In the Media

Here's a business idea to turn that frown upside down. It's the Happiness Hat, a contraption designed by MIT grad and artist Lauren McCarthy. - Story on a device that forces the user to keep smiling.

"That's the way we bring the most talented, most brilliant students to MIT." - MIT President Susan Hockfield on the Institute's efforts to expand student financial aid amid a challenging economic climate.

"He's not a Division I player saying, 'I need to get a job in the NFL.' He's a computer programmer who's saying, 'I need to get a job at Google.'" - MIT senior Mike Fitzgerald on friend and football teammate DeRon Brown, who is leading Division III in rushing yards.

"I can’t help myself. There’s data out there, and it’s the only thing going. If you’re a little crafty, you can tease out things that are not obvious." - Kenan Sahin Distinguished Professor and Head of Political Science Charles Stewart III, on his work analyzing the Boston mayoral race.

A symposium at MIT this week will draw scientists from around the globe to focus on a hot facet of the field -- climate engineering. - Story on upcoming symposium: "Climate change: Can we even do it? Should we even try?"

The Living Wall project ... offers an alternative by using magnetic and conductive paints to create circuitry in attractive designs. - Story on project by Leah Buechley, the AT&T Career Development Professor in the MIT Media Lab

A second grant will go to a group led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that is trying to develop an all-liquid metal battery. - Story on grants from the Energy Department on projects that could have "a transformative impact"

"The creation of wealth is caused by producing new devices. That’s done by engineers" - Bernard M. Gordon, speaking about the Gordon-MIT Engineering Leadership Program

"The initiative has become a leading voice on energy in Washington and a source of scientific advances in everything from solar power to carbon capture and sequestration technology for coal-burning power plants." - U.S. News and World Report's 'Best Leaders' series on President Susan Hockfield and her creation of the MIT Energy Initiative.

"Sometimes, though, the mating game is a team sport." - MIT Sloan School of Management Assistant Professor Joshua M. Ackerman on his recent study on dating habits

"Even my own colleagues thought I was nuts. But the scientific community has done a complete 180 in the past 20 years." - Novartis Professor of Biology Leonard Guarente, on his studies of the metabolic pathways in yeast cells.

"Graduate and postgraduate student immigrants are essential to creating new, well-paid jobs in our economy." - MIT President Susan Hockfield’s op/ed on why the U.S. needs to embrace immigrant scientists.

"Concerns about death panels can be dismissed as rants, but a real key to the health care debate is whether costs can be reduced without jeopardizing the quality of the care." - Joseph J. Doyle Jr., an associate professor of applied economics at the MIT Sloan School of Management, in a Boston Globe op/ed.

"People stop applying for jobs, they start to think that it’s all about them and there is something wrong with them. People don’t think as strategically about the market as they should." - Ofer Sharone, an assistant professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, on mistakes made by the unemployed.

"It's a major shift in how we do business and it is one of the beginning signs that we are modernizing the system." - R. John Hansman, AeroAstro professor, on a non-radar air-traffic system