SEPT home
OverviewProgram DescriptionSyllabusTestimonialsApplyContactNEST
Skip to content

Sample Syllabus

The 2009 Syllabus has not yet been confirmed, but here is a sample syllabus from the 2008 Program.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Registration and Welcome

4:00 - 5:00

Registration, McCormick Hall Lobby

4:00 - 5:00

Reception, McCormick Hall Courtyard

5:00 - 5:30

Welcome and Opening Remarks
Prof. Emeritus Ronald M. Latanision, Founder
Prof. Eric Klopfer, Co-Director

5:30

Box Dinner

6:30 - 7:15

A Capsule Tour of MIT

7:30 - 8:30

The Ultimate Puzzle

Hosted by SEPT 2009 Alumni Hosts
Green Living Room, McCormick Hall. Refreshments.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Frontiers in Chemistry

8:30 - 9:20

Chemistry Outreach Program
Jennie Fong, Dept. of Chemistry

9:20 - 9:40

Break

9:40 - 10:20

OpenLabWare
George Zaidan, Dept. of Chemistry

10:20 - 11:00

Crystallography in the Post-Genomic Era
Professor Cathy Drennan, Dept. of Chemistry

11:00 - 12:00

Crystals, X-rays, and 3-D Glasses
A Guided Tour of Macromolecular X-ray Facilities with Live Demos Coordinated by Prof. Drennan and members of her Laboratory

12:00 - 1:30

Lunch

Frontiers in the Life Sciences

1:30 - 2:30

Unraveling Smallpox and Ebola Virus
Dr. Kate Rubins, Whitehead Institute Fellow, The Whitehead Institute for Biological Research

2:30 - 3:00

Break

3:00 - 4:00

Antibiotics, human disease, and protein engineering: New insights into protein synthesis
Caroline Koehrer, Research Scientist, Dept. of Biology

4:00 - 5:00

Pathways for Disulfide Bond Formation in Living Cells
Dr. Carolyn Sevier, Research Scientist, Dept. of Biology

5:30

Dinner

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Frontiers in Physics

9:00-9:55

The Big Bang and Beyond: Today's Particle Cosmology
Particle cosmology is a branch of modern physics that explores how elementary particles and their fundamental interactions shape the evolution of the universe as a whole. This talk will provide an overview of the big bang model of cosmology as well as more recent extensions, such as inflationary cosmology. During the past few years, empirical predictions from these models have been subjected to tests of unprecedented accuracy, and agreement between models and observations has been extremely promising.
Prof. David Kaiser, Dept. of Physics

9:55 - 10:10

Break

10:10 - 11:05

Atomic Scale Imaging of High Temperature Superconductors
Prof. Eric Hudson, Dept. of Physics

11:05 - 11:15

Break

11:15 - 12:30

Making Physics Come Alive in the Classroom
In this lecture you will SEE things that you may never have seen before. Exciting demonstrations will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Prof. Walter Lewin, Dept. of Physics
Room 26-100

12:30 - 1:30

Lunch

Frontiers in Mathematics

1:30 - 2:30

Knots and Numbers
How a 19th century theory of elementary particles led to the creation of knot theory, how it is that certain knots are encoded by rational numbers, some square-dancing and some magic.
Prof. Haynes Miller, Dept. of Mathematics

2:30 - 3:30

Photonic Crystals: Designer Electromagnetism, from Butterflies to Bits
Prof. Steven Johnson, Dept. of Mathematics

3:30 - 4:00

Break

4:00 - 5:00

Beyond Computation: The P versus the NP Question
Prof. Michael Sipser, Dept. of Mathematics

6:15 - 9:00

Sunset Dinner Harbor Cruise
Commonwealth Pier, Seaport District

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Materials - Solid State Science and Technology

8:30 - 9:30

Teaching General Chemistry via a Materials-Centered Curriculum: Re-Invigorating Engineering Education
Prof. Donald Sadoway, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering

9:30 - 10:00

Break

10:00 - 11:00

Polymers
Prof. David Roylance, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering

11:00 - 12:00

Nature Inspired Materials Science
Prof. Michael Rubner, Director, Center for Materials Science and Engineering

12:00 - 1:00

Lunch

1:00 - 1:30

Benjamin Jones, Assistant Director
MIT Admissions Office

1:30 - 2:30

The Driving Force - Magnetic Materials
Prof. James D. Livingston, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering

2:30 - 3:00

Break

3:00 - 4:00

Self-Assembled Materials for Nanotechnology
Prof. Caroline Ross, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering

4:00 - 5:00

Nanostructured Metal Coatings
Prof. Chris Schuh, Dept of Materials Science and Engineering

5:30

Dinner

7:00

If you had a Teaching Assistant
Joseph P. Scheller, MIT '55
JBS Associates, Inc. Pennsylvania
Green Living Room, McCormick Hall

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Product Design and Development

9:00 - 12:00

The Delta Design Exercise
Dr. Michael Stiefel, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Room E25-117

10:15 - 10:45

Break

12:00 - 1:00

Lunch

Advanced Engineering Systems

1:00 - 2:30

Microsystems: VLSI Applied to Intelligent Imaging Systems
Prof. Charles Sodini and Dr. Vicky Diadiuk. Microsystems Technology Laboratories

2:30 - 3:15

Break/Tour

3:15 - 5:00

Biological Engineering for Promoting Human Health
Prof. Jonghoon (Jay) Han, Dept. of Biological Engineering, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

5:30

Dinner

7:00 - 9:00

The "Best of NEST" Workshops

Science Investigation: How to Help Students Learn the Process of Solving Problems Like Real Scientists
Room 4-231, 7:00-8:00pm
Avi Ornstein, SEPT 1995
This workshop will enhance student understanding of science inquiry , literacy and numeracy. We will apply a graphic organizer strategy using sticky notes for the experiment design process. This program can then be shared with participant schools, multiplying the impact.

Sound/Fourier Transforms/The Digital Age
Room 4-270, 8:00-9:00pm
Don Cameron, SEPT 1990
A presentation will be made of voice theory with the voice box as a rectifier and the head as an amplifier and tuner. Human sounds will then be created and analyzed using a Fast Fourier Transformer software package and PHET simulations form the University of Colorado. Discussion will then lead to Fourier transform coefficients, binary coding and binary communication. Teachers will be given worksheets that lets them try coding and decoding. Teachers will start to develop a mental model of how binary communication takes place.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Advanced Engineering Systems

8:00 - 9:45

The Engineering of Aircraft Engines
Prof. Edward Greitzer, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics

9:45 - 10:15

Break

10:15 - 12:00

Artificial Intelligence
Prof. Patrick H. Winston, Artificial Intelligence Laboratory

12:00 - 1:00

Lunch

1:00 - 2:15

Infrastructure: Transportation Systems
Prof. Joseph M. Sussman, Dept. of Civil Engineering
For Discussion: Think about your own city or town transportation issues. What are the problems: Is there any opportunity for improvement?

2:15- 3:15

Quantum Engineering and Devices
Prof. David Cory, Dept. of Nuclear Science and Engineering

3:15 - 4:00

Program Awards ceremony

4:00 - 5:00

Energetic Systems
Prof. Michael W. Golay

6:15

Reception, MIT Faculty Club (Cash Bar)

7:00

Banquet Dinner

7:45

Guest Speaker
Dr Aziz Asphahani
"Materials Camp Initiative: Getting High School Students Interested in Science and Engineering"

8:30

NEST Distinguished Teacher Award winners
SEPT Scholarship award winners

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Network of Educators in Science and Technology

8:00 - 9:00

Full Breakfast, Lobby 32-141, Stata Center

9:00 - 10:00

How Did They Get on My Boat: The Amazing Sex Lives of Barnacles
Barbara Waters, SEPT 2005
Barnacles will be a model for demonstrating the rich and amazing evolution that guarantees success in their world. Their adaptation is one of a kind. Guaranteed to hold student interest at any age.

10:00 - 10:10

Break

10:10 - 11:00

Creating Student Ownership
Jane Gray and Amiee Modic, SEPT 2006
Participants will learn through experience how to employ different learning strategies to introduce and teach conceptual topics. Appropriate for all disciplines.

11:00 - 12:00

All about NEST:
Student and Teacher Awards, Tours for your Students, NEST Discussion List On-Line, Presenting Workshops at MIT, Summer Research Experiences, Newsletter, MIT Admission Office Partnership.

12:00

Tote Lunch, Farewell

MIT home
Copyright 2005 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge MA 02139-4307