IAP 2017 Activities by Category - Physical Sciences: Hands-on

TBD, MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center

Jan/11

Wed

04:00PM-05:00PM

NW17-218

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

Visit the Alcator C-Mod tokamak, a major fusion energy experiment that recently completed its final run with breakthrough results. Alcator C- Mod is the third in a series of tokamak devices at MIT that use very high magnetic fields to confine plasmas operating near 100,000,000 degrees.

Sponsor(s): Plasma Science and Fusion Center
Contact: Paul Rivenberg, NW16-284, 617 253-8101, RIVENBERG@PSFC.MIT.EDU

Seth Riskin, Manager, MIT Museum Studio

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

This workshop will focus on the final design and construction of three interactive exhibits for a new MIT Museum exhibition on the Cosmic Bell Experiment. The Cosmic Bell Experiment takes a novel approach to the testing of quantum entanglement and aims at closing one of the last remaining loopholes in quantum physics. Imagined and prototyped by a researcher and two students last fall, the interactive exhibits concern quantum entanglement, superpositon and light cones.

This IAP, student teams will take the projects to the next level, ready for exhibiton at the MIT Museum. The project work will concern light and optics, electronics, mechanical movement and the overall challenge of bringing quantum theoretical ideas into perceptible forms (experience in these areas is not required).

Once a week, the teams will meet at the MIT Museum Studio 10-150 for a check-in on progress and to coordinate efforts toward the exhibition opening in February.

Contact: Seth Riskin, 10-150 MIT Museum Studio, 617 324 6868, RISKIN@MIT.EDU

Nilanjan Chatterjee, Principal Research Scientist

Jan/20

Fri

01:00PM-03:00PM

54-1221

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

This session is to introduce new users to the JEOL JXA-8200 Superprobe. You will have hands-on experience (if time permits) on our electron microprobe equipped with enhanced imaging capabilities and learn about wavelength and energy dispersive spectrometry, back-scattered electron, secondary electron, cathodoluminescence, and elemental X-ray imaging. Please e-mail Dr. Chatterjee at nchat@mit.edu, or call 617-253-1995 if you plan to attend.

Sponsor(s): Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences
Contact: Nilanjan Chatterjee, 54-1216, 617 253-1995, NCHAT@MIT.EDU

Dr. Thomas R. Consi, Research Education Specialist, Sea Grant

Jan/09	Mon	01:00PM-04:00PM	5-007, bring notebook and pen to class
Jan/10	Tue	01:00PM-04:00PM	5-007, bring notebook and pen to class
Jan/11	Wed	01:00PM-04:00PM	5-007, bring notebook and pen to class
Jan/12	Thu	01:00PM-04:00PM	5-007, bring notebook and pen to class
Jan/13	Fri	01:00PM-04:00PM	5-007, bring notebook and pen to class

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/06
Limited to 16 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: Curiosity

Pond scum is a derogatory term derived from the notion that green slime on the surface of stagnant water is something disgusting - nothing could be further from the truth! Pond scum is in fact a Lilliputian world inhabited by an array of amazing creatures. This course is about these creatures: who they are, how they work, and the challenges they face living in micro-scale fluid environments. 

Topics:

The Light Microscope: Its design and operation. Micro-imaging and video techniques.

The Micro-Environment:  At tiny scales fluid flow is reversible, swimming creatures can stop instantly, and drag is not affected by shape. Learn the basic physics of fluid and flow at micro-scales and how microorganisms are adapted to live in this strange, counterintuitive world.

Diversity of Microorganisms:  Observe and learn to identify a diverse range of microorganisms. Some row with thousands of tiny hairs, some corkscrew through water, and some simply flow in whatever direction they please!

Measuring Microorganisms:  Measure the size and speed of microorganisms and estimate the forces they exert to crawl or swim. Perform experiments to see how they create flow fields for movement, sensing and feeding. Observe their behaviors and speculate on their “cognitive” abilities.

Bio-Inspired Micro-Robots:  At the end of the class, you will be challenged to design an aquatic micro-robot inspired by our exploration of live microorganisms.       

Sponsor(s): MIT-SUTD Collaboration
Contact: Dr. Thomas R. Consi, consi@mit.edu

Douglas Sweetser '84

Jan/26

Thu

03:00PM-05:00PM

3-270

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required

Disaster is more interesting than success. I will limit myself to an hour of tales of research failures. Modern physics as more than 42 inverse femtobarns of data from the LHC saying all the work on super symmetry has no value, none, zero. My current research rejects using tensors for any calculations in physics. In its place is a more careful consideration of numbers for space-time events that can be added, subtracted, multiplied, and divided. The physics is found by using equivalence classes for pairs of observers. If the square of the difference between two events as seen by a pair of observers is the same, that is the equivalence class of inertial observers which is at the core of special relativity. If the three space-times-times are the same for a pair of observers, that leads to an equivalence class of non-inertial observers. The space-times-time equivalence class is the basis of my new proposal for gravity. There is no graviton in my proposal. The great hunt for quantum gravity would be over. For those that last until the end, a poll will be conducted to gauge if the audience thinks my current research is headed for a flameout, or a huge shift for physics is in store. One random person will win with a free t-shirt. Register today!

Sponsor(s): Alumni Association
Contact: Elena Byrne, W98-206C, 617 252-1143, EBYRNE@MIT.EDU

Cody Parker, Postdoctoral Associate, Graeme Sutcliffe, Graduate Student

Jan/13

Fri

01:00PM-02:00PM

NW17-218

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

This tour showcases Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) research at MIT. The PSFC High-Energy-Density Physics group has developed and/or calibrated a number of nuclear diagnostics installed on the OMEGA laser at the University of Rochester, NY, and on the National Ignition Facility in Livermore, CA, to study nuclear products generated in fusion reactions.

Sponsor(s): Plasma Science and Fusion Center
Contact: Paul Rivenberg, NW16-284, 617 253-8101, RIVENBERG@PSFC.MIT.EDU

Mike Tarkanian

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 12/16
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: None

 Enrollment closed - CLASS IS FULL

Students will learn basic blacksmithing techniques using traditional tools to hand-forge mild steel. Drawing a taper, forming a scroll, twisting, and finishing techniques will be incorporated into simple projects.

Sponsor(s): Materials Science and Engineering
Contact: Mike Tarkanian, x3-5946, tarky@mit.edu

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Group 1

Jan/09	Mon	03:00PM-05:00PM	4-006, All participants must attend
	Jan/10	Tue	Time TBD	4-006
	Jan/11	Wed	Time TBD	4-006
	Jan/12	Thu	Time TBD	4-006

 Class is FULL

Students must choose to be a part of group 1, 2 or 3. Mandatory introductory training with demonstration will be held for all participants from 3-5 PM on the first day of each session.  At this meeting, students will be assigned to the 1-3, 3-5 or 5-7 PM sections for three consecutive afternoons.

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Group 2

Jan/17	Tue	03:00PM-05:00PM	4-006, All participants must attend
	Jan/18	Wed	Time TBD	4-006
	Jan/19	Thu	Time TBD	4-006
	Jan/20	Fri	Time TBD	4-006

 Class is FULL

Students must choose to be a part of group 1, 2 or 3. Mandatory introductory training with demonstration will be held for all participants from 3-5 PM on the first day of each session.  At this meeting, students will be assigned to the 1-3, 3-5 or 5-7 PM sections for three consecutive afternoons.

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Group 3

Jan/30	Mon	03:00PM-05:00PM	4-006, All participants must attend
	Jan/31	Tue	Time TBD	4-006
	Feb/01	Wed	Time TBD	4-006
	Feb/02	Thu	Time TBD	4-006

 Class is FULL

Students must choose to be a part of group 1, 2 or 3. Mandatory introductory training with demonstration will be held for all participants from 3-5 PM on the first day of each session.  At this meeting, students will be assigned to the 1-3, 3-5 or 5-7 PM sections for three consecutive afternoons.

Mike Tarkanian

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: None

ENROLLMENT CLOSED: CLASS FULL

Students in this class will learn the techniques necessary for investment casting metals.  We’ll first make models of the items to be cast – either by sculpting wax into the desired shape, or by casting wax into a rubber mold of an existing object. We will then build ceramic shells around the models, burn out the wax, and cast molten bronze, brass or aluminum into the resulting mold. If time permits, we will also cover the basics of sand casting.

Sponsor(s): Materials Science and Engineering
Contact: Mike Tarkanian, x3-5946, tarky@mit.edu

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GROUP 1

Jan/09	Mon	03:00PM-05:00PM	4-006
Jan/10	Tue	03:00PM-05:00PM	4-006
Jan/11	Wed	03:00PM-05:00PM	4-006
Jan/12	Thu	03:00PM-05:00PM	4-006
Jan/13	Fri	03:00PM-05:00PM	4-006

ENROLLMENT CLOSED: CLASS FULL

Applicants should email tarky@mit.edu, and state their group preference when signing up.

 

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GROUP 2

Jan/23	Mon	03:00PM-05:00PM	4-006
Jan/24	Tue	03:00PM-05:00PM	4-006
Jan/25	Wed	03:00PM-05:00PM	4-006
Jan/26	Thu	03:00PM-05:00PM	4-006
Jan/27	Fri	03:00PM-05:00PM	4-006

ENROLLMENT CLOSED: CLASS FULL

Applicants should email tarky@mit.edu, and state their group preference when signing up.

 

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GROUP 3

Jan/30	Mon	09:00AM-11:00AM	4-006
Jan/31	Tue	09:00AM-11:00AM	4-006
Feb/01	Wed	09:00AM-11:00AM	4-006
Feb/02	Thu	09:00AM-11:00AM	4-006

ENROLLMENT CLOSED: CLASS FULL

Applicants should email tarky@mit.edu, and state their group preference when signing up.

 

Michael Tarkanian

Enrollment: ENROLLMENT CLOSED: CLASS FULL
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: None

This Class is Full

This course will cover the basics of welding metals with various techniques: oxyacetylene torches, stick welding (SMAW), MIG (GMAW) and TIG (GTAW) will be explored. The first four instructional sessions will review the procedures and techniques, safety concerns and equipment, and capabilities of each welding method. Students can then use the final session as time to practice welding or to weld a small project under the supervision of the instructor.

Sponsor(s): Materials Science and Engineering
Contact: Mike Tarkanian, x3-5946, tarky@mit.edu

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GROUP 1

Jan/09	Mon	01:00PM-03:00PM	4-006
Jan/10	Tue	01:00PM-03:00PM	4-006
Jan/11	Wed	01:00PM-03:00PM	4-006
Jan/12	Thu	01:00PM-03:00PM	4-006
Jan/13	Fri	01:00PM-03:00PM	4-006

 

Applicants should email tarky@mit.edu, and state their group preference when signing up.

ENROLLMENT CLOSED: CLASS FULL

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GROUP 2

Jan/23	Mon	03:00PM-05:00PM	4-006
Jan/24	Tue	03:00PM-05:00PM	4-006
Jan/25	Wed	03:00PM-05:00PM	4-006
Jan/26	Thu	03:00PM-05:00PM	4-006
Jan/27	Fri	03:00PM-05:00PM	4-006

 

Applicants should email tarky@mit.edu, and state their group preference when signing up.

ENROLLMENT CLOSED: CLASS FULL

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GROUP 3

Jan/30	Mon	10:00AM-12:00PM	4-006
Jan/31	Tue	10:00AM-12:00PM	4-006
Feb/01	Wed	10:00AM-12:00PM	4-006
Feb/02	Thu	10:00AM-12:00PM	4-006
Feb/03	Fri	10:00AM-12:00PM	4-006

Applicants should email tarky@mit.edu, and state their group preference when signing up.

ENROLLMENT CLOSED: CLASS FULL

Dario Marrocchelli, non-MIT instructor

Jan/09	Mon	04:30PM-06:00PM	Coffeehouse W20-308
Jan/10	Tue	04:30PM-06:00PM	Coffeehouse W20-308
Jan/11	Wed	04:30PM-06:00PM	Coffeehouse W20-308
Jan/12	Thu	04:30PM-06:00PM	Coffeehouse W20-308
Jan/13	Fri	04:30PM-06:00PM	Coffeehouse W20-308

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/05
Limited to 25 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: None

NO LONGER TAKING SIGN-UPs

Cooking is one of the most fascinating (and rewarding!) applications of science and engineering. Indeed, few people realize that even the easiest recipe requires a working knowledge of important scientific principles spanning the fields of Chemistry, Physics, Materials Science and many more. The goal of this course is to show this connection between cooking and science. This course is designed to be a fun, hands-on experience in which students learn basic scientific principles by performing simple experiments with food. The first three lectures will cover ice-cream making, chocolate tasting, naked eggs and other fun activities. The instructor will draw connections between the concepts presented and his everyday scientific research in Materials Science. A tour of the Taza Chocolate factory is an optional encouraged activity to supplement the session on chocolate. 

Sponsor(s): MIT-SUTD Collaboration
Contact: Dario Marrocchelli, dmarrocc@MIT.EDU

Maggie Tse, Antonios Kontos

Jan/25

Wed

02:00PM-04:00PM

NW22-258

Enrollment: no limit or advanced sign up for talk;signup for tour at 1:55pm on Jan 25
Sign-up by 01/25
Limited to 6 participants
Prereq: attending Maggie Tse's 2pm talk in order to take tour

Discover the techniques which make LIGO work with hands-on demonstrations.

Michelson Interferometer Demonstration

Ms. Maggie Tse

How do you measure distances smaller than one-thousandth the diameter of a proton? Why do we care? Come find out in this hands-on interactive demo, where you will learn about Michelson interferometery, the basic principle behind how LIGO detects explosions in outer space. These explosions happen when two black holes merge and create gravitational waves, ripples in the fabric of spacetime that were predicted by Einstein in 1916 and measured by LIGO in 2016. In this demo we will show you how giant lasers make this measurement possible, with real lasers included!

If you stay with us after 2:30pm, you can apply your new knowledge and operate a real suspended interferometer with Dr. Kontos in the LIGO lab!

Directions to NW22-258: Enter through the front doors of NW22, the doors on the right are for LIGO. The doors will be open for the event. Once inside, follow the signs to the second floor.

TOUR: Lock a Suspended Interferometer -- please note tour limit and prerequisite below

Dr. Antonios Kontos, 2:30 - 4:00pm leaving from NW22-258

Work with LIGO scientists to lock a suspended Michelson-style interferometer using real-time automated control systems.

Note: 6 people max for tour. Advance sign-up required starting at 1:55pm in NW22-258 immediately before Ms. Tse's. Attendance of talk is required of tour participants.

Sponsor(s): Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research
Contact: Debbie Meinbresse, 37-241, 617 253-1456, MEINBRES@MIT.EDU

Svetlana Boriskina, Research Scientist, Mechanical Engineering

Jan/09	Mon	01:00PM-04:00PM	10-150
Jan/10	Tue	01:00PM-04:00PM	10-150
Jan/11	Wed	01:00PM-04:00PM	10-150
Jan/12	Thu	01:00PM-04:00PM	10-150
Jan/13	Fri	01:00PM-04:00PM	10-150

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 12/15
Limited to 16 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: none

Have you ever wondered how some of the great artists of the past achieved photographic quality of their paintings? Would you like to learn how you could do unique interior decorations with sunlight, design art and fashion accessories with fiber optics, and create color without pigments or dyes? Interested in learning about light art treasures of the greater Boston area? This class will offer insight into some basic optical techniques of bending, splitting and trapping light to create visual arts and utilize sunlight for natural lighting and interior decoration.
 
In the lectures, we will take a virtual tour through various geographic locations, cultures, and industries to learn how humankind has made impressions with light over the course of history, and will discuss new emerging trends in this constantly evolving field. Hands-on activities offered during each session will give you a chance to become artists and to paint and decorate with sunlight, nanoparticles and optical fibers. The projects will include constructing a camera obscura likely used by such old masters as Vermeer, making stained-glass windows with metal nanoparticles, decorating with optical fibers and light-emitting diodes, and so much more. All the materials will be provided.

Sponsor(s): MIT-SUTD Collaboration
Contact: Svetlana Boriskina, sborisk@mit.edu

Oliver Dodd, Anthony Kulesa

Enrollment: Apply for enrollment at; mitbiomakers.com
Sign-up by 01/01
Limited to 60 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: None

   Join other self-motivated students with a love for biology and maker-culture for our four week course, designed to nucleate the community of biological-hackers at MIT. You’ll leave our workshop with an experimental action plan outlining proof of concept experimentation to allow you to pursue your chosen topic independently come the spring.  Teams with well thought-out proposals may have a chance to perform their experiments by applying for entry to a new lab class this spring from course 20; 20.S948. Teams may also be eligible to apply directly to the MIT Sandbox program immediately following the course in February.

   Experimental action plans will include a formal description of the problem statement, proposed solution, and experimental protocol, crafted over four weeks with guidance from MIT faculty and local biotech industry mentors. We invite students of all backgrounds, and hope to establish collaborations between those with strong biology knowledge and others with computational/mechanical skillsets. Learn more at our website, mitbiomakers.com.

Sponsor(s): Biological Engineering, Biology
Contact: Oliver Dodd, OBDODD@MIT.EDU

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Problems: Day 1

Jan/09

Mon

09:00AM-12:00PM

1-190

Oliver Dodd, Anthony Kulesa

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Problems: Day 2

Jan/11

Wed

09:00AM-12:00PM

1-190

Oliver Dodd, Anthony Kulesa

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Problems: Day 3

Jan/13

Fri

09:00AM-12:00PM

1-190

Oliver Dodd, Anthony Kulesa

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Solutions: Day 1

Jan/18

Wed

09:00AM-12:00PM

1-190

Oliver Dodd, Anthony Kulesa

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Journal Club

Jan/19

Thu

10:00AM-04:00PM

1-190

Oliver Dodd, Anthony Kulesa

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Solutions: Day 2

Jan/20

Fri

09:00AM-12:00PM

1-190

Oliver Dodd, Anthony Kulesa

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Design; Day 1

Jan/23

Mon

09:00AM-12:00PM

1-190

Oliver Dodd, Anthony Kulesa

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Design; Day 2

Jan/25

Wed

09:00AM-12:00PM

1-190

Oliver Dodd, Anthony Kulesa

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Journal Club

Jan/26

Thu

10:00AM-04:00PM

1-190

Oliver Dodd, Anthony Kulesa

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Design: Day 3

Jan/27

Fri

09:00AM-12:00PM

1-190

Oliver Dodd, Anthony Kulesa

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Design: Day 4

Jan/30

Mon

09:00AM-12:00PM

1-190

Oliver Dodd, Anthony Kulesa

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Design; Day 5

Feb/01

Wed

08:45AM-12:00PM

1-190

Oliver Dodd, Anthony Kulesa

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Journal Club

Feb/02

Thu

10:00AM-04:00PM

1-190

Oliver Dodd, Anthony Kulesa

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Design; Day 6

Feb/03

Fri

09:00AM-12:00PM

1-190

Oliver Dodd, Anthony Kulesa

Nick Fang, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Fee: $50.00 for consumables

This activity demonstrates the basic challenges and opportunities of nanoscale engineering and manufacturing as an outreach effort to high school science teachers and students using digital projector as a fabrication platform.

A regular video projector provides enough UV light to initiate a photochemical reaction by cleaving a molecule to form free radicals when white light is emitted. The free radicals will polymerize a monomer through an addition polymerization reaction. It will polymerize the solution, becoming solid, only where the white light is projected. It will remain an unreacted liquid elsewhere.

Successive layers are made by lowering the polymerized shape into a beaker of the solution. A thin layer of fresh solution flows over the top and light is again projected to solidify portions of the fresh layer. This is repeated, creating a 3 dimensional object layer by layer.

In the past, the proposed activity has led to development of a 3D printing educational module that engaged students and teachers from more than 10 high schools, showcased at the Illinois State Capitol Educational Fair and the St Louis Science Center. Several student projects from the 2.710 and 2.719 courses at MIT are emerging from this objective, and we expect the students and teachers participating in this proposed IAP activities will develop more projects to accessible educational kits.

Contact: Xuanlai Fang, 3-435B, 617 253-2247, NICFANG@MIT.EDU

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Hands-on 3D Printing using projectors

Jan/23	Mon	09:00AM-11:30AM	3-434
Jan/24	Tue	09:00AM-11:30AM	3-434
Jan/25	Wed	09:00AM-11:30AM	3-434
Jan/26	Thu	09:00AM-11:30AM	3-434

This activities contains 4 class periods. The first period is for the PowerPoint presentation, and the rest are for designing and ¿printing¿ the three-dimensional objects. 

Nick Fang - Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering

Charles Settens, Research Specialist, X-ray Diffraction and Scattering

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/13
Limited to 10 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: None

The course covers the basics of crystallographic preferred orientation (texture) and emphasizes use of quantitative tools for texture data acquisition & analysis such as grain orientation distribution calculations from X-ray pole figure data.

The lecture establishes the basics of X-ray pole figure data collection, explains and clarifies the rotations/orientations in both crystal and sample reference frames, introduces the concept of the stereographic projection for pole figure representation and describes the effects of symmetry in on pole figure representations.  Examples for rolled metals such as cube, brass, copper, and S component textures are identified to interpret microstructure-property relationships.

For the experiment, the group travels to the DMSE Metals Lab to roll bulk metals, affix them to the texture goniometer of a Bruker D8 GADDS X-ray diffractometer and perform an X-ray pole figure measurement. The PF measurement is performed overnight for optimum data collection.

The quantitative texture data analysis workshop is a tutorial for gaining practical skills for normalizing, processing and interpreting X-ray pole figures. The goal is to use X-ray pole figures to obtain a grain orientation distribution and calculate the volume fraction of textured crystallites. The workshop uses the MATLAB toolbox package MTEX (http://mtex-toolbox.github.io/). Please download MATLAB and Mtex prior to workshop.

 

 

Contact: Charles Settens, 13-4009A, SETTENS@MIT.EDU

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Lecture: Introduction to Texture

Jan/24

Tue

10:00AM-12:00PM

13-4041

The lecture establishes the basics of X-ray pole figure data collection, explains and clarifies the rotations/orientations in both crystal and sample reference frames, introduces the concept of the stereographic projection for pole figure representation and describes the effects of symmetry in on pole figure representations. 

Charles Settens - Research Specialist, X-ray Diffraction and Scattering

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Experiment: Roll Metal X-ray Pole Figure

Jan/24

Tue

01:30PM-04:30PM

13-4027

For the experiment, the group travels to the DMSE Metals Lab to roll bulk metals, affix them to the texture goniometer of a Bruker D8 GADDS X-ray diffractometer and perform an X-ray pole figure measurement. The PF measurement is performed overnight for optimum data collection.

Charles Settens - Research Specialist, X-ray Diffraction and Scattering

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Quantitative Texture Analysis Workshop

Jan/25

Wed

10:00AM-01:00PM

13-4041

The quantitative texture data analysis workshop is a tutorial for gaining practical skills for normalizing, processing and interpreting X-ray pole figures. The workshop uses the MATLAB toolbox package MTEX (http://mtex-toolbox.github.io/). Please download prior to workshop.

Charles Settens - Research Specialist, X-ray Diffraction and Scattering

Joseph Steinmeyer, Lecturer, EECS, Jacob White, Professor, EECS

Jan/17	Tue	02:00PM-05:00PM	38-530 Circuits Lab, Bring laptop
Jan/18	Wed	02:00PM-05:00PM	38-530 Circuits Lab, Bring laptop
Jan/19	Thu	02:00PM-05:00PM	38-530 Circuits Lab, Bring laptop
Jan/20	Fri	02:00PM-05:00PM	38-530 Circuits Lab, Bring laptop

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/06
Limited to 30 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: High school-level algebra, some exposure to programming

This course will be a one-week lab-focused introduction to controls focused on discrete time modeling and control of systems using microcontrollers (Teensy3.2 and/or Teensy 3.5/6 ARM development boards) and a number of system artifacts (quadcopter propellers and combinations of propellers, inverted pendulum, etc…).  We’ll be carrying out portions of already-developed and newly-developed lab modules from 6.302 and the 6.302x series we’ve been developing, so in some sense this course is a workshop. There will be some light homework associated with the class (~1 hour per day or less), but we’ll only be working in lab (no lectures) and relying on readings and in-lab discussions for establishing concepts. This on-campus IAP class, the labs will NOT be streamlined or plug-and-play, students should expect a more realistic engineering experience. We are also open to students carrying out mini-projects focused on control within the course if they fit within the goals of the curriculum.  Students should be prepared to work in pairs, be inspired by problems where determining the approach is as important as executing on that approach, and they should be comfortable with simple circuits, basic mechanics, and modifying short programs in C and/or Python.

Contact jodalyst@mit.edu by Jan. 6 to sign up.

Sponsor(s): MIT-SUTD Collaboration, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Joe Steinmeyer, jodalyst@mit.edu

Rachel Perlman

Jan/30

Mon

09:00AM-03:30PM

W70 New House, Safety / Protective equipment will be provided.

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

The upcoming renovation of W70 offers an opportunity to rethink how we manage materials in residential buildings on campus.  At this waste audit, students will sort freshly generated waste material into 21 specific waste streams to quantify the various waste streams. This audit will provide data about specific waste streams that will be translated into design solutions intended to provide appropriate space and better functionality for waste management practices in the building.  By participating, students will be assisting in the research that will ultimately make W70 one of the most efficient and sustainable residential buildings on campus.

How much food waste winds up in the trash bin? How much waste and what types of waste do undergraduate dorms like New House generate? We’ll be gathering both qualitative and quantitative data to answer questions like these. We’ll be learning by doing!

There will be an opportunity for students to talk with staff in the Office of Sustainability, Recycling and Materials Management Office, and Residential Life about their personal experience: What are the challenges of minimizing waste generation and knowing “what stuff goes where?” What changes would you like to see in MIT dorms regarding waste?

Article about waste audit conducted in Koch: https://sustainability.mit.edu/news/audit-uncovers-waste-composition-mit-campus

Video of past audit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuO95CPAzgk

 

PLEASE REGISTER:

https://goo.gl/forms/SYg4ZY6jalzs6hij1

Sponsor(s): Office of Sustainability, Residential Life Programs, Department of Facilities
Contact: Rachel Perlman, rperlman@mit.edu