News & Stories

Exploring the human side of health care

For over 100 hours per semester, Adedoyin Olateru-Olagbegi can be found wearing a navy blue polo, black pants, boots, and a radio over her shoulder. She’s on the alert; if someone calls the emergency line, she’s ready to drive an ambulance to the scene. Olateru-Olagbegi, an MIT senior, is a certified emergency medical technician. She […]

Creating a network of drivers to lift a community

Finding success in a big, informal market of a developing country is a tall task for any new company — which makes Nigerian mobility startup Max NG’s success all the more distinctive. The company is currently disrupting not just one huge market of West Africa, but two. In the four years since its founding, Max […]

3 Questions: Alan Lightman’s new novel about Cambodia and family

MIT’s Alan Lightman is a physicist who made a leap to becoming a writer — one with an unusually broad range of interests. In his novels, nonfiction books, and essays, Lightman, a professor of the practice of the humanities at MIT, has explored many topics, from science to society. His new novel, “Three Flames,” recently […]

Deploying drones to prepare for climate change

While doing field research for her graduate thesis in her hometown of Cairo, Norhan Magdy Bayomi observed firsthand the impact of climate change on her local community. The residents of the low-income neighborhood she was studying were living in small, poorly insulated apartments that were ill-equipped for dealing with the region’s rising temperatures. Sharing cramped […]

Bridging the information gap in solar energy

Just 30 seconds into their walk to the town center of Kitale, in Kenya, where they would later conduct a focus group about locally available solar energy options, Elise Harrington and her research partner came across a vendor selling a counterfeit solar lantern. Because they had been studying these very products, they knew immediately it […]

Cultural curator

Rekha Malhotra joined MIT’s Comparative Media Studies program as a master’s student after 20 years as a flourishing New York City DJ. She has also accrued major accolades for other artistic endeavors: She was the sound designer for a Tony Award-winning Broadway show and a New York University artist in residence, and she has been […]

Hair and identity

Sefa Yakpo has always been interested in the question of the beauty standards that shape the lives of women of African descent. Growing up in Ghana, Yakpo recalls going with her mother every Sunday to the salon to watch her mother have her hair done. The posters and pictures in hair product commercials showed women […]

Civil rights in a complex world

For as long as he can remember, Bruno Perreau hoped to teach others. “Being a teacher was something I wanted from the youngest age,” says Perreau, recalling his childhood in France. That wish has come true: Perreau taught for a decade in the French university system and is now the Cynthia L. Reed Associate Professor […]

What Paris shows us about the history of photography

Imagine a photo of Paris you’ve seen before, whether it’s the Eiffel Tower or an urchin carrying a baguette. Have you ever considered the story behind that picture — why it was taken, and why it’s in circulation today? If you haven’t, MIT scholar Catherine Clark certainly has. Clark, an associate professor of French studies […]