The Tang family of Hong Kong has made a $20 million gift to MIT to name the Tang Family Imaging Suite in the new MIT.nano facility and establish the Tang Family Catalyst Fund to support the MIT Quest for Intelligence.
The Imaging Suite in MIT.nano is part of a highly specialized facility for viewing, measuring, and understanding at the nanoscale. With design features that include a 5-million-pound slab of concrete for stabilization, isolated construction of individual spaces, and technology to minimize mechanical and electromagnetic interference, MIT.nano’s imaging suites provide the “quiet” environment needed for this sensitive work.
“We are grateful for the Tang family’s generosity and visionary investment in nanoscale research at MIT,” says Vladimir Bulović, inaugural director of MIT.nano and the Fariborz Maseeh Professor in Emerging Technology. “The imaging suite will allow scientists and engineers to decipher the structure and function of matter with precision that has not been possible before and, armed with this new knowledge, identify promising opportunities for innovation in health, energy, communications and computing, and a host of other fields.”
The Tang Family Catalyst Fund will provide $5 million for artificial intelligence (AI) research activities and operations, with a special focus on projects at the intersection of AI and financial technology.
“AI tools and technologies are going to revolutionize many industries and disciplines,” says Anantha P. Chandrakasan, dean of the MIT School of Engineering and the Vannevar Bush Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. “We are delighted to have the support of the Tang family as we lead the development and discovery of these new tools and technologies.”
“The Quest is fueled by cross-disciplinary collaboration and the support of enterprising people such as the Tang family who see great value in exploration and discovery,” says Antonio Torralba, inaugural director of The Quest for Intelligence. “From seed grants for early-stage faculty and student research, to undergraduate and graduate student activities, the Tang Family Catalyst Fund will kindle new ideas that advance machine learning.”
