Dear members of the MIT community and friends,

We are just a few weeks away from the end of the spring term and exactly six weeks away from the first in-person Commencement ceremony in two years. We’ve come so far, and I am so grateful to this entire community of brilliant, dedicated, and supportive individuals who banded together to ensure we could continue to rise to challenges while keeping our community safe across the past two years. Research and education remained at the forefront, and discovery and innovation flourished.

The spring term has been particularly noteworthy. From this week’s announcement of the Climate Grand Challenges flagship projects, all of which are led by or include School of Engineering researchers working side-by-side with peers from across MIT to develop ideas and quickly transform them into practical solutions at scale; to the recent launch of the MIT AI Hardware Program and its five inaugural companies that will engage with MIT researchers to advance AI technologies for the next decade. From the head of our department of mechanical engineering, Evelyn Wang’s presidential nomination for Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy; to Thomas Tull, CEO of Tulco, joining us as a School of Engineering Visiting Innovation Scholar to advance technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship across the school for the coming year.  

And these are just a few of many highlights I could share!

We have students—particularly undergraduate seniors and 2022 advanced degree candidates—who are spending their final term bringing this chapter of their MIT journeys to a close with incredible discoveries and collaborations. And faculty who have transformed lecture halls and labs to embrace technological pedagogy adopted throughout the pandemic, and integrated it into their teachings in ways that will continue to transform education.

Every single day I find myself amazed by the astounding individual and collective contributions of members of our school community, and today is no different. In this issue of The Infinite, I have curated stories that uncover some incredible research and programmatic advances that will unearth new ground, and stories that will shine a light on some inspiring individuals within our community who are impacting the school in extraordinary ways.

Here’s to a promising and productive spring season.

Sincerely,