The Independent Activities Period (IAP) is a special four week term at MIT that runs from the first week of January until the end of the month. Check out 2019 IAP classes, events, and workshops related to climate change, listed below. For the full IAP course listing and updates, see http://web.mit.edu/iap/.
Carbon Ideologies: Reading Climate through Media
James Paradis
Enrollment: advanced sign-up preferred ; limited to 18 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
This 4-session IAP series will examine some of the ways in which contemporary media filters matters of climate change. Starting with selections from William T. Vollmann's recent award-winning exploration of world energy uses and abuses, Carbon Ideologies, we will review and discuss a selection of film, government reports, photography, graphic fiction and journalism in order to gain a better understanding of how contemporary views of climate change are shaped and received.
Sponsor(s): Comparative Media Studies/Writing
Contact: James Paradis, jparadis@mit.edu
|
Jan/10 |
Thu |
04:00PM-05:30PM |
E15-335 |
|
Jan/15 |
Tue |
04:00PM-05:30PM |
E15-335 |
|
Jan/18 |
Fri |
04:00PM-05:30PM |
E15-335 |
|
Jan/28 |
Mon |
04:00PM-05:30PM |
E15-335 |
Ceres Site Visit
Enrollment: Unlimited; Advance sign-up required; Sign-up by 01/28
Are you interested in learning about how to tackle the world’s most pressing sustainability challenges, climate change, water scarcity, pollution, and human rights abuses? Come to the Ceres Site Visit to learn about how MIT students can engage with Cere’s mission of transforming the economy to build a sustainable future. Open to Undergrads and Grads from all Courses. RSVP Requested in CareerBridge(Under Events> Fairs & Events> Ceres Site Visit).
Sponsor(s): Career, Advising and Professional Development CAPD
Contact: IAP Site Visits, capd@mit.edu
|
Jan/29 |
Tue |
11:00AM-12:30PM |
Ceres |
Waste Management 101
Hugo Uvegi, Sakiko Isomichi
Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required ; Sign-up by 01/21
Prereq: None
This 1-day session, brought to you by MIT's Waste Alliance, will run through the end-of-life treatment of all types of waste--trash, recycling, and compost--following their path from the trash receptacle to their ultimate end.
By the end, you will walk away with a greater awareness and understanding of materials as they run through the disposal and recycling parts of their lifecycle.
Contact: Sakiko Isomichi, sisomichi1212@gmail.com
|
Jan/29 |
Tue |
09:00AM-01:00PM |
TBD |
Why Can't We All Just Get Along?
Henry Lieberman, Research Scientist, CSAIL, Christopher Fry
Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
Prereq: none
Indeed, why can't we? Why do we have war? Poverty? What can we do
about it? Will technological progress result in robots destroying
humanity? Will automation take all our jobs? Will there be ecological
disaster? What's the future of government, industry, education,
transportation, justice?
We'll show you a simple mathematical, psychological, and evolutionary
model that explains why people get sometimes sucked into doing bad
stuff, even if they're not bad people. We'll also explain how new
technology, especially AI and 3D printing, can enable a more just,
prosperous, and more cooperative society. Young people now have an
opportunity to rethink government, the economy, education, and all of
our institutions. Let's do it!
Feeling frustrated about your new President and the process that got
him there? Can technology help? Yes.
Sponsor(s): Experimental Study Group
Contact: Henry Lieberman, 32G-475, (617) 500-5267, lieber@MEDIA.MIT.EDU
|
Jan/10 |
Thu |
03:00PM-05:00PM |
24-615 |
Developing Leadership in Yourself and Others
David Niño, Senior Lecturer, GEL-MIT Engineering Leadership Program
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required ; Limited to 35 participants
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Prereq: Graduate Status
Join us for this workshop series designed for MIT graduate students interested in “making a positive difference” in their chosen fields. Grounded in research but experiential and engaging in delivery, these workshops will build practical skills that apply to engineering and technology environments.
This series is offered through the Gordon-MIT Engineering Leadership Program in collaboration with GradSage, the Graduate Student Council and Graduate Women@MIT. Students are welcome to attend some or all of these workshops.
To Register: Email Lisa Stagnone (lstag@mit.edu)
Sponsor(s): Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Graduate Student Council
Contact: Lisa Stagnone, lstag@mit.edu
Leading New Teams
| Jan/14 | Mon | 12:30PM-04:30PM | TBA |
How do you turn a smart group of people into a committed and effective team? This is not easy
to achieve and our workshop will help you learn to build real teams, right from the start. Vice
Chancellor Ian Waitz will join for part of this session.
Attendees will learn to:
Compose and launch new project teams.
Manage decision making processes to avoid hidden biases.
Formulate and communicate a compelling team vision.
Motivating and Developing Others
| Jan/22 | Tue | 12:30PM-04:30PM | TBD |
The heart of leadership is the ability to inspire people without relying on authority. Only one in ten practicing managers are skilled in motivating others. Learn to engage and develop people to deliver their best work.
You'll be able to
- Design team environments to foster intrinsic forms of motivation.
- Personalize your leadership style to attend to people as individuals.
- Develop others through feedback and coaching.
Discover & Develop Leadership Strengths
| Jan/28 | Mon | 12:30PM-04:30PM | TBD |
Discover your leadership strengths and invent career pathways for putting them to work. We will be joined by John Strackhouse, who advises some of todays top leaders in technology.
Attendees will learn to:
Discover your distinctive professional strengths.
Identify work environments that can bring out your best.
Explore strategies for securing jobs that align with your life aspirations.
Net Zero Carbon Design Thinking Workshop
Antje Danielson, Director of Education
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Attendance: Repeating event, participants welcome at any session
Prereq: http://mit.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9Kyg7nRApW8eAW9
This workshop is for graduate students from any discipline. During the workshop, an interdisciplinary group of faculty, professionals, and graduate students will work to map out the processes involved in transforming a model island community with a conventional energy profile to an island community with a resilient net zero carbon energy system supplying its permanent residents. Model-Based Reasoning and Design Thinking were chosen as tools to facilitate collaborative work during the process of creating the outline of a draft master plan for the model community.
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative
Contact: Antje Danielson, E19-370N, 617 253-3895, ANTJED@MIT.EDU
|
Jan/22 |
Tue |
08:30AM-05:30PM |
W20 Stratton |
|
|
Jan/23 |
Wed |
08:30AM-05:30PM |
W20 Stratton |
|
|
Jan/24 |
Thu |
08:30AM-05:30PM |
W20 Stratton |
|
|
Jan/25 |
Fri |
08:30AM-05:30PM |
W20 Stratton |
|
|
Jan/26 |
Sat |
09:00AM-01:00PM |
W20 Stratton |
The UN Sustainable Development Goals and challenges
Xiaoyu Wu, Postdoctoral Associate
Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required ; Sign-up by 01/09
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
This workshop is to introduce the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and bring together students in different disciplines to develop a path for fostering the successful implementation of these goals.
The workshop has the following learning outcomes:
1. Summarize the UN SDGs
2. Use SDGs to evaluate existing and proposed engineering projects
Sign up here: http://goo.gl/forms/PFShzenLhpmK8yDF2
Contact: Xiaoyu Wu, 3-339N, 617 324-9014, XYWU@MIT.EDU
|
Jan/10 |
Thu |
01:00PM-02:30PM |
5-217 |
We will discuss the 1-9 UN SDGs.
1: No poverty
2: Zero hunger
3: Good health and well-being
4: Quality education
5: Gender equality
6: Clean water and sanitation
7: Affordable and clean energy
8. Decent work and economic growth
9. Industry, innovation and infrastructure
|
Jan/11 |
Fri |
01:00PM-02:30PM |
5-217 |
We will discuss the 10-17 UN SDGs.
10. Reduced inequalities
11. Sustainable cities and communities
12. Responsible production and consumption
13. Climate action
14: Life below water
15: Life on Land
16. Peace, justice and strong institutions
17. Partnerships for the goals
Xiaoyu Wu - Postdoctoral Associate
Exploring New England's coastal ecosystems in the dead of winter
Read more: http://climate.mit.edu/news/exploring-new-englands-coastal-ecosystems-dead-winter
Decision Support Models for Low-Carbon Electric Power Systems
Karen Tapia-Ahumada, Research Scientist
Enrollment: Advance sign-up required ; Sign-up by 01/11 ; Limited to 30 participants
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
This 8-session intensive activity presents power system analysis techniques that will help in modeling and understanding the role of electric power systems in a carbon-constrained economy. The massive deployment of intermittent renewables, the anticipated surge of active demand response or the development of smart grids are among the challenges that have to be faced by the mathematical models for optimization, analysis and simulation of the complex decision making processes in power systems. Apart from a theoretical description of the models, the instructors will provide the students with a collection of prototypes that will allow them to run study cases and to understand the effect of the different mathematical formulations on the outcomes. The use of these models in some real-world applications will also be presented.
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative, Institute for Data, Systems and Society (IDSS)
Contact: Karen Tapia-Ahumada, 617 715-5367, KATAPIA@MIT.EDU
I: Models for the short term
|
Jan/15 |
Tue |
09:00AM-01:00PM |
E51-372, Bring your laptop |
|
|
Jan/16 |
Wed |
09:00AM-01:00PM |
E51-372, Bring your laptop |
Andres Ramos - Professor, Karen Tapia-Ahumada - Research Scientist, Javier Garcia Gonzalez - Professor
II: Models for the medium term
|
Jan/17 |
Thu |
09:00AM-01:00PM |
E51-372, Bring your laptop |
|
|
Jan/18 |
Fri |
09:00AM-01:00PM |
E51-372, Bring your laptop |
Andres Ramos - Professor, Karen Tapia-Ahumada - Research Scientist, Javier Garcia Gonzalez - Professor
III: Stochastic short & mid-term models
|
Jan/22 |
Tue |
09:00AM-01:00PM |
E51-372, Bring your laptop |
|
|
Jan/23 |
Wed |
09:00AM-01:00PM |
E51-372, Bring your laptop |
Andres Ramos - Professor, Karen Tapia-Ahumada - Research Scientist, Javier Garcia Gonzalez - Professor
IV: Models for the long term
|
Jan/24 |
Thu |
09:00AM-01:00PM |
E51-372, Bring your laptop |
|
|
Jan/25 |
Fri |
09:00AM-01:00PM |
66-168, Bring your laptop |
Karen Tapia-Ahumada - Research Scientist, Andres Ramos - Professor, Javier Garcia Gonzalez - Professor
Plasma Science and Fusion Center IAP Series
Paul Rivenberg, Communications and Outreach Coordinator, Martin Greenwald, Deputy Director, PSFC, Dennis Whyte, Director, PSFC; Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Anne White, Associate Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering
Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
This series introduces plasma physics research and areas of related interest at the Plasma Science and Fusion Center. See URL below. http://www.psfc.mit.edu/
Sponsor(s): Plasma Science and Fusion Center
Contact: Paul Rivenberg, NW16-284, 617 253-8101, RIVENBERG@PSFC.MIT.EDU
Intro to Magnetic Fusion and SPARC
|
Jan/15 |
Tue |
11:00AM-12:00PM |
NW17-218 |
This introduction to the science and technology underlying magnetic fusion energy will review the current state of research and provide an overview of MIT's SPARC project, designed to demonstrate net fusion energy. The talk will highlight the contributions of MIT students to plasma physics research and fusion engineering.
Libby Tolman - Graduate Student
Alcator C-Mod tour
|
Jan/15 |
Tue |
01:00PM-02:00PM |
NW17-218 |
Visit the Alcator C-Mod tokamak, a major fusion energy experiment that completed its final run with breakthrough results. Alcator C- Mod is the third in a series of tokamak devices at MIT that use very high magnetic fields to confine plasmas operating near 100,000,000 degrees.
Session Leaders TBD
Design your own fusion plant with Excel
|
Jan/16 |
Wed |
10:00AM-12:00PM |
NW17-218 |
Assigned to a team, you will be provided with rules and parameters for designing your own fusion power plant. After an allotted time, each team will submit their figures, to be entered into an Excel spread sheet that will show how successful the design is. The best result will win a prize.
Dennis Whyte - Director, PSFC; Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering
ICF and HEDP at NIF, OMEGA & Z
|
Jan/18 |
Fri |
11:00AM-12:00PM |
NW17-218 |
Learn how the largest laser facilities - the National Ignition Facility (NIF), the OMEGA laser, and the Z Pulsed Power Facility - are used to conduct Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) and laboratory astrophysics experiments. This presentation will be followed by a tour of the High-Energy-Density Physics (HEDP) Laboratory at MIT.
Neel Kabadi - Graduate Student, Graeme Sutcliffe - Graduate Student
High-Energy Density Physics Lab Tour
|
Jan/18 |
Fri |
12:00PM-01:00PM |
NW17-218, Meet in NW17-218, then go to NW21 |
Following the HEDP talk, join members of the PSFC's High-Energy Density Physics Lab to see how MIT supports research into inertial confinement fusion, collaborating with LLNL's National Ignition Facility and the University of Rochester's OMEGA laser.
Session Leaders TBD
The MIT Fusion Landscape
|
Jan/22 |
Tue |
01:00PM-03:00PM |
34-101 |
In a series of lightning talks seven experts will discuss the current MIT Fusion Landscape. Topics will range from engineering and scientific underpinnings to finance, entrepreneurship and social impact. Join us to learn about MITs smarter, faster path to fusion energy.
For more information:http://www.psfc.mit.edu/events/2019/the-mit-fusion-landscape
Dennis Whyte - Director, PSFC; Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering
The Divertor Tokamak Test Facility
|
Jan/23 |
Wed |
11:00AM-12:00PM |
NW17-218 |
When the new Divertor Tokamak Test Facility is built in Italy it will be one of the largest physics and applied engineering labs in Europe. Its main scientific goal will be to investigate energy and particle exhaust systems that can withstand the loads expected in a fusion power plant.
Piero Martin - Professor
A Machine Learning Hackathon
|
Jan/26 |
Sat |
10:00AM-10:00PM |
NW17-218, Hours listed are available, not mandatory |
|
|
Jan/27 |
Sun |
10:00AM-10:00PM |
NW17-218, Hours listed are available, not mandatory |
Teams of up to four will seek machine learning solutions to a set of control, optimization, and data mining problems relevant to modern fusion research. Submissions will be judged and prizes awarded. Advance sign-up encouraged. Contact: rivenberg@psfc.mit.edu
Learn more & register at event website.Cristina Rea - Research Scientist, DIII-D, Ted Golfinopoulos - Research Scientist
Probabilistic Risk Assessment Workshop, offered by the NRC
Michael Golay, Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Nathan Siu, Senior Technical Advisor, NRC
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: None.
Probabilistic risk assessment (PRA), a structured analysis approach for characterizing system risk, is being increasingly used by the nuclear industry to support risk-informed decision making (RIDM). This 5-day intensive course, which is composed of lectures, classroom workshops, and open discussion sessions, will cover basic PRA and RIDM concepts and the use environment, simple PRA mechanics, recent developments and controversies, and future challenges.
The course is aimed at future nuclear engineering professionals who may not necessarily be considering careers in PRA but nevertheless are likely to be involved in some aspects of RIDM. There are no formal prerequisites. However, students with knowledge of basic probability and statistics, multivariate calculus, and reactor systems and safety will find some of the material easier to follow.
Sponsor(s): Nuclear Science and Engineering
Contact: Brandy Baker, 24-104, 617 253-3814, BRANDYB@MIT.EDU
|
Jan/16 |
Wed |
09:00AM-06:00PM |
34-302 |
|
|
Jan/17 |
Thu |
09:00AM-06:00PM |
34-302 |
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Jan/18 |
Fri |
09:00AM-06:00PM |
34-302 |
|
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Jan/22 |
Tue |
09:00AM-06:00PM |
34-302 |
|
|
Jan/23 |
Wed |
09:00AM-06:00PM |
34-302 |
Michael Golay - Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Nathan Siu - Senior Technical Advisor, NRC
RMG (Reaction Mechanism Generator) Workshop
William H. Green, Professor of Chemical Engineering
|
Jan/14 |
Mon |
10:00AM-05:30PM |
E17-517, Bring your laptop |
Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
This workshop is to introduce an automatic reaction mechanism generator software to people who might be interested in kinetics research area. RMG is developed by Green research group at MIT. It can generate detailed reaction mechanism network just with initial input conditions ( feed composition, reacting conditions such as temperature and pressure). The topics which will be covered in the IAP session are : 1) Overall RMG introduction 2) Molecular representation 3) How to install RMG on your computer 4) How RMG estimates the rate constant and thermo parameters 5) How to run a RMG job & use libraries and seed reactions. If you want to learn more about RMG, the workshop will be continued on Jan 15th - Jan 17 th.
Sponsor(s): Chemical Engineering
Contact: Yen-Ting Wang, E18-509, (413) 362-6636, YENTINGW@MIT.EDU
Unconventional photovoltaic effects
Bruno Lorenzi, PhD
Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
Limited to 20 participants
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Prereq: Basic semiconductors physics
Most of the university courses on photovoltaics, only discuss the standard photovoltaic effect based on p-n junctions. This is understandable considering that the major part of nowadays technologies, converting light into electricity, are based on this systems.
However, there are several other effects that can generate a current/voltage in semiconductors under illumination. Examples are the Dember effect, the bulk photovoltaic effect, the thermal photoelectric effect, and the photoelectromagnetic effect. These phenomena, and many other solutions was proposed, and are still proposed, as viable options to overcome some limitations of p-n junctions.
In this activity the most relevant unconventional photovoltaic effects will be presented and analyzed.
The aim of this mini-class is to provide a wider understanding of the photovoltaic effect, in all its multiple aspects and limitations, with an overview of the most recent advancements of non p-n photovoltaics and its most likely future perspectives.
Pre-requisite for the understanding of the class contents is the knowledge of basic semiconductors physics (band model, statistic distributions, light-matter interaction, etc.).
Contact: Bruno Lorenzi, 7-034, 328 543-8976, BLORENZI@MIT.EDU
Introduction to photovoltaics
|
Jan/17 |
Thu |
10:00AM-11:30PM |
2-146 |
Introduction to photovoltaics and the limits of p-n junctions.
Bruno Lorenzi - PhD
Unconventional PV effects - first part
|
Jan/22 |
Tue |
10:00AM-11:30AM |
2-146 |
Introduction to unconventional photovoltaic, and analysis of Dember effect, thermal photoelectric effect, and photoelectromagnetic effect.
Bruno Lorenzi - PhD
Unconventional PV effects - second part
|
Jan/24 |
Thu |
10:00AM-11:30AM |
2-146 |
Description and analysis of bulk photovoltaic effects.
Bruno Lorenzi - PhD
Perspectives of non p-n photovoltaics
|
Jan/29 |
Tue |
10:00AM-11:30AM |
2-146 |
Discussion on the recent advancements and the future perspectives of non p-n photovoltaic systems.
Bruno Lorenzi - PhD
