New MIT Institute for Medical Engineering & Science (IMES)

I miss being a student at MIT. Those were definitely some of the best days of my life. Recently, MIT launched their Institute for Medical Engineering & Science (IMES). Although HST was there when I was a student, IMES simply didn't exist.

The Institute for Medical Engineering and Science pioneers novel research and graduate education paradigms to advance health and educate leaders working at the convergence of engineering, science, and clinical medicine. IMES brings together MIT’s strengths in engineering, basic science, innovation, and entrepreneurship with clinical practice and research through its strategic partnerships with collaborating Boston area hospitals and biotech and medical device companies.

Based at IMES, the Medical Electronic Device Realization Center (MEDRC) aims to develop disruptive medical device technologies and is supported by a consortium of companies.

Through the Harvard-MIT Health Science and Technology Program (HST), students can also pursue degrees in the following programs:

• Biomedical Enterprise Program (BEP)
• Master of Engineering in Biomedical Engineering (MEBE)
• Medical Engineering and Medical Physics (MEMP)

You can learn more about the MIT IMES program here.

Hackers at MIT playing Tetris on the Green Building

Back when I was at MIT, students used to pull hacks (practical pranks) all the time. They set a police car on the dome of MIT in 1994. They dressed the dome up to be R2-D2 from Star Wars in 1999. Now, they are playing Tetris (in color) on the Green Building.

Pfizer signs deal with MIT

Pfizer Inc. (PFE) Signs Lease with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for Research Space; 400 R&D Jobs to be Created

Giant drug maker Pfizer Inc. said it has signed a 10-year lease with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to locate several research units in the Kendall Square neighborhood of Cambridge. Pfizer is now looking to bring 400 new research jobs to Cambridge, up from an earlier estimate of 350. Plans call for the company to relocate research units specializing in neuroscience and in cardiovascular, metabolic, and endocrine diseases to a new building under development at 610 Main St. South. The lease with MIT is for more than 180,000 square feet of space. Construction on that building is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2013.

Read more here.

MIT researchers developing technology that could "cure nearly any viral infection"

Wow, did you see this article from MIT News?

New drug could cure nearly any viral infection
Researchers at MIT’s Lincoln Lab have developed technology that may someday cure the common cold, influenza and other ailments.

Now, in a development that could transform how viral infections are treated, a team of researchers at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory has designed a drug that can identify cells that have been infected by any type of virus, then kill those cells to terminate the infection.

Todd Rider invented the PANACEA and DRACO antiviral therapeutics, and previously invented the CANARY (Cellular Analysis and Notification of Antigen Risks and Yields) sensor for rapid pathogen detection and identification.

You can read the story here at MIT News.

MIT Medical Electronic Device Realization Center (MEDRC)

I wish this had happened when I was a student at MIT:

MIT collaborates with Analog Devices and GE Global Research
New research center will develop innovative medical technologies for next-generation medical electronic systems

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has announced the creation of the Medical Electronic Device Realization Center (MEDRC), in collaboration with Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI) and GE Global Research. The new center will aim to create revolutionary improvements in multiple areas of the medical industry, including electronic devices, diagnostics and treatments, and technologies to enable information-driven health-care systems.

“A radical change is taking place in how medical care is being delivered, with delivery moving to ‘point of care’ rather than having patients travel to a doctor’s office or hospital,” said Charles Sodini, LeBel Professor of Electrical Engineering at MIT and co-founder of MEDRC. “MEDRC will develop technologies for patient-monitoring devices, point-of-care instruments and the communication technology to connect patients to caregivers. These technologies will enable affordable and accessible delivery of services to patients across the globe.”

Engineering Solutions to the Problems of Cancer

From MIT World

Engineers “bring a new set of tools and a new way of looking at problems posed by biologists,” says Paula T. Hammond, and are proving integral to advances in cancer diagnostics and therapies. Hammond cites evidence of bioengineering breakthroughs against the disease: the design of micron-sized posts that can identify and capture metastatic cancer cells on their passage through blood vessels; and particles manufactured to act as “smart bombs” for destroying tumors. In this symposium, panelists discuss promising discoveries from labs that are merging engineering and life sciences in the war against cancer.



As the developing world increasingly becomes the source of new cancer cases, “we have to change how we think about diagnosing and treating” the disease, says Sangeeta Bhatia. Researchers find one road map for transforming diagnostics in the computer industry, where miniaturization makes technology both more cost effective and portable. Bhatia describes a small microscope that may bring screening tests for cervical cancer to the patient, and the possibility of a postage stamp-sized piece of paper that can test urine for the biological markers of cancer, working along the lines of a pregnancy test.

Leaders in Science and Engineering: The Women of MIT

MIT is celebrating 150 years! Don't miss this MIT150 Symposium:

Leaders in Science and Engineering: The Women of MIT

This symposium will engage present students and postdocs, junior and senior faculty, alumni, and friends of MIT, and is woven around the landmark 1996 and 1999 reports of the Faculty Committees on Women in Science and their subsequent impact inside and beyond MIT. The symposium will have plenary sessions of talks by outstanding women faculty. In addition, there will be sessions giving a historical and current assessment of women in science and engineering, including the impact of the 1999 report. Two panel discussions will address effective practices for promoting gender equity and challenges ahead. Actress and MIT alumna Gioia De Cari SM '88 will give an evening performance on campus of her play, Truth Values: One Girl’s Romp through MIT’s Math Maze. In advance of the symposium, we will prepare a publication updating the Women in Science and Engineering reports. The symposium will close with a reception hosted by MIT's Society of Women Engineers (SWE), an undergraduate student group.

The March 1st CIMIT Forum: Solving Medical Challenges with Mechanical Engineering

Are you familiar with CIMIT? It's the Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology. Don't miss the March 1st CIMIT Forum: Solving Medical Challenges with Mechanical Engineering

MIT 2.75 Precision Machine Design
Clinician and Student Team Presentations

The MIT 2.75 Precision Machine Design course collaborates with CIMIT to bring together physicians from Boston-area hospitals and MIT engineering students in developing new medical devices. Physicians present their particular challenges then student teams work with them during the course of a semester to develop prototype solutions. The course has run since 2004, each year with a new cast of physicians and device challenges.

The CIMIT Forum: The interdisciplinary arena to promote the exchange of ideas and information to improve patient care

A toast to Independent Activities Period (IAP) at MIT

I look forward to connecting with some MIT graduates in the Philadelphia area as my wife and I toast to IAP tonight:

Each year, MIT10 alumni gather at local watering holes worldwide to ignite the spirit of Independent Activities Period with mingling. Offering a "Toast to IAP" in your city or town connects you with fellow alums who remember the "drink from the fire hose" that the Independent Activities Period can bring. We hope you will embrace the spirit of IAP by joining other MIT graduates of the last ten years to raise a glass as MIT celebrates its 150th Anniversary.

The 150 days of celebration honoring MIT's sesquicentennial expand beyond our campus and are meant to reach a global population. MIT volunteers in communities worldwide are planning special gatherings that bring the spirit of MIT150 to you and help raise the visibility of MIT in your region.

Conquering Cancer through the Convergence of Science and Engineering

If you're in the Boston area, you won't want to miss this symposium at MIT:

MIT150 Symposia: Conquering Cancer through the Convergence of Science and Engineering

Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Time: 8:30am - 5:00pm
Location: Kresge Auditorium, 48 Massachusetts Avenue

Life sciences and engineering converge on cancer at MIT. As our faculty and students begin to chart the next course in cancer research, we will celebrate the unique role they have played in its history and illustrate how and why MIT researchers are converging their disciplines to conquer cancer.

A series of moderated panel discussions—to include top biologists, leading clinical experts, technologists, and biomedical engineers—will engage the audience in exploration of three topics:

* What were the defining (and teaching) moments in the first three decades of the War on Cancer?
* How is convergence changing the cancer research paradigm at MIT?
* What clinical results can we expect to come from the deployment of new approaches to cancer research?

MIT Program in Science, Technology, and Society (STS)

How did I miss this when I was at MIT? This program has been around since 1976!

The Program in Science, Technology, and Society (STS) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology attempts to increase understanding of the human-built world. In this world, science and technology have broken through the walls of industry and of the laboratory to become an inextricable and determining element of nature, culture, and history.

The STS Program was founded at MIT in 1976 to address this unprecedented and momentous integration of science, technology, and society. Faculty and students in the Program address two basic, interrelated questions: how did science and technology evolve as human activities, and what role do they play in the larger civilization? The STS perspective is crucial to understanding major events of our time (war and conflict, the economy, health, the environment) and to addressing these and other major public issues (privacy, democracy, education).

Congratulations to Peter Diamond at MIT on Winning the Nobel Prize in Economics

Here are the relevant snippets from Bloomberg:

Peter Diamond, Dale Mortensen and Christopher Pissarides shared the 2010 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for their work on the efficiency of recruitment and wage formation as well as labor-market regulation.

Diamond, 70 -- an economics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology -- has researched a wide range of subjects. His earliest work, published in the 1960s, focused on the long-term impact of the growing national debt on the economy.

In a paper written in 2005 with Peter Orszag, who stepped down as President Barack Obama’s budget director in July, Diamond argued that Social Security’s long-term financial health could be restored through modest cuts in benefits and tax increases.

President Barack Obama chose Diamond for a post on the Federal Reserve Board in April, subject to confirmation by the Senate. The nomination was later returned to the White House because of objections from at least one unidentified senator. Obama resubmitted Diamond’s name on Sept. 13.

Watch the EmTech@MIT conference webinars

I didn't get to attend the EmTech@MIT conference this year. If you missed it too, you can watch webinars of the conference highlights here.

EmTech@MIT brings Technology Review’s mission to life by showcasing the most important emerging technologies and explaining their impact on you, our audience. EmTech@MIT is packed with groundbreaking demos, thought-provoking keynotes, and opportunities for exclusive networking with our senior-level audience.

Iron Man 2, medicine, and technology (and MIT)

What do Iron Man 2, medicine, and technology have in common? You'll have to watch the movie. What do you get when you throw in an MIT engineer building robots and saving the world? I don't want to give anything away, but I'm sure you'll be entertained. 

Speaking of MIT, if you're familiar with the MIT class ring (called the Brass Rat), then I think you'll appreciate this photo on the right:

My wife and I both have a Brass Rat, but we're not cool enough to drive an Audi and fly around in a metal bodysuit. (photo is from the MIT Admissions Blog)

I miss IAP at MIT

The month of January is an interesting month at MIT. It's an optimal month for students and it's called IAP.

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.

When I was a student at MIT, I spent every January at MIT. Some students would stay at home and return for spring classes in February. I was always at MIT and I always participated in IAP activities. Some of the most memorable include:

• Charm School (yes, all the nerds at MIT really need help with charm and etiquette)
• Ballroom dance workshops
• Programming (yes, some crazy students try to cram programming into a single month!)
  
• 2.670 Mechanical Engineering Tools (yes, I was a Mech E)
• How to find a UROP (Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program)

I sure miss those days at MIT. In fact, there's an event called "Toast to IAP" and it occurs in several major cities throughout the United States. 

President Obama to visit MIT

This Friday (October 23), President Obama will be visiting my alma mater MIT to speak about clean energy. Expect to see a high level of security on campus and specifically around Kresge Auditorium.

The President will be joined by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. Sounds like they will also webcast the speech on campus, but I'm hoping that they will also record and webcast the speech to the public.

To learn more about this upcoming event, visit: http://web.mit.edu/events/presidentialvisit

Addressing Complexity in Health Care, Energy, Space, and the Environment

Health care is very complex and it certainly needs to be reformed, but how do we do it? Interested in systems thinking? Then you may wish to consider this upcoming event:

MIT Conference on Systems Thinking for Contemporary Challenges
Addressing Complexity in Health Care, Energy, Space, and the Environment
October 22-23, 2009 at MIT
Sponsored by the MIT System Design and Management Program, John Deere, MITRE, UTC, and BAE Systems.

Register now to join MIT faculty and industry leaders who will discuss best practices for applying systems thinking to some of the most complex challenges facing today's world.

Hear Stephen Connors, Director of the MIT Energy Initiative's Analysis Group for Regional Energy Alternatives discuss systems issues surrounding regional energy sustainability. The presentation will offer recommendations for energy-importing nations to meet climate change and energy security goals simultaneously through aggressive end-use efficiencies, diversification of domestic sources, and modernization of energy networks.

To learn more, click on this link.

I really wish I could be there, but I'm already doing too much traveling in October, so I can't be there. I sure miss Boston and I'm dying to see my new nephew!

MIT and the Artificial eye - not just in Star Trek

In Star Trek (the Next Generation), there's a blind character (Geordi LaForge) who wears an eyepiece that allows him to "see." Such technology may not be science fiction anymore.

Researchers at MIT are developing a retinal implant that will send signals to the brain. Here's a picture of the model on the right.

A model of the retinal implant: The coil that surrounds the iris receives visual data from a camera mounted on a pair of glasses. The coil sends the images to a chip attached to the side of the eyeball, which processes the data and sends it to electrodes implanted below the retina.

An artificial eye may not restore normal vision, but it could provide guidance and assistance for the blind. The theory is sound: When the microchip receives visual information, it activates electrodes that stimulate nerve cells in the areas of the retina corresponding to the features of the visual scene. The electrodes directly activate optical nerves that carry signals to the brain, bypassing the damaged layers of retina.

The retinal implant research is funded by the VA Center for Innovative Visual Rehabilitation, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Catalyst Foundation and the MOSIS microchip fabrication service. To read more about the artificial eye, click here.

US News college rankings and MIT

MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) was ranked as #4 overall among U.S. universities and #1 in engineering. Specific engineering disciplines at MIT that U.S. News also ranked as the nation's best include: aeronautics and astronautics, chemical, electrical and computer science, materials and mechanical (that was me). I studied mechanical engineering at MIT and look at me now. I'm blogging about medicine and technology. The MIT Sloan School of Management was rated the nation's fifth MBA program behind Harvard, Stanford, Northwestern and the University of Pennsylvania. A salute to all my friends and colleagues from MIT!

Biomedical engineering and high-speed robotic hands

There's a part of me that's always wanted to be a biomedical engineer. As I watch this video about a robotic hand, I'm reminded of some of the things that motivated me to go to MIT and study engineering.

I believe that prosthetic technology will get very advanced in the next few decades. We're seeing some incredible innovations in robotic technology, aren't we?