MIT150 Exhibition Nomination

“Spontaneous” Annual Tuition Riots

ariel — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:35:23 +0000

An alumna of the class of 1977 nominates this “grass roots event created and celebrated by random groups of students.”

“In the 1970s (at least) a group would form at a designated and publicized evening time and place (thus “spontaneous” is in quotes), and proceed around campus, shouting “2250, too damn much”, or whatever amount had just been announced as the tuition for the next semester.”

Radar Dish from Building 6 roof

ariel — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:45:50 +0000

An alumnus of the class of 1947 nominates the “Radar dish from the roof of Building 6, as a symbol of the development of radar during WWII.”

Drafting set

ariel — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:25:56 +0000

An alumnus from the class of 1952 nominates the “many drafting instruments for architects — replaced by computer drafting.”

Viral battery

ariel — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:35:38 +0000

An MIT staff member writes, “MIT researchers have shown they can genetically engineer viruses to build both the positively and negatively charged ends of a lithium-ion battery.

“The new virus-produced batteries have the same energy capacity and power performance as state-of-the-art rechargeable batteries being considered to power plug-in hybrid cars, and they could also be used to power a range of personal electronic devices, said Angela Belcher, the MIT materials scientist who led the research team.

“The new batteries, described in the April 2, 2009 online edition of Science, could be manufactured with a cheap and environmentally benign process: The synthesis takes place at and below room temperature and requires no harmful organic solvents, and the materials that go into the battery are non-toxic.”

Technique 1985

ariel — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:28:21 +0000

An alumnus of the class of 1986 writes, “This is the yearbook that has the 3D glasses in the back.

“It not only represents the yearbook – which is a clear must for an MIT exhibit, it also has the nerdy aspect of being the only yearbook ever known to have 3D stereo images.”

Professor Philip Morrison

ariel — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:10:15 +0000

An alumnus of the class of 1968 nominates the “famous institute professor, distinguished theoretical astrophysicist and interpreter of science and technology for the general public.”

Bubble Machine (Frank Morgan)

ariel — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:57:26 +0000

An alumna of the class of 1987 writes, “Frank Morgan’s research in the math department was illustrated by the shapes and interactions of soap bubbles. There was a wonderful ~8 foot high Bubble Machine in one of the lobbies, that continuously “blew” bubbles into a chamber. Watching the bubbles push each other up the glass walls was a great way to spend a middle-of-the-night study break!

” Frank Morgan was a truly outstanding teacher, awarded the Baker Teaching Award, as one of the unfortunate professors to help that award earn its reputation as the tenure Kiss of Death.”

Photo by Juhan Sonin used under Creative Commons
Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/juhansonin/ / CC BY 2.0

Mystery Hunt

ariel — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:13:46 +0000

An MIT staff member writes, “The annual MIT Mystery Hunt, begun 30 years ago, is held in January during IAP. Groups of students team up to solve a series of puzzles that then lead to a metapuzzle. The solution to them leads them to the location of an Indian-head penny somewhere on campus. The winners invent the next year’s puzzle.

“This is an immensely clever contest invented by students and fueled by their love of challenge and brainteasers. By now, it’s a time honored tradition.”

MIT Assassins’ Guild

ariel — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:23:14 +0000

An alumnus of the class of 1990 writes, “The MIT Assassins’ guild is a Live-Action roleplaying society that runs several real-time, real-space roleplaying games every semester.

“For nearly 30 years the Assassins’ Guild has been a fixture on the MIT campus. Starting from very humble beginnings the Guild has put on games for as many as 120 people running for 10 full days. The Guild is a pioneer in the world of Live Action Role-Playing (LARPs) and many of the leaders of that field were either members, or associated with the Guild.

“Games are intense endeavors that typically take a team of 4-6 writers a year to prepare any typically involve thousands of pages of written material. I know of at least two thesis projects based on game writing or modeling of behavior. Several companies were founded by graduates from the Guild to continue producing games outside of the MIT campus. Many of the graduates who have gone on to careers in the computer gaming industry got their starts by designing games for the guild.

“The Guild exists because MIT exists, and how MIT treats it’s students. There are few, if any, other universities that would allow the wonderful freedom and trust afforded our students to let such an effort to exist and thrive.

“Whether you loved them or hated them, were a member or an outsider, the Assassins’ Guild and games have been a part of MIT for 3 decades.”

MIT Entrepreneurs Club (E-Club)

ariel — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:11:21 +0000

A community member who is “not an alum despite being here on-and-off since c1962″ writes, “i was one of 3 co-founders in 1988/89 along with alums peter mui (6) and doug ling (16) phd – all but thesis; i have co-directed the e-club in its 21+years of continuous, year-’round operations as an mit service organisation (asa) and pleased to recruit it’s student officers from among my undergraduate seminars sem089 and sem095 (on tech start-ups at mit; since 1993/1994) … the e-club was where the original 10k student b-plan competition originated, regardless what is written of its history from the sloan side of things (smile) … and more … – r

“the e-club PRE-DATES nearly every other campus start-up and tech business organisation, of types asa, sloan, etc … we have been copied in countless other schools across the us and many many other countries … we were so overloaded with off-the-street clients in the early days that we had to spin-off a city of cambridge version called the cambridge business development center (in c-sq) directed for its first few years by alum doug ling (16) … i believe we’re the only asa club that offers for-mit-credit seminars (6 per term) plus occasional freshman advising (fas-15a09) and media lab seminars with professors like seymour papert (where the hell is SEYMOUR in your listings? i offered an e-club adjunct seminar with him numbered mas-a01… our clients are primaril y mit students, faculty, staff and alums … its a full-time-plus all-volunteer effort we enjoy touting as zero-cost to the current admin and corp … SAVE THIS FUCKING PLACE!”