get started on patenting your own breakthrough inventions, and takes a peek at where the U.S. patent system is going in the 21st Century.

From San Francisco, Dick is an MIT graduate in electrical engineering and the University of Chicago law school. He is licensed to practice law in California, Colorado, Nevada, and South Dakota, and before the US Patent & Trademark Office. Following service as an Air Force JAG and as a law clerk to U.S. District Judge Howard Turrentine in San Diego, he engaged in a general law practice in San Diego, later specializing in intellectual property. For 19 years he was with Hewlett-Packard Co. and its successor Agilent Technologies as Managing Counsel in Intellectual Property, supervising a staff of company attorneys and legal assistants in California, Colorado, Singapore, and Germany. Following his retirement from Agilent in 2007, he became Of Counsel to Holland & Hart in Reno and Special Counsel to Evergreen Valley Law Group of Bangalore, India. In May 2011 he returned to HP for a brief stint as IP Counsel before retiring in the fall of 2012.

Dick has two grown children and four grandchildren. When not practicing law, he can be found passionately pursuing his second profession as a snowboard instructor at Northstar-at-Tahoe Ski Resort.  

 

To register: http://upop.mit.edu/events/view/?id=608

 

Sponsor(s): Undergraduate Practice Opportunities Program -UPOP
Contact: Kate Moynihan, 35-316, 617 253-0041, KATEJM@MIT.EDU


Proof-Based Methods: A Warm-Up for 6.042

Curtis Northcutt

Jan/16 Thu 07:00PM-09:00PM 32-124

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/13
Prereq: none

Discrete Mathematics Proof Methods. We will cover Induction, Deduction, Contradiction; examples therein; and applications to Graph Theory and how are they used by Google Maps. Regarding Graph Theory, we will cover introductory definitions, proofs about different graph classes and types, graph algorithms (breadth first search, depth first search, Dijkstra's algorithm, heuristic search, A* search). If time, we will conclude with a discussion of the four-color theorem, and prove a looser bound of 6-color theorem (5-color theorem if time) and other interesting examples as time permits.

 Please sign up by registering at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/106QXdo0rALA2q5dQKek_sUVBemmdXcr7rYRMCqn4VCo/viewform

Sponsor(s): Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Curtis Northcutt, cgn@mit.edu


Stellar Startups: Building a Business around the New Space Economy

Erika Wagner, Business Development Manager, Blue Origin, Jeremy Conrad, Founding Partner, Lemnos Labs

Jan/28 Tue 10:00AM-01:00PM TBD, lunch provided

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/26
Limited to 20 participants

In 2013 alone, more than $150M was invested in young companies with ideas for leveraging the massive changes taking place in space launch pricing and system architectures. Just as smartphones have enabled a wealth of businesses to spring up around software applications, we will discuss the opportunities for hardware, software, and service "apps" enabled by the emerging platform of low-cost, frequent space launch.

Join us for a half-day interactive workshop on aerospace industry trends that are ripe for entrepreneurship.  Brainstorm ideas for the "killer app", and use rapid prototyping techniques to bring your ideas to life for an elevator pitch round. Backgrounds in technology, science, and business all welcomed.

Facilitators include MIT alums from:

 

Contact: Erika Wagner, erika@alum.mit.edu


The Mars Homestead Project

Bruce Mackenzie

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Prereq: None

Please see each session description. 

Sponsor(s): Aeronautics and Astronautics
Contact: Bruce MacKenzie, 781-249-5437, BMackenzie@alum.mit.edu


Hillside Settlement Design

Jan/30 Thu 11:00AM-12:00PM Room 33-422

This ¿Hillside Settlement¿ proposal by the Mars Foundation would build
a permanent settlement on Mars, constructed from local materials such
as fiberglass and masonry.  Preliminary mass and cost estimates show
that we may be able to establish a permanent, growing settlement for
the same launch cost as a program of round-trip exploratory missions.

Bruce Mackenzie


Designing A Minimum Settlement Program

Jan/31 Fri 11:00AM-12:00PM Room 33-422

The Mars Foundation is designing a  very small, (relatively)
inexpensive manufacturing base for Mars, which can grow into a
permanent human settlement.   Your feedback or participation is
welcome.  Help figure out the least expensive way to get off the Earth
permanently.



Bruce Mackenzie


Wind Technology Testing Center Tour

Ethan Feuer, MITEI Student Activities Coordinator

Jan/28 Tue 10:15AM-12:30PM Off-Campus, Transportation will be provided

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Limited to 25 participants

Ever wonder how those spinning wind turbines are actually tested for safety? Before a turbine can be deployed in Massachusetts, it must meet strict international safety and design standards. Come join us for an exclusive tour of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center’s Wind Technology Testing Center. In this tour, we will have the opportunity to see first-hand the blade-testing wind rooms (that tests blades up to 90 meters in length!), as well as to meet and ask questions of the center’s staff.

Transportation to testing facility will be provided by MITEI

>> Click Here to Register

Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative
Contact: Ethan Feuer, E19-370, 617 452-3199, EFEUER@MIT.EDU