In an article for the Cambridge Chronicle, Maya Johnson describes MIT’s efforts to mitigate Covid-19 transmission on campus. “Our main goal is to know where the virus is and make sure that we can prevent our community from getting the virus,” says Suzanne Blake, director of MIT Emergency Management. “Public health and safety is our number one priority for students.”
Fast Company reporter Nate Berg spotlights Lecturer Karilyn Crockett and her new role as Chief of Equity for the City of Boston. “The idea that there is a person who is tasked with explicitly looking at these things is critical, but also, more than just a person or a single office, the idea that there’s a commitment to structural change,” says Crockett.
Boston Magazine reporter Alyssa Vaughn spotlights Prof. Azra Aksamija’s design proposal for a piece of public art in Cambridge that would honor the passage of the 19th Amendment. Aksamija’s project “takes the form of a three dimensional palimpsest,” writes Vaughn, “that is visible through an arrangement of concrete elements. These elements are inscribed with names and quotes from notable activists.”
Professor Emeritus Tunney Lee, an architect and urban planner who served as the chief of planning and design for the Boston Redevelopment Authority, has died at age 88, reports Bryan Marquard for The Boston Globe. “At MIT, Mr. Lee was a mentor to scores of architects, teaching them to look beyond the creativity that went into designing buildings."
Karilyn Crockett, a lecturer in DUSP, spoke with The Boston Globe’s Kelly Horan about her role as Boston’s chief of equity. “As I prioritize racial, gender, and health equity for a city of 700,000 that is majority people of color, it means that we have to recognize that the history that brought us here has to be looked at in a clear way.”
The Engine has announced that it plans to expand into a new location at 750 Main Street to better accommodate the early-stage tough-tech startups that the MIT subsidiary serves. “Renovations to create offices, labs, and fabrication space are scheduled to start at the end of the year; they are expected to open by early 2022,” reports John Chesto for The Boston Globe.
Prof. David Keith argues in The Boston Globe for implementing congestion pricing to help alleviate traffic congestion in the Greater Boston area. “Pricing access to roads moderates demand for driving at peak times,” writes Keith, “while also generating revenue from drivers that can be reinvested in building a 21st century mobility infrastructure.”
Optimus Ride, a startup founded by MIT alumni, will start a self-driving car shuttle service at an industrial park in New York City, reports the Associated Press. “The free service is expected to transport some 500 passengers daily on the yard’s internal roads,” the AP explains.
MIT startup Optimus Ride is launching a self-driving shuttle service at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, reports Andrew J. Hawkins for The Verge.
Preliminary research findings from an MIT team suggest that subsidizing subway fares increased usage of the MBTA by low-income riders, reports Michael Norton for State House News. “Low-income riders who received a subsidy, when compared to others who used a non-subsidized CharlieCard, took more MBTA trips, including trips for health care and social services,” writes Norton.
A preliminary report by MIT researchers examines how subway subsidies affect the rates of MBTA ridership among low-income residents, reports Crystal Haynes for Boston 25 News. “Researchers also found low-income riders took more trips to health care and social services than they would without the subsidized Charlie Card,” Haynes explains.
In an article for the Financial Times, Thomas Hale and Andy Bounds spotlights MIT’s role in making Kendall Square an innovation hub. Hale and Bounds write that a 2014 Brookings report noted that MIT “has always emphasised partnerships between the university and industry.”
Telegraph reporter David Millward explores how MIT researchers are helping make the Greater Boston area a hub for robotics research. “MIT has been really focused on how to accelerate innovation at the university and facilitate its transition outside the university into viable businesses,” explains Elisabeth Reynolds, executive director of the Work of the Future project.
In an article for The Boston Globe about how the city of Cambridge is trying to bring ad-hoc art galleries into empty commercial spaces, Max Reyes highlights Spaceus, a startup founded by two MIT alumna that transforms unused shops into galleries and studio space for artists. “People are stoked that these spaces are no longer empty,” explains MIT graduate and Spaceus co-founder Stephanie Lee.
Graduate students Stephanie Lee and Ellen Shakespear speak with WBUR’s Hadley Green about Spaceus, a collaborative work and exhibition space they created for artists in the greater Boston area. Lee explains that Spaceus is committed to nurturing artists in the “heart of cities, because local creativity is what makes a place, gives it identity and meaning.”