Gang Chen, head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, was nominated for the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge by the Graduate Association of Mechanical Engineers (GAME) Service Chair Jay Sircar, on behalf of GAME service volunteers, to raise awareness and funding for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
He accepted the challenge and made a donation to the ALS Therapy Development Institute, which was founded by mechanical engineering alumnus Jamie Heywood '91 to support his late brother Stephen Heywood — both sons of MIT mechanical engineering professor John Heywood — as well as others with this disease.
Chen was joined by Jamie, Professor Heywood and his wife, Peggy, as well as mechanical engineering professors Gareth McKinley, Tonio Buonassisi, Maria Yang, and Amos Winter.