News & Stories

Ice melts on US-Sudan relations, providing new opportunities

It was over 27 years in the making. When the White House removed Sudan from the “State Sponsors of Terrorism” list in December 2020, ZAHARA for Education was ready. ZAHARA was founded by MIT technology and policy master’s student Ilham Ali and Harvard University alumna Sahar Omer to expand educational opportunities between Sudan and the […]

An ocean apart, shared engineering projects catalyze a love of STEM

A pendulum wave is a series of weights, each suspended by a string a little longer than the last. The weights swing in a wave, like a snake slithering through grass. It’s a work of kinetic art and a demonstration of trigonometry, and it can also be a magic wand for catalyzing interest in physics. […]

Sparking studies and conversations in Spain

“Meeting with the students [virtually] to discuss the challenges I had prepared was so inspiring because I saw the interest in science sparking during our conversations,” reflects Erick Eguia, a junior studying brain and cognitive sciences. Eguia had the unique experience of taking part in a longstanding MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI) program […]

Expanding MIT’s global reach in the professional world

MIT Professional Education, housed under the School of Engineering, is the arm of MIT that provides access to MIT knowledge and expertise to thousands of professionals around the world via education programs designed for them. Bhaskar Pant, executive director of MIT Professional Education, says he didn’t consciously set out to bring more diversity to the […]

Keeping humanity central to solving climate change

As a small child, Manduhai Buyandelger lived with her grandparents in a house unconnected to the heating grid on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. There, in the world’s coldest capital city, temperatures can drop as low as minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter months. “Once I moved further into the city with my parents, […]

Traveling the world for global health solutions

As a kid, Andrea Orji always loved it when her grandpa would visit from Nigeria. He would share stories about his home to teach Orji, a Texas native, about her family’s heritage. But while she and her family attended school and work, her grandpa remained at the house, frequently alone. She could tell he longed […]

Exploring generations of influence between South Asia and MIT

When thinking about how to celebrate the approaching 60th anniversary of Sangam, the Association of Indian Students at MIT, Ranu Boppana ’87, president of the MIT South Asian Alumni Association (MITSAAA) began to reflect upon ways in which to explore the rich history of South Asians at MIT. “As president of MITSAAA, I met several […]

3 Questions: Claude Grunitzky MBA ’12 on launching TRUE Africa University

Shortly after he sold TRACE, the fast-growing, New York-based media company he founded at age 24, Claude Grunitzky came to MIT as a Sloan Fellow. He chose MIT because he wanted to learn more about digital media and the ways he could leverage it for his next company. He was also interested in MIT’s approach […]

Innovation for aviation

The new normal has set in motion a sustained urgency to re-imagine how we learn, how we engage in teamwork, and how to solve real-world problems collaboratively. For the Entrepreneurship and Maker Skills Integrator (MEMSI), the MIT Hong Kong Innovation Node’s flagship hardware systems entrepreneurship program, what was originally designed as a two-week residential experience held […]

Virtual bootcamps recruit from a wider world

Any past participant of MIT Bootcamps can tell you that the program lives up to the intensity implied by its name. But they’d also be quick to say that the military analogy extends even further — to an enduring camaraderie that tends to bind its members together for years after their experience has ended, across […]