Wondering what powers everything from e-book readers to electric cars? Come see the MIT inventions behind cutting edge technology like laser surgery and energy efficient light bulbs.

Get introduced to the world of technology transfer: browse issued patents and technical illustrations, explore important issues such as the government’s role in funding research, and learn how inventions move from the lab to the world around you. These presentations will run one hour long.

Sponsor: Technology Licensing Office

Come watch autonomous robots compete to establish dominance on the playing field!

By collecting balls and throwing them onto their opponent's side of the field, these robots attempt to clear their own side, while being constantly bombarded by balls from their opponent.

Designed, built, and programmed by teams of three or four students in less than a month for a class called Maslab, these robots are prime examples of both the ingenuity and dedication of MIT students.

Sponsor: Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

How do computers use binary numbers? What are AND and OR gates? Why do computers have built-in clocks to time each step the computer makes?

In this hour-long presentation, we will learn about how computers work, how to get them to do what we want, and how to make them go faster.

Sponsor: Lincoln Laboratory

The MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives—better known as MISTI—connects MIT students and faculty with research and innovations around the world. MIT's primary international program, MISTI, is a pioneer in applied international studies—a distinctively MIT concept.

For Students: Working closely with a network of premier corporations, universities, and research institutes, MISTI matches hundreds of MIT students (undergraduates, graduates, and recent grads) annually with all-expenses-paid internships and research abroad.

For Faculty: MISTI Global Seed Funds provide funding for MIT faculty to jump-start international projects and encourage student involvement in faculty-led international research.

Sponsor: School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

Originally built in 1938 as part of the William Barton Rogers Building designed by William Welles Bosworth with Harry J. Carlson, MIT's Rotch Library of Architecture and Planning is one of the premier architecture libraries in the United States, supporting the first architecture program in the country, with the first professor hired in 1865 and the first classes taught in 1868 at the original Boston campus.

Sponsor: MIT Libraries

Materials science undergraduates will be on hand to teach about Silly Putty, double refraction, inflating balloons, and more! The experiments will be catered to a middle school level, but all are welcome.

Sponsor: Department of Materials Science and Engineering

This multimedia exhibition showcases in words, documents, photos, video and sound, the broad and varied history of MIT.

View original MIT documents and historically significant materials that played a role in making MIT the unique place it is today. The exhibit also features items from the MIT Museum's 150 Exhibition, as well as Infinite Histories, video stories of those who have shaped—and been shaped by—MIT.

Sponsor: MIT Libraries

Come see all the cool projects that The MIT Electronics Research Society (MITERS) made! Featuring Tesla coils, electric vehicles, things that light up, things that go bang, a 3D printer, and numerous other amazing things, all made by MIT students.

MITERS is MIT's student run hackerspace. It provides a student-run shop, equipment, and a generally awesome place for anyone who loves to build things.

Sponsor: Department of Mechanical Engineering

Metallurgy, one of MIT's first fields of study, is still alive today. Watch students pour liquid metal and make MIT medallions in the foundry.

Sponsor: Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Atlas Devices has designed a rope ascending/descending system, for use by the armed services and rescue personnel. They will give live demonstrations of this system in use ascending the wall of MIT's main building.

The company Atlas Devices was founded by graduates of MIT's mechanical engineering department.

Sponsor: Department of Mechanical Engineering

SCRATCH is a programming language people use to create interactive objects, games, music, and art, and share them online.

Come and interact with a SCRATCH project using brain waves. Kids will have an opportunity to change a sprite's scripts to change what their brain waves affect on the screen.

Co-sponsored by the MIT Student Branch of ACM/IEEE (Association for Computing Machinery/Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS).

Sponsor: Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science

Several years ago three Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics grad students began testing in our Wind Tunnel their concept for the first practical flying car.

Today, degrees in hand, they have started their own company, Terrafugia, flown a prototype, and are now manufacturing the vehicles.

See the prototype and talk with the builders.

Sponsor: Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Free admission all day at the MIT Museum, as it turns itself inside out for the Institute's Under the Dome: Come Explore MIT! (and the first day of the Cambridge Science Festival). Go behind the scenes of the museum and explore unique artifacts from MIT's history, as well as innovations in art, science and technology in Cambridge and beyond.

The day's programs will feature tours, hands-on activities, and a chance for visitors of all ages to see and chat with the people behind the Museum's MIT150 exhibition.

Sponsor: MIT Museum

Students in classrooms around the world have doodled racecars in the corners of their notebooks. However, the undergraduates of the MIT motorsports team go several laps further, not only designing and building their vehicles, but even racing them in competitions.

With support from the Edgerton Center and several departments, the MIT Formula SAE team got started in 2001, completing its first vehicle in 2003. Meet the team and see their vehicles!

Sponsor: Department of Mechanical Engineering

Come learn about the many projects and interests of the AgeLab, a multidisciplinary team focused on the impact of technology on improving the quality of life of adults of all ages, and test drive our simulator.

Sponsor: Center for Transportation and Logistics

Engineering has been at the heart of MIT since the Institute was founded 150 years ago. As part of the Institute's anniversary celebration, the nine academic departments of the School of Engineering have collaborated to create a large, legible, and visually compelling history of MIT's research accomplishments and educational advances in engineering.

Sponsor: School of Engineering

Explore the moon with data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Trace the tracks of the Apollo astronauts, navigate the rough floor of Tycho crater, and wonder about the oblong-shape of the Earth's only natural satellite.

This is an exhibit of spectacular 4 ft X 15 ft high-resolution images of the lunar surface and topographic map presented by MIT students who study the moon and planetary science with these images and data.

Sponsor: Department of Earth, Atmospheric, & Planetary Sciences

Try your hand at programming a Space Systems Lab SPHERES self-propelled microsatellite like the ones we’re testing on the International Space Station. Programming throughout the day.

Sponsor: Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Plasma — the fourth state of matter — is so puzzling, intriguing, and valuable to our present and future that MIT has devoted an entire laboratory to exploring it.

Learn how MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center uses plasma for energy research.

Visit the Alcator C-Mod Tokamak experiment to observe the latest progress in an international effort to make controlled nuclear fusion possible.

Sponsor: Plasma Science and Fusion Center

A look at the past, present and future of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) featuring live robot demonstrations, interactive computer programming displays, autonomous vehicle exhibits, and much, much more.

Sponsor: Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory

Let your mobile phone be your guide to the Under the Dome: Come Explore MIT!

IS&T will assist visitors with an iPhone or Android phone to download the latest version of the MIT Mobile app, which includes a convenient way to search and browse Open House activities as well as a self-guided campus tour.

The free MIT Mobile iPhone and Android apps also allows for real-time access to essential Institute information including news, the campus events calendar, and live tracking of MIT's campus shuttles.

Sponsor: Information Services & Technology

Tour the Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity LMP, an interdepartmental laboratory in the School of Engineering, that for over 30 years has conducted novel research on the innovation, design, analysis, and control of manufacturing processes, machines, and systems.

Sponsor: Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity

Glass Lab instructors will demonstrate the art and the science of glassblowing in the hottest spot on campus.

Sponsor: Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Featured: Designing Medical Devices in a University Setting, by Conor Walsh, PhD.

MechE students telling stories of their experiences in engineering innovation and development, as fostered in project-based coursework.

Teams follow a design process which includes partnering with clinicians to gain a detailed understanding of the clinical need, investigating the prior art, exploring strategies and conducting appropriate bench-level testing, designing and manufacturing components, assembling the prototype, testing and debugging it, and documenting the results.

Sponsor: Department of Mechanical Engineering

Orchestrating the movement of aircraft (manned and unmanned), support vehicles, and crew within the confines of a carrier deck is an extremely complex operation.

See how our computerized large tabletop display will help supervisors overseeing these critical activities.

Sponsor: Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Surprisingly, much design goes into developing pill tablet coatings and the systems that apply these coatings. Varying the material or thickness of a coating can dramatically affect a medication's affect on the body.

Chemical engineers play an integral role in this process, from developing and testing chemicals for coatings to designing the complex systems used to mass produce uniformly-coated pills.

Come see first-hand what happens to a Tylenol or medicine in your digestive system and explore what it takes to develop a pill coating that can withstand the churning actions and acidic environment found in the stomach.

Sponsor: Department of Chemical Engineering

You've seen a cat drink milk — but have you stopped to consider exactly how it does that without using its paws or getting its chin wet?

In this exhibit, researchers will share their story of a pet cat named Cutta Cutta who inspired them to make a study of how cats lap. You'll see high-speed videos of Cutta Cutta drinking, but slowed down considerably to allow you to learn his secret! On screen, Cutta Cutta will demonstrate how he controls a balance of the physical ingredients of gravity and inertia when he laps milk. You'll see that his tongue laps four times per second and you'll find out how and why big cats — lions, tigers and jaguars — lap the same way … only more slowly.

The exhibitors are Associate Professor Roman Stocker and Edgerton Assistant Professor Pedro Reis.

Sponsor: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Orchestrating the movement of aircraft (manned and unmanned), support vehicles, and crew within the confines of a carrier deck is an extremely complex operation.

See how our computerized large tabletop display will help supervisors overseeing these critical activities.

Sponsor: Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Take part in a real-time program demonstrating a sound and reliable algorithm for ranking college football teams, congress members, and search results

Sponsor: Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems

How can MIT amplify and extend its educational value proposition, which recognizes that the best learning is a deep human endeavor and that is largely conducted in a residential campus, through the affordances provided by emerging technologies?

The question is not new, and over the decades MIT has developed institutional responses to it through the imagination and innovativeness of its faculty, students and staff.

The OEIT Open House will showcase some of the ways MIT faculty, students and staff are using technology to advance teaching and learning at MIT, and beyond. Featured project demonstrations, interactive presentations, and on-site consultations will highlight ways to use technology for innovative pedagogy and engaging learning both in K-12 and higher education. Teachers, faculty, students, and parents are welcome to join.

Some of the topics and themes covered at this event are: • Finding and integrating digital content • Supporting global learning experiences • Visualization and simulation • Open educational tools and resources

Sponsor: Office of the Dean for Undergraduate Education

Student groups including the Solar Electric Vehicle Team, Formula SAE, Electric Vehicle Team and the MIT Electronics Research Society (MITERS) will present their activities.

Sponsor: Department of Mechanical Engineering

This drop in event will encourage you to think about a product you encounter on a routine basis - your mobile phone. We'll discuss ergonomics, technology, button types, and how these (and other) factors influence a product's ease of use.

With a collection of different cell/mobile phones we'll ask you to predict how easy or difficult it will be to make a call, send a text, and set the time for several of the devices. How long does it take to do? Was the process obvious? Give us your feedback! Compete with others trying to do the same task! How usable was it?

Sponsor: Information Services & Technology

In the Gordon-MIT Engineering Leadership Program, MIT engineering undergraduate students learn how to become next-generation technical leaders who have the professional and interpersonal skills to understand and address significant engineering problems in real-world situations.

In this interactive hands-on activity, guests will be led by current GELs (Gordon Engineering Leaders) through a sample leadership and design-build exercise.

Guests will also be able to help evaluate leadership performance based on a key program document, the Capabilities of Effective Engineering Leaders.

Sponsor: Gordon Engineering Leadership program

Ever wonder how anti-fogging mirrors or Teflon-coated frying pans work? Think you could make a shirt that could never get wet?

Chemical engineers can coat objects to repel liquid and oil and are currently working on applications for soldiers to use in the field. Graduate students will demonstrate current research in hydrophobia, with a special “thank you" to the US Air Force for helping to provide supplies for the demonstration.

Sponsor: Department of Chemical Engineering

See videos of a car that can drive itself, (even in traffic), and videos of an autonomous fork lift in action - controlled only by voice commands given to a small tablet computer!

The actual robots will be on display outside the Stata Center.

Sponsor: Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems

The Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS) at MIT is an interdepartmental research center committed to advancing research and education in the analytical information and decision sciences, especially systems and control, communications and networks, and inference and statistical data processing.

For the MIT150 open house we will present some of the cutting edge research we are working on, as well as the wide range of applications our work has.

Sponsor: Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems

Come see the Braille Maker created by the 2.009 purple team in the class of 2010.

The senior design course 2.009 assembles teams of students to research market needs for innovative products and to develop project ideas into viable engineering prototypes.

Sponsor: Department of Mechanical Engineering

See the virtual robots battle for eternal glory! Battlecode is the premier artificial intelligence (AI) programming competition at MIT. Over 500 students nationwide compete every year during January for recognition and prize money.

Competitors program an AI that controls virtual robots that battle head to head in order to achieve eternal glory.

Sponsor: Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Graduate Students Association

Watch a video about the MIT Engineering Systems Division, talk to students and staff, and take some ESD materials.

There also will be videos about and info tables for the Leaders for Global Operations program and the MIT Portugal program.

Sponsor: Engineering Systems Division

What does a cancer researcher do? What kinds of tools do they use to understand cancer and develop cancer solutions?

Come and meet the researchers from the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT and explore hands-on, family-friendly demonstrations of their work.

Sponsor: David H Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research

The underwater mass spectrometer is a new technology that provides the capability of measuring dissolved gases and volatile chemicals, a broad class of substances that have been heretofore very difficult to measure continuously, underwater, in real time.

Deployed aboard a mobile platform such as an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), the mass spectrometer measures substances such as hydrocarbon pollutants and metabolic gases, thus providing monitoring of pollution as well as giving key data needed in fundamental Earth systems research.

This exhibit features a pioneering instrument, NEREUS, that has been integrated with the Odyssey II, an AUV originally designed by MIT Sea Grant. NEREUS was designed and built in the lab of Professor Harold Hemond.

The exhibitor is Harry Hemond, Leonhard Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Sponsor: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Try out a practical tracking system for pedestrians employing inertial sensor and state-of-the-art communication and signal processing techniques.

Sponsor: Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems

Come see yourself in a new light! Inafrared cameras can tell whether you are cold-blooded or a hot-head. Check out yourself with a variety of cameras from the visible to the infrared.

Sponsor: Lincoln Laboratory

Terrascope is a learning community in which freshmen study and find solutions to real-world problems. In the fall, the class addresses a single big, multidisciplinary problem, then presents a solution and defends it before a panel of experts. In the spring, the students divide into teams to test, implement or build upon their ideas and present their work in an end-of-semester Bazaar of Ideas.

This exhibit will show posters describing some of the student projects, which included building and testing a model of a geological carbon-sequestration site; developing less greenhouse-intensive forms of concrete; prototyping a new energy-storage mechanism for offshore windmills; designing a multiplayer game to teach players about control of atmospheric carbon; and creating an interactive museum about greenhouse gases and methods of mitigation.

The exhibitors are Professor Charles Harvey and Dr. Ari Epstein, Lecturer.

Sponsor: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Scientists from the multi-disciplinary Research Laboratory of Electronics will be demonstrating their research including a robotic arm, glowing pickles and HDTV.Scientists from the multi-disciplinary Research Laboratory of Electronics will be demonstrating their research including a robotic arm, glowing pickles and HDTV.

Sponsor: Research Laboratory of Electronics

Ever dream of being a symphony conductor? Now's your chance! Come conduct the music of your dreams! We'll provide the symphony — you provide your charm.

This demonstration uses Microsoft's Kinect technology and allows body gestures to control all sorts of things. If you enjoy this, be sure to check out other demos at OpenKinect.org.

Sponsor: Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Graduate Students Association

Learn how the chips in your cell phone, video game, etc., are made. Take a window tour of the lab to see the big machines that it takes to make these tiny devices.

Tours are limited to 10 people each; there will be four 20-min tours. You will see demonstrations of new applications (e.g., light emitters, medical measurements).

Sponsor: Microsystems Technology Laboratories

The Human Language Technology Group from Lincoln Laboratory will demonstrate systems that can automatically determine who is speaking and what language is being spoken.

Volunteers from the audience will pass the microphone around to each other, and the system will determine, in near real-time, who is talking as well as the language being spoken.

Sponsor: Lincoln Laboratory

Since the inception of NASA and its Apollo program, Draper Laboratory (formerly the MIT Instrumentation Lab) has been on the leading edge of space exploration technology.

Join us as we demonstrate our latest partnerships with MIT in the area of space exploration: TALARIS, a planetary hopper that is a joint Draper and MIT Aero/Astro project being developed for the Google Lunar X Prize, and Exoplanet Satellite, a cubesat designed by MIT Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS) and Draper to study nearby stars for evidence of transitory planets.

Sponsor: Draper Laboratory

Come see the GroceryMate, a wheelchair basket created by the 2.009 purple team in the class of 2010.

The senior design course 2.009 assembles teams of students to research market needs for innovative products and to develop project ideas into viable engineering prototypes.

Sponsor: Department of Mechanical Engineering

See just how this amazing seemingly tiny/delicate material will make next-generation airplanes and satellites stronger, safer, and multi-functional.

Sponsor: Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics

The Educational Studies Program is a student group committed to providing unique educational opportunities for middle and high school students.

This is a sample class taught by an undergraduate similar to a class that would be taught at a program like Splash or Spark.

Come learn about, see with your own eyes, and maybe even befriend the incredible water bear! This miniature beast is the first member of the animal kingdom to successfully survive exposure to outer space and become a model for cutting-edge cryptobiosis research. As an oddball of the animal kingdom, you probably won't learn about tardigrades in your high school biology class, but come learn about the little-known history of the water bear, how to collect and view the critter on your own with just a few basic tools, and build up a repertoire of knowledge on water bears.

We'll have demonstrations of live organisms and cool handouts, plus we'll even talk about ways you can contribute to the pool of tardigrade knowledge.

Sponsor: The Educational Studies Program

Interactive talks on how materials science fits into today's world, including medicine, batteries, and communication, by professors Yoel Fink, Krystyn Van Vliet, and Lorna Gibson

Sponsor: Department of Materials Science and Engineering

The MIT Electric Vehicle Team (EVT) is a group of over 30 active undergraduate and graduate students at MIT who are dedicated to the research, design, and operation of electric vehicles (EVs).

The team has completed one EV conversion and started a second conversion in June 2009. In addition, the team is active in education and community outreach.

Meet the team and see their latest vehicles!

Sponsor: Department of Mechanical Engineering

Come and see your favorite frozen delicious treats in a whole new light. Using liquid nitrogen and simple ingredients, we'll make ice cream in just minutes, and explain how the taste of the ice cream can be explained using the same ideas that are used to study metals, ceramics, and polymers.

Sponsor: Department of Materials Science and Engineering

The MIT Solar Electric Vehicle Team sets its goals beyond just winning races. The team is dedicated to promoting alternatively powered vehicles. Members participate in seminars, lectures, museum displays, conferences dedicated to alternative energy, and numerous Earth Day and ecological fairs. Team members answer questions about electric transportation at these events as well as during race-sponsored demonstrations.

Sponsor: Department of Mechanical Engineering

Come see robot competitions, research demos, robots, and more from undergraduates, graduate students, researchers and faculty in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (EECS)!

Sponsor: Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science

MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms manages a unique digital fabrication facility for making and measuring things from nanometers to meters.

This event will provide interactive, hands-on introductions to CBA's tools for producing and scanning nano/micro/meso/macro-structures, and to their use in its global network of field fab labs.

Sponsor: Program in Media Arts and Sciences

A look at the past, present and future of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) featuring demonstrations of autonomous vehicles and robots co-designed with the Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS).

Sponsor: Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems

The Space Systems Lab has many of their basketball-sized self-propelled satellites aboard the International Space Station. Now’s your chance to operate an identical one here on earth in a series of one-minute contests!

Good piloting skills will win you a SPHERES sticker. And while in the SSL, take a look at lots of other cool vehicles and projects.

Sponsor: Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Presentations on the science and engineering of invisibility; nanoengineering of surfaces for improved energy efficiency; and (very!) smartphones as engineering supercomputers.

11:00 “Now You See It – Now You Don’t: the Science of Seeing and Hiding." Professor George Barbastathis and Dr. Baile Zhang.

11:30 “Nanoengineered Surfaces for Efficiency Enhancements in Energy and Water." Professor Kripa Varanasi.

12:00 “From Massive Supercomputers to (Very) Smartphones to Virtual Lego's." Professor Anthony Patera, Dr. David Knezevic, and Dr. Phuong Huynh.

Sponsor: Department of Mechanical Engineering

Chemical engineering focuses on the transformation of molecules into processes and products. But what does that mean?

On view throughout the first floor of Building 66, find posters and displays showing examples of chemical engineering and the latest MIT research, including new solar and energy technology, AIDS/HIV and cancer research, and new polymers and materials.

Sponsor: Department of Chemical Engineering

We use concrete, steel and other man-made building materials to create structures like bridges, roads and buildings. In nature, bone forms the structural basis for the bodies of humans and many other organisms, and spider silk is the spider's building material of choice. Did you ever wonder how natural and man-made building materials differ from one another and what they look like at the molecular level? Researchers in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering are using molecular modeling simulations to try to reduce the carbon footprint of concrete and design a man-made material that is as strong and lightweight as spider silk.

At the Molecular Secrets! exhibit you can watch computer simulations based on quantum mechanics that show the electrons in cement interact with water. You'll also see how weak hydrogen bonds in spider silk actually make the material marvelously strong — even though it's lighter than a feather.

This hands-on exhibit will let you manipulate materials at the molecular level on a computer to see how they respond to compression and pulling, and how they react with water and other substances.

The exhibitors are Associate Professor Markus Buehler and Senior Research Scientist Roland Pellenq.

Sponsor: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

The Aerospace Controls Laboratory researches how to control air and ground vehicles, such that they can fly and perform missions autonomously.

Stop by to see a live quadrotor demo and learn how our computers fly them indoors!

Sponsor: Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems

What makes quantum information different from classical information? What techniques are researchers at MIT using to make quantum computation a reality? Take this opportunity to learn more about quantum information science, an exciting interdisciplinary field that combines physics, computer science, and engineering.

Discover the difference between classical and quantum information storage. Explore encryption schemes and send your own secret message.

Learn how scientists teleport information. Witness the fascinating quantum nature of light. Play with models representing modern experimental techniques such as ion trapping. Find out how quantum computers could be used to solve difficult scientific and mathematical problems.

This event is hosted by the graduate students in the Interdisciplinary Quantum Information Science and Engineering (iQuISE) program.

Sponsor: Research Laboratory of Electronics

Is it a liquid? Is it a solid? A non-Newtonian fluid is a fluid whose viscosity is variable based on applied stress. These fluids are everywhere: our own blood is non-Newtonian, but the most commonly known non-Newtonian fluid is cornstarch dissolved in water.

Come see, touch, run across, and stick limbs into a fluid that would baffle most airport security lines and is an example of molecules behaving badly.

Sponsor: Department of Chemical Engineering

Unmanned systems are increasingly used to perform tasks that are too dull, dirty, or dangerous for humans. Presently, many of these robotic systems operating in unstructured real-world environments are remotely controlled by human operators.

Lincoln Laboratory is developing software, algorithms, and payloads to increase unmanned system autonomy and enable new capabilities.

At today's event, we are showing some of Lincoln's unmanned platforms and robot sensors. Additionally, a video presentation will illustrate the autonomous algorithms in action.

Sponsor: Lincoln Laboratory

Come visit us and see a cloud chamber that shows how radiation is all around us, a demonstration of a fusion reactor, an online time-of-flight experiment that uses the MIT reactor, and an exploration of the periodic table with examples of each element.

Sponsor: Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering

All organisms, from trees to people, store energy through chemical bonds, which work through chemical reactions. These chemical reactions are happening all the time in your body as you eat, sleep, move and think.

Chemical engineering researchers will show, through the dramatic combustion (fire!) of nitrocellulose, how power stored in organic material releases energy, and how this same concept relates to biofuels and alternative energy.

Sponsor: Department of Chemical Engineering

There is a new way of sensing the environment that is global and capable of providing a bird’s eye view of moving and shifting weather systems, of seasonally-changing ecosystems, and ebbing and flowing ice-sheets, wetlands, among other things. That is by putting sensors in Earth orbit and measuring how the land, atmosphere and oceans emit or scatter radiation in different frequencies. Much like imaging technologies have revolutionized modern medicine and the practice of surgery, satellite Earth observation is about to revolutionize Earth science and the practice of environmental management.

Come see how remote sensing instruments work and what it takes to put together a satellite in the service of environmental science. See a scale model of a NASA satellite scheduled to launch November 2014. The satellite will measure soil moisture in the surface soil all around the Earth. This tabletop model rotates to simulate how it collects data on a large swath of the Earth as it orbits around it at 680 km. The Soil Moisture Active and Passive (SMAP) mission will provide global measurements of soil moisture and its freeze/thaw state.

These measurements will be used to enhance our understanding of the processes that link the water, energy and carbon cycles, and to extend the capabilities of weather and climate prediction models. SMAP data will also be used to quantify net carbon flux in boreal landscapes and to develop improved flood prediction and drought monitoring capabilities.

The exhibitor is Bacardi and Stockholm Water Foundations Professor Dara Entekhabi.

Sponsor: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Learn all about the latest advances in safety control of multi-vehicle systems.

Sponsor: Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems

The Leaders for Global Operations (LGO) program is a dual-degree MBA and SM in Engineering offered by a partnership of the Sloan School, the School of Engineering, and a group of industrial partner companies. The program, active since 1988 when it was founded as Leaders for Manufacturing, enrolls 48 students a year who receive two degrees in two years while conducting a 6-month internship on site at a partner company site.

The Leaders for Global Operations stand will consist of a video monitor displaying videos that reflect LGO student life, internships, domestic and global plant treks, and the LGO leadership curriculum.

Sponsor: Leaders for Global Operations program

See actual lecture demonstrations used in undergraduate electrical engineering classes, and learn about electromagnetism and feedback control.

Sponsor: Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Graduate Students Association

Healthcare reborn is an online game that teaches systems thinking by letting players experience the complexity of service systems and learn to use indirect controls, incentives, and process design to tune system performance and optimize cost, quality, and performance.

As players experiment with multifaceted approaches to addressing the challenges of a hospital emergency room, they are provided with direct and indirect feedback which guides the development of systems thinking competencies. Players walk away from the game better able to identify systemic relationships, implement holistic thinking, and leverage a multitude of strategies to improve system performance.

Presenters: Nathan Perkins, John Hess

Sponsor: Center for Technology, Policy, & Industrial Development

The MIT Steel Bridge Team has been competing in the National Student Steel Bridge Competition since 2007. In 2010, the team broke into the Top 10, placing first in several categories.

Participants in the competition are required to design a 20-foot bridge that is constructed in pieces and optimizes three key components: speed of assembly (the top speed in 2010 was 3 minutes, 12 seconds), deflection or sag (the bridge must withstand loads of 2,500 pounds), and weight.

The bridge design and construction area are subjected to numerous constraints such as every piece must fit into a small box (about 3.5ft x 6in x 6in), and during construction, each team member is allowed to stand in certain parts of the construction area and hold only one member piece at a time. This requires team members to pass pieces from hand to hand, relay-race style, as they construct the bridge.

The 2010 steel bridge will be on display along with a short video showing the team constructing the bridge.

Sponsor: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Researchers in the rock mechanics lab in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering study the basic mechanics of rock, applying high stresses to different types of material to study its fracturing and crack coalescence behavior (the cracks that form between flaws that exist in rock).

Their work involves use of a high-speed camera that captures videos of up to 24,000 frames per second, allowing the researchers to tape and then replay rock fracturing at speeds the human eye and brain can comprehend.

This exhibit will include samples of fractured rocks, videos of undergraduate students using very high pressure to crack rocks, and a poster describing the process.

The exhibitors are Professor Herbert Einstein and Undergraduates Julie Harrow & Catherine Johnson.

Sponsor: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Yes, these are the same LEGOs you played with as a child, but taken to a much higher level!

A quarter century of LEGO robotics competition at MIT—the 6.270 Autonomous LEGO Robot Design Competition—will give a demonstration from the student-taught class on robot design.

Sponsor: Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

The Human Language Technology Group at Lincoln Laboratory will demonstrate a real-time voice transformation system that can change a person's voice. For example, a child's voice can be changed to sound like an adult, or a female voice can be changed to sound like a male.

Volunteers from the audience will test the system with their voices.

Sponsor: Lincoln Laboratory

The MIT Chapter of Engineering Without Borders is in the process of providing eletricity (via solar panels) and clean water to the the Engeye Health Clinic in Ddegeya, Southern Uganda.

EWB is also showing villagers how to make a renewable charcoal fuel for cooking food, and creating new water systems, such as a rainwater harvesting tank and SODIS water purifiers for the entire village, which now relies on one dug pond and a single well. (Children often make several trips a day to the pond, carrying jerrycans of water up to two miles each way.)

This exhibit will describe the project on posters, demonstrate how to make charcoal using banana leaves, corn cobs and banana peels, display a prototype of the rainwater harvesting system, allow hands-on water testing, and demonstrate SODIS water purification, in which plastic jugs of water are purified by UV rays and heat from the sun.

The exhibitor is Marisa Simmons. Hosted by the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Engineers Without Borders, and Civil and Environmental Engineering Students.

Sponsor: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Did you know that MIT has a world-famous radio observatory out in the far suburbs of Boston? MIT Haystack Observatory has existed for more than 50 years and conducts ground-breaking research in atmospheric science, astronomy, geodesy, and related fields. Haystack scientists use radio waves to remotely observe everything from the upper atmosphere to the outer reaches of the universe.

Come meet a few scientists and learn about what we study. You'll also find out what happens when you combine a 450-foot crane with the world's largest free-standing radome ("golf ball")!

Sponsor: Haystack Observatory

Featured: Single Entry Tunneler (SET) for Hemodialysis Graft Procedures, by Elizabeth Y. Tsai.

MechE students telling their stories of their experiences in engineering innovation and development, as fostered in project-based coursework.

Teams follow a design process which includes partnering with clinicians to gain a detailed understanding of the clinical need, investigating the prior art, exploring strategies and conducting appropriate bench-level testing, designing and manufacturing components, assembling the prototype, testing and debugging it, and documenting the results.

Sponsor: Department of Mechanical Engineering

Featured: Renal Cooling Device for use in Minimally Invasive Surgery, by Thomas Cervantes.

MechE students telling stories of their experiences in engineering innovation and development, as fostered in project-based coursework.

Teams follow a design process which includes partnering with clinicians to gain a detailed understanding of the clinical need, investigating the prior art, exploring strategies and conducting appropriate bench-level testing, designing and manufacturing components, assembling the prototype, testing and debugging it, and documenting the results.

Sponsor: Department of Mechanical Engineering

“Got gunk on your DNA?" Yes, the environment can affect your DNA! Come learn about gene/environment interactions and how DNA damage affects your health.

There are three stations on a tour of the Center for Environmental Health Sciences. The first station is a research lab where you will see comet chips used to measure gunk (e.g., damage) on the DNA of single cells and robotics for automation. At the second station, see mass spectrometers, the instruments that can weigh atoms and solve the mystery of how good molecules go bad. The third station includes a slide show about interesting environmental health research at MIT, including the story about the famous peanut butter toxin.

Running concurrently will be our “play-space lab bench", a lab bench for the younger scientists (4-12 yrs old) where they may perfect their lab skills with plastic pipets and beakers with colored water, lab coats, purple gloves, and paper masks, etc.

Sponsor: Center for Environmental Health Sciences

Featured: Somnus Shirt — Home Sleep Monitoring, by Thomas Lipoma, Pablo Bello, and Carson Darling.

MechE students telling stories of their experiences in engineering innovation and development, as fostered in project-based coursework.

Teams follow a design process which includes partnering with clinicians to gain a detailed understanding of the clinical need, investigating the prior art, exploring strategies and conducting appropriate bench-level testing, designing and manufacturing components, assembling the prototype, testing and debugging it, and documenting the results.

Sponsor: Department of Mechanical Engineering

Featured: Flexural Laparoscopic Grasper, by Matt Rosario

MechE students telling stories of their experiences in engineering innovation and development, as fostered in project-based coursework.

Teams follow a design process which includes partnering with clinicians to gain a detailed understanding of the clinical need, investigating the prior art, exploring strategies and conducting appropriate bench-level testing, designing and manufacturing components, assembling the prototype, testing and debugging it, and documenting the results.

Sponsor: Department of Mechanical Engineering

Learn the secrets of magnetism from the Plasma Science and Fusion Center's Mr. Magnet (Paul Thomas). After decades of bringing his hands-on magnet demonstration to local schools, Paul Thomas is inviting the public to participate in his popular program.

Watch and participate as circular magnetic field lines are made visible, an ordinary aluminum pan appears to defy gravity, and liquid oxygen gathers at the poles of a magnet. Levitate a small magnetic cube, and make it spin in mid-air. Strengthen and weaken the magnetic properties of the metal "gadolinium." Answer the question, "What substance often found at your desk, in your back pack, or in your hand, can be called "diamagnetic?"

Sponsor: Plasma Science and Fusion Center

The Sea Perch is a small, lightweight, remotely operated underwater vehicle, or Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), made from PVC pipe and other inexpensive, easily available materials.

MIT Sea Grant has been training educators from across the United States and around the world in Sea Perch construction and use since 2003.

MIT Sea Grant staff members will demonstrate the Sea Perch in a tank and visitors will have a chance to "drive" the little vehicle as well.

Sponsor: Sea Grant college program

Cosponsored by MIT's School of Engineering and the MIT Sloan School of Management, the System Design and Management (SDM) master's program in engineering and management educates mid-career professionals to lead effectively and creatively by using systems thinking to solve large-scale, complex challenges in product design, development, and innovation.

This session will feature a short presentation from program Fellows, followed by a poster session where attendees will be able to learn about ongoing work and about the program in general.

Sponsor: System Design and Management

VIsit Strobe Alley, home of professor Harold Edgerton's Stroboscopic Light Laboratory. Operate the displays of levitating water drops. Have your photo taken as you pop a balloon (and see the balloon in mid-pop).

Enjoy the exhibits of Edgerton's life and work. See how MIT is continuing his legacy of learning through doing.

Sponsor: Edgerton Center

A demonstration of student-built robots to be presented by Professor Dan Frey, instructor of 2.007.

MIT's annual festival of anguish, elation, and extreme engineering, the 2.007 Mechanical Engineering Design Contest takes place annually. Dubbed the "mother of all robot contests," 2.007 has been replicated worldwide in engineering schools and on television.

Sponsor: Department of Mechanical Engineering

Think you've got what it takes to be an engineer?

Try your hand at building the tallest, strongest, most robust tower out of pasta and marshmallows! In this activity, groups of three will attempt to build sturdy towers out of fluffy marshmallows and spaghetti—and they have to be sturdy enough to hold as many small weights as possible.

Basic principles of structural mechanics are introduced in this fun activity. Suitable for high school students.

Sponsor: Department of Mechanical Engineering

Design Inspiration from Nature—a lecture by Professor Sangbae Kim. Part of the Robotics in Mechanical Engineering lecture series.

Sponsor: Department of Mechanical Engineering

- Claude Canizares, Associate Provost & Vice President for research - Lita Nelsen, director, Technology Licensing Office - Michelle Christy, director, Office of Sponsored Programs

This panel will trace the long history of research at MIT and how it has been impacted by wars, government policies, economic and industrial changes, as well as the shifting role of universities.

The panelists will also discuss the current era with its increased emphasis on technology transfer, entrepreneurship and universities’ impact on economic development.

Sponsor: Technology Licensing Office

The mining and metallurgical roots of Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE) are still alive in the DMSE Forge.

Visit the smithy to watch students and staff hammer, bend, cut, and twist red-hot steel.

Sponsor: Department of Materials Science and Engineering

The MIT DARPA Urban Challenge Team—a lecture by Professor John Leonard.

Part of the Robotics in Mechanical Engineering lecture series.

Sponsor: Department of Mechanical Engineering

The Robo Turtle—a lecture by Professor Michael Triantafyllou.

Part of the Robotics in Mechanical Engineering lecture series.

Sponsor: Department of Mechanical Engineering

Rehabilitation Robotics: From Bench to Clinical Practice—a lecture by Dr. Hermano Igo Krebs.

Part of the Robotics in Mechanical Engineering lecture series.

Sponsor: Department of Mechanical Engineering

Nuclear Reactor Inspection Robots—a lecture by Professor Harry Asada.

Part of the Robotics in Mechanical Engineering series.

Sponsor: Department of Mechanical Engineering

Wondering what powers everything from e-book readers to electric cars? Come see the MIT inventions behind cutting edge technology like laser surgery and energy efficient light bulbs.

Get introduced to the world of technology transfer: browse issued patents and technical illustrations, explore important issues such as the government’s role in funding research, and learn how inventions move from the lab to the world around you.

These presentations will run one hour long.

Sponsor: Technology Licensing Office