MIT: Independent Activities Period: IAP

IAP 2017 Activities by Category - Computers: Software and Systems

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A Whirlwind Tour of ML

Manasi Vartak, PhD Student at CSAIL, Maggie Makar, Grad Student CSAIL

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/10
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: Basic ML, Python, basic calculus

Machine learning (ML) is clearly the coolest kid on the block right now, and everyone wants to be friends with ML! However, ML as a field has so many areas and sub-areas, and so much jargon that it is hard for a beginner (or even a grad student in ML) to place all of the problems and techniques in context.

This 4-part class will provide brief overviews of diverse ML areas and discussions comparing and contrasting techniques. Each session will consist of MIT grad students giving 1/2 hr talks on particular topics and a discussion putting those topics in context.

Tentative topics per session are:

- Overview of supervised and unsupervised learning

- Inference

- Bayesian Methods

- Neural Nets

 

Class is geared towards advanced undergraduate and graduate students. It assumes a basic familiarity with ML.

Please sign up here by 1/10: https://goo.gl/forms/ZGAaq3qKtrqATEJC3

 

Sponsor(s): Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Student Information Processing Board
Contact: Manasi Vartak, 32-G904B, MVARTAK@MIT.EDU


Session 1

Jan/24 Tue 03:00PM-05:00PM 36-156
Jan/25 Wed 03:00PM-05:00PM 36-156
Jan/26 Thu 03:00PM-05:00PM 36-156
Jan/27 Fri 03:00PM-05:00PM 36-156

Manasi Vartak - PhD Student at CSAIL, Maggie Makar - Grad Student CSAIL


Adobe InDesign Essentials: Basics of InDesign

Andrew Ramirez, Business Analyst

Jan/30 Mon 10:00AM-11:30AM W92 Back Bay, Bring your laptop with software preinstalled

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

Adobe InDesign is a powerful tool that is offered for free for MIT staff and select student departments via the IS&T software grid (here).

Adobe InDesign is a desktop publishing software application produced by Adobe Systems.  It can be used to create works such as posters, flyers, brochures, magazines, newspapers, and books. This quick 90-minute session will teach you the fundamentals of using InDesign for common tasks you may encounter in the workplace like creating a promotional poster, brochure or newsletter. 

Please bring your own laptop and pre-install Adobe InDesign before the session.  

 

SIGNUP LINK: Complete quick signup form here

Sponsor(s): Information Systems & Technology
Contact: Andrew Ramirez, 617 324-3945, AZRAM@MIT.EDU


Adobe Photoshop Essentials: Basics of Photoshop

Andrew Ramirez, Business Analyst

Jan/31 Tue 10:00AM-11:30AM W92 Back Bay, Bring your laptop with software preinstalled

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

Adobe Photoshop is a powerful tool that is offered for free for MIT staff and select student departments via the IS&T software grid (here).

Photoshop is considered one of the leaders in photo editing software. The software allows users to manipulate, crop, resize, and correct color on digital photos. 

Please bring your own laptop and pre-install Adobe Photoshop before the session.  

 

SIGNUP LINK: Complete quick signup form here

 

Sponsor(s): Information Systems & Technology
Contact: Andrew Ramirez, 617 324-3945, AZRAM@MIT.EDU


Applied Probabilistic Programming and Bayesian Machine Learning

Max Shen, PhD Student, Alvin Shi, PhD Student, Carles Boix, PhD Student

Jan/10 Tue 05:00PM-06:30PM 4-237
Jan/12 Thu 05:00PM-06:30PM 4-237
Jan/17 Tue 05:00PM-06:30PM 4-237
Jan/19 Thu 05:00PM-06:30PM 4-237
Jan/24 Tue 05:00PM-06:30PM 4-237
Jan/26 Thu 05:00PM-06:30PM 4-237

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/08
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions

Recent innovations in computational methods for Bayesian inference, captured in probabilistic programming languages such as Stan and Edward, have made the power of fully Bayesian inference accessible beyond expert statisticians. These methods particularly shine in machine learning settings with small-to-medium size datasets and complex prior/domain knowledge.

This class aims to provide a hands-on introduction to applying probabilistic programming to real-world problems. The ideas behind probabilistic programming will be covered, including automatic differentiation, variational inference, Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC), and other inference methods. The engineering of models will also be emphasized through exercises on debugging, model specification, reparameterization, addressing identifiability issues, and model efficiency.

Coding exercises and sample datasets will be provided. Students are also encouraged to bring in their own datasets. All course details are subject to change.

*Prior experience with Python or R recommended, as well as some experience with statistics. The class is geared towards interested undergraduates and graduate students.

*In addition, the first annual Stan Convention is occurring on January 21st at Columbia University ($50 student registration) and some of us will be attending.

*Please register here: https://goo.gl/forms/6Ovz4ferwITj7ak13

*Course Material here: https://github.com/maxwshen/iap-appbml

Contact: Max Shen, MAXWSHEN@MIT.EDU


Basic R Programming for Data Analysis

Ista Zahn, Statistical Trainer

Jan/30 Mon 09:00AM-12:00PM 4-231, Bring your laptop

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Prereq: a basic familiarity with R

This hands-on, intermediate course will guide you through a variety of programming functions in the open-source statistical software program, R. 

It is intended for those already comfortable with using R for data analysis who wish to move on to writing their own functions. To the extent possible this workshop uses real-world examples. Concepts will be introduced as they are needed for a realistic analysis task. In the course of working through a realistic project we will lean about interacting with web services, regular expressions, iteration, functions, control flow and more.

Prerequisite: basic familiarity with R, such as acquired from an introductory R workshop.

Bring your own laptop. There are no computers in the classroom.

Register here.

 

Sponsor(s): Libraries
Contact: Jennie Murack, 7-238, 617 258-6680, MURACK@MIT.EDU


Basics of Copyrights, Data, and Software Intellectual Property

Daniel Dardani

Jan/25 Wed 12:00PM-01:45PM 3-133, Pizza will be served

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/25

It has been said that content is king. 

Copyrighted works – whether media, software, or art – are a major portion of the world’s creative, intellectual, and economic output.   As such, copyright issues affect musicians, artists, authors, and software programmers alike.  This talk offers a fun and interesting look at the protection of your creative works of authorship whether developed in the lab at MIT or elsewhere.

Join Daniel Dardani, Technology Licensing Officer and intellectual property expert for an overview of copyright law, its history, practice, and relevance to your world and to the MIT community. 

Daniel will explore topics including: the nature of originality, Fair Use, open source, how copyrights can be licensed in the digital age, and others. All are welcomed. No prior knowledge about IP or the law is required.

This event is co-sponsored by the MIT Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences (EECS) 

To register please email: kmkhalil@mit.edu

 

Sponsor(s): Technology Licensing Office, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Katrina Khalil, NE18-501, 617-253-6966, kmkhalil@mit.edu


Build your own multi-touch pad (learn laser-cutting, basic electronics, and computer vision in 2 afternoons)

Stefanie Mueller, Assistant Professor EECS / MechE

Enrollment: Maximum 24 Participants.
Sign-up by 01/16
Limited to 24 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: hardware: none, software: basic programming knowledge

Learn laser cutting, electronics breadboard prototyping, soldering, and computer vision in only two afternoons. In this hands-on IAP, we will build a multi-touch pad using the principles of FTIR (Frustrated Total Internal Reflection).

In the first session, we are going to build the hardware of your device. In the second session, we will add the software, i.e., the finger tracking and gesture recognition. All you need to bring is your laptop, we take care of the rest.

You can find more information (including an image of what you will build) here:

http://groups.csail.mit.edu/hcie/iap-multitouch-pad.html

This IAP is organized by the HCI Engineering Group (HCIE). We are a new group at MIT CSAIL (starting January 2017) and build interactive software and hardware systems with a focus on advancing personal fabrication technologies.

Sponsor(s): Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Stefanie Mueller, 32-312, STEFANIE.MUELLER@MIT.EDU


Hardware: Laser cutting / Electronics

Jan/19 Thu 02:00PM-06:00PM 32-311, bring your laptop

In the first session, you will build the hardware for your multi-touch pad. First, you will laser cut an acrylic sheet and use a heat gun to bend it into shape. After that, you will solder the USB connector, the LEDs and add a switch for turning the LEDs on/off. We will provide you with basic knowledge in electronics and give an intro to Arduino. Finally, you will add a camera that we will use for tracking the fingers.


Gesture Recognition / Computer Vision

Jan/20 Fri 02:00PM-06:00PM 32-311, bring your laptop

In the second session, you will use computer vision to track finger gestures on your multi-touch pad using the attached camera. For this, we will give an intro to computer vision with OpenCV (color-space conversions, thresholding, blob detection). At the end, we will host a contest for the best example application with some unique prizes for the most creative solutions.


Building a Cognos report - advanced

George Roch, Business Intelligence Analyst

Jan/17 Tue 09:00AM-12:00PM 1-115, Phone for duo access. Laptop is optional

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Prereq: Prior Cognos knowledge will be helpful

During this hands-on session, we’ll cover how to create drill-throughs between reports, implementing conditional logic, and other report-building tips and tricks. There  will be time at the end for attendees to try to build a report on their own, or update an existing report to better meet their reporting needs.

 

To register, contact: g_roch@mit.edu

Sponsor(s): Information Systems & Technology
Contact: George Roch, W92, 617 324-1140, G_ROCH@MIT.EDU


Building a Cognos report - basic

George Roch, Business Intelligence Analyst

Jan/10 Tue 09:00AM-12:00PM 1-115, Phone to approve duo access. Laptops are optional

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required

During this hands-on session, attendees will learn how to build a basic Cognos report. We’ll cover list, crosstab, and chart reports, formatting elements, sectioning and grouping data, adding totals, and exporting reports. There will be time at the end for attendees to try to build a report on their own, or update an existing report to better meet their reporting needs.

 

To register, contact: g_roch@mit.edu

Sponsor(s): Information Systems & Technology
Contact: George Roch, W92, 617 324-1140, G_ROCH@MIT.EDU


Business data: Finding & mapping company information

Jennie Murack, Nick Albaugh

Jan/20 Fri 11:00AM-12:00PM 14N-132

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required

Did you ever wonder where grocery stores are located in a city? Or perhaps biotech firms? We will learn how to query several business directories and then take that information one step further by creating customized maps and finding detailed information for specific companies.

Bring your laptop or use a computer in the lab.

Register here.

Sponsor(s): Libraries, Geographic Information Systems Lab
Contact: Jennie Murack, 7-238, 617 258-6680, MURACK@MIT.EDU


Clinical Imaging Informatics: Radiology in 2020

Randy Gollub, HST Affiliated - Associate Professor of Psychiatry, MGH

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 12/19
Limited to 40 participants
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions

https://hst.mit.edu/IAP2017_Clinical_Imaging_Informatics

This course offers an in depth examination of the complete clinical imaging workflow from the perspective of the enabling technologies, many of which are being developed at MIT and collaborating academic healthcare centers. In hands-on sessions, participants will have the opportunity to develop cutting edge medical image visualization software tools and to explore data analysis and machine learning using quantitative metrics extracted from medical images and associated free text or structured meta-data.

As part of the course participants will begin to learn how to:

Goal of this educational effort is to catalyze the development of clinical imaging informatics infrastructure to help turn the wealth of raw medical images and linked health records into actionable medical knowledge: (1) by attracting new minds to pursue this career path; (2) by stimulating new collaborations between technology leaders and clinical translational investigators; and (3) by inspiring new applications of existing technologies.

Sponsor(s): Institute for Medical Engineering & Science, Health Sciences
Contact: Randy Gollub, rgollub@partners.org


Introduction to the Clinical Informatics

Jan/10 Tue 03:00PM-07:00PM E25-119, Bring a laptop

Visit https://hst.mit.edu/IAP2017_Clinical_Imaging_Informatics for session details, etc.

You are welcome to attend individual sessions, but you will get the most out of the course by attending all 4 sessions as they build upon each other.

Randy Gollub - HST Affiliated - Associate Professor of Psychiatry, MGH


Attributes of Medical Image Data

Jan/17 Tue 03:00PM-07:00PM E25-119, Bring a laptop

Visit https://hst.mit.edu/IAP2017_Clinical_Imaging_Informatics for session details, etc.

You are welcome to attend individual sessions, but you will get the most out of the course by attending all 4 sessions as they build upon each other.

Randy Gollub - HST Affiliated - Associate Professor of Psychiatry, MGH


Clinical Annotation

Jan/24 Tue 03:00PM-07:00PM E25-119, Bring a laptop

Visit https://hst.mit.edu/IAP2017_Clinical_Imaging_Informatics for session details, etc.

You are welcome to attend individual sessions, but you will get the most out of the course by attending all 4 sessions as they build upon each other.

Randy Gollub - HST Affiliated - Associate Professor of Psychiatry, MGH


Machine learning in medical imaging

Jan/31 Tue 03:00PM-07:00PM E25-119, Bring a laptop

Visit https://hst.mit.edu/IAP2017_Clinical_Imaging_Informatics for session details, etc.

You are welcome to attend individual sessions, but you will get the most out of the course by attending all 4 sessions as they build upon each other.

Randy Gollub - HST Affiliated - Associate Professor of Psychiatry, MGH


Computing Essentials for Scientists and Engineers

Chen Xie

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Prereq: None

These classes aim to teach concepts and habits that make programming a more simplified and comfortable process for those who did not study computer science.

The presenter will use slideshows and read/write/manipulate files and programs during the sessions. Class participation is encouraged.

Signup has reached maximum capacity. Waitlist here: https://goo.gl/forms/yebq7R1cQriYYMAG3

 

Before the first session, please ensure that you have done the following on your laptop:

- Download and install git: https://git-scm.com/downloads

- Download and install the C Python interpreter (Python 3.6): https://www.python.org/downloads/

- Download `get-pip.py` and install pip: https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/installing/

- Create an account on github: https://github.com/

- Ensure you have a user account on your operating system with no spaces. If your current one has spaces, make a new one.

 

Sponsor(s): Health Sciences
Contact: Chen Xie, CX1111@MIT.EDU


Storage and Interpretation of Files

Jan/24 Tue 06:00PM-07:00PM 56-154, Bring your laptop

Important Programming Languages

Jan/25 Wed 06:00PM-07:00PM 56-154, Bring your laptop

Version Control and Collaboration

Jan/26 Thu 06:00PM-07:00PM 56-154, Bring your laptop

Computing in Optimization and Statistics

Phil Chodrow, Joey Huchette, Brad Sturt, Dimitris Bertsimas, Professor

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/01
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions

The "big data revolution" has placed added emphasis on computational techniques for
decision-making with data. Large-scale optimization, data analysis and visualization are now
commonplace among researchers and practitioners alike. More than ever, there is a need not
only to develop techniques, but also to implement and use them in computational practice.


This course (formerly “Software Tools for Operations Research”) is a multi-session workshop
on software tools for informing decision-making using data, with a focus on optimization and
statistics. We concentrate on teaching elementary principles of computational practice using
common software and practical methods. By the end of the course, students will possess a
baseline technical knowledge for modern research practice. Class participation and individual
hands-on coding are stressed in each session.


The course is divided into 8 self-contained modules. Each module consists of a 3-hour,
interactive workshop where participants learn a specific software tool. Class participation, group
code-reviews and individual hands-on coding are stressed in each session. At the end of the
module, participants will be able to use the software and techniques learned in their own
research. Participants will also leave each workshop with code they, themselves, have authored
to use for future reference.

Sponsor(s): Operations Research Center
Contact: Brad Sturt, bsturt@mit.edu


Module 1

Jan/10 Tue 09:00AM-12:00PM E51-151

Motivation, Terminal, Github

Jackie Baek, Brad Sturt


Module 2

Jan/12 Thu 09:00AM-12:00PM E51-151

Data Wrangling & Visualization in R

Steven Morse, Alex Weinstein


Module 3

Jan/17 Tue 09:00AM-12:00PM E51-151

Statistical Modeling and Machine Learning in R

Colin Pawlowski, Clark Pixton


Module 4

Jan/19 Thu 09:00AM-12:00PM E51-151

Advanced Techniques for Data Science in R

Phil Chodrow


Module 5

Jan/19 Thu 09:00AM-12:00PM E51-151

Introduction to Julia and JuMP, Linear Optimization, and Engaging

Joey Huchette, Sebastien Martin


Module 6

Jan/26 Thu 09:00AM-12:00PM E51-151

Nonlinear and Integer Optimization in JuMP

Miles Lubin, Yee Sian Ng


Module 7

Jan/31 Tue 09:00AM-12:00PM E51-151

Excel for Operations Research

Charles Thraves


Module 8

Feb/02 Thu 09:00AM-12:00PM E51-151

Deep Learning in TensorFlow, Python

Eli Gutin, Brad Sturt


COMSOL Multiphysics Boot Camp

Mian Qin

Jan/17 Tue 09:00AM-04:00PM 66-110

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required

Learn multiphysics simulation with COMSOL experts. These lectures are suitable for anyone with an engineering, physics, or science background, who is interested in developing or using COMSOL models and apps. No previous COMSOL experience necessary.

 * To receive the trial version before this lecture, please confirm your attendance at:

https://www.comsol.com/events/workshop/15241


Schedule overview:

9-10:30am 1. Introduction to COMSOL Multiphysics and Application Builder (Dr. Peter Lyu)
BREAK
10:45-12:00 2. Chemical Engienering (Dr. Peter Lyu)
BREAK
1:00-2:00 3. Heat Transfer (Dr. Peter Lyu)
BREAK
2:15-3:45 Structural Mechanics (Dr. Temesgen Kindo)
Q&A

 

 

Sponsor(s): Chemical Engineering
Contact: Adrienne Bruno, 66-350, 617 253-4562, BRUNOA@MIT.EDU


Course Setting for Orienteering with Purple Pen

Alex Jospe, Ed Despard

Jan/11 Wed 06:30PM-07:30PM 32-141

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

We will go over some basic best-practices of setting orienteering courses from beginner through advanced levels. We will discuss how to use the free software Purple Pen to set a better course and to yield a higher-quality map for printing. Purple Pen has many useful features that will help you set better courses. We'll finish with some q&a, and hopefully you'll leave with a better understanding of how to provide a beautiful map for orienteering courses. Optional: bring your laptop with Purple Pen already installed if you'd like to test this out on your next course setting opportunity.

Contact: Patrick McNeal, E53-383, 617 324-2721, MCNEAL@MIT.EDU


Current issues in SSL and TLS

Rajiv Aaron Manglani

Jan/18 Wed 05:00PM-07:00PM 4-237

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/18
Prereq: Familiarity with HTTP and TLS.

SSL and TLS are the protocols which provide the foundation for securing internet traffic. We will explore current topics and issues facing the industry including SHA-1 to SHA-2 certificate migrations, ECDSA, post-quantum cryptography, Certificate Transparency, OCSP and Stapling, HTTP/2, free DV certificates from Let's Encrypt, and TLS 1.3.

Details at https://sipb.mit.edu/iap/ssl-tls

Sponsor(s): Student Information Processing Board
Contact: Rajiv Aaron Manglani, sipb-iap17-ssl-tls@mit.edu


Data Management in Stata

Ista Zahn, Statistical Trainer

Jan/20 Fri 01:00PM-04:00PM 1-115

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Prereq: Familiarity with Stata (such as the Intro. workshop)

This class will introduce common data management techniques in Stata.  Topics covered include basic data manipulation commands such as: recoding variables, creating new variables, working with missing data, and generating variables based on complex selection criteria.  Participants will be introduced to strategies for merging datasets (adding both variables and observations), and collapsing datasets.

Prerequisite: This workshop is intended for users who have an introductory level of knowledge of Stata software.

For current MIT students, faculty, and staff only. Athena login required to access the software.

Register here: http://libcal.mit.edu/event.php?id=842830

Sponsor(s): Libraries
Contact: Jennie Murack, 7-238, 617 258-6680, MURACK@MIT.EDU


Developing Brain-Computer Interfaces for Art and Well-Being

Grace Leslie, Visiting Scientist, MIT Media Lab

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/06
Limited to 15 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: None required, but cognitive science or programming helpful

This project-based course will provide students with a basic understanding of neurofeedback and brain-computer interface systems using EEG (electroencephalography).  Lectures will cover the design of brain-computer interface (BCI) systems, an introduction to EEG sensing and analysis, design of real-time generative media feedback, and applications of BCI for healthy and physically or neurologically disabled users. Students from complementary disciplines will be assigned to groups of 3 for hands-on development projects working towards the creation of a new BCI concept. Projects will be completed using Max/MSP and Jitter using custom software frameworks developed for the class; hacking and contribution will be encouraged!

 

There are no specific prerequisites, but students with experience in one of the following areas are encouraged to apply: cognitive science, computer programming for digital media, real-time digital music or video software.

Sponsor(s): MIT-SUTD Collaboration
Contact: Grace Leslie, gleslie@mit.edu


Jan/09 Mon 09:00AM-12:00PM E15-341 (TBC), bring laptop w/Bluetooth.
Jan/11 Wed 09:00AM-12:00PM E15-341 (TBC), bring laptop w/Bluetooth.
Jan/13 Fri 09:00AM-12:00PM E15-341 (TBC), bring laptop w/Bluetooth.
Jan/18 Wed 09:00AM-12:00PM E15-341 (TBC), bring laptop w/Bluetooth.
Jan/20 Fri 09:00AM-12:00PM E15-341 (TBC), bring laptop w/Bluetooth.

Helpful to download Max/MSP 30-day trial and try it out before class starts.


Exploratory Programming Workshop

Nick Montfort

Jan/17 Tue 01:00PM-05:00PM 4-257

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/16
Limited to 15 participants

This workshop is for beginners — people new to programming. This will be a true introduction to computer programming and how it can be used for inquiry and creativity.

The workshop is based on Montfort’s book Exploratory Programming for the Arts and Humanities. The workshop will cover the initial, core concepts of the book.

Nick will lead participants in exploring computer programs through modification and as they start learning the fundamentals of programming, covering:

•  Writing programs is not intimidating; materially, it’s just editing a text file.

•  The difference between valid code (a program that runs) and code that does what you intend, along with how error messages are actually helpful to programmers.

•  The true fundamentals of programming – looping and iteration, bundling code together in functions, and using data of different types.

•  How to undertake small-scale projects and see that computer programming is not an abstract mathematical exercise, but part of our culture.

Although we will be working with JavaScript and Python, the fundamentals you will learn in this workshop will not be specific to a particular programming language.

We will be approaching programming as a cultural activity that is accessible to everyone.

Sponsor(s): Comparative Media Studies/Writing
Contact: Nick Montfort, nickm@nickm.com


Game on security technologies for the critical infrastructure (with Kaspersky)

Allen Moulton, Research Scientist

Jan/30 Mon 08:30AM-04:00PM E51-145
Jan/31 Tue 08:30AM-04:00PM E51-145
Feb/01 Wed 08:30AM-04:00PM E51-145
Feb/02 Thu 08:30AM-04:00PM E51-145
Feb/03 Fri 08:30AM-11:00AM E51-145

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Limited to 30 participants
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Prereq: Being an undergrad junior/senior or grad student

The modern critical infrastructure has been built during the last 20-25 years, but one may still see Windows 3.1 or NT operating on power plants that supply energy for world’s largest cities. However, hackers and malware writers do not wait—they are constantly improving their skills and toolset often at a faster pace.

Advanced Persistent Threats (APT) attack various organizations, banks, and industries for stealing trade secrets, causing damages, and interrupting the process flows. Most APTs are often discovered 4-6 years after being deployed. Yes, for 4-6 years, many power plants did not know that their systems were infected. On the other hand, antivirus technologies were not put into the Critical Infrastructure for a long time. Even today, most of the facilities rely on their luck and good karma.

During this activity, we will dive deep into security technologies such as malware detection and mitigation and a variety of penetration tests. We will also discuss interesting cases from our own experience. You will play Capture The Flag (CTF) competition game that requires out-of-box creative thinking—which helps you be ahead of your partners and competitors. The next interactive activity is the KIPS game that is a simulation of a real industrial power plant, providing a series of hands-on challenges of the modern ICS system insecurity. 

More information: https://goo.gl/2LDilf

Sponsored by MIT-(IC)3: Interdisciplinary Consortium for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity

Sponsor(s): Sloan School of Management
Contact: Allen Moulton, E94-1580, (617) 253-3471, amoulton@MIT.EDU


Getting Started with Dropbox

Irina Cyr, Manager, Knowledge Management

Jan/25 Wed 10:30AM-11:30AM 4-149

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/23
Limited to 25 participants
Prereq: None

Learn how to get up-and-running with Dropbox for Business at MIT. Common questions about collaboration features and group management will be covered. You will also learn how to connect Personal accounts to an MIT account, install the Dropbox client on multiple devices, and share files and folders with those within and outside the MIT community.

Sponsor(s): Information Systems & Technology
Contact: Irina Cyr, W91-219C, 617 715-2383, IRINAV@MIT.EDU


Getting to Know ArcGIS Pro

Jennie Murack, Anne Graham

Jan/31 Tue 11:00AM-12:00PM 14N-132

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required

ESRI recently introduced a new GIS software, ArcGIS Pro. Learn how to use it, explore new features, and find out how it differs from ArcGIS Desktop.

This is not an Intro to GIS workshop. We will only be discussing the features of this software.

Register here: http://libcal.mit.edu/event/2963367

Sponsor(s): Geographic Information Systems Lab, Libraries
Contact: Jennie Murack, 7-238, 617 258-6680, MURACK@MIT.EDU


GIS Level 2

Anne Graham, Daniel Sheehan

Jan/24 Tue 01:00PM-04:00PM 14N-132

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Prereq: A basic knowledge of GIS using either ArcMap or QGIS

Expand your experience with GIS software and learn how to manage map projections, create and edit GIS files, and use tools like Clip, Buffer, and Spatial Join. We will use both QGIS and ArcGIS.

Prerequisite: Previous experience with GIS software is required, such as taking the Intro to GIS workshop.

Register here: http://libcal.mit.edu/event/2963336

 

Sponsor(s): Geographic Information Systems Lab, Libraries
Contact: Jennie Murack, 7-238, 617 258-6680, MURACK@MIT.EDU


Global Game Jam 2017

Rik Eberhardt, Studio Manager, MIT Game Lab

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/19
Limited to 85 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions

Register now at: http://gamelab.mit.edu/event/global-game-jam-2017-at-mit/ 

The Global Game Jam (GGJ) is the world's largest game jam event taking place around the world at physical locations. Think of it as a hackathon focused on game development. It is the growth of an idea that in today’s heavily connected world, we could come together, be creative, share experiences and express ourselves in a multitude of ways using video games – it is very universal. The weekend stirs a global creative buzz in games, while at the same time exploring the process of development, be it programming, iterative design, narrative exploration or artistic expression. It is all condensed into a 48 hour development cycle. The GGJ encourages people with all kinds of backgrounds to participate and contribute to this global spread of game development and creativity.

We open our doors on Friday, January 20th at 5pm and run until midnight that day. Our site is open Saturday, January 21st from 9am until midnight, and Sunday, January 22nd from 9am until 6pm.

The Global Game Jam is a 3-day event, but our site closes at night so participants can go home and get rested for the next day. Participants should plan to attend the entire duration of the event as your team will need you to complete your game!

Participants must register to attend: http://gamelab.mit.edu/event/global-game-jam-2017-at-mit/ 

We have 30 free slots open for the MIT Community (must have an @mit.edu email address to register).

Sponsor(s): Comparative Media Studies/Writing, Game Lab
Contact: Richard Eberhardt, E15-329, 617 324-2173, REBERHAR@MIT.EDU


Keynote & Kickoff Presentations

Jan/20 Fri 05:00PM-08:00PM 32-123

The jam begins with a keynote, presentations about the Jam, and reveal of the Jam topic.

Teams will be formed by 8:00pm.


Game Jam

Jan/20 Fri 08:00PM-11:45PM 32-124 & 32-144
Jan/21 Sat 09:00AM-11:45PM 56-154, 56-169, and
Jan/22 Sun 09:00AM-03:00PM 32-124 & 32-144

Work days for the Jam. Participants will be working in teams to create their games.


Presentations & Postmortem

Jan/22 Sun 03:00PM-06:30PM 32-123

Game Jam participants will present the work they created over the weekend and postmortem their process.

This is open to the general public - no registration is required for this session.


Hacking a Software Interview -- Mastering Programming Interview Questions

Ron Chaney

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Prereq: one MIT programming class or equivalent; 6.006 useful

Ever wanted to work at a company like Akamai, Facebook, Google, or TripAdvisor? There's just one thing standing in your way: the interview.  Whether you're a beginning programmer or a seasoned expert, this class can help you prepare for a technical interview. The class will focus on computer science topics that frequently come up in programming interviews.  We will cover topics like time complexity, hash tables, binary search trees, and some other things you might learn in 6.046. Most of the time will be spent teaching participants how to formulate responses to technical questions during an interview. Real life examples will be used.  If you have any interest in working at a computer science company, make sure you don't miss this class!

Sponsor(s): Student Information Processing Board, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Jaime Perkins, jperkins@akamai.com


Part I

Jan/18 Wed 05:30PM-07:00PM 32-155

Part II

Jan/19 Thu 05:30PM-07:00PM 32-155

High Performance Computing workshop

Wesley Harrell, Associate Director, Research Computing

Feb/01 Wed 03:00PM-05:00PM Sloan E52-016 Traini, Bring your laptop

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/30
Limited to 20 participants
Prereq: None

Learn the basics of High Performance Computing here at Sloan! In particular, we will together log into the cluster computer and do some warm-up exercises. Visit the

Sloan Research Computing Group page

to make reservations (strongly encouraged!)

You must have SecureCRT/SecureFX, PuTTY or some other SSH client installed on your laptop before the seminar. (We won't have time to do this during class.) Please go to

IST Secure Software page

for SecureCRT/SecureFX. Contact STSHelp@mit.edu for help in doing this.

If you miss this workshop, don't worry!  There will be more offerings of the same material later in the springtime.

Sponsor(s): Sloan School of Management
Contact: Steven Finch, E52-028J, 617-715-5676, sfinch@mit.edu


Interactive Computing with iPython

Jakob Weisblat

Jan/17 Tue 07:00PM-09:00PM 4-231

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Prereq: Familiarity with python; matplotlib a plus.

iPython (or "Jupyter notebook") is a very nice interactive python environment that makes it really easy to do interactive computation and data visualization. We'll demo a few useful features, and then we'll build a thing together to interactively compute a thing.

Sponsor(s): Student Information Processing Board
Contact: Jakob Weisblat, sipb-iap17-ipython@mit.edu


Intro to Version Control using Git & GitHub

Tristan Naumann

Jan/31 Tue 08:00PM-10:00PM 4-237

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Prereq: Basic shell familiarity is helpful

Version control systems are essential for the organization of multi-developer projects. Likewise, familiarity with such tools can greatly simplify even small projects. This short course will discuss version control as a problem and focus on how it can be managed with Git. Further, we will discuss how to share code using GitHub and some common workflows.

Git is a free and open source distributed version control system designed to handle everything from small to very large projects. GitHub is a web-based hosting service for projects using Git which has quickly become one of the most popular code repository sites for open source projects.

Sponsor(s): Student Information Processing Board
Contact: Tristan Naumann, sipb-iap17-version-control@mit.edu


Intro to Web Cartography - Mapping with LeafletJS

Mike Foster, Cartographer

Jan/31 Tue 02:00PM-03:00PM 9-554

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/27
Limited to 15 participants

The web has become a prominent way readers interact with maps and spatial data, with rich, informative visualizations and interactive maps becoming a common way to display data and showcase information. This short session is designed to introduce web mapping with Leaflet, a popular open source Javascript mapping library. It will take beginners through converting and uploading a dataset, accessing the Leaflet library, mapping the dataset, and adding basic interaction, such as popups. 

 

Sign up here: https://goo.gl/forms/1Lygk4PuWsqEnEQS2

Sponsor(s): Urban Studies and Planning
Contact: Michael Foster, 9-522, 617 324-8234, MJFOSTER@MIT.EDU


Introduction to EndNote

Christine Malinowski, Research Data Librarian

Jan/12 Thu 03:00PM-04:00PM 14N-132 (DIRC)

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/11
Limited to 25 participants

EndNote is a software package designed to help you organize citations and create bibliographies. In this workshop we'll cover how to search for citations in databases (such as PubMed and Web of Science) and library catalogs (such as Barton), import and organize them in EndNote, and build your bibliographies and inline citations in Word.

Register for this workshop at: http://libcal.mit.edu/event/2980712 

Sponsor(s): Libraries
Contact: Christine Malinowski, E53-100, 617 324-6394, CMALIN@MIT.EDU


Introduction to GIS

Madeline Wrable

Jan/17 Tue 01:00PM-04:00PM 14N-132
Jan/23 Mon 01:00PM-04:00PM 14N-132

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Attendance: Repeating event, participants welcome at any session

Learn the basics of visualizing and analyzing geographic information and creating your own maps in a Geographic Information System (GIS). We will introduce open source and proprietary GIS software options and let attendees choose to work through exercises using ESRI ArcGIS (proprietary) and/or Quantum GIS (QGIS) (open source). Learn to work with data from the MIT Geodata Repository, analyze the data, and create maps that can be used in reports and presentations.

For January 17th, Register here: http://libcal.mit.edu/event/2963173

For January 23rd, Register here: http://libcal.mit.edu/event/2963332

Note, this is the same workshop offered twice. Only register for one workshop.

Sponsor(s): Geographic Information Systems Lab, Libraries
Contact: Jennie Murack, 7-238, 617 258-6680, MURACK@MIT.EDU


Introduction to R

Ista Zahn, Statistical Trainer,

Jan/19 Thu 09:00AM-12:00PM 4-231, Bring your laptop
Jan/24 Tue 01:00PM-04:00PM 4-231, Bring your laptop

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Attendance: Repeating event, participants welcome at any session

Get an introduction to R, the open-source system for statistical computation and graphics. With hands-on exercises, learn how to import and manage datasets, create R objects, install and load R packages, conduct basic statistical analyses, and create common graphical displays. This workshop is appropriate for those with little or no prior experience with R.

Bring a laptop to the workshop as there are no computers in the classroom. Prior to the workshop install R and RStudio.

This workshop will be offered at two times. Register for one time.

January 19th, 9am-12pm 

January 24th, 1-4pm

Sponsor(s): Libraries
Contact: Jennie Murack, 7-238, 617 258-6680, MURACK@MIT.EDU


Introduction to R Graphics with ggplot2

Ista Zahn

Jan/31 Tue 01:00PM-04:00PM 4-237, Bring your laptop

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Prereq: Familiar with saving/importing data, data types, data frames

This introduction to the popular ggplot2 R graphics package will show you how to create a wide variety of graphical displays in R. Topics covered included aesthetic mapping and scales, faceting, and themes. This is an intermediate level workshop appropriate for those already familiar with R.

Prerequisites: Participants should be familiar with importing and saving data, data types (e.g., numeric, factor, character), and manipulating data.frames in R.

Bring a laptop. There are no computers in the clasroom.

Register here.

Sponsor(s): Libraries
Contact: Jennie Murack, 7-238, 617 258-6680, MURACK@MIT.EDU


Introduction to Remote Sensing

Madeline Wrable

Jan/25 Wed 01:00PM-03:00PM 7-238, 3rd floor

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required

Are you curious about how to make use of satellite data? Come learn about satellite remote sensing and image processing. You will leave with an overview of this technology and resources for getting started.

Register here: http://libcal.mit.edu/event/2963376

The workshop will be held in the GIS lab on the 3rd floor of Rotch Library (building 7-238). The GIS lab computers require an MIT Athena login so you must have one to participate.

Sponsor(s): Geographic Information Systems Lab, Libraries
Contact: Jennie Murack, 7-238, 617 258-6680, MURACK@MIT.EDU


Introduction to Spatial Statistics in GIS

Jennie Murack, Madeline Wrable

Jan/26 Thu 01:00PM-03:00PM 14N-132

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Prereq: a basic knowledge of ArcMap

Are there clusters in your data? Are similar values grouped together? How are several pieces of data related? This workshop will introduce you to spatial statistics techniques in both ArcMap and Geoda.

Register here: http://libcal.mit.edu/event/2963347

Prerequisites: A basic knowledge of ArcMap, including how to load data and a familiarity with the interface.

Sponsor(s): Geographic Information Systems Lab, Libraries
Contact: Jennie Murack, 7-238, 617 258-6680, MURACK@MIT.EDU


Introduction to Stata

Ista Zahn

Jan/20 Fri 09:00AM-12:00PM 1-115

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required

This class will provide a hands-on introduction to Stata. You will learn how to navigate Stata’s graphical user interface, create log files, and import data from a variety of software packages.  We will also share tips for getting started with Stata including the creation and organization of do-files, examining descriptive statistics, and managing data and value labels.

This workshop is designed for individuals who have little or no experience using Stata software.

For current MIT students, faculty, and staff only. Athena login required to access the software.

Register here.

Sponsor(s): Libraries
Contact: Jennie Murack, 7-238, 617 258-6680, MURACK@MIT.EDU


Introduction to the Reaction Mechanism Generator (RMG) software

Soumya Gudiyella, Postdoctoral Associate, Chemical Engineering Dept.

Jan/20 Fri 10:00AM-12:00PM 56-114, Bring your laptop
Jan/27 Fri 10:00AM-12:00PM 56-114, Bring your laptop

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/13
Limited to 20 participants
Attendance: Repeating event, participants welcome at any session
Prereq: General background in chemistry, laptop required

Reaction Mechanism Generator (RMG) is an automatic mechanism generation software developed by the Green Group at MIT (http://rmg.mit.edu/). The software can be used to generate chemical kinetic mechanisms for a wide range of chemical species by using inbuilt reaction networks and libraries. In the Green Group, RMG is extensively used to develop chemical kinetic mechanisms for combustion and chemical process applications.

In this course, you will learn about

      -  Visualizing the mechanism

      -  Model comparison

      -  Molecule search, kinetics search and others …

      -  How to cite RMG

      -  Github basics (how to update RMG, troubleshooting etc.)

      -  How to install RMG on your computer

Prerequisites: General background in chemistry, laptop required

Who should attend: Students/post-docs working on gas phase chemical kinetics. Students/postdocs interested in building chemical kinetic mechanisms for combustion and chemical process applications.

Duration: 2 hr

Good to know: Basic Linux commands

Registration: Register here

Contact: Soumya Gudiyella, E18-566A, 617-902-8184, SOUMYAG@MIT.EDU


Introduction to wikis.mit.edu

Heather Anne Harrison, Knowledge Management Team

Jan/31 Tue 01:00PM-02:00PM 4-159

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/30
Limited to 35 participants

Learn how to get up and running with your own wikis.mit.edu collaboration space on the web. All MIT community community groups, projects, and organizations are eligible for these free web spaces that can be restricted to your group or opened up for the world to see. This introduction to wikis.mit.edu will cover requesting spaces; creating/editing pages; formatting content, using macros to structure your site; sharing attachments; and permissions control including touchstone collaboration accounts and moira groups. 

Sponsor(s): Information Systems & Technology
Contact: Heather Harrison, W91-219B, 617 253-8969, AURORA@MIT.EDU


iOS Development with Swift

Nina Kominiak, Apple Consulting Engineer

Jan/30 Mon 01:00PM-03:00PM 2-105

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/15
Limited to 40 participants
Prereq: Basic programming knowledge

Join us to learn about Apple’s new Objective-C based programming language with one of Apple's consulting engineers, Nina Kominiak. Fast, modern, safe and interactive — Swift has been proven to be more efficient at complex object sorts and more reliable for RC4 encryptions. In this seminar, we will be going over the basics of Swift and sharing resources that can help you jumpstart developing your next iOS application.

Reserve your spot at developer.mit.edu/iapswift

Sponsor(s): Information Systems & Technology
Contact: Amber Bennoui, W92-254G, 617 324-6573, BENNOUI@MIT.EDU


iOS Security

Nina Kominiak, Apple Consulting Engineer

Jan/31 Tue 10:00AM-12:00PM 4-231

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/25
Limited to 45 participants

Join us to learn about Apple iOS security best practices and implementation with one of Apple's consulting engineers, Nina Kominiak. In this seminar, we will be going over the basics of iOS security and share resources that can help you easily implement these security features in your next iOS application.

Reserve your spot at developer.mit.edu/iap-ios-security

Make sure to also check out iOS Development with Swift (developer.mit.edu/iapswift).

Sponsor(s): Information Systems & Technology
Contact: Amber Bennoui, W92-254G, 617 324-6573, BENNOUI@MIT.EDU


IS&T Board Effect for Meetings, Committees & Groups

Patrick Curtis, Manager VIP Help

Jan/17 Tue 01:00PM-03:00PM 32-123 Kirsch Audito

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

An overview & demo of IS&T's Board Effect service for Groups & Committees,

Sponsor(s): Information Systems & Technology
Contact: Patrick Curtis, 35-315, 617 253-3916, PCURTIS@MIT.EDU


LabArchives: Electronic Lab Notebook

Lisa Robinson, Manager, IS&T Release Engineering

Jan/17 Tue 10:00AM-11:00AM 14N-132 DIRC

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/16
Limited to 35 participants

Learn about LabArchives, a cloud-based electronic lab notebook (ELN). 

- Share information within the laboratory and beyond.

- Store data securely on the LabArchives servers.  Multiple redundancy ensures 24x7 availability.

- Create standard ELN formats and templates for your lab or research group.

- Available at no cost to MIT departments, labs and centers

 

Please register herehttp://libcal.mit.edu/event/3000318

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


LabVIEW For-Credit Courses

David Trumper

Enrollment: Pre-register on WebSIS
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions

There are two new for-credit courses on LabVIEW being offered this IAP. You can take either or both. Pre-register on WebSIS. Short description of each course appears below. Full details can be found here.

2.S974/6.S197 LabVIEW for Controls and Mechatronics (Prof. David Trumper, MIT & Jeannie Falcon, National Instruments) - 3 units
January 11, 12; 10 am-5 pm; 1-004

This is an introductory seminar on LabVIEW for Controls that will cover the following topics: 
·         LabVIEW to instrument your .m file textual algorithms
·         Control design and numerical simulation
·         Real-time implementation with high-speed I/O for control prototyping
·         System identification to aid in plant modeling
·         Digital filter design to take out measurement noise
·         Programming FPGAs with LabVIEW

2.S973/6.S198 Introduction to LabVIEW: Programming Language for Controlling Hardware for Engineering Applications (Prof. David Trumper & and Hope Harrison, MIT) - 6 units
MWF, January 13, 18, 20, 23, 25, 27, 30; 12-2:30 pm and Feb 1, 12-1 pm; 36-156

This class will teach you the basics of programming in LabVIEW which is a language for controlling hardware in automated scientific experiments and engineering. At the end of the class you will take the Certified LabVIEW Associate Developer (CLAD) Exam, which will give you internationally recognized certification.

 

 

 

Sponsor(s): Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Laura Zaganjori, 617-258-5620, LAURAZ@MIT.EDU


Learn to Build Your Own Videogame with the Unity Game Engine and Microsoft Kinect

Kyle Keane, Lecturer, Craig Carter, Professor in DMSE, Andrew Ringler, Research Affiliate, Mark Vrablic, MIT Student, EECS, Abhinav Gandhi, Visiting Student, EECS

Jan/09 Mon 01:00PM-04:00PM 13-3101, bring laptop
Jan/10 Tue 01:00PM-04:00PM 13-3101, bring laptop
Jan/11 Wed 01:00PM-04:00PM 13-3101, bring laptop
Jan/12 Thu 01:00PM-04:00PM 13-3101, bring laptop
Jan/13 Fri 01:00PM-04:00PM 13-3101, bring laptop
Jan/17 Tue 01:00PM-04:00PM 13-3101, bring laptop
Jan/18 Wed 01:00PM-04:00PM 13-3101, bring laptop
Jan/19 Thu 01:00PM-04:00PM 13-3101, bring laptop
Jan/20 Fri 01:00PM-04:00PM 13-3101, bring laptop

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/07
Limited to 40 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: None

Register at https://goo.gl/forms/3wEKy82KvxSp6ib32 for this 9-day hands-on workshop about designing, building, and publishing simple educational videogames. No previous experience with computer programming or videogame design is required. Beginning students will be taught everything they need to know, and advanced students will be challenged to learn new skills. Participants will work in small teams to design, build, and publish videogames that will be shared in a large public exhibition. Team projects are open-ended and designed by participants. Examples include: a collection of bouncing balls that can be sped up or slowed down using hand gestures, a virtual reality laboratory where kids can perform experiments, and crowdsourcing interface for describing scientific graphics for blind students. Participants will complete guided projects in order to learn the fundamentals and will then break into small teams to complete a one-day mini-project of their choosing. Participants will then break into new teams that will have four days to design, plan, and build a custom project of their choice. On the last day, students will present their projects in a public exhibition and have the chance to win a prize for “crowd favorite”. Participants will learn about videogame creation using the Unity game engine, collaborative software development using GitHub, gesture handling using the Microsoft Kinect, 3D digital object creation, videogame design, and small team management.

Sponsor(s): MIT-SUTD Collaboration, Materials Science and Engineering
Contact: Kyle Keane, kkeane@mit.edu


Learn to Program via a 'Less is More' Approach

Esther D. Shilcrat, Former MIT Fellow and former Simmons CS Professor

Jan/18 Wed 02:00PM-04:00PM 34-302
Jan/20 Fri 02:00PM-04:00PM 34-302
Jan/25 Wed 02:00PM-04:00PM 34-302
Jan/26 Thu 02:00PM-04:00PM 34-301
Jan/27 Fri 02:00PM-04:00PM 34-302
Feb/01 Wed 02:00PM-04:00PM 34-302
Feb/03 Fri 02:00PM-04:00PM 34-301

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/17
Limited to 20 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions

When programming was only taught in EE departments, students first learned about baby,  or ‘subset’ computers.  Subset computers can’t do everything a full computer can, but they do illustrate crucial concepts. 

We will create some subsets, explain their actions, and see how they operate in a step-by-step fashion --- the same way all programs work!  We will learn some programming commands as will translate them into runnable code for the full computer. 

Next, adding RAM Memory gives us a full computer. We will see how to combine the commands from the subset with the use of Memory to solve any problem that can be solved by a machineYou will leave this class with successful programming experience, a knowledge of essential programming commands, and an understanding of the basic model of computation, an excellent base for learning more, on your own or in another class. 

Great for those who are put off by what they think programming is like.  Students and non-students are welcome.

Please bring a laptop, paper and writing implement.

 

Sponsor(s): Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Women's and Gender Studies
Contact: Esther D. Shilcrat, estherds@mit.edu


Learn WordPress and Azure for Web Development and IoT

Jialin.Shi@studentpartner.com, Binh Le, Microsoft Student Partner

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/23
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Prereq: None

Learn the basics of web development using WordPress, cloud computing using Microsoft Azure, and do an IoT Project!

No prior technical experience necessary.

Sponsor(s): Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Jialin Shi, Jialin.Shi@studentpartner.com


WebDev - WordPress & Azure

Jan/31 Tue 12:00PM-02:00PM 32-141, Bring Laptop

Web Development using WordPress and Microsoft Azure: Learn the basics about web development using WordPress and cloud computing using Microsoft Azure in this workshop that will take you step-by-step through a tutorial to create, design, and deploy your own web portfolio. Your new Microsoft Imagine account will give you access to free software! No prior technical experience necessary.

Binh Le - Microsoft Student Partner


Internet of Things (IoT) Using MS Azure

Feb/01 Wed 12:00PM-02:00PM 32-141, Bring Laptop

Learn to build a temperature, humidity, and pressure reader using Microsoft Azure IoT starter kits.  Leverage Azure IoT services to create your own IoT architecture on the cloud.  Tinker with one of our Microsoft Azure IoT starter kits and run a simple remote monitoring solution to communicate with the cloud! 

Jialin.Shi@studentpartner.com


Make an online map with Carto

Anne Graham, Ece Turnator

Feb/01 Wed 01:00PM-03:00PM 14N-132

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required

This workshop will introduce Carto as a tool for creating customized online maps and performing basic data analysis. We will learn how to find and add a historic basemap to Carto, import present-day geographic data, and analyze the data using the new Carto Builder tools. We will provide sample data, but feel free to bring your own if you have it.

Bring your laptop or use a lab computer.

Register here.

Sponsor(s): Libraries, Geographic Information Systems Lab
Contact: Jennie Murack, 7-238, 617 258-6680, MURACK@MIT.EDU


Manage your PDFs and Citations: Zotero & Mendeley

Jennie Murack

Jan/25 Wed 11:00AM-12:00PM 14N-132

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/25

Using citation management software to create and maintain a collection of references or PDFs is common and important in today’s academic world. These tools will help you to save citations from your favorite databases and websites, store related PDFs or attachments, and quickly build a bibliography for your papers and publications. We’ll review Zotero and Mendeley and show how to use them together to help your manage your PDF’s and citations.

Register here.

Sponsor(s): Libraries
Contact: Jennie Murack, 7-238, 617 258-6680, MURACK@MIT.EDU


Manage your PDFs and Citations: Zotero & Mendeley (online class)

Stacey Snyder, E-Learning Librarian

Jan/30 Mon 02:00PM-03:00PM Online, Sign up to get the WebEx link

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required

Using citation management software to create and maintain a collection of references or PDFs is common and important in today’s academic world. These tools will help you to save citations from your favorite databases and websites, store related PDFs or attachments, and quickly build a bibliography for your papers and publications. We’ll review Zotero and Mendeley and show how to use them together to help your manage your PDF’s and citations.

Register here for this online session

Sponsor(s): Libraries
Contact: Stacey Snyder, 10-500, 617 324-6024, SSNYDER@MIT.EDU


Mapping History

Nil Tuzcu, Research Fellow

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/18
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions

Mapping History workshop will introduce digital tools and workflows for visualizing  and interpreting historical data, and presenting historical information with online maps.

Today, visual and digital tools are increasingly being used in the social sciences and humanities for translating historical documents into datasets that can be digitally manipulated and recombined. Mapping is an effective tool for reconstructing the past, which reveals the spatial relationships that stimulated cultural, social and political change over time. Students will learn basics of QGIS and web mapping with Leaflet JS.

This two-day workshop will cover :

Georeferencing historical maps

Creating vector files with QGIS (for example, tracing an old rail system)

Introducing the time factor into digital workflow

Creating multilayer historical web maps and developing a tool for comparing different layers.

 

Contact: Nil Tuzcu, 9-514, 617 253-4510, TUZCU@MIT.EDU


Mapping History Session-1

Jan/19 Thu 05:00PM-07:00PM TBD, Bring your laptop

Nil Tuzcu - Research Fellow


Mapping History Session-2

Jan/20 Fri 05:00PM-07:00PM TBD, Bring your laptop

Nil Tuzcu - Research Fellow


Mapping with Adobe CC - Leveraging Illustrator and Photoshop

Mike Foster, Cartographer/GIS Specialist

Jan/17 Tue 02:00PM-03:30PM 9-554

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/13
Limited to 15 participants
Prereq: None

Many designers and mapmakers prefer to work in graphics software, such as Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, when completing rich graphics such as illustrative maps, plans, and charts. This session will introduce how you can use Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop for mapping. Working in conjunction with GIS software, we will go work with some simple data, then outline the workflow to properly get your data into Adobe so you can edit it and add graphic flair, then show some Adobe cartography tricks. Brought to you by DUSPviz.

 

Sign up here: https://goo.gl/forms/moz9tuIsBZauxor33

Sponsor(s): Urban Studies and Planning
Contact: Michael Foster, 9-522, 617 324-8234, MJFOSTER@MIT.EDU


Mapping with Drones: UAS for Data Collection and Research

Daniel Sheehan, Senior GIS Specialist, Mike Foster, GIS/Data Visualization Specialist

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Prereq: None

This is a two-session workshop that will introduce the requirements and protocols in utilizing Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS… aka Drones) for research and projects to collect data and create detailed models and maps. 

Day 1: Intro to Drone Flight

We will cover the rules and regulations of UAS flight, go over requirements and protocols for flight planning and piloting, introduce flight maps, planning, and the associated language, discuss the data you can collect, and talk about what you need to do to get off the ground.

Day 2: Mapping and Postprocessing

This session will discuss data collection and introduce methods for postprocessing. Attendees will be introduced to processing software like ArcGIS Drone2Map and Agisoft Photoscan. Students will get a chance to process some collected data using Photoscan, which mosaics images to create orthophotos, and, using photogrammetric methods, create point clouds that can be turned into 3D elevation models.

Register here: https://goo.gl/forms/7QnVuNe7ggyeNdlM2

Location: Room 2-105

Sponsor(s): Urban Studies and Planning, Libraries, Geographic Information Systems Lab
Contact: Michael Foster, 9-522, 617 324-8234, MJFOSTER@MIT.EDU


Jan/19 Thu 09:00AM-12:00PM 2-105
Jan/20 Fri 09:00AM-12:00PM 2-105

Joe Wright - Specialist, Daniel Sheehan - Senior GIS Specialist, Mike Foster - GIS/Data Visualization Specialist


Mathematica and Wolfram Language for Computational Science and Communication

Kyle Keane, Lecturer, W. Craig Carter, Professor

Jan/09 Mon 04:00PM-05:00PM 13-4101

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

Developers from Wolfram Research Inc. and staff from MIT will guide a
series of workshops about Mathematica and the Wolfram Language. Topics
may include an intro to programming, the latest features in version 11.1,
solving differential equations, data science, deploying web applications,
cryptography, machine learning, and physical computing with the Raspberry
Pi. All pertinent information (including registration) can be found at
http://weller.mit.edu/wolfram and before arriving participants should
install Mathematica (free for MIT students/staff) from
https://ist.mit.edu/mathematica/desktop

Co-sponsored by Interactive Materials Education Laboratory - imel.mit.edu

Sponsor(s): Materials Science and Engineering
Contact: Kyle Keane, 13-4057, 951-532-3813, kkeane@mit.edu


Mathematics of Big Data

Jeremy Kepner, Fellow & Head MIT Supercomputing Center

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/06
Limited to 30 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: Linear Algebra

"Big Data" describes a new era in the digital age where the volume, velocity, and variety of data created across a wide range of fields (e.g., internet search, healthcare, finance, social media, defense, ...)  is increasing at a rate well beyond our ability to analyze the data.  Many technologies (e.g., spreadsheets, databases, graphs, linear algebra, ...) have been developed to address these challenges.  The common theme amongst these technologies is the need to store and operate on data as whole collections instead of as individual data elements.  This class describes the common mathematical foundation of these data collections (associative arrays) that apply across a wide range of applications and technologies.  Associative arrays unify and simplify Big Data leading to rapid solutions to Big Data volume, velocity, and variety problems.  Understanding these mathematical foundations allows the student to see past the differences that lie on the surface of Big Data applications and technologies and leverage their core mathematical similarities to solve the hardest Big Data challenges.

 

Sponsor(s): Mathematics
Contact: Jeremy Kepner, 2nd Floor, 300 Tech Sq, 781 981-3108, KEPNER@LL.MIT.EDU


Four Perspectives on Data

Jan/10 Tue 11:00AM-01:00PM 2nd Flr 300 Tech Sq, Bring lunch if you like

Preface and Chapter 1 of "Mathematics of Big Data" text


D4M: A New Tool for Big Data

Jan/17 Tue 11:00AM-01:00PM 2nd Flr 300 Tech Sq, Bring lunch if you like

Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 of "Mathematics of Big Data" text. Introduction to D4M (http://d4m.mit.edu).


Manipulation Big Data

Jan/24 Tue 11:00AM-01:00PM 2nd Flr 300 Tech Sq, Bring lunch if you like

Chapters 4, 5, 6, 7 of "Mathematics of Big Data" text.


Mathematical Foundations of Big Data

Jan/31 Tue 11:00AM-01:00PM 2nd Flr 300 Tech Sq, Bring lunch if you like

Student presentations

Chapters 8, 9 of "Mathematics of Big Data"


MIT Laptop Orchestra

Sara Sinback, Chris Chronopoulos

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/09
Limited to 22 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions

PLOrk, SLOrk, BLOrk.. MITLOrk! Come join us as part of MIT's first ever laptop orchestra. A laptop orchestra is an ensemble of computer musicians performing on digital instruments of their own design - an exciting new frontier of comtemporary music with much left to explore. This four-week course will start with an introduction to computer music, then quickly progress through instrument creation, arrangement, and rehearsal of an orchestral piece, to be performed at the end of IAP. Bring your own laptop; no previous experience necessary. Due to the ambitious nature of the program, attendance at all sessions is expected.

Sponsor(s): Music and Theater Arts
Contact: Sara Sinback, (857) 301-7222, mitlork@mit.edu


class meetings

Jan/10 Tue 02:00PM-04:00PM 4-364
Jan/12 Thu 02:00PM-04:00PM 4-364
Jan/17 Tue 02:00PM-04:00PM 4-364
Jan/19 Thu 02:00PM-04:00PM 4-364
Jan/24 Tue 02:00PM-04:00PM 4-364
Jan/26 Thu 02:00PM-04:00PM 4-364
Jan/31 Tue 02:00PM-04:00PM 4-364
Feb/02 Thu 02:00PM-04:00PM 4-364

Sara Sinback, Chris Chronopoulos


Outlook Productivity Tips

Sara Davies, Instructional Designer

Jan/24 Tue 10:30AM-11:30AM 66-144

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/22
Limited to 35 participants

Do you wish there was a way to automate certain tasks in Outlook? Are you wondering if there are shortcuts you don’t know about? In this one-hour session, learn some quick tricks for using folders, rules and searches to work more efficiently in Outlook.  Note: this session applies to the Outlook client only, not OWA.

Sponsor(s): Information Systems & Technology
Contact: Sara Davies, W91-219G, 617 324-4554, SVDAVIES@MIT.EDU


Painting with Data. Introduction to Real-Time, Multidimensional Spatial Analysis through Voxels with an Open-Source Web Application

Carlos Sandoval Olascoaga, Ph.D. Candidate in Architectural Computation

Feb/01 Wed 03:00PM-06:00PM 9-450B, Please bring your own laptop

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/17
Limited to 20 participants
Prereq: Knowledge of GIS is a plus

Ever wanted to speculate about causal relationships with spatial datasets on the fly? Or build multivariate spatial and map algebra models iteratively, while getting immediate feedback? Interested in building 3D and 4D geospatial models to compute with?

Students learn to build exploratory geospatial models on-the-fly and methods for creating, and operating with multi-dimensional models via a web application developed by the instructor and a group of MIT researchers that allows the user to build 3D and 4D geospatial models.

Painting with Data, is an open-source web-application that utilizes voxels to visually compute with geospatial information ‘on-the-fly’, interactively receiving visual and functional feedback when manipulating geospatial datasets, allowing the creation and manipulation of spatial models such as map algebra iteratively. The tool also introduces a visual programming language, and allows easy, intuitive, and ‘on-the-fly’ functional geospatial computing, extending its representational and analytical modeling capacities. Its technological and theoretical features propose a hybrid approach to urban computing, combining functional and representational modeling.

There will be an intro to conventional model-making in GIS and finally to Painting with Data, as an alternative tool for spatial mapping and modeling. * Please contact instructor Carlos Sandoval Olascoaga, to enroll by Jan 20. Lim. to 25

Sponsored by the Dept. of Architecture and the Civic Data Design Lab

Sponsor(s): Architecture
Contact: Carlos Sandoval Olascoaga, csandova@mit.edu


Practical and Useful Computer Security

Jakob Weisblat

Jan/24 Tue 07:30PM-09:00PM 4-237

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

We hear it over and over again:

"Make your passwords at least 20 characters!"

"Use a letter and a number and 5 special characters in all your passwords!"

"Change your password every 3 days!"

"Never write down your passwords!"

"Always run antivirus software!"

We'll examine some common cybersecurity claims, determining which are worth following and which are possibly miscalibrated. Then we'll look at some low-effort solutions you can use to increase the security of your computing environment while not decreasing convenience. In particular, we will cover password managers, 2-factor authentication, and the importance of keeping software up-to-date.

This talk is aimed at those who are computer-literate but not security experts - if your goal is an impenetrably secure computing environment, this talk is not for you; it aims to help you spend a small amount of time wisely in order to reduce the probability of spending a lot of time in the future dealing with a compromise.

Sponsor(s): Student Information Processing Board
Contact: Jakob Weisblat, sipb-iap17-practical-security@mit.edu


PRIVACY AND DATA SCIENCE LAW, POLICY AND ETHICS IN A DATA-DRIVEN AGE

Cameron Kerry, Visiting Scholar, Omer Tene, VP of Research & Education, Int'l Ass'n of Privacy Professio

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/04
Limited to 30 participants
Attendance: Attendance at all sessions strongly recommended
Prereq: None

Increases in the power and granularity of data science present new challenges to privacy, as it becomes possible to identify individuals and their behavior in novel ways.  Data sets containing information about individuals have become the raw material for research and analytics by businesses, governments, and scientists.

Data collection and analysis that does not anticipate privacy issues carefully can provoke trouble, as controversies ranging from government bulk surveillance to Facebook’s testing of subscriber moods demonstrate. This course will look at the issues of privacy and data science within a social and legal context and survey the complex grid of legal structures and institutions that govern privacy at state, national, and international levels. Students will critically analyze and discuss real-world privacy problems and explore information security and data management issues in the context of data science. 

The course will meet in four two-hour sessions during the weeks of January 9 and January 16.  The format will be a combination of lecture and dialogue between the teachers, along with student participation in Socratic dialogue and case studies or problems.  A major component is the suggested readings that provide an introduction both to basic concepts in privacy and current issues.

Contact: Cameron Kerry, E15-384A, 617-710-2719, CKERRY@MEDIA.MIT.EDU


The Right to Privacy: History, Culture,

Jan/09 Mon 02:00PM-04:00PM 15-359

The first session will look at the roots of privacy in culture, philosophy, anthropology, and political theory to address what privacy means and why it matters to people.

Cameron Kerry - Visiting Scholar, Omer Tene - VP of Research & Education, Int'l Ass'n of Privacy Professio


Law and policy overview

Jan/10 Tue 02:00PM-04:00PM 15-359

Session Two will provide an overview of the two main systems of regulation of privacy and data protection: the United States and European Union.

Cameron Kerry - Visiting Scholar, Omer Tene - VP of Research & Education, Int'l Ass'n of Privacy Professio


Applied problems I (Identity)

Jan/18 Wed 02:00PM-04:00PM 15-359

In the second week, the course will turn to current problems in privacy especially relevant to data science.  Session Three will look at the increasing ability to identify individuals through aggregation and correlation fo data, and what that means for the concept of "personal information" and de-identification.

Cameron Kerry - Visiting Scholar, Omer Tene - VP of Research & Education, Int'l Ass'n of Privacy Professio


Applied problems II: ethics & algorithms

Jan/19 Thu 02:00PM-04:00PM 15-359

Session Four will look at the emerging policy issues of big data, analytics, and algorithmic decisionmaking.

Cameron Kerry - Visiting Scholar, Omer Tene - VP of Research & Education, Int'l Ass'n of Privacy Professio


Program Fuzzing Derby

Andrew Davis, Patrick Hulin, Tim Leek

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/02
Limited to 25 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: None

Does it annoy you that programs have bugs in them? Bad programs! Would you like to try to correct this situation? Good you!   

This IAP activity will be a several weeks long competition during which you and your team members will look for bugs in programs by running them against large amounts of randomized input. This kind of testing is called ‘fuzzing’, because the inputs you hand to the program range from slightly out-of-focus versions of normal inputs, to quite hairy unrecognizable ones. Fuzzing is a rather effective means of finding bugs, as programs are typically written under the assumption that they will encounter only mostly normal inputs.   

This activity will meet Wednesdays from 1-3pm throughout IAP. Location TBD. Teams will be running their ‘fuzzing campaigns’ over the course of IAP and for the most part meetings will be largely for check-ins, strategizing, assistance, and problem solving. Think of it as fuzzing office hours.

The team that wins the Derby by finding the most bugs that impress the judges will be pronounced the winner and receive an amazing prize worth 10s of dollars! 

Contact: Timothy Leek, LL-A-207F, 781 981-2975, TLEEK@LL.MIT.EDU


Program Fuzzing Derby Meeting 1

Jan/11 Wed 01:00PM-03:00PM BeaverWorks NE45-201

Introduction.  Fuzzers explained (mutation, grammar based, etc). Instrumentation explained (bounds checking, crash binning, etc). Team forming. Choice of target programs.  Resource Allocation.  


Program Fuzzing Derby Meeting 1

Jan/18 Wed 01:00PM-03:00PM BeaverWorks NE45-201

Status report. Fuzzing office hours.


Program Fuzzing Derby Meeting 3

Jan/25 Wed 01:00PM-03:00PM BeaverWorks NE45-201

Status report.  Fuzzing office hours.


Program Fuzzing Derby Final Meeting

Feb/01 Wed 01:00PM-03:00PM BeaverWorks NE45-201

Winner declared. Postmortem write-ups.


Python for Map Creation Using ArcMap

Daniel Sheehan

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: a basic knowledge of ArcMap

This is a 2-day workshop. Please attend both days.

Day 1: You'll learn just enough Python scripting to work with it in ArcGIS and feel comfortable in Day 2 of the workshop.

Day 2: This day will focus on using Python to automate map making. With the ArcPy mapping module you can easily create and update map layers and content to create customized maps that can be exported for presentations and reports. Whether you need to create 10 or 1000 maps, you'll learn how to save time by using Python.

Register here: http://libcal.mit.edu/event/2963365

Prerequisite: Basic knowledge of ArcGIS, such as taking the Intro workshop

Sponsor(s): Geographic Information Systems Lab, Libraries
Contact: Jennie Murack, 7-238, 617 258-6680, MURACK@MIT.EDU


Jan/30 Mon 01:00PM-04:00PM 14N-132

Daniel Sheehan


Jan/31 Tue 01:00PM-04:00PM 14N-132

Daniel Sheehan


Quantitative Texture Analysis Workshop

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


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


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


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


RACECAR: Rapid Autonomous Complex-Environment Competing Ackermann-Steering Robot

Sertac Karaman, Professor, Aero/Astro, Michael Boulet, Ken Gregson, Owen Guldner

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/02
Limited to 30 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: see description

Modern robots tend to operate at slow speeds in complex environments, limiting their utility in high-tempo applications. In this course you will push the boundaries of unmanned vehicle speed. Teams of 4-5 will develop dynamic autonomy software to race an RC car equipped with LIDAR, cameras, inertial sensors, and embedded processing around a large-scale, “real-world” course. Working from a baseline autonomy stack, teams will modify the software to increase platform velocity to the limits of stability. The course culminates with a timed competition to navigate the MIT tunnels. Classes will provide lectures on algorithms and lab time with instructor-assisted development. Must attend every class and plan on 6-10 hr/week of self-directed development.


Prereqs: Advanced undergraduates and graduates with some background in controls or robotics. Majors include AeroAstro, Mechanical, Ocean, and EECS. Students with a background in computer science with interest in robotics and controls may also effectively participate. Must have experience with software development. Past exposure to robotics algorithms and/or embedded programming will be useful. Email racecar-iap-course-subscribe@mit.edu with a brief description of your programming/robotics experience.


*This work is sponsored by the Dept. of the Air Force under Contract FA8721-05-C-0002.  Opinions, interpretations, conclusions and recommendations are those of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by the U.S. Government.

Sponsor(s): Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Lincoln Laboratory, MIT-SUTD Collaboration
Contact: Owen Guldner, racecar-iap-course-subscribe@mit.edu


Jan/09 Mon 01:00PM-05:00PM 32-081
Jan/11 Wed 01:00PM-05:00PM 32-081
Jan/13 Fri 01:00PM-05:00PM 32-081
Jan/18 Wed 01:00PM-05:00PM 32-081
Jan/20 Fri 01:00PM-05:00PM 32-081

Students should be prepared to put in significant time outside of scheduled class hours (approx. 6-10 hours each week)


Regression and Graphing in Stata

Ista Zahn

Jan/23 Mon 09:00AM-12:00PM 1-115

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required

This hands-on class will provide a comprehensive introduction to graphics in Stata.  Topics for the class include graphing principles, descriptive graphs, linear regression, factor variables, and post-estimation graphs.  This is an introductory workshop appropriate for those with only basic familiarity with Stata.

Prerequisite: a general familiarity with Stata (such as taking the Introduction to Stata workshop).

Current students, staff and faculty only. An Athena login is required to access the software.

Register: http://libcal.mit.edu/event.php?id=842832

Sponsor(s): Libraries
Contact: Jennie Murack, 7-238, 617 258-6680, MURACK@MIT.EDU


Regression Models in R

Ista Zahn

Jan/31 Tue 09:00AM-12:00PM 4-163, Bring your laptop

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Prereq: basic familiarity with R

This hands-on, intermediate R course will demonstrate a variety of statistical procedures using the open-source statistical software program, R.  Topics covered include multiple regression, multilevel models, and multiple imputation. We expect that users enrolled in this course are already familiar with the statistical processes that we cover and are interested in learning how to run these procedures in R.

Prerequisite: Basic familiarity with R, such acquired through an introductory R workshop.

Bring a laptop. There are no computers in the classroom.

Register here.

 

Sponsor(s): Libraries
Contact: Jennie Murack, 7-238, 617 258-6680, MURACK@MIT.EDU


Reverse Engineering for Exploitation

Devin Neal

Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
Limited to 30 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: Familiarity with Linux

A week long course that will cover the inner workings of Linux binaries for the purpose of both understanding and exploitation. The course will include concepts such as ELF binary format, hex editors, debuggers, memory corruption, shellcoding, and return-oritented programming. Each class will have both a lecture component to go over new material and a hands-on component to put the new information to use. The only prerequisite is previous experience with Linux and Python. Previous experience with C, while not necessary, will be very helpful.

Contact: Devin Neal, DEVNEAL@MIT.EDU


Language of Binaries

Jan/09 Mon 01:00PM-04:00PM 32-141, Bring your laptop

Covering the format of ELF binaries and the process by which they are created and executed.

Devin Neal


Reversing and Cracking

Jan/10 Tue 01:00PM-04:00PM 32-141, Bring your laptop

Static analysis of binaries for the purposes of understanding and modification.

Devin Neal


Exploitation I

Jan/11 Wed 01:00PM-04:00PM 32-141, Bring your laptop

This session will cover memory corruption, buffer overflows, and control hijacking.

Devin Neal


Exploitation II

Jan/12 Thu 01:00PM-04:00PM 32-141, Bring your laptop

This session will cover heap overflows, shellcoding, and DEP/ROP.

Devin Neal


Continuing in Reversing

Jan/13 Fri 01:00PM-04:00PM 32-141, Bring your laptop

Here we'll cover the implications of what we've learned to real-world software and possibly hold a competition to use the concepts learned in the previous sessions.

Devin Neal


Reverse Engineering Software

James Koppel

Jan/20 Fri 05:00PM-07:00PM 1-115

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Prereq: Familiarity with C and assembly very helpful

Is something on your computer hiding something from you? Is it refusing to run unless you do something? Do you want to know exactly what someone else's software is doing? Or perhaps you even want to "open" up some closed-source software and make it do something else. This course will cover the basics of reverse-engineering binaries, as well as some of the ideas of binary modification.

Sponsor(s): Student Information Processing Board
Contact: James Koppel, sipb-iap17-reverse-engineering@mit.edu


ROS Introduction for Beginners

Baian Chen

Jan/19 Thu 05:00PM-07:00PM 1-115

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Prereq: Familiarity with Python

ROS (robot operating system) is super cool and useful for robotics and computer vision but seldom taught in class in most of the cases. In this class, we will go through the basic (but powerful) idea of ROS system, have a taste on how it works, and write a simple ROS system in python.

Sponsor(s): Student Information Processing Board
Contact: Baian Chen, sipb-iap17-ros@mit.edu


Software Radio

Thomas Royster, Devin Kelly, James Streitman, Mike McLarney, Dwight Hutchenson, Fred Block, Joseph Gaeddert

Jan/10 Tue 01:00PM-04:00PM Beaverworks NE45-202, bring your laptop
Jan/12 Thu 01:00PM-04:00PM Beaverworks NE45-202, bring your laptop
Jan/17 Tue 01:00PM-04:00PM Beaverworks NE45-202, bring your laptop
Jan/19 Thu 01:00PM-04:00PM Beaverworks NE45-202, bring your laptop

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/09
Limited to 10 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: Engineering Background or Interest

Software radio technology is having a tremendous impact not only in consumer devices but also in the areas of rapid prototyping and research and development.  MIT Lincoln Laboratory is offering a course to introduce students to software radio fundamentals and applications.  Students will gain hands-on experience with the USRP, RTL-SDR, and HackRF software radio platforms while learning theory and practice of digital signal processing and digital communications.  The course will consist of several projects, such as FM radio receivers, digital video transmission and reception, and spectrum sensing, highlighting the flexibility of software radios. 

* 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, MIT-SUTD Collaboration
Contact: Thomas Royster, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, troyster@ll.mit.edu


Software Tools for Business Analytics

Scott Alessandro

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions

Because of the "big data revolution," there is an ever-increasing need for techniques for analyzing data, developing mathematical models, and using these models to make informed decisions.   To get started in this process, one needs a working knowledge of business analytic software tools.

These four non-credit workshops focus on software tools used in Course 15 classes. The goal of these workshops is to provide students with a baseline knowledge of business analytics software tools that they can use in MIT courses, UROPs involving data analysis, and summer internships or jobs after graduation. 

Sign up is not required, but there is some pre-work that needs to be done (setting up your computer to use R and access Github). See link below for instructions.

To register: http://tinyurl.com/hn2uf3d

Installation instructions and more information: http://tinyurl.com/zgznpw3

Questions?: Scott Alessandro, salessan@mit.edu

Session 1 (Terminal and Github) – Overview on working with the terminal, Github, and an introduction to the R programming language.

Session 2 (Basic Wrangling and Visualization – Introduce basic techniques in data wrangling and visualization in R.

Session 3 (Excel) – Introduce and practice with concrete real life examples on how to use the most important functions and shortcuts in Excel. 

Session 4 (JuMP/Julia) – Using Julia and the JuMP package, we will model and solve optimization problems that arise in a variety of contexts throughout analytics and operations.

Sponsor(s): Sloan School of Management
Contact: Scott Alessandro, E52-150, 617 253-6296, SALESSAN@MIT.EDU


Sessions

Jan/23 Mon 01:00PM-04:00PM E62-250, Bring your laptop. Complete pre-work
Jan/24 Tue 01:00PM-04:00PM E62-250, Bring your laptop
Jan/26 Thu 01:00PM-04:00PM E62-250, Bring your laptop
Jan/27 Fri 01:00PM-04:00PM E51-085, Bring your laptop

Session 1 (Terminal and Github) - Monday, January 23, 1-4 pm, E62-250. Instructor: Brad Sturt

Session 2 (Basic Wrangling and Visualization) - Tuesday, January 24, 1-4 pm, E62-250. Instructor: Steven Morse 

Session 3 (Excel) - Thursday, January 26, 1-4 pm, E62-250. Instructor: Charles Thraves 

Session 4 (JuMP/Julia) - Friday, January 27, 1-4 pm, E51-085. Instructor: Joey Hutchette


Startups, Coding, and a Contest

Kevin Cheung

Jan/18 Wed 05:00PM-07:00PM 32-141

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Prereq: coding experience, interest in startups and competitions

Join us to learn about startups and coding, and our launch of a new coding project contest to connect student developers with startups. The current hiring process doesn't give student developers enough room to stand out, and often rewards networking more than coding ability.

Slides of the talk are available here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1rAjhjUGXkpAubxNKioneItrxqPUHclO52kW_T4PcZ88

In our presentation, we'll reveal our candid take on startups so you can make an informed decision on whether they're right for you. Next, we'll go over some non-obvious coding lessons we had to learn the hard way. Then, we'll invite you to participate in our code contest as well as share relevant details. Finally, we'll give our closing remarks and direct you to the food!

If you're interested in working at a startup or launching your own, or if you're looking for a way to stand out to employers, this talk is for you.

Register for this event at codecontest.org/register.

Sponsor(s): Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Kevin Cheung, kevin@codecontest.org


Unintuitive and Insecure: Fixing the Failures of the Authentication User Experience

Jared Spool

Jan/19 Thu 07:00PM-09:00PM E51-345

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Prereq: programming

"Which username did I use?"
"Do they want my email address or my nickname?"
"Which password did I use?"
"What was my favorite vegetable when I created this account?"
Nothing wrecks a great user experience like a login form. Our password rules make it hard to remember what we've used, and stupid security questions lock us out of our accounts. And none of these security gymnastics actually prevent our personal information from leaking into the world. (In fact, we often inadvertently make it easier.)

If it's not usable, it's not secure. Unusable authentication systems are a bellwether of poor end-to-end experience. Once you've frustrated a user with their account creation or session authentication, it's extremely hard to win them back.

Security isn't sexy, but when we get it right, we reduce risk and increase user satisfaction. In this entertaining presentation, Jared will explain how to make authentication design a top priority in your experience architecture. He'll show you where the real risks are and why you shouldn't trust others to handle your design's security elegantly.

Jared will walk you through:

How to best protect your users without making them frustrated.
How Amazon reduces fraud and makes money with a multi-state security model.
How to keep the Paranoids at bay without degrading the user experience.

 

Sponsor(s): Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Peter Mager, p.mager@computer.org


Using Trello to plan for the zombie apocalypse

Heather Anne Harrison, Knowledge Management Team, Christopher Giles, Digital Communications

Jan/25 Wed 01:00PM-02:00PM 4-153

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/24
Limited to 45 participants

Trello is an easy, free, flexible, visual way to manage projects and organize your work that has been adopted by several teams within IS&T. Heather Anne Harrison and Christopher Giles will share what they have learned from using Trello to help you get up and running quickly. Rally your coworkers to take on the inevitable zombie apocalypse, or any other challenge that comes your way!

Sponsor(s): Information Systems & Technology
Contact: Heather Harrison, W91-219B, 617 253-8969, AURORA@MIT.EDU


Visualizing and Accessing Genomic Data Using Publicly Available Genome Browsers & Databases

Charlie Whittaker, KI Bioinformatics and Computing Core Facility, Duan Ma, KI Bioinformatics and Computing Core Facility

Feb/03 Fri 12:00PM-02:00PM 14N-132 DIRC, bring your laptop

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 02/01
Prereq: See Eligibility

There are extensive genomic data available in public databases and these data are readily accessible using resources such as the UCSC Genome Bioinformatics tools, the Broad Institute’s Integrative Genomics Viewer and cBioPortal. This hands-on session will demonstrate some common and powerful workflows that are possible with these applications including bulk sequence extraction methods, powerful genomic-range overlap queries and the sharing and visualization of large datasets.

Eligibility: MIT researchers affiliated with the Koch Institute, the Biology Department, the Center for Environmental Health Sciences or the Department of Biological Engineering.

Please register here: http://libcal.mit.edu/event/3000250

 

Sponsor(s): Biology, David H. Koch Inst. for Integrative Cancer Researc, Libraries
Contact: Courtney Crummett, 14S-134, 617 324-8290, CRUMMETT@MIT.EDU


Web Programming in Python with Django

Chelsea Voss

Feb/01 Wed 07:00PM-08:00PM 4-237

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Prereq: Familiarity with Python

If you've learned Python, it's a simple jump from there to being able to create websites! Come learn how to get started on web programming from the very basics; we'll assume zero knowledge of anything but Python. We'll cover how to set up a Django website using both MIT Scripts and Heroku; feel free to bring your laptop and follow along with setup yourself as I demonstrate.

Sponsor(s): Student Information Processing Board
Contact: Chelsea Voss, sipb-iap17-django@mit.edu


You Can't Spell API without IAP - An Exploration of MIT's Many APIs

Amber Bennoui, Systems Analyst, Steve Billington, DevOps Engineer

Jan/25 Wed 01:00PM-02:30PM 2-105

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/01
Limited to 45 participants

APIs are everywhere these days, powering your favorite websites and mobile applications. APIs are great for integrating and updating data in a more streamlined way and can be made relatively easily with the right resources.  While using an API may seem like a daunting task, it can be as simple as visiting a website.  

In this seminar, we'll learn about what APIs are available, both within the MIT community, and in the larger Internet.  Techniques for integrating these APIs into your websites or other projects will be discussed, and some sample code will be provided.  If time permits, we'll also talk a bit about how you would go about writing your own API to make your data or service available to the larger MIT community.

Reserve your spot at developer.mit.edu/iap-api

Sponsor(s): Information Systems & Technology
Contact: Amber Bennoui, W92-254G, 617 324-6573, BENNOUI@MIT.EDU