MIT News Newsletter

	Massachusetts Institute of Technology
December 13, 2017
MIT News: around campus
A weekly digest of the Institute’s community news

Asu Ozdaglar named head of Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

She succeeds Anantha Chandrakasan, who was named dean of engineering, as leader of MIT’s largest academic department.

MIT convenes researchers and policymakers for regional climate action

Two-day summit on climate leadership in northeastern North America draws almost 200 to MIT.

Four from MIT are named 2018 IEEE Fellows

Researchers from across MIT are honored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

Seeking the stories behind the data

MIT Senior Olivia Zhao will study economics as a Marshall Scholar.

Students launch products that help users harness their superpowers

In final presentation for mechanical engineering class, students unveil new products based on superhero theme.

School of Engineering welcomes new faculty

Sixteen new professors join seven of the school’s departments.

In the Media

CBS Boston spotlights how Portal Instruments, an MIT startup, is bringing a needle-free injector to the market, which could change the way people take medicine. The device, “fires a pressurized spray to penetrate the skin, instead of piercing the skin with traditional needles.”

Prof. Barry Posen writes in The New York Times about the possible outcomes of different planned military strikes against North Korea. “A combination of diplomacy and deterrence, based on the already impressive strength of South Korean and United States conventional and nuclear forces, is a wise alternative,” concludes Posen.

Prof. Deborah Ancona and Senior Lecturer Hal Gregersen write for the Financial Times about the importance of collaborative leadership, highlighting how the development of the memorial to honor Officer Sean Collier was a collective effort. “To ‘step up’ and to ‘step aside’ — as needed — is the new way to lead in a world of distributed information and talent,” they note.

Prof. David Autor has been named to the Bloomberg 50 list, which spotlights the thought leaders who defined global business in 2017. In describing why Autor was selected, Peter Coy highlights a pair of influential working papers this year in which Autor documents how the rise of superstar companies has impacted American workers.