Scroll.in reporter Deepa Gahlot reviews “Srikanth,” a biopic highlighting the life of Srikanth Bolla '13, the blind founder of Bollant Industries. Bolla is “by any measure a poster boy of unflinching determination and never taking no for an answer,” writes Gahlot. “The film is so earnest, so sunshine-y, [and] the hero so inspiring.”
Alex Viega of the Associated Press reports on the death of former MIT Prof. James Simons '58, a life member emeritus of the MIT Corporation and “a renowned mathematician and pioneering investor who built a fortune on Wall Street and then became one of the nation’s biggest philanthropists.” Simons and his wife Marilyn co-founded the Simons Foundation, whose president said, “Jim was an exceptional leader who did transformative work in mathematics and developed a world-leading investment company.”
Axios reporter Alex Fitzpatrick spotlights MightyFly, an aviation startup founded by Manal Habib ’11 that is developing a large, autonomous electric vehicle takeoff and landing cargo drone that has been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration for a flight corridor. "The use case is B2B expedited logistics," says Habib. "Think of deliveries from a manufacturer to suppliers. Think of deliveries from a lab to a hospital, or from a warehouse or pharmacy, as well as to improve deliveries to an oil rig or to a farm or a mining site, as well as for DOD use cases."
GiveDirectly, a nonprofit co-founded by MIT and Harvard alumni, works with “economists to identify the most efficient ways to reduce poverty,” reports Katharine Houreld for The Washington Post. “Lump sums are the most efficient way to give cash, according to a study of GiveDirectly programs released in December that compared the impact of three methods,” explains Houreld. “Two years in, recipients of the lump sum have spent more money on health care, and more of their children have scored better on school exams, according to the study by MIT economics professor Abhijit Banerjee and others."
Axios reporter Steph Solis spotlights Kura, an MIT startup that is “developing a platform to help immigrants safely deliver money to loved ones back home.” Solis explains that: “Families worldwide rely on wire services like Western Union and Moneygram, but in some countries picking up money means waiting in long lines and exposing oneself to thieves.” Clifford Nau MBA ’22 and Stephanie Joseph, a Harvard alum, “wanted to build a safer alternative that would be available 24/7.”
Doug Ricket '01, MEng '02 co-founded PayJoy, a startup that aims to “provide a fair and responsible entry point for individuals in emerging markets to enter the modern financial system, build credit, achieve economic freedom, and access digital connectivity,” reports Mary Ann Azevedo for TechCrunch. “PayJoy is applying a buy now, pay-as-you-go model to the estimated 3 billion adults globally who don’t have credit by allowing them to purchase smartphones and pay weekly for a 3- to 12-month period. The phones themselves are used as collateral for the loan,” explains Azevedo.
Prof. Roger Levy, Prof. Tracy Slatyer and Prof. Martin Wainwright are among the 2024 John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship recipients, reports Michael T. Nietzel for Forbes. “The new fellows represent 52 scholarly disciplines and artistic fields and are affiliated with 84 academic institutions,” writes Nietzel.
Prof. Roger Levy, Prof. Tracy Slatyer and Prof. Martin Wainwright have been awarded John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellowships, reports Mark Feeney for The Boston Globe. A Guggenheim fellowship “is one of the most sought-after honors in academe, the arts, and culture,” explains Feeney. “It helps underwrite a proposed art or scholarly project.”
Writing for Forbes, Senior Lecturer Guadalupe Hayes-Mota '08, SM '16, MBA '16 explains how transformative strategies in global healthcare are “reshaping the pharmaceutical market dynamics.” This new method “transcends traditional financial tactics representing a fundamental shift in global health practices towards sustainable and universal access to essential medicines,” writes Hayes-Mota.
Fast Company reporter AJ Hess spotlights “Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishments Without Burnout,” a new book by Cal Newport SM '06, PhD '09. The book “traces the history of measuring workers’ output and the rise of knowledge workers’ stress and burnout,” explains Hess. “As an antidote, Newport proposes what some may argue is an oversimplified solution: simply do less.”
Rich Lyons PhD '87 has been named the new chancellor of UC Berkeley, reports Teresa Watanabe for The Los Angeles Times. Lyons is “a leader of innovation and entrepreneurship who cultivated a culture of questioning the status quo as a business school dean,” writes Watanabe. “Lyons has won numerous teaching awards and is seen as a charismatic insider with skills to navigate the complex Berkeley culture – and enliven campus events with mean guitar-playing skills.”
TechCrunch reporter Ron Miller highlights MIT’s role as a driving force behind the Greater Boston area’s success as a hub for startups. Emily Knight, president of The Engine Accelerator, notes that universities are breeding grounds for new ideas. “There is a lot of research and a lot of infant innovation being translated into companies coming out of these [Greater Boston area] universities,” Knight explains.
Jonathan Levin PhD '99 has been named the next president of Stanford University, reports Stephanie Saul for The New York Times. Levin’s “research has been wide-ranging, covering topics such as early admissions at selective colleges, subprime lending and the impact of financial incentives on health and health care delivery,” writes Saul. “As dean, Dr. Levin has promoted educating business entrepreneurs in developing countries through a program called Stanford Seed.”
Domingo Godoy '14 speaks with WCVB reporter Emily Maher about running the 2024 Boston Marathon as a member of Team Brookline and his quest to raise money for the Brookline Education Foundation, which provides grants to teachers in the town’s public schools. Godoy, who ran the Boston Marathon in 2014 on the MIT Strong team in honor of Officer Sean Collier, recalls that seeing a lot of people the year after the Marathon bombing show up “to run, people that were basically injured at these events was pretty overwhelming.” This year, he’s looking forward to supporting his community and seeing his family and friends cheer him on. “They will be there with huge signs,” Godoy said. “I’m super pumped to get to Beacon Street, hopefully strong, and say hi to them."
U.S. News & World Report reporter Cole Claybourn spotlights Amar Gopal Bose '51, SM '52 ScD '56, a former MIT faculty member, as one of fifteen famous Fulbright scholars. Bose, founder of Bose Corporation, “studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on a full scholarship, earning his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in electrical engineering,” writes Claybourn.