Boston Globe reporter Eric Moskowitz spotlights the work of Prof. Emeritus Rainer Weiss, who was named one of the recipients of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics for the “decades of determination” he invested in detecting gravitational waves. Moskowitz writes that Weiss is still, “as energized as ever by the thrill of scientific discovery.”
Forbes reporter Ethan Siegel writes about how Prof. Emeritus Rainer Weiss and two of his colleagues were awarded a Nobel Prize in Physics for their work detecting gravitational waves, “the culmination of theoretical and experimental work dating all the way back to Einstein.” Siegel adds that the detection of gravitational waves, “has transformed our idea of what's possible in astronomy.”
Guardian reporter Hannah Devlin writes that this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to Prof. Emeritus Rainer Weiss. Weiss said the successful detection of gravitational waves was the culmination of “40 years of people thinking about this, trying to make detections, sometimes failing … and then slowly but surely getting the technology together to be able do it.”
Asst. Prof. Fikile Brushett has been chosen as one of C&EN Magazine’s “Talented Twelve” for his history of work with batteries. “A major focus of his lab is understanding how chemical structure affects the function of redox active molecules, with the goal of expanding the toolbox for engineering batteries,” writes Celia Henry Arnaud.
Susan Hockfield, president emerita of MIT, has been named to U.S. News & World Report’s 2017 STEM Leadership Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame honors leaders, “who have achieved measurable results in the science, technology, engineering and math fields; challenged established processes and conventional wisdom; inspired a shared vision; and motivated aspiring STEM professionals.”
WCVB reporter Mike Wankum visits MIT to learn about a device, developed by MIT students, that converts text to braille. Undergraduate Charlene Xia explains that, “it’s not just enough to make something cool,” adding that she and her teammates want to make a device that "actually makes a difference in the world.”
Two MIT research teams from the Department of Biological Engineering and IMES were recipients of the 2017 Wellcome Image Awards, which “reward and showcase the best in science image making,” reports Nicola Davis and Eric Hilaire for The Guardian.
Washington Post reporter Nick Anderson writes that four MIT students - Matthew Cavuto, Zachary Hulcher, Kevin Zhou and Daniel Zuo - have been named recipients of the prestigious Marshall scholarships. The MIT group is “the largest delegation of Marshall Scholars named this year from a single school.”
Prof. Emeritus Rainer Weiss and the LIGO team were honored as recipients of the 2016 Breakthrough Prizes during a ceremony in California, reports Lisa Krieger for Mercury News. The LIGO team was honored for their “observation of gravitational waves, a discovery which opens new horizons in astronomy and physics.”
TechCrunch reporter Devin Coldewey writes that Margaret Hamilton, a computing pioneer who led the development of the Apollo program’s on-board flight software during her time at MIT, has been named a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Coldewey writes that Hamilton is an inspiring figure “for anyone looking to enter the fields of computer science and engineering.”
NPR’s Steve Inskeep notes that in a 2010 episode of “The Simpsons” Milhouse van Houten predicts that Prof. Bengt Holmström will win a Nobel Prize in economics. Inskeep jokes that Milhouse was a visionary, who “knew way before the rest of the world that MIT's Bengt Holmström had genius in him.”
Charles Duxbury and Mike Bird write for The Wall Street Journal that Prof. Bengt Holmström is one of the recipients of the 2016 Nobel Prize in economics. Holmström was honored, in part, for developing a model that examines “how pay should be linked to performance and how an optimal contract carefully weighs risks against incentives.”
Prof. Emeritus Rodney Brooks and Prof. Michael Stonebraker are featured in Boston Magazine’s list of the 30 most influential people in the local technology scene. Brooks was honored for his work in the field of robotics, and Stonebraker for his work developing new ways for data to be stored and analyzed.
In an article for The Boston Globe, Sacha Pfeiffer writes that undergraduate Farita Tasnim has been named to Her Campus’ list of 22 Under 22 Most Inspiring College Women. Pfeiffer writes that Tasnim has been “dubbed a ‘STEM goddess’ for captaining her high school robotics team and creating her own electronics lab, among other accomplishments.”
The researchers involved with the successful detection of gravitational waves have been honored with a Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, reports Joseph Ax for Reuters. "This is the first time we've seen the full force of Einstein's theory of gravity at work,” says Edward Witten, head of the selection committee.