WCVB reporter Mike Wankum visits MIT to learn about a device, developed by MIT students, that converts text to braille. Undergraduate Charlene Xia explains that, “it’s not just enough to make something cool,” adding that she and her teammates want to make a device that "actually makes a difference in the world.”
Fox 25’s Kacie Yearout reports that a team of MIT students has developed a portable tool that converts text to braille in real-time. The students were awarded a Lemelson-MIT prize for their invention, which “uses a small camera with optical character recognition software to scan any printed material and convert it into a braille cell.”
During this 60 Minutes segment, Anderson Cooper speaks with Mubarik Mohamoud, a senior majoring in electrical engineering and computer science, about his journey from Somaliland to MIT. Cooper notes that Mohamoud’s success has inspired his former classmates at the Abaarso School of Science and Technology, a boarding school founded to help train Somaliland’s future leaders.
Boston Globe reporter Steve Annear writes about the Baker House Piano Drop, an MIT tradition started more than 40 years ago, during which students drop a non-working piano from the roof of Baker House. This year’s event will raise funds for The Stepping Stone Foundation, which implements programs that prepare underserved schoolchildren for educational opportunities.
BBC News reporter Zoe Kleinman writes that graduate student Joy Buolamwini has developed an initiative aimed at tackling algorithmic bias. "If we are limited when it comes to being inclusive that's going to be reflected in the robots we develop or the tech that's incorporated within the robots,” says Buolamwini.
Boston Globe columnist Scott Kirsner speaks with Professors Regina Barzilay and Tommi Jaakkola about their Introduction to Machine Learning class. Jaakkola explains that the course connects “the more theoretical, algorithmic stuff students are learning to actual data and problems.”
In an article for The Wall Street Journal about how business schools are increasingly developing programs to help entrepreneurs, Kelsey Gee highlights the MIT Sloan School of Management. For alumna Rena Pacheco-Theard, “becoming a real entrepreneur became a distinct reality for the first time at Sloan.”
MIT graduate student Ari Ofsevit has created a chart plotting all the colors from the country’s transit systems to compare the hues, writes The Washington Post’s Martine Powers. “Orange in one city does not mean orange in another,” says Ofsevit.
WBUR’s Asma Khalid highlights how MIT researchers have developed a tool that allows people to see the social media world of other users. Grad student Martin Saveski explains that the project was aimed at connecting people with differing viewpoints, noting that beyond politics there are “many other things that we may have in common.”
MIT students participating in the Masters of Architecture Options Studio have developed a prototype portable shelter that self-assembles in mid-air, reports Alexandra Simon-Lewis for Wired. Graduate student MyDung Nguyen explains that the goal of the project was to "defy the constraints" that can often impede architectural projects, particularly in areas where space and time are limited.
Boston Globe reporter Felice Freyer writes that a study by MIT and Harvard researchers examines how an executive order on immigration could impact the number of doctors in Appalachia and the Rust Belt. Doctors from the countries included in the order “handle about 14 million patient visits a year…often settling in areas where American doctors are reluctant to work.”
In this video, Channel 7 spotlights Girls Day, an MIT Museum event aimed at encouraging girls to explore STEM fields. Attendees were able to meet the women’s basketball team “and learn the science behind making the perfect shot. Other activities included learning math through dance and the physics of pitching, hosted by the school’s softball team.”
MIT senior Lilly Chin, winner of the 2017 Jeopardy! College Championship, speaks to Paris Alston of WGBH about her experience on the competition. “I wasn’t expecting to get in, I just wanted to have some fun with it,” Chin says about initially trying out for the quiz show.
Lilly Chin, a senior at MIT majoring in electrical engineering and computer science, won the 2017 Jeopardy! College Championship, reports Kenneth Singletary for The Boston Globe. Singletary notes that “for her efforts, Chin won $100,000 and a chance to play on the Tournament of Champions.”
In an article about the Abaarso School of Science and Technology in Somaliland, Boston Globe reporter James Sullivan highlights Mubarik Mohamoud, a senior at MIT. Mohamoud came to MIT from Worcester Academy and was the first student from Abaarso to be accepted at an American school.