Writing for The Boston Globe, AgeLab Director Joseph Coughlin and Research Associate Luke Yoquinto explore how Greater Boston could serve as an innovation hub for aging populations. “By making groundbreaking creativity and inventiveness for older adults both seen and felt, Greater Boston and New England will be able to offer the world a new vision of old age,” they write.
Boston Globe reporter Tim Logan writes about how MIT has submitted design plans for the next phase of its proposal to transform the Volpe Transportation Center into a dynamic mixed-use development, including “eight office and residential towers on the 14-acre site north of Broadway.”
Writing for Cambridge Day, Marieke Van Damme, executive director of the Cambridge Historical Society, explores the life and work of alumna Lois Lilley Howe, a member of the Class of 1890. Howe was “a trailblazer, one of the first women to graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s architectural program, the organizer of the only all-woman architectural firm in Boston in the early 20th century and the first woman elected as a fellow of the American Institute of Architects,” writes Van Damme.
Boston Globe reporter Jon Chesto writes that MIT, Harvard, several research hospitals and life-sciences companies have selected a site for a new biologics manufacturing and innovation center. The project is aimed at expediting “discoveries for biotech treatments in university labs by allowing researchers to bypass the long waits that are common at contract manufacturers,” writesChesto.
Boston Globe columnist Shirley Leung spotlights how the development of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine demonstrates the success of the Massachusetts life sciences sector. “For more than half a century, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been the epicenter of that curiosity, with a focus on molecular biology — initially to find a cure for cancer,” writes Leung. “There have been Nobel laureates collaborating on cancer, genetics, and immunology, along with future laureates making discoveries in how RNA, a molecule that is as fundamental as DNA to cell function, can be used in medicine.”
Reporting for WBUR, Katie Lannan writes that Dalila Argaez Wendlandt SM ’93 has been confirmed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, and will be the state’s first Latina high court justice. Lannan notes that Wendlandt “earned an MIT master's degree in engineering before embarking on a law career.”
Judge Dalila Argaez Wendlandt SM ’93 has been confirmed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, reports Matt Stout for The Boston Globe. Gov. Charlie Baker noted that Wendlandt will bring “intellectual horsepower, kindness, and grace” to the court.
Katie Rae, CEO and managing partner of The Engine, speaks with Forbes reporter David Jeans about the second round of funding raised by The Engine and how the venture is looking to help support tough tech ideas. “These are things with often longer [investment] timeframes,” Rae says. “They’ve almost always been backed by government-led research, and now they are ready to translate into companies.”
TechCrunch reporter Danny Crichton writes that The Engine has announced a second round of funding aimed at supporting tough tech startups. Crichton notes that, “with this latest news from The Engine, it seems clear that Boston’s tough tech ecosystem will continue to have a pipeline of interesting and compelling companies.”
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.