"Size Matters"
John Kiehl
| Jan/25 | Mon | 10:00AM-01:00PM | 26-328 |
| Jan/26 | Tue | 10:00AM-01:00PM | 26-328 |
| Jan/27 | Wed | 10:00AM-01:00PM | 26-328 |
| Jan/28 | Thu | 10:00AM-01:00PM | 26-328 |
| Jan/29 | Fri | 10:00AM-01:00PM | 26-328 |
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Repeating event, particpants welcome at any session
Prereq: None
All fields of human endeavor include considerations of mathematical scaling, either to solve or understand the nature of problems. During each meeting of this series we will have a presentation from an expert in a field. We will then break into small groups to approach the topics discussed through the perspective of mathematical scaling.
Guest facilitators include: Don Beck (expert in large-scale social systems), Prof. Richard Muller (author of “Physics for Future Presidents”), Peter Burgess (inventor of “TrueValue Metrics”), Diana Senechal (educator, author of “Republic of Noise”)
Contact: John Kiehl, n/a, 917-886-0749, jckiehl2@gmail.com
[AT CAPACITY] Tour of MIT's Nuclear Research Reactor
Taylor Tracy, Administrative Assistant II
| Jan/26 | Tue | 01:00PM-02:30PM | NW12, first floor, Ring doorbell for entry, may arrive early |
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/25
Limited to 15 participants
Prereq: none
The tour of MIT's Nuclear Research Reactor on January 26th at 1pm is currently at capacity.
For those who have already registered: Please make sure to bring your MIT ID with you to the tour for the sign-in process. Cameras, mobile phones, bags, backpacks, open toed shoes/sandals (including flip flops) etc., are permitted in the administrative building but are not permitted on the tour. There is a secure office that you will be able to leave your belongings in. 15 person maximum. Tour will begin promptly at 1pm, please arrive on time or a few minutes early.
Sponsor(s): Nuclear Reactor Lab
Contact: Taylor Tracy, NW12-108b, 617 253-4211, TTRACY@MIT.EDU
[AT CAPACITY] Tour of MIT's Nuclear Research Reactor
Taylor Tracy, Administrative Assistant II
| Jan/13 | Wed | 01:00PM-02:30PM | NW12, first floor, Ring doorbell for entry, may arrive early |
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/12
Limited to 15 participants
Prereq: none
The tour of MIT's Nuclear Research Reactor on January 13th at 1pm is currently at capacity.
For those who have already registered: Please make sure to bring your MIT ID with you to the tour for the sign-in process. Cameras, mobile phones, bags, backpacks, open toed shoes/sandals (including flip flops) etc., are permitted in the administrative building but are not permitted on the tour. There is a secure office that you will be able to leave your belongings in. 15 person maximum. Tour will begin promptly at 1pm, please arrive on time or a few minutes early.
Sponsor(s): Nuclear Reactor Lab
Contact: Taylor Tracy, NW12-108b, 617 253-4211, TTRACY@MIT.EDU
[AT CAPACITY] Tour of MIT's Nuclear Research Reactor
Taylor Tracy, Administrative Assistant II
| Jan/11 | Mon | 10:00AM-11:30AM | NW12, first floor, Ring doorbell for entry, may arrive early |
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/10
Limited to 15 participants
Prereq: None
The tour of MIT's Nuclear Research Reactor on January 11th at 10:00am is currently at capacity.
For those who have already registered: Please make sure to bring your MIT ID with you to the tour for the sign-in process. Cameras, mobile phones, bags, backpacks, open toed shoes/sandals (including flip flops) etc., are permitted in the administrative building but are not permitted on the tour. There is a secure office that you will be able to leave your belongings in. 15 person maximum. Tour will begin promptly at 1pm, please arrive on time or a few minutes early.
Sponsor(s): Nuclear Reactor Lab
Contact: Taylor Tracy, NW12-108b, 617 253-4211, TTRACY@MIT.EDU
[AT CAPACITY] Tour of MIT's Nuclear Research Reactor
Taylor Tracy, Administrative Assistant II
| Jan/20 | Wed | 09:30AM-11:00AM | NW12, first floor, Ring doorbell for entry, may arrive early |
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/19
Limited to 15 participants
Prereq: none
The tour of MIT's Nuclear Research Reactor on January 20th at 9:30am is currently at capacity.
For those who have already registered: Please make sure to bring your MIT ID with you to the tour for the sign-in process. Cameras, mobile phones, bags, backpacks, open toed shoes/sandals (including flip flops) etc., are permitted in the administrative building but are not permitted on the tour. There is a secure office that you will be able to leave your belongings in. 15 person maximum. Tour will begin promptly at 1pm, please arrive on time or a few minutes early.
Sponsor(s): Nuclear Reactor Lab
Contact: Taylor Tracy, NW12-108b, 617 253-4211, TTRACY@MIT.EDU
Asbestos Communication and Process Fact Sheets
Barry Mendes, IHP Officer, EHS, Brian McAnneny, Assistant IHP Officer, EHS
| Jan/20 | Wed | 11:00AM-12:00PM | 1-150 |
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
The purpose of this Independent Activities Period (IAP) is to provide the MIT community with the communication and process that is utilized for the request, survey, monitoring and clearance of asbestos abatement projects on campus. This IAP will included how and by whom requests are made, requirements for a survey, sample analysis, means and methods, inspections, air clearance and reporting. In addition, misconceptions of asbestos will be discussed.
Sponsor(s): Environment, Health and Safety Office
Contact: Barry Mendes, N52-496, 617-253-1665, tr6@mit.edu
Developing internally consistent plans for reducing energy subsidies
Carlos de la Torre, Research Fellow, DUSP
| Jan/29 | Fri | 12:00PM-01:30PM | E62-250 |
Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
Prereq: None
A recent study of the IMF published in May 2015 estimated fossil fuel subsidies (including below market prices and untaxed negative indirect impacts) at over 5% of World GDP. Taking as reference the case of fossil fuel subsidies in Malaysia, this activity will (1) review the architecture of one or more energy subsidies (fuel prices, tax incentives in fossil fuels, or both time allowing); (2) develop alternative future architectures based on an envisioned state; (3) select a future architecture more closely aligned with the envisioned state based on a common agreed criteria; and (4) develop an implementation plan for the selected architecture. During this 1.5 hour session, the activity will use lectures and exercises developed in groups to go through the steps outlined above.
This activity has had the support of the Malaysia Sustainable Cities Program (MSCP) at DUSP and the MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative in preparing and disseminationg this effort.
Sponsor(s): Urban Studies and Planning, Sloan School of Management
Contact: Carlos De La Torre Salcedo, 9-338, 617 253-4510, CDLT@MIT.EDU
Doctoral Research Seminar on Water Treatment and Purification Technologies
Renee Robins, Executive Director, J-WAFS
| Jan/29 | Fri | 12:00PM-01:30PM | E51-145, Brown bag lunch, snacks provided |
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Join us for three doctoral student research presentations and discussion:
Xiao Su, Hatton Lab in ChemE: A principal challenge for water remediation is to target dilute contaminants that are highly toxic, such as pesticides. Many of these pollutants are present in remote agricultural locations, where large-scale purification systems cannot be implemented. Xiao will talk about developing electrochemical separation methods employing redox-mediated separation chemistry. These techniques are particularly attractive due to their modularity, fast kinetics, and integration with renewable energy sources.
Emily Tow, Lienhard Research Group, MechE: Emily conducts research on heat and mass transfer processes in desalination with the goal of reducing energy consumption and improving sustainability. She will discuss the thermodynamics of energy consumption in desalination processes and her research on membrane fouling, a significant operational and energy consumption challenge in desalination plants.
Shreya Dave and Brendan Smith, Grossman Group, DMSE: This combined talk will cover nanoporous membranes as a paradigm shift in filtration technology. Thin film materials are broadly used as desalination membranes for water purification. Brendan will talk about his work on nanoscale membrane innovation. Shreya will address system-level implications using manufacturing and plant-scale models that she is developing to understand the design space for novel materials in reverse osmosis membranes.
Sponsor(s): Abdul Latif Jameel World Water and Food Sec Lab
Contact: Renee Robins, E70-1279, 617 324-6726, RROBINS@MIT.EDU
Energy in Transportation: Mass. Transportation Facilities and Tunnel Tour
Sara Gallegos, MITEI Student Engagement Coordinator
| Jan/22 | Fri | 09:00AM-03:00PM | outside MIT Press |
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/08
Limited to 25 participants
Join a special tour of public transit operation centers and tunnels with Massachusetts Department of Transportation staff. We will visit sites such as the MBTA Charlestown Bus Yard, Highway Operations Control Center and the Haymarket MBTA Station Central Artery and discuss with how America’s oldest subway system operates on a daily basis, as well as how it handles weather emergencies.
Back up snow date will be January 29, 2016.
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative
Contact: Sara Gallegos, E19-341C, 617 452-3199, SGALLEGO@MIT.EDU
Energy UROP Information Session, MIT Energy Initiative
Ann Greaney-Williams, Academic Coordinator, Energy Studies @MIT Energy Initiative
| Jan/27 | Wed | 11:30AM-01:30PM | E19-319 |
Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/22
Attendance: Repeating event, particpants welcome at any session
Prereq: none
Join us to learn about the Energy UROP Summer program, and meet faculty offering energy-focused UROPs.
Please RSVP to askmitei_ed@mit.edu
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative
Contact: Ann Greaney-Williams, E19-370D, 617 324-7236, AGREANEY@MIT.EDU
Engineering China: Cost and Consequence of the Three Gorges
Chris Leighton
| Jan/27 | Wed | 05:00PM-07:00PM |
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/25
Limited to 25 participants
Prereq: None
Under the leadership of the Communist Party (many of whose elite members have engineering backgrounds) countless ambitious infrastructure projects have remade the China physically. How should we measure the social impact of these changes?
Yung Chang considers this topic in the documentary Up the Yangtze, which focuses on the massive Three Gorges Dam, a 1.5 mile long 600 foot high marvel that displaced millions, (very slightly) changed the rotation of the earth, and drowned a landscape as iconic as the Grand Canyon, while at the same time potentially providing 100 terawatt-hours of electricity per year. As boats cruise for scenic farewell voyages up and down the river, the film follows the lives of two people who work those rising waters.
Participants will watch and discuss the film over a shared Chinese meal. No prerequisites; all welcome.
Sponsor(s): History
Contact: Christopher Leighton, E51-288, 617 324-0541, CLEIGHT@MIT.EDU
From Turbines to Tariffs: Technical and Regulatory Issues for Scaling Up Wind Energy
Chiao-ting Li & Michael Davidson, Postdoc & Ph. D
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Date: Jan. 25&26 (10:00am-12:00 noon)
Location: E51-085
In this two-part IAP session, we will discuss the fundamentals of wind energy and how it integrates with electricity systems and regulatory structures. These topics will provide an overview of major issues in scaling up wind energy significantly in existing electricity systems, and then we will present two case studies from our research focusing on challenges and opportunities in China.
Date / Time (Jan.25, 10:00am-12:00noon, 2 hours)
Session #1: Science and engineering of wind energy
Date / Time (Jan.26, 10:00am-12:00noon, 2 hours)
Session #2: Wind energy in political and regulatory context, with China applications
○ 1. Study of technical and institutional causes of wind energy spillage in Northeast China
○ 2. Optimizing wind/coal hybrid bases across northern China
Sponsor(s): Joint Program/Science and Policy of Global Change
Contact: Chiao-ting Li, E19-411, 617-715-5254, ct_li@mit.edu
Green Lab Makeover Contest
Pamela Greenley, Associate Director, EHS, Randa Pierre Ghattas, Project Manager, Office of Sustainability, Niamh Kelly, EMP Officer, EHS, Jennifer Lynn, Senior EHS Coordinator, Koch Institute, Brian Smith, EHS Coordinator, Chemical Engineering
| Jan/14 | Thu | 12:00PM-01:00PM | 66-319 |
| Jan/21 | Thu | 12:00PM-01:00PM | 76-659 |
| Jan/28 | Thu | 12:00PM-01:00PM | 76-659 |
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Repeating event, particpants welcome at any session
MIT would like to start a green labs certification process but we need your help to get started. We will be holding a contest to see who can green their lab the most and in innovative ways. Come to the IAP to learn about green lab certification and the contest.
Don't have a lab but want to participate anyway? Come anyway, we might be able to find you a partner.
Sponsor(s): Environment, Health and Safety Office, Office of Sustainability
Contact: Pamela Greenley, N52-496, 617-253-9390, GREENLEY@MIT.EDU
Hackathon for Climate
John E Fernandez, Professor of Architecture, ESI Director, Thomas Malone, Professor of Management, Climate Co-Lab Director
| Jan/29 | Fri | 09:00AM-05:00PM | 7-429, Bring your laptop - and your friends! |
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/29
Limited to 40 participants
Hackathon for Climate: Develop plans for what to do about global climate change
Space still available!
Awards include $500 cash, WakaWaka solar chargers, and Luci inflatable color solor lights! Do you have ideas for what the world should do about climate change? Would you like to use your scientific, engineering, design, social science, or other knowledge to help figure out how to solve what many people believe is one of the world’s biggest problems today? MIT's Environmental Solutions Initiative (ESI) and Climate Co-Lab are co-sponsoring a day-long event to help you do just that.
The MIT Climate CoLab is a web-based community of over 50,000 people all over the world who work together to create and evaluate proposals for action on global climate change (see http://climatecolab.org/). With involvement from leading experts on climate change and collaboration with organizations from the United Nations to the American Geophysical Union to the City of Cambridge, proposals developed here reach an influential global audience.
Come with a team or form teams with others you meet at the workshop. Spend the day developing proposals on actions to address climate change, from how to generate electricity with lower emissions, to how to change public attitudes about climate, to what the whole world should do about climate.
After the hackathon ends, you can continue developing your proposals to compete for recognition and cash prizes in the various Climate CoLab contests.
Sponsor(s): Environmental Solutions Initiative
Contact: Amanda Graham, E70-1283, 617 253-8995, AGRAHAM@MIT.EDU
Health and Safety Issues of Nanomaterials
Marilyn Hallock, Susan Leite
| Jan/27 | Wed | 02:00PM-03:00PM | 46-3310 |
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
The exciting field of nanotechnology is creating the next industrial revolution in engineering. It is also creating the new field of nanotoxicology. Are nanoparticles more toxic than dust particles we normally work with? Could carbon nanotubes possibly be the next asbestos? Come find out what we know and don't know and how to work safely in your laboratory with nanomaterials. No prerequisite.
Sponsor(s): Environment, Health and Safety Office
Contact: Marilyn Hallock, N52-496, x3-0344, hallock@mit.edu
How to Design Electric Vehicles (EVs)
Sanjay Sarma, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Ryan Chin, Managing Director, City Science Initiative, Lennon Rodgers, Research Scientist, MIT International Design Center
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/15
Limited to 40 participants
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Prereq: Permission of Instructor
If you are interested in designing and building electric vehicles (EVs), then this IAP class is for you.
This hands-on course brings together industry experts, MIT faculty, staff, and students to present the basic building blocks to EVs including: battery systems, electric motors, motor controllers, and the overall vehicle systems integration. Each session will delve into practical engineering issues through interactive presentations by instructors and guest speakers. There will also be working sessions conducted by student mentors. The course will address the following questions:
In addition to lectures, this year we will be offering three “hands-on” lab sessions in order for participants to apply lessons from the talks to practical in-class exercises that emphasize learning by doing and peer-to-peer collaboration.
The remaining sessions will focus on current market trends, cost challenges, competitive technologies, and future applications including urban mobility, EV infrastructure, energy storage for utilities, and the role of policy and incentives.
Sponsor(s): Mechanical Engineering, MIT-SUTD International Design Center
Contact: Ryan Chin, 617 253-6828, RCHIN@MIT.EDU
| Jan/19 | Tue | 09:00AM-12:00PM | E15-341 |
This session will introduce the goals of the overall course; provide an overview of EV battery systems with a focus on Li-ion technology (history, cell chemistries and attributes, cell designs and components, performance metrics, cell dynamics and models, safety, battery management); and next generation battery chemistries.
Sanjay Sarma - Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Ryan Chin - Managing Director, City Science Initiative, Eric Carlson - Senior Fellow, Rick Chamberlain - Chief Technology Officer
| Jan/20 | Wed | 09:00AM-12:00PM | e15-341 |
Led by guest speakers from Protean Electric, this session will focus on the design of controllers and electric motors. This session will also present a case study of building an electric motorcycle for the Isle of Man TT Zero race.
Guest Speakers: Chris Hilton, CTO, Protean Electric
Lennon Rodgers - Research Scientist, MIT International Design Center
| Jan/21 | Thu | 09:00AM-12:00PM | E15-341 |
This session will focus on pack design with consideration of design requirements, the specification process and vehicle integration, packaging options from cell to module to pack, thermal management, current collection, safety, pack testing, and design for impact energy absorption and crashworthiness.
Guest Speakers:
Dale Robertson, Boston-Power, Inc.
Elham Sahraei, MIT Impact and Crashworthiness Laboratory
Eric Carlson - Senior Fellow
| Jan/22 | Fri | 09:00AM-04:00PM | N52-3rd floor |
Lennon Rodgers - Research Scientist, MIT International Design Center
| Jan/25 | Mon | 09:00AM-12:00PM | N52-3rd floor |
The full day battery laboratory will be a more in-depth hands-on session of selected lecture topics. Key questions addressed will include:
Lennon Rodgers - Research Scientist, MIT International Design Center
| Jan/26 | Tue | 09:00AM-12:00PM | E15-341 |
This session will provide an automotive OEM perspective on overall vehicle integration for EVs.
Guest Speakers:
OEM (1) Greg Hubbard, Senior Engineer for Chevy Bolt, General Motors (GM)
OEM (2) Ford (TBC)
OEM (3) Tesla (TBC)
Ryan Chin - Managing Director, City Science Initiative
| Jan/27 | Wed | 09:00AM-12:00PM | E15-341 |
This session will cover trends and existing and future markets for traditional EVs, new urban vehicles, on-demand systems, and self-driving vehicles.
Guest Speaker: Zipcar or Car2go (TBC)
Ryan Chin - Managing Director, City Science Initiative, Craig Carlson - Consultant
| Jan/28 | Thu | 09:00AM-12:00PM | E15-341 |
This session will cover EV infrastructure including electric charging, vehicle-to-grid, second life EV battery re-use, and new markets (e.g., home energy management systems). This session will also introduce the EV ecosystem of MIT student research projects and clubs including Formula SAE, Electric Vehicle Team, Solar Car, etc.
Praveen Subramani, NEST
Michael Lin, MIT Media Lab
Ivan Huang, MIT Campus EVs Deployment
Ryan Chin - Managing Director, City Science Initiative, Lennon Rodgers - Research Scientist, MIT International Design Center
| Jan/29 | Fri | 09:00AM-04:00PM | N52-3rd floor |
Lennon Rodgers - Research Scientist, MIT International Design Center
IAP 2016 Introduction to Climate Science and Policy
Katie Mulvaney, Masters Program in Technology and Policy, Class of 2017
Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/18
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Overview
A fast-paced, accessible introduction to the climate system, linking the social and scientific aspects of climate change. These sessions aim to contextualize current global and local climate policy and provide an introduction to current research in climate. Tuesday, January 19 - Thursday, January 21, 5:30pm-6:30pm, we will discuss climate science, followed by a discussion of climate policy, 6:30pm-7:30pm. As 'the climate system' is extraordinarily complex, we'll first explore what some simple representations of climate can teach us, then explore their limitations & dig a little deeper into some key components. In order to examine climate policy, we’ll go over some basics on economics, climate policy instruments, and climate governance at the international and national level. On Friday, January 22, we will apply what we have learned with the World Climate activity, a mock international climate negotiation (open to all, even those who have not attended previous days)
SIGN UP HERE: http://doodle.com/poll/zxrr89qnememgfdc
(Although everyone is welcome. Signing up allows us to estimate the number of participants. Plus refreshments will be served prior to the first classes, on first come first served basis at 5 PM for registered participants).
Sponsor(s): Joint Program/Science and Policy of Global Change
Contact: Dimonika Bray, E19-411R, 617 324-7375, DBIZI@MIT.EDU
| Jan/19 | Tue | 05:30PM-06:30PM | Rm E51-315 |
Given the hype and controversy surrounding climate change, it's useful to start with the basics. We'll kick off the week surveying the history & fundamentals of climate science, focusing in particular on radiation & greenhouse gases, the carbon cycle, and the earth's heat storage.
Katie Mulvaney - Masters Program in Technology and Policy, Class of 2017
| Jan/19 | Tue | 06:30PM-07:30PM | RM E51-315 |
Evaluating the Options for Climate Policy
How can the world respond to what science reveals about climate change? One way to take action is to consider climate policy. To understand the different options for climate policy, we¿ll go over basic economic concepts, climate policy instruments, and tools for evaluating policy in this session.
Katie Mulvaney - Masters Program in Technology and Policy, Class of 2017, Mara Freilich
| Jan/20 | Wed | 05:30PM-06:30PM | RM E51-315 |
The nonlinearity of the climate system makes prediction difficult and results in fascinating feedback systems and possible tipping points. We will discuss mechanisms of the climate system and questions including: What does an Earth system model look like? What is the role of clouds, oceans, land cover, and biology in the climate system? and How does extreme weather relate to climate change?
Mara Freilich
| Jan/20 | Wed | 06:30PM-07:30PM | RM 51-315 |
The challenges presented by climate change make it both a global and a local problem, and as a result, climate policy can be enacted at both the international and the domestic level. In this session, we¿ll go over the history and status of international climate governance (including some background on the 2015 Paris Climate Negotiations), as well as national forums for climate governance.
Katie Mulvaney - Masters Program in Technology and Policy, Class of 2017, Samantha Houston
| Jan/21 | Thu | 05:30PM-06:30PM | RM E51-315 |
In this session we will discuss the sources of uncertainty in climate projections, the range of future outcomes, and how that translates into uncertainty in climate impacts both globally and locally. We will cover topics such as the rate of warming, sea level rise, storm activity, and precipitation changes and how uncertainty in these changes make it more challenging to adequately prepare and adapt to climate change.
Megan Lickley
| Jan/21 | Thu | 06:30PM-07:30PM | RM E51-315 |
We'll cap off the intensive introduction to climate science and policy with a discussion with local leaders who are implementing creative solutions to climate change, from community activism to policy at the local and national scale.
Megan Lickley
| Jan/22 | Fri | 05:30PM-07:30PM | RM 51-315 |
International negotiators face challenges in coming to a global climate agreement. An interactive climate (https://www.climateinteractive.org/world-climate-project/) activity will provide participants with some insight into the challenges. The groups will participate in a mock international climate negotiation, and the computer simulation C-ROADS will be used to examine the outcomes of the mock negotiation in real-time.
Katie Mulvaney - Masters Program in Technology and Policy, Class of 2017
| Jan/25 | Mon | 05:30PM-06:30PM | E51-315 |
Reflecting on the Climate Talks with COP21 Attendees (Date, time and location, to be confirmed)
In this informal panel discussion with members of the MIT community who participated as observers in the recent UN climate talks in Paris, will recap and reflect on the agreement that emerged from COP21, as well as hear first-hand accounts of the negotiation process and surrounding events.
Katie Mulvaney - Masters Program in Technology and Policy, Class of 2017
Infrastructure Design for Climate Change
Herbert Einstein, Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Ari Epstein, Lecturer, Terrascope
| Jan/11 | Mon | 10:00AM-12:00PM | 1-371 |
| Jan/12 | Tue | 10:00AM-12:00PM | 1-371 |
| Jan/13 | Wed | 10:00AM-12:00PM | 1-371 |
| Jan/14 | Thu | 10:00AM-12:00PM | 1-371 |
| Jan/15 | Fri | 10:00AM-12:00PM | 1-371 |
| Jan/20 | Wed | 10:00AM-12:00PM | 1-371 |
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 12/15
Limited to 20 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: Undergraduate studies (ongoing or past) in any engineering d
In this team-oriented, project-based class, students will work to find technical solutions that could be implemented to mitigate the effects of climate change, bearing in mind that any proposed measures must be appropriate in a given region’s socio-political-economic context. The specific problem will be the effect of sea level rise. As a case study, students will work on measures related to the cities of Cambridge, Boston, and as much as possible Singapore, with input from officials of appropriate city agencies and/or local NGO’s. The issues and solutions will have direct relevance to large, coastal cities elsewhere.
Students will also learn the basics of the observational/adaptable approach to design, essentially having a feedback loop of “design-construction-operation-design adaptation”. This approach to design is already practiced to some extent, but is likely to become much more common in the near future, both because of advances in embedded-sensor technology and because of its relevance to high-uncertainty contexts such as that presented by climate change.
Sponsor(s): MIT-SUTD Collaboration, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Contact: Ari Epstein, 16-177, 617-253-3666, awe@mit.edu
Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the Water and Food Sectors: An Introduction to MIT and outside resources for MIT Students and Post-docs
Renee Robins, Executive Director, J-WAFS
| Jan/15 | Fri | 12:00PM-01:30PM | E51-145, bring your own lunch, snacks provided |
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Thinking of doing a start-up in water, food, or agriculture? Interested in the Water Innovation Prize or the new MIT Food and Agribusiness Prize Competition or the MIT Ideas Global Challenge? Want to hear about resources -- inside the Institute and beyond -- available for students and others that support innovation and entrepreneurship? This 90-minute seminar will feature speakers from the MIT Innovation Initiative, the Martin Trust Center for Entrepreneurship, Clean Tech Open, and the New England Water Innovation Network. Speakers will explain what their centers or organizations do and how you can engage with them. Ample time will be provided for Q&A as well as general discussion and networking.
Speakers are:
Georgina Campbell, Executive Director, MIT Legatum Center
Trish Cotter, Entrepreneur in Residence, Martin Trust Center for Entrepreneurship
Karen Golmer, Executive Director, New England Water Innovation Network (NEWIN)
Katie MacDonald, Executive Director, Cleantech Open Northeast
This introduction to MIT and outside resources is intended aimed at MIT students and post-docs. Recent alumni are also welcome.
This seminar is a brown bag lunch. Light snacks will be provided.
Co-sponsored by J-WAFS, the MIT Innovation Initiative, the MIT Water Club, and the MIT Food and Ag Club.
Sponsor(s): Abdul Latif Jameel World Water and Food Sec Lab, MIT Innovation Initiative
Contact: Renee Robins, E70-1279, 617 324-6726, RROBINS@MIT.EDU
Intro to Modeling, Instrumentation and Control Using Skateboards and Scooters
Lennon Rodgers, Research Scientist
| Jan/06 | Wed | 09:00AM-12:00PM | N52 3rd floor |
| Jan/08 | Fri | 09:00AM-12:00PM | N52 3rd floor |
| Jan/11 | Mon | 09:00AM-12:00PM | N52 3rd floor |
| Jan/13 | Wed | 09:00AM-12:00PM | N52 3rd floor |
| Jan/15 | Fri | 09:00AM-12:00PM | N52 3rd floor |
| Jan/20 | Wed | 09:00AM-12:00PM | N52 3rd floor |
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/01
Limited to 20 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: Calculus I, Physics I, Microsoft Excel
This class will use electric skateboards and scooters to introduce concepts such as modeling, instrumentation and control. Along the way we will explore mathematical concepts such as differential equations and linear algebra. We will create a basic model for the forces, power and energy consumption of the vehicles. Then the basic theory of PID speed controllers will be discussed and implemented on the scooters. Data will be collected while the vehicles are driven to validate the models and gain a deeper understanding of the theory and concepts. This class will help students gain an intuition for engineering concepts through a fun and immersive experience.
For more information and to register: www.making-learning.org
Sponsor(s): MIT-SUTD Collaboration, MIT-SUTD International Design Center
Contact: Lennon Rodgers, N52 3rd floor, rodgers@mit.edu
Links of Arctic Change to Midlatitude Weather
Judah Cohen, Research Affiliate
| Jan/08 | Fri | 11:00AM-02:00PM | 48-316 |
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Polar vortex, snow-mageddon, arctic amplification of global warming, extreme weather, melting ice-caps and permafrost - these may be the first signs of a changing global climate. The arctic is particularly vulnerable to variability and change. And these changes are remarkably linked to our mid-latitude winter weather. Come learn about the physics and ways to enhance long-range climate forecasts.
Contact: Dara Entekhabi, 48-216C, 617 253-9698, DARAE@MIT.EDU
Lithium Battery Use
Dan Frey, Professor, Dept of MechE, Dane Kouttron, Research Engineer, NRL, Phyllis Carter, EMP Officer, EHS
| Jan/26 | Tue | 02:00PM-04:00PM | E18-676C |
| Jan/27 | Wed | 02:00PM-04:00PM | E18-676C |
| Jan/28 | Thu | 02:00PM-05:00PM | E18-676C |
Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Topics for discussion:
And ultimately -what do we need to look out for… at every step of the way so we ace it!
Sponsor(s): Environment, Health and Safety Office, Nuclear Reactor Lab
Contact: Fabiola Hernandez, N52-496, 617-253-9494, fabiolah@mit.edu
Multiscale Porous Materials - Marseille Winterschool
Franz-Josef Ulm, Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Roland Pellenq, Senior Research Scientist, John R. Williams, Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Porous Materials are ubiquitous in many engineering applications, and specifically in energy and environment related engineering applications. The Marseille Winterschool organized through the MIT-CNRS joined lab with the support of MITEI, brings together scientists and engineers to provide a one-week educational training for graduate students and postdocs in all facets of multiscale porous materials, ranging from advanced microscopy and spectroscopy techniques to nanomechanical testing of stiffness, strength and fracture properties of porous materials. The Marseille Winterschool will take place in Marseille, France; in the week January 25-29, 2016. It brings together instructors from MIT, Marseille and Paris University, Georgetown University, and many more. The 2016 edition will develop around the topical issue of porous materials in Nuclear Engineering applications, and will include a one-day visit to ITER. The topic thus far, and the teaching content should be of interest for graduate students in several engineering disciplines (materials science, mechanical engineering, nuclear engineering, chemical engineering, civil engineering) and the school of sciences, particularly physics. The Winterschool is open to the entire MIT community. There are no costs associated with the school; except for Flight and Accomodation in Marseille.
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative, MIT France Program
Contact: Franz-Josef Ulm, 1-263, 617 253-3544, ULM@MIT.EDU
| Jan/25 | Mon | 08:30AM-06:30PM | Marseille/France |
8h30-9h30: Registration. Opening remarks
09h30-11h00: Multi-scale porous materials for energy and Environment
11h30-13h00: Statistical physics and computer simulation techniques (Part I)
14h30-16h30: Soft Matter physics; glass physics, jamming transition and arrested dynamics, relevance for multi-scale materials insights from numerical simulations (Part I)
17h00-18h30: Electron microscopy for multi-scale porous materials
| Jan/26 | Tue | 08:30AM-06:00PM | Marseille/France |
08h30-10h30: Mechanics of multi-scale porous materials, from elasticity to fracture: modeling & experiment (Part I)
11h00-12h30: Soft Matter Physics; glass Physics, jamming transition, arrested dynamics, numerical simulations (Part II)
14h00-16h00: Multi-scale porous and colloidal materials, texture and transport properties (Part I)
16h30-18h00: Electron microscopy for multi-scale porous materials: clay, cement, shale-gas
| Jan/27 | Wed | 08:30AM-06:30PM | Marseille/France |
08h30-10h00: Bus from Marseille Old Harbor, to the ITER reactor site, Cadarache
10h00-15h00: Visit of ITER / Lecture on material science for nuclear energy (fusion / fission)
15h00-16h30: Bus to the Jardins du Pharo, Aix-Marseille University head quarter
17h00-18h30: Invited conferences on the challenges of Nuclear fusion, the ITER project and The energy landscape in France, Present and Future
| Jan/28 | Thu | 08:30AM-06:30PM | Marseille/France |
08h30-10h30: Mechanics of multi-scale porous materials, from elasticity to fracture: modeling & experiment (Part II)
11h00-13h00: Statistical physics, computer simulation techniques over time and length scales (Part II)
14h30-16h30: Mesoscale modeling of particles, from bulk to flow in confined geometry (Part I)
17h00-18h30: Tomography with Synchrotron light and the texture of multiscale porous materials
| Jan/29 | Fri | 08:30AM-02:00PM | Marseille/France |
08h30-10h30: Multi-scale Porous and colloidal materials, texture and transport properties (Part II)
11h00-12h30: Transport properties of confined fluids from NMR relaxometry
12h30-12h45: Closing Remarks
Persuasive Cities for Sustainable Wellbeing
Dr. Agnis Stibe, Social Engineer at MIT Media Lab: City Science
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/04
Limited to 20 participants
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Prereq: Permission of instructor
Do I want to shape my behavior? Or influence behaviors of other people?
Have I ever tried to change something in my behavior or to alter what others think or do? Has my experience been successful so far? If you would like to improve your chances, then you are welcome to practice and learn ways to reshape human behaviors (at scale).
Can you imagine a city that feels, understands, and cares? Many of us live and work in an urban environment, however we often are not aware of how hugely our behavior is influenced by the environment. Future cities will alter human behavior in countless ways and Socially Influencing Systems (SIS) will play an important role in making urban spaces more livable and resource-efficient by addressing current environmental problems and enabling healthier routines.
In this highly interactive course, we will discuss ways for reshaping our current environments and designing future Persuasive Cities to help people become healthier and to acquire sustainable lifestyles. We will explore how good urban design can be combined with Socially Influencing Systems (SIS) to encourage healthy behaviors at scale. We will study how quality of life can be improved through the creation of persuasive cities, streets, buildings, homes, and vehicles.
Each session will delve into practical design issues through interactive presentations and collaborative work.
Register here by Jan 4, 2016
Sponsor(s): Media Arts and Sciences
Contact: Agnis Stibe, E15-368, 774 444-1750, AGNIS@MIT.EDU
| Jan/06 | Wed | 10:00AM-12:00PM | E15-359, Media Lab, 3rd floor, bring your passion |
10:00 Introduction and course logistics
10:30 Why Behavior Change Matters? - Opening Discussion
11:00 Persuasive Citiesfor Sustainable Wellbeing - Brainstorming on the Future Cities
11:30 Defining Behavior Change - Interactive Class Exercise
12:00 Closing
Dr. Agnis Stibe - Social Engineer at MIT Media Lab: City Science
| Jan/08 | Fri | 10:00AM-12:00PM | E15-359, Media Lab, 3rd floor, bring your passion |
10:00 Socially Influencing Systems (SIS) - Key Elements of Persuasive Cities
10:30 Persuasive Urban Mobility and Persuasive Electric Vehicle - An Overview
11:00 Biking Tourney Results - Six Weeks of Riding to Work
11:30 Designing Interventions for Urban Behavior Change - Interactive Class Exercise
12:00 Closing
Dr. Agnis Stibe - Social Engineer at MIT Media Lab: City Science
| Jan/13 | Wed | 10:00AM-12:00PM | E15-359, Media Lab, 3rd floor, bring your passion |
10:00 Computer-Supported Influence - Moderation Effects of Socially Influencing Systems
10:30 Problem Domains for Persuasive Applications - Contexts and Ethics
11:00 Advancing User Experience in Public Spaces - Engagement, Participation, Involvement
11:30 Implementing Persuasive Urban Systems - Interactive Class Exercise
12:00 Closing
Dr. Agnis Stibe - Social Engineer at MIT Media Lab: City Science
| Jan/15 | Fri | 10:00AM-12:00PM | E15-359, Media Lab, 3rd floor, bring your passion |
10:00 Health Behavior Change at Scale - Designing for Sustainable Wellbeing
10:30 Wellbeing in Future Cities - Urban Behavior Engineering
11:00 Developing Actionable Prototypes - Interactive Class Exercise
11:30 Framing Future Persuasive Cities - Closing Discussion
12:00 Closing
Dr. Agnis Stibe - Social Engineer at MIT Media Lab: City Science
Research Funder Open Access Requirements from NASA, NSF, DOE and Other Federal Agencies
Ellen Finnie Duranceau, Program Manager, Scholarly Pub., Copyright, & Licensing, Michelle Christy, Director, Office of Sponsored Programs, Katherine McNeill, Program Head, Data Management Services
| Jan/13 | Wed | 12:00PM-01:00PM | 14N-132 |
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/12
Limited to 30 participants
Do you or your colleagues get or seek federal funding for your research? Want to stay up-to-date on rules to get your next grant, or help others with managing their grant requirements? Come to this session and learn about new requirements from the federal government for open access: in 2013, the White House directed all large federal agencies to develop requirements for open access to publications and data created through research they fund. These requirements are now being implemented.
In the session, staff from the Office of Sponsored Programs and the Libraries will:
• provide an overview of the new requirements that have been issued from major agencies including NASA, NSF, and the Department of Energy.
• describe services at MIT that can help you comply with these requirements
Sponsor(s): Libraries
Contact: Ellen Finnie Duranceau, 14S-216, 617 253-8483, EFINNIE@MIT.EDU
The Fundamentals of Reservoir Simulation
Ali H. Dogru, Visiting Scientist
| Jan/04 | Mon | 10:00AM-12:00PM | 4-159 |
| Jan/06 | Wed | 10:00AM-12:00PM | 4-159 |
| Jan/08 | Fri | 10:00AM-12:00PM | 4-159 |
| Jan/11 | Mon | 10:00AM-12:00PM | 4-159 |
| Jan/13 | Wed | 10:00AM-12:00PM | 4-159 |
| Jan/15 | Fri | 10:00AM-12:00PM | 4-159 |
| Jan/20 | Wed | 10:00AM-12:00PM | 4-159 |
| Jan/22 | Fri | 10:00AM-12:00PM | 4-159 |
| Jan/25 | Mon | 10:00AM-12:00PM | 4-159 |
| Jan/27 | Wed | 10:00AM-12:00PM | 4-159 |
Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
Limited to 40 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Reservoir simulators are essential tools in the oil and gas industry. They are used to estimate hydrocarbon reserves, predict future production (income), and estimate the size of the separation plants (cost). They are composed of a set of nonlinear coupled partial differential equations describing multi-phase, multi-component fluid flow in porous media and associated pipeline networks.
This course will describe the relevant PDEs in a reservoir simulator, the thermodynamic constraints, and the rock-fluid interaction relationships. It will also explain descretizing the equations to yield a large linear system, and the use of sparse linear solvers to solve the system. The course will be hands-on, and students are expected to write computer programs and discuss the findings in class. Students will learn how to write a three dimensional multi-phase, multi-component reservoir simulator with production and injection wells.
Ali H. Dogru is a Fellow and the Chief Technologist of the Computational Modeling Technology Group for Saudi Aramco. He has 38 years of international experience in both industry and academia. He is a Visiting Scientist in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at MIT. He has 12 US patents and has received SPE’s John Franklin Carll Award, SPE’s Reservoir Description and Dynamics Award, and World Oil’s Innovative Thinker Awards.
Sponsor(s): Mathematics
Contact: Michael Szulczewski, michael.szulczewski@aramcoservices.com
The South Asian Anthropocene: Ecology and Society in South Asia in the climate era
Rajesh Kasturirangan, Research Affiliate
| Jan/09 | Sat | 10:00AM-02:00PM | 4-145 |
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Prereq: Open to Everyone
South Asia will dominate the Anthropocene in several ways: for one, it will have more people than any comparable region in the world, making it the most anthropocentric place in the anthropocene. Second, many of the challenges of this era will arguably surface first in South Asia: conflict over air, water and other natural resources, climate adaptation and migration, human non-human conflict and ideally, new ways of living within our means and with harmony in nature. The South Asian Anthropocene poses theoretical as well as empirical challenges to social scientists and humanities scholars who specialize in the sub-continent. Whether that scholar is an economist, a historian or an anthropologist, s/he will have to grapple with ideas that have traditionally been neglected in their scholarly communities. They will have to expand their horizon to include the non-human world in unprecedented ways; they will also have to create new philosophical and political conceptions for understanding these new developments. This seminar is an attempt to understand the South Asian Anthropocene by bringing together scholars working in the humanities and the social sciences. Our hope is that by exchanging ideas and empirical findings across disciplines, we will be better positioned to understand the future of South Asian societies.
Contact: Rajesh Kasturirangan, 617 253-8024, KASTURI@MIT.EDU
Tour Wind Turbine Facility in Hull, MA
Sara Gallegos
| Jan/19 | Tue | 09:00AM-03:00PM | outside MIT Press |
Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/13
Visit the 60 meter wind turbine tower in Hull, MA. Learn about how the town of Hull tackles efficiency and conservation with its own electric company. After the visit to the wind turbine, the group will be provided lunch while engaging in a "town hall" meeting with Hull's town leadership.
Bad weather back up day is January 26, 2016.
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative
Contact: Sara Gallegos, E19-341C, 617 452-3199, SGALLEGO@MIT.EDU
Waste management 101: Where Does Our Trash Go?
Rishi Gohil
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/09
Limited to 25 participants
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
This 3-day session will run through the lifecycle of objects of all types from the trash receptacle (trash, recycling, compost) to their ultimate end.
By the end you will walk away with a greater awareness and understanding of materials as they run through the disposal and recycling part of their lifecycle.
The session is envisioned to potentially include trips to nearby facilties to illustrate concepts and offer a more "hands on" instruction.
RSVP is required by January 9, 2015.
Please RSVP here:
http://goo.gl/forms/7CkcSOoa7H
The course will be instructed by Ruth T. Davis (Manager, MIT Recycling and Materials Management Office) and potentially other speakers (TBD).
When: Tue. Jan 12 - Thu. Jan 14, 2016
1-4pm each day
Where: 4-261
Sponsor(s): MIT Waste Alliance, Graduate Student Council
Contact: Rishi Gohil, GOHIL@MIT.EDU
Water and Food Security Seminar Series
Chandra Madramootoo, Visiting Scholar, J-WAFS
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
This seminar series will address a variety of global challenges around water and food security. Topics include limitations to water use in some selected large basins, surface water/groundwater interactions, the water-food-energy nexus, an overview of agricultural production systems in two agro-ecologic zones (tropical drylands and the wet humid tropics), and the linkage between food and nutrition security and health.
Presentation and discussion will be centered on technological, institutional, governance, and socio-economic constraints to small-holder productivity; water management challenges in the two agro-ecologic zones, and protection of natural resource systems in degraded agricultural landscapes. Specific topics will include irrigation and water conservation, drainage and flood control, irrigation value chains, and climate smart agriculture. The series is led by J-WAFS visiting scholar Chandra Madramootoo, James McGill Professor in the Department of Bioresource Engineering at McGill University. Prof. Madramootoo was Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at McGill from 2005 to 2015.
This is a four-part series; attendees are welcome at any or all sessions.
Sponsor(s): Abdul Latif Jameel World Water and Food Sec Lab
Contact: Renee Robins, E70-1279, 617 324-6726, RROBINS@MIT.EDU
| Jan/11 | Mon | 10:00AM-11:30AM | E51-145 |
An overview of global food demands and supplies and how water, limits to crop productivity, and other drivers such as food prices, population, and changing demographics and dietary patterns are affecting food supplies. Led by J-WAFS visiting scholar Chandra Madramootoo, former Dean, School of Ag. and Env. Sciences at McGill Univ. First of a 4-part series; attendees welcome at any or all sessions.
Chandra Madramootoo - Visiting Scholar, J-WAFS
| Jan/12 | Tue | 10:00AM-11:30AM | E51-145 |
Agriculture production systems in two agro-ecologic zones: This seminar will describe agricultural production systems in the wet humid tropics and the arid/semi-arid tropics, including cropping patterns, nomadic systems, and soil resources. Led by J-WAFS visiting scholar Chandra Madramootoo, former Dean, School of Ag. and Env. Sciences at McGill Univ. Second of a 4-part series; attendees welcome at any or all sessions.
Chandra Madramootoo - Visiting Scholar, J-WAFS
| Jan/13 | Wed | 10:00AM-11:30AM | E51-145 |
How can we better manage water to increase food security? This seminar will address strategies such as new irrigation and drought protection technologies to boost food production in tropical drylands, and drainage water management systems. Led by J-WAFS visiting scholar Chandra Madramootoo, former Dean, School of Ag. and Env. Sciences at McGill Univ. Third of a 4-part series; attendees welcome at any or all sessions.
Chandra Madramootoo - Visiting Scholar, J-WAFS
| Jan/14 | Thu | 10:00AM-11:30AM | E51-145 |
This seminar addresses the technological and socio-economic constraints to water and food security for smallholder farmers. Topics include why smallholder farmers are slow to adopt new crop varieties, agronomic practices, and irrigation. Led by J-WAFS visiting scholar Chandra Madramootoo, former Dean, School of Ag. and Env. Sciences at McGill Univ. Last of a 4-part series; attendees welcome at any or all sessions.
Chandra Madramootoo - Visiting Scholar, J-WAFS
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