MIT: Independent Activities Period: IAP

IAP 2014 Activities by Category - Engineering: Hands-on

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3D printing for fun and science? A conversation about digital fabrication, the library, and you

Matthew Bernhardt, Web Developer, MIT Libraries

Jan/14 Tue 01:00PM-02:30PM 56-114

Enrollment: Please register: http://libcal.mit.edu/event.php?id=489770
Limited to 60 participants

Digital fabrication has changed considerably over the last few decades. Barriers to use have fallen, and technologies that were once the purview of specialized researchers are now sold in retail outlets like Sears, Staples and the Microsoft store. Schools and libraries have even begun getting into the act, from NC State to the Chicago Public Library.

Applications include producing prosthetic hands for accident victims, manufacturing replacement parts for hard-to-source components, or even mapping word frequency across the history of a given journal and printing time series histograms.

But what about here at MIT?

This session will discuss the range of fabrication technologies now available, as well as those available at MIT, for sale, for rent, and (for a limited time, experimentally) through the Libraries—as part of this session, the Libraries have acquired a MakerBot Replicator 2 that is capable of producing objects in PLA plastic!

Plus, participants will have the opportunity to see a 3D-printer in action and even design their own objects—submit a printable file, generated by the free MakerWare software, by Thursday, January 10th. Up to five submissions will be selected for production before the discussion (provided the designs are producible!).

(Hint: You can try turning a photo into a 3D model with 123D Catch.)

Please register for this session.

Sponsor(s): Libraries
Contact: Randi Shapiro, (617) 324-4988, shapiror@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


An Introduction to Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES)

Dr. Shaoyan Chu

Jan/30 Thu 11:30AM-12:30PM 13-2137

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/29

Topics of this training course include the concept of ICP-AES and processes of basic sample preparation, calibration and background correction.

Sponsor(s): Center for Materials Science and Engineering
Contact: Shaoyan Chu, 13-3134, x3-0054, sc79@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).


Build a Small Phased Array Radar System

Dr. Bradley Perry

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/10
Limited to 24 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: SEE IMPORTANT MESSAGE BELOW

Are you interested in building and testing your own phased array radar system? MIT Lincoln Laboratory is offering a unique course in the design, fabrication, and test of a laptop-based phased array radar sensor capable of imaging moving targets in real-time, like a ‘radar video camera’. This course will appeal to anyone interested in the following: electronics, amateur radio, physics, electromagnetics, or phased array systems. Teams of three will make a phased array radar system and attend four sessions spanning topics from fundamentals of radar to digital beamforming. You will bring your radar into the field and perform imaging of moving targets around campus. Imaging unusual targets is encouraged; a final radar video competition will determine the most creative radar imagery.    

*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, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Dr. Bradley Perry, LIN-S2-227, (781) 981-0861, radar.course@ll.mit.edu


Build a Small Phased Array Radar System

Jan/15 Wed 10:00AM-12:00PM 4-163, SEE BELOW
Jan/16 Thu 10:00AM-12:00PM 4-163, SEE BELOW
Jan/21 Tue 02:30PM-05:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, SEE BELOW
Jan/22 Wed 02:30PM-05:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, SEE BELOW
Jan/23 Thu 02:30PM-05:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, SEE BELOW
Jan/27 Mon 12:00PM-05:00PM 3-133, SEE BELOW

IMPORTANT:

Sessions 1/21, 1/22, 1/23 will be held at Beaver Works @ 300 Technology Square, 2nd Floor

Laptop computer running Windows, Mac OS, or Linux. Other versions of Unix should work but have not been tested. At least one available USB port.  Matlab 2009b or later (The Instrumentation Control Toolbox for Matlab is strongly encouraged)

 


Build a Small Radar System

Dr. Patrick Bell

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/10
Limited to 24 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: SEE IMPORTANT MESSAGE BELOW

Are you interested in building and testing your own imaging radar system? MIT Lincoln Laboratory is offering a course in design, fabrication, and test of a laptop-based radar capable of forming Doppler, range, and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. This course will appeal to anyone interested in the following: electronics, amateur radio, physics, or electromagnetics. Teams of three will receive a radar kit and will attend four sessions spanning topics from fundamentals of radar to SAR imaging. Experiments will be performed as the radar kit is implemented. You will bring your radar into the field and perform experiments such as measuring the speed of passing cars or plotting the range of moving targets. A final SAR imaging contest will test your ability to form a detailed and creative SAR image of a target scene of your choice. The best image wins.

*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 author and are not necessarily endorsed by the United States Government.

Sponsor(s): Lincoln Laboratory, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Dr. Patrick Bell, (781) 981-6239, radar.course@ll.mit.edu


Build a Small Radar System

Jan/15 Wed 10:00AM-12:00PM 4-163, SEE BELOW
Jan/16 Thu 10:00AM-12:00PM 4-163, SEE BELOW
Jan/21 Tue 12:00PM-02:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, SEE BELOW
Jan/22 Wed 12:00PM-02:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, SEE BELOW
Jan/23 Thu 12:00PM-02:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, SEE BELOW
Jan/27 Mon 12:00PM-05:00PM 3-133, SEE BELOW

IMPORTANT:

Sessions 1/21, 1/22, 1/23 will be held at Beaver Works @ 300 Technology Square, 2nd Floor

Laptop computer running Windows, Mac OS, or Linux. Other versions of Unix should work but have not been tested. At least one available USB port.  Matlab 2009b or later (The Instrumentation Control Toolbox for Matlab is strongly encouraged)


Building Mobile Apps with Parse

Christine Yen

Jan/08 Wed 03:00PM-05:00PM 56-114
Jan/09 Thu 03:00PM-05:00PM 56-114

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/01
Limited to 75 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: 6.01 or comfort with iOS/Android/Javascript

Stop building apps the hard way. In these two Parse-focused sessions, we'll show you how to build a full-featured native app, starting with the very first step of signing up for an account. We'll cover data sharing, basic login, social login with Twitter and Facebook, push notifications, and more.

Please register at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ar2-pHQoDixPdFM4VF9UMGxGN1c0VlM2cFJnVWYwcVE&usp=sharing

Sponsor(s): Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Ashley Smith, ams@fb.com


Come play with trains!

Rebecca Perry, Governor, TMRC

Jan/15 Wed 07:00PM-10:00PM N52-118, Pizza will be served!

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

Come join the Tech Model Railroad Club for an evening of recreational engineering as you harness the power of a impressive fleet of locomotives!  Get "trained" in model railroad operations and learn to handle freight orders on the main line from Gifford City to Berkmanville.
With your newfound expertise, join us again on February 1 for an operating session. Help our railroad serve its customers and earn a profit!

Sponsor(s): Tech Model Railroad Club
Contact: Rebecca Perry, N52-118, (617) 253-3269, tmrc-officers@mit.edu


Come play with trains--join in an Operating Session!

Rebecca Perry, Governor, TMRC

Feb/01 Sat 07:00PM-10:00PM N52-118, Pizza!

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

Come join the Tech Model Railroad Club for another fun evening of recreational engineering! We will conduct an Operating Session, where you will get hands-on "training" in model railroad operations and learn to handle freight orders on the main line from Gifford City to Berkmanville. Throw switches, direct operations and help our railroad serve its customers and earn a profit!

Sponsor(s): Tech Model Railroad Club
Contact: Rebecca Perry, N52-118, (617) 253-3269, tmrc-officers@mit.edu


Crash Course in Hardware Startups

Jeremy Conrad, MIT Alum

Jan/06 Mon 02:00PM-03:30PM 8-205
Jan/08 Wed 02:00PM-03:30PM 8-205
Jan/10 Fri 02:00PM-03:30PM 8-205
Jan/13 Mon 02:00PM-03:30PM 8-205
Jan/15 Wed 02:00PM-03:30PM 8-205
Jan/17 Fri 02:00PM-03:30PM 8-205
Jan/22 Wed 02:00PM-03:30PM 8-205
Jan/24 Fri 02:00PM-03:30PM 8-205
Jan/27 Mon 02:00PM-03:30PM 8-205
Jan/29 Wed 02:00PM-03:30PM 8-205
Jan/31 Fri 02:00PM-03:30PM 8-205

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 12/14
Limited to 30 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions

This class is for anyone who wants to start their own hardware company.  It will cover all the areas you need to understand to begin. This includes prototyping, manufacturing, branding, marketing, fundraising and much more!

Please apply in groups of 3-4 people. It is a project based class and each group will pick a company to start.  By the end you have a roadmap of how to start a hardware company.

The course will address different types of companies from consumer electronics and connected devices to satellites and robots.  If there are moving atoms or electrons then it's hardware.

Jeremy Conrad is a founding partner at Lemnos Labs, a hardware startup incubator based in San Francisco. Lemnos invests in early stage companies ranging from Aerospace and Robotics to Consumer Electronics. Prior to founding Lemnos Jeremy spent five years as an officer in the US Air Force working on weapons grade lasers for missile defense. He has a Mechanical Engineering degree from MIT.

Sponsor(s): Edgerton Center, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Amy Fitzgerald, 4-405, 617 253-7931, AMYFITZ@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


Hands-on Aerospace

Annie Marinan, Research Assistant

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/02
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Prereq: None

Ever wanted to build a telescope? Interested in programming unmanned robots? Excited about learning and presenting new ideas? Come explore the fun side of AeroAstro by jumping right in! “Hands-On Aerospace” is a workshop designed to show how diverse AeroAstro can be through practical, hands-on activities and demos. In this course, you will group into teams and explore one activity or concept in detail by building a hands-on demo, creating a guide/lecture to teach others how to make and use the demo, and finally showcasing it in front of other classmates. Examples of past projects include: "Build Your Own Wind-Tunnel" - "Program a Team of Unmanned Robots" - "Engineered Structures: Why Light Composites Can Lift a Heavy Plane." Not only will this workshop show you the practical applications of AeroAstro, you will help pass knowledge on to future generations by creating “demo kits” and presentations that can be used as instructional materials for outreach activities at high schools and middle schools across the country! Freshmen are particularly encouraged to participate.

 

Sponsor(s): Aeronautics and Astronautics
Contact: Annie Marinan, marinana@mit.edu


Jan/07 Tue 10:00AM-12:00PM 33-319, Optional lab 1-5 PM
Jan/08 Wed 10:00AM-12:00PM 33-319, Optional lab 1-5 PM
Jan/09 Thu 10:00AM-12:00PM 33-319, Optional lab 1-5 PM
Jan/10 Fri 10:00AM-12:00PM 33-319, Optional lab 1-5 PM

Annie Marinan - Research Assistant


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.


Hands-On Holography

Dr. Robert A. Freking

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/10
Limited to 24 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: Bring laptop with MATLAB installed. Have MATLAB experience

Misjudged as passé art or entertained only as an amusing physical paradox, holography critically encompasses all the essential principles governing propagating wave interactions across every domain of matter and energy.  Yet, surprisingly few in the applied sciences and engineering appreciate how to leverage holographic phenomena in real-world sensing applications.  This course will demystify holography by demonstrating how to gather and interpret 2-D, phase-preserving recordings to recover a hidden, encoded third dimension of information. Course topics progress from basic phenomenology on to specialized applications of holographic techniques in the physical and computational domains.  Participants will practice holography hands-on in the electromagnetic and audio domains through interactive laboratory exercises employing traditional film, computer-generated holography (CGH) and sonic recordings.  Measurement devices, supplies and MATLAB starter code will be provided.. 

*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 author and are not necessarily endorsed by the United States Government.

Sponsor(s): Lincoln Laboratory, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Dr. Robert A. Freking, holographycourse@ll.mit.edu


Hands on Holography

Jan/13 Mon 01:00PM-03:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd Fl, Bring laptop w/Matlab installed.
Jan/14 Tue 01:00PM-03:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd Fl, Bring laptop w/Matlab installed.
Jan/15 Wed 01:00PM-03:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd Fl, Bring laptop w/Matlab installed.
Jan/16 Thu 01:00PM-03:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd Fl, Bring laptop w/Matlab installed.
Jan/17 Fri 01:00PM-03:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd Fl, Bring laptop w/Matlab installed.

IMPORTANT:

All sessions will be held at Beaver Works @ 300 Technology Square, 2nd Floor (Next to NE47-MIT-CBE)

Special Meeting Information:  All participants must supply their own laptops with MATLAB installed.


HTML5 Game Workshop

Irene Chen

Jan/13 Mon 02:00PM-03:30PM 4-257
Jan/15 Wed 02:00PM-03:30PM 4-257
Jan/17 Fri 02:00PM-03:30PM 4-257

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/06
Limited to 30 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: no programming experience needed; targeted toward beginner

Learn to make a basic HTML5 game! Across three sessions, we will (1) cover
the basics of the HTML/CSS/JS needed to make a game, (2) build the game of
snake together, and (3) work together in a workshop to build a game of your
choice!

Advanced signup preferred but drop-ins at the first session also welcome.

Please sign up at 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1uet7pQ0vn-RyM3N9oFd6iG7N8_pZ0OxSiJXO1JQB2Us/viewform

 

Sponsored by the HKN Women's Outreach Committee.

Sponsor(s): Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Irene Chen, html5-staff@mit.edu


Human + Computer Workshop w/ RISD (Arduino, Rapid Prototyping, Sci-Fi)

David Mellis, PhD student, MIT Media Lab, Sophia Brueckner, Master's Student, MIT Media Lab, Tiffany Tseng, PhD Student, MIT Media Lab, Ryan Mather, RISD STEAM

Jan/11 Sat 10:00AM-04:00PM MIT
Jan/18 Sat 10:00AM-04:00PM RISD
Jan/25 Sat 10:00AM-04:00PM MIT
Feb/01 Sat 10:00AM-04:00PM RISD

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 12/15
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: One of: electronics, programming, rapid prototyping, design

Join a team of Brown, RISD, and MIT students for a 4-part workshop series on the body and technology! We will be meeting every Saturday come January, alternating between RISD/Brown and MIT campuses, with our last workshop falling on Feb. 1. The workshop series will culminate in projects and a show, open to external submissions, at Exposé, the RISD student-run gallery.


Transhumanism is the belief that the human race can evolve beyond its current limitations through the use of science and technology. However, will our accelerating transformation into cyborgs be a form of transcendence or are we building our own prisons of technology? This class will combine the design of new body/machine interfaces with learning relevant technical skills in electronics, digital fabrication, and programming. With a focus on building wearable devices, human augmentation, and alternative, more visceral forms of communication, students from MIT, Brown, and RISD will work in groups to conceptualize, prototype, and finally build functioning versions of their ideas in whatever form they will take. 

More details are available on the application! Keep your eyes peeled for posters around campus as well. The application is due December 15th at midnight. Decisions will by turned around by the 22nd. More exact information on location and requisites will come to those accepted. 

Fill out an application here! http://bit.ly/1dsJAty

Organized by Brown + RISD STEAM + MIT Media Lab

Sponsor(s): Media Arts and Sciences
Contact: David Mellis, mellis@media.mit.edu


iGEM: Synthetic Biology IAP 2014

Katie Bodner, Kristjan Eerik Kaseniit, Kyle Lathem, Richard Nelson Hall, Brandon Nadres, Chamille Lescott

Enrollment: Apply online at: http://openwetware.org/wiki/IGEM:MIT/2014/Recruiting
Sign-up by 12/24
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: 7.01x preferred

Ever wonder if you could re-program cells to do whatever you wanted? With synthetic biology, the possibilities are endless!

Synthetic biology provides a unique opportunity to combine knowledge from electrical engineering, biological engineering, chemical engineering and biology. In this class, through a combination of lectures and work in the lab, you will learn many of the skills necessary to prepare you to join the MIT 2014 iGEM team!

iGEM is an international undergraduate competition in synthetic biology which MIT has competed in since 2004. To find out more about iGEM go to: www.igem.org and http://2014.igem.org. This is the special 10th anniversary of iGEM, and there will be a giant jamboree competition in Boston next November that will enable all teams to go directly to finals.

Through this hands-on class, you will go through the process of constructing DNA circuits, and by the end of IAP, you will create a bacterial lamp you can turn on and off! Guest lectures from synthetic biology professors and trips to local synthetic biology companies will supplement the curriculum.

No background experience is necessary, and all majors are welcome!

Send questions to igem-2014-applications@mit.edu

Visit http://tiny.cc/MITiGEM2014 to apply

Note: Times are roughly subject to change.

Sponsor(s): Biological Engineering
Contact: Katie Bodner, KBODNER@MIT.EDU


Lecture and Lab

Jan/13 Mon 11:00AM-05:00PM NE47
Jan/14 Tue 11:00AM-05:00PM NE47
Jan/15 Wed 11:00AM-05:00PM NE47
Jan/16 Thu 11:00AM-05:00PM NE47
Jan/17 Fri 11:00AM-05:00PM NE47
Jan/21 Tue 11:00AM-05:00PM NE47
Jan/22 Wed 11:00AM-05:00PM NE47
Jan/23 Thu 11:00AM-05:00PM NE47
Jan/24 Fri 11:00AM-05:00PM NE47

Instrumenting a Foucault Pendulum

Dr. Frank Robey

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/15
Limited to 20 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: None, SEE IMPORTANT MESSAGE BELOW

The Foucault pendulum was demonstrated in 1861 as the first simple proof of the earth's rotation.   While at the heart this is a weight on a string, the mechanical design has evolved such that table-top demonstrations are now possible.  However, the electrical design that makes up for the friction of the air to keep the pendulum moving and the sensors to observe the motion are generally not modern.   For most museum pendulum a small electromagnet near the upper pivot provides energy input and they knock over small pegs to track the motion.  In this class, we will build a small Foucault pendulum driven from below by an electromagnet and in the tradition of MIT will instrument the pendulum to publish the motion in real time.

The class will be organized with 4-5 person teams that will meet in the MIT Beaverworks.  Teams will be organized around 1) radar sensing, 2) optical sensing, 3) integration and control, and 4) other sensing.  Teams are encouraged to propose their own approach to measuring the motion.  Teams using optical sensing will be provided access to a pre-release Microsoft Kinect 2 for Windows, and those doing radar sensing will be provided with a stereo K-band radar kit of parts.

*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, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Dr. Frank Robey, LIN-LI-258D, (781) 981-7865, pendulum.course@ll.mit.edu


Jan/21 Tue 09:00AM-12:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, Lecture 9-12/Open Lab 1-5
Jan/22 Wed 09:00AM-12:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, Lecture 9-12/Open Lab 1-5
Jan/23 Thu 01:00PM-05:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, Open Lab
Jan/24 Fri 01:00PM-05:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, Open Lab
Jan/27 Mon 01:00PM-05:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, Open Lab
Jan/28 Tue 01:00PM-05:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, Open Lab
Jan/29 Wed 01:00PM-05:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, Open Lab
Jan/30 Thu 01:00PM-05:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, Open Lab
Jan/31 Fri 01:00PM-05:00PM 300 Tech. Sq. 2nd FL, Open Lab

IMPORTANT:

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

Prerequisites:  None, but participation in Build a Small Radar System course would be useful.

 


Introduction to Scanning Electron Microscopy

Patrick Boisvert, Technical Associate

Jan/30 Thu 01:00PM-03:00PM 13-2137

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

The lecture will provide an introduction to the basic principles of Scanning Electron Microscopy with an approach to EDX, EBSD, and BSE.

Sponsor(s): Center for Materials Science and Engineering
Contact: Patrick Boisvert, 13-1018, x3-3317, pboisver@mit.edu


Introduction to Drawing, as taught in the Class "Introduction to Design for Engineers"

Carolyn Jundzilo-Comer

Jan/09 Thu 02:00PM-05:00PM 1-371

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

Did you ever want to draw something and did not know where to begin. Learn the basic skills of drawing and you will be able to draw anything. This class takes the mystery out of drawing and simplifies the approach needed to gain skill in drawing.  These concepts will help you to develop as far as you would like with practice.   Students will be provided with simple materials, or may bring their own. This is the same class  that was  taught in Professor Einstein's Introduction to Design for Engineers.

Class will be limited to 25. 

Sponsor(s): Civil and Environmental Engineering
Contact: Carolyn Jundzilo-Comer, 1-342, x3-3280, jundzilo@mit.edu


Introduction to Scanning Electron Microscopy/Focused Ion Beam Dual Beam Workstation

Shiahn Chen, Research Specialist

Jan/30 Thu 03:00PM-05:00PM 13-2137

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

This lecture will cover the basic principles of ion source, optics and ion-material interaction in a focused ion beam machine with an emphasis on the differences from, and similarities to, the electron-beam instrument. In addition, the lecture will describe the configuration of the FEI Helios 600 Nanolab Dual Beam workstation in the CMSE Electron Microscopy Facility, and conclude with application examples as well as open discussion of the material characterization and nanofabrication uses of the dual beam workstation.

Sponsor(s): Center for Materials Science and Engineering
Contact: Shiahn Chen, 13-1027, 2534622, schen3j@mit.edu


Laser Radar: Basic Principles and Hands-on Operation

Jeffrey Shapiro, Julius A Stratton Professor of Electrical Engineering, Kevin Holman, Technical Staff, MIT Lincoln Lab

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/06
Limited to 10 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: Signal analyais (Fourier transforms, etc.) useful

Laser radars, like their microwave counterparts, send out electromagnetic signals and sense properties of their environment by collecting reflections therefrom.  However, because the infrared wavelengths used by laser radars are orders of magnitude shorter than wavelengths employed in microwave radars, the laser systems provide much finer spatial resolution in comparison with microwave systems.  Similarly, the much higher carrier frequency of laser radars, as opposed to microwave radars, provides the former with much larger Doppler shifts upon reflection from a moving object.  Likewise, the much higher bandwidths available to laser radars gives them superior range resolution in comparison with lower bandwidth microwave radars.  All these advantages come with some major differences.  Laser radars employ technologies that are very different from those of microwave radars.  Furthermore, atmospheric propagation effects are far more deleterious at infrared wavelengths than they are at microwave wavelengths.  Thus both microwave and laser radars have different application domains in which one is superior to the other.

Lectures cover the essentials of laser radar technology, the fundamental behaviors of optical propagation and detection relevant to determining laser radar performance, and  examples of state-of-the-art laser radar applications.  Lab sessions provide hands-on experience demonstrating laser radar principles for both direct and coherent detection systems.

Sponsor(s): Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Professor Shapiro, jshaps@mit.edu


Jan/22 Wed 01:00PM-05:00PM 36-144
Jan/23 Thu 01:00PM-02:00PM 36-144
Jan/23 Thu 02:00PM-05:00PM 36-144
Jan/29 Wed 01:00PM-05:00PM 36-144
Jan/30 Thu 01:00PM-02:00PM 36-144
Jan/30 Thu 02:00PM-05:00PM 36-144

Enrollment will be limited to 10 students, to ensure that everyone has enough time to work with the lab setups.  Prior experience with optics is helpful but not required.   Knowledge of signal analysis ¿ Fourier transforms, etc. ¿ is also useful but not required.   Both undergraduate and graduate students may apply, with   preference given to students majoring in EECS or Physics.

Jeffrey Shapiro - Julius A Stratton Professor of Electrical Engineering, Kevin Holman - Technical Staff, MIT Lincoln Lab


Lecture: Bending wood without the steam. Compressed Hardwood bending

Kristen LeVier, Artist in Residence

Jan/30 Thu 06:00PM-08:00PM W31-031

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Prereq: non
Fee: $5.00 for Wood

Compressed Cold-bend hardwood (http://www.puretimber.com/cold-bend-hardwood/) allows woodworkers to bend wood without using steam or glued-up laminations. This pre-compressed wood can be used to impressive effect in wood sculpture, furniture making, architecture, etc. Students will be introduced to the work of artists, furniture makers, instrument makers and architects working with compressed wood and will have the opportunity to experiment with manipulating the wood themselves.

Contact: Hayami Arakawa, W31-3131, 617 253-4343, HAYAMI@MIT.EDU


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: 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


Programmable-System-on-Chip (PSoC) Design using Cypress PSoC 4 and Arduino type Shield

Patrick Kane, Mike Daly, Greg Landry

Jan/21 Tue 10:00AM-05:00PM 36-153
Jan/22 Wed 10:00AM-05:00PM 36-153
Jan/23 Thu 10:00AM-05:00PM 36-153

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 12/20
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: Some C Programming, previous intro to circuits

Teams comprised of 2-4 students will compete in a Programmable System on a Chip (PSoC) design challenge using CY8CKIT-042 development kits and a supplied daughter card. The goal of the competition is to design a slave circuit with associated peripherals and memory components and memory components around an ARM Cortex-M0 (already embedded in the PSoC 4 device), along with associated firmware to demonstrate a correctly working system that can I/F with a provided master system..

The first session will feature an ARM representative to speak specifically about the Cortex-M0 in the morning, with a hands on lab session that will introduce the students to PSoC 4 and the PSoC Creator design environment.

The second session will regard topics needed to successfully complete the design such as CapSense, I2C, digital filtering etc.

The third session is a "hacker" day put together the design. Each team will have 5 minutes to present their version of the solution.

http://web.mit.edu/cdev2

Sponsor(s): Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Patrick Kane, iap-psoc@mit.edu


SecureDrop Hackathon

Yan Zhu

Jan/25 Sat 10:00AM-07:00PM 8-329
Jan/26 Sun 10:00AM-07:00PM 8-329

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Attendance: Repeating event, particpants welcome at any session

SecureDrop Hackathon Co-hosted by the MIT Student Information Processing Board and MIT Undergrad Women in Physics; sponsored by the Freedom of the Press Foundation. Come learn about how to protect your privacy in light of the NSA spying revelations and hack on free software to protect whistleblowers. We'll mostly work on SecureDrop, an open-source anonymous document submission system for journalism organizations that was started by late activist Aaron Swartz.

Students who are new to software development are welcome! Food will be provided.

Sponsor(s): Student Information Processing Board, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Yan Zhu, zyan@mit.edu


Security Capture the Flag Hands-On Lecture

Steven Valdez

Jan/12 Sun 12:00PM-08:00PM 26-152

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/08
Prereq: programming experience

A combined security CTF and lecture.  As part of the CTF, you'll have the
opportunity to try patching and exploiting some vulnerable services,
and attacking other teams in order to get and protect flags, that will
be automatically scored. After each round, there will be a
mini-lecture, where we will go over how you could find the
vulnerability, and how you could patch it. This is an opportunity to
get a little more familiar with the sorts of strategies used in CTF
competitions, and to get accustomed to the team structure of CTF
competitions, as well as improving understanding of security
vulnerabilities in various kinds of services, from web applications to
python servers.

Please register at http://tinyurl.com/iapctf so that we can get a rough idea of how many people will be attending.

Sponsored by Lincoln Laboratory.

Sponsor(s): Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Student Information Processing Board
Contact: Steven Valdez, iap-2014-ctf@mit.edu


Startups 3.0: Seeing the System

Fady Saad

Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
Limited to 50 participants
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Prereq: none

Majority of startups fail because of managerial issues, and mainly because managers fail to see the large startup "system". This practical and concise course will explore the different lifecycle phases an organization goes through, and the changing needs in each phase. At the end of this course, students will be able to see the complete startup system and the interdependency between its elements

Sponsor(s): Engineering Systems Division
Contact: Fady Saad, 617 386 9861, fady.saad@sloan.mit.edu


Jan/28 Tue 06:00PM-08:00PM 3-333
Jan/29 Wed 06:00PM-08:00PM 3-333
Jan/30 Thu 06:00PM-08:00PM 3-333

Fady Saad