National Academy of Engineering

New England Regional Meeting of the National Academy of Engineering

Digital graphic with the National Academy of Engineering logo and text: New England Regional Meeting of the National Academy of Engineering, Friday, May 1, 2026, over a blue and black abstract technology background.

Think Differently: Understanding and Leveraging Creativity in an AI-Enabled World.

  • Friday, May 1, 2026
  • Building E52
  • 50 Memorial Drive
  • Cambridge, MA

The MIT School of Engineering is honored to host the 2026 New England Regional Meeting of the National Academy of Engineering.

This year’s theme, “Think Differently: Understanding and Leveraging Creativity in an AI-Enabled World,” examines how human creativity drives discovery and innovation in the age of artificial intelligence.

The full-day symposium will highlight the essential role of creative thinking and interdisciplinary collaboration in addressing society’s most pressing challenges — from health and climate to security and equity. 

While today’s AI systems offer powerful tools, they still fall short of the transformative creativity that sparks true breakthroughs. This gap — the frontier where human ingenuity must reach beyond current limits — makes fostering new forms of creativity more urgent than ever.

DateFriday, May 1, 2026
LocationBuilding E52
50 Memorial Drive
Cambridge, MA

Sessions

The event’s sessions will include:

  1. How the Brain Creates: Understanding and Modeling Creativity
  2. Interdisciplinarity in Creative Problem Solving
  3. Educating for Outside-the-Box Problem Solving

Agenda

A full agenda and speaker list will be posted when available.

Agenda
  • A woman with short dark hair and glasses smiles at the camera. She is wearing a blue dress with a light green and white pattern and a gold necklace. The background is softly blurred with warm colors.

    Paula Hammond

    Meeting Co-Chair ChemE
  • A man with short brown hair wearing a black suit, white shirt, and blue tie smiles while looking at the camera. The background is blurred with bright indoor lighting.

    Markus Buehler

    Meeting Co-Chair CEE
  • A woman with medium-length dark hair and glasses is smiling softly at the camera. She is wearing a black and white patterned top and dangling earrings, and is standing indoors near a wooden railing.

    Maria C. Yang

    Host MechE