News & Stories

Designing the built environment through a service lens

Growing up in Rwanda, Carene Umubyeyi learned at a young age the importance of community, adaptability, and education. At the age of 8, she moved to Michigan for a few years while her parents earned their graduate degrees. During that time, she had to learn a new language and integrate into a new culture. As […]

From modeling quantum devices to political systems

When most students are 17, they’re preparing college applications and planning for prom. When Sihao Huang was 17, he was meeting with officials from the U.S. Department of Defense and the Federal Aviation Administration. For two years before arriving at MIT, Huang started and ran a company, designing small, customizable satellite modules. Huang, now a […]

Energizing communities in Africa

Growing up in Lagos, Nigeria, Ayomikun Ayodeji enjoyed the noisy hustle and bustle of his neighborhood. The cacophony included everything from vendors hawking water sachets and mini sausages, to commuters shouting for the next bus. Another common sound was the cry of “Up NEPA!” — an acronym for the Nigerian Electrical Power Authority — which […]

Building technological tools for nuclear disarmament

Mentorship has played a central role in the twists and turns of Associate Professor Areg Danagoulian’s life. As a boy, it led him first to mathematics, where a passionate teacher and mentorship from his parents instilled in him a love for the subject. He then followed in the footsteps of his physicist parents and became […]

Seeing the natural world through a mathematical lens

Growing up in Wallingford, Connecticut, David Darrow loved spending time outside, hiking and camping with his Boy Scout troop. He was fascinated by the environment around him, constantly asking questions about the natural world. Now a senior at MIT majoring in math and minoring in German and physics, Darrow is still studying natural phenomena. With […]

Expanding the conversation about sustainability

Stacy Godfreey-Igwe sat in her dorm room at MIT, staring frantically at her phone. An unprecedented snowstorm had hit her hometown of Richardson, Texas, and she was having difficulty contacting her family. She felt worried and frustrated, aware that nearby neighborhoods hadn’t lost power during the storm but that her family home had suffered significant […]

The intersection of math, computers, and everything else

Shardul Chiplunkar, a senior in Course 18C (mathematics with computer science), entered MIT interested in computers, but soon he was trying everything from spinning fire to building firewalls. He dabbled in audio engineering and glass blowing, was a tenor for the MIT/Wellesley Toons a capella group, and learned to sail. “When I was entering MIT, […]

Diagnosing cancer with a barcode-inspired test

As Dana Al-Sulaiman peers into a microscope, a row of dots appears on a slide. These dots can help provide a cancer diagnosis. Al-Sulaiman was inspired by barcodes found on consumer products. “I got the idea from my PhD supervisor, who said, ‘in the future you’ll be able to scan a diagnostic test like you’re […]

Solving puzzles of international trade, war, and order

For Mariya Grinberg, the start of a research project often begins with a near-tangible sense of irritation. “I’d read something, a definition or idea that doesn’t make sense, that seems logically inconsistent — and it prickles,” says Grinberg, who joined the Department of Political Science as an assistant professor on July 1. “I try to […]

Improving management everywhere

In the Indian state of Karnataka, many smallholder farmers have traditionally sold their products to intermediaries — wholesale traders who turn around and resell the goods for a quick profit. Much of the dealing between farmers and those traders has occurred locally, and farmers do not typically know what should be a “fair” price for […]