Foundation grant aids mentoring program
A three-year, $100,000 grant from the 484 Phi Alpha Foundation will benefit SciPro, a Saturday science mentoring program for Cambridge high school and middle school students. The foundation was established by the alumni of the MIT chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
SciPro was originally called "Science Projects at MIT" when it began in 2001. Activities include field trips and science demonstrations, but most of the time is spent working on experiments that the teenagers select. One student won the 2002 Boston Science Fair competition with her SciPro project, competed in the Massachusetts State Science Fair, and went on to win a bronze medal in the physics and electronics division of a national science competition. Two others were inspired to join the SEED Academy, a three-year science and engineering preparatory weekend academy run by MIT's School of Engineering.
SciPro meets on the MIT campus and takes advantage of resources such as the Edgerton Center and the MIT Museum. MIT students serve as role models as well as science advisers.
Local firms and MIT celebrate biotechnology
Representatives from more than 150 Boston area biotech companies, venture capital firms, industry organizations and MIT came together on Aug. 21 for the second annual "Celebration of Biotechnology" in Kendall Square. More than 800 people registered for the event, which was hosted by the MIT Entrepreneurship Center and the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology.
"We are gathered together this evening to celebrate the biotech revolution and bear witness to the phenomenon of Kendall Square," said Ken Morse, managing director of the Entrepreneurship Center. "One key take-away is that Robert Frost's maxim 'good fences make good neighbors' does not apply to the biotech community in the 21st century. Rather, all of us at MIT believe in active connections and teamwork with our friends and neighbors here in Kendall Square and beyond."
"It is fitting that these many groups would come together to celebrate biotech here at MIT, as we have played a crucial role in biotech from its beginnings," said President Charles M. Vest. "Kendall Square has potential to be the hub of next-generation biotech, and it's events like this that build the sense of community necessary to turn that vision into reality."
Additional speakers included Professor Eric Lander, director of the Broad Institute, founder and director of the Whitehead Institute/MIT Center for Genome Research and a member of the MIT Center for Cancer Research; Henri Termeer, president, chairman and CEO of Genzyme; and Janice Bourque, president of the Massachusetts Biotech Council.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on August 27, 2003.
