Dear members of the MIT community and friends,
The past week introduced feelings of excitement, curiosity, and hopefulness as our faculty, students, and staff began their return to campus. I am extremely thankful to the countless people who worked diligently to maintain a safe and secure campus, allowing us to navigate our new normal. It surely feels different and presents us all with challenges to traverse, but we are partnering to fulfill the mission of MIT by working wisely, creatively, and effectively for the betterment of our community and the world.
Summer months often provide a respite from our typical routines, and for engineers, present opportunities to achieve breakthroughs, identify new discoveries, or simply collaborate in ways we otherwise wouldn’t amidst the academic year. Similarly, it provides a time to shine a light on our ongoing work to uphold our school’s core values, and to welcome a new cohort of students, faculty, and staff to our incredible community.
In this issue of The Infinite, you’ll meet a student who was inspired to puruse a PhD after attending the MIT Summer Research Program; discover a student-run project carrying messages from around the world to the International Space Station; you’ll be introduced to our new assistant dean for diversity, equity and inclusion, and associate deans of engineering; and join us in celebrating seven years of an incredible program aimed at helping underrepresented minority doctoral students integrate into the broader MIT community. You’ll meet graduate students who are igniting ideas to help transform global business, join us in applauding our 2021 recipient of the Bose Award for Excellence in Teaching, and read about a PhD candidate whose passion for biomaterials inspired her to tackle climate change.
I am proud of the School of Engineering for the individual and collective drive and spirit that has prevailed across the summer months. I am eagerly anticipating the upcoming academic year, emphatically embracing our new routines, and working together to chart the course for the School of Engineering through our incredible research, education, collaborations and most importantly – our community.
Sincerely,
