GIFGIF, a project by graduate students Kevin Hu and Travis Rich, maps human emotions by asking people to select which GIFS best represent a specific feeling, reports Jon Christian for Wired. Hu and Rich hope that all of the data collected through GIFGIF “will make it easier to write programs that deal with emotional content.”
Peter Shadbolt of CNN reports that MIT researchers have incorporated social networking into clothing, creating a T-shirt that displays the wearer's interests and associations. "We wanted to examine more tangible ways of representing ourselves in social media," explains graduate student Viirj Kan.
Prof. Robert Langer speaks with Chris Baraniuk of New Scientist about winning the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering and his career in biotechnology. “It’s going to be the entrepreneurs, the new professors, the young people who are willing to think outside the box and not necessarily go down a conventional path,” says Langer of the future of medicine.
Professor Robert Langer has won the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering for his pioneering work with medical technologies, reports David Shukman for BBC News. Shukman notes that “as many as two billion people have in some way been touched by technologies devised and developed by him and his teams.”
Nidhi Subbaraman reports for BetaBoston that Professor Robert Langer has been named the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering for his research on tissue engineering and drug delivery. “It’s a real thrill, a real honor,” says Langer. “I feel incredible lucky.”
Prof. Robert Langer has been awarded the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, writes Financial Times reporter Clive Cookson. Lord Broers, chair of the QE Prize judges, explains that Langer was honored for his “immense contribution to healthcare and to numerous other fields.”
Visiting Lecturer Irving Wladawsky-Berger gives his reaction to the preliminary report examining innovation at MIT in a piece for The Wall Street Journal. “Beyond MIT, the report should be of value to anyone interested in the growing importance of innovation to institutions, economies and societies around the world.”
Professor Clapperton Mavhunga speaks with Jasmine McNealy of New Books in Technology about his childhood, the history of innovation in Africa, and his new book, “Transient Workspaces: Technologies or Everyday Innovation in Zimbabwe.”
Austin Hess of The Tech speaks with MIT alumna and U.S. Chief Technology Officer Megan Smith following her selection as the 2015 commencement speaker. “The students graduating today are going to live … possibly past 100 years. So there’s so many different adventures that people should get up to,” says Smith.
Boston Herald reporter Jordan Graham writes about a new report examining innovation at MIT. Graham writes that the study’s authors recommended “a co-working space for recent MIT graduates, the construction of two “Innovation Hubs” on campus, and the creation of the Laboratory for Innovation Science and Policy, a department that would study the innovation process and how to foster it.”
Lauren Landry of BostInno highlights a new report that examines innovation and entrepreneurship at MIT and presents suggestions for how to “bolster innovation.” Landry writes that “among the measures suggested are the creation of an undergraduate minor, a graduate certificate in innovation and programming for postdocs.”
Cory Bennett of The Hill writes about a broad effort to tackle cybersecurity challenges at MIT, Stanford and Berkeley. “MIT will examine the immediate policy concerns, such as how to protect vulnerable financial and medical data, as well as emerging technologies like self-driving cars and drones,” explains Bennett.
BostInno’s Elise Harmon writes that a $15 million grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to MIT could “help pave the way for a comprehensive cybersecurity policy.” The gift to MIT is part of $45 million in total to MIT, Stanford and UC Berkeley as part of the foundation’s Cyber Initiative.
MIT’s Daniel Weitzner speaks with BetaBoston’s Nidhi Subbaraman about a new cybersecurity policy initiative supported by the Hewlett Foundation. Weitzner explains that researchers will examine what kind of laws and public policy are needed to make “[technologies] more trustworthy.”
Jeff Foust of Space News writes that President Barack Obama has nominated MIT Professor Dava Newman to become the next deputy administrator of NASA. "Dava will add a unique perspective to the agency and a fresh look at the space program at a critical time,” said Lori Garver, former deputy administrator of NASA.