Course One eNews | April 2022

Dear CEE Community and Friends,

This month we’re excited to share that CEE leads a flagship project in MIT’s first Climate Grand Challenge’s competition with several faculty working on additional flagship projects. MIT’s announcement of the five flagship research projects and the winning flagship project, co-led by Prof. Eltahir is highlighted below in “Empowering people to adapt on the frontlines of climate change.” In other news, Prof. David Simchi-Levi co-authors an article about how the war in Ukraine is further disrupting global supply chains and Prof. Marelli wins the inaugural BioInnovation Institute & Science Prize for Innovation and two graduate students were awarded NSF Graduate Research fellowships. Former CEE postdoc and now assistant professor shares insight on faculty applications and how the CEE Communications Lab helped her job search process.

Our profile story highlights alumna Janelle Heslop who combines her passion for sustainability, innovation, and diversity to drive impact in operations for industry. Lastly, we share photos from our Graduate Open House reception and upcoming department events that I encourage you to attend.

Sincerely,

Ali Jadbabaie

JR East Professor

Department Head, MIT Civil and Environmental Engineering

Core Faculty, Institute for Data, Systems, and Society

MIT announces five flagship projects in first-ever Climate Grand Challenges competition

CEE is leading a project on the Climate Resilience Early Warning System in MIT’s first ever-Climate Grand Challenges competition with multiple CEE faculty working on flagship projects to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture, and accelerate the transition to decarbonized energy.

How the war in Ukraine is further disrupting global supply chains

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is adding to the woes of global supply chains and affecting industries ranging from semiconductors to cars to food in the latest Harvard Business Review article, co-authored by Professor David Simchi-Levi.

Shedding light on faculty applications

Jasmina Burek, former CEE postdoc and now assistant professor at the UMass-Lowell Department of Mechanical Engineering shares her insight on faculty applications and how the CEE Communication Lab helped her along the job search process.

Benedetto_Marelli_Credit_Kathy_Briana cropped.jpg

Marelli wins BioInnovation Institute & Science Prize for Innovation

Associate Professor Benedetto Marelli was awarded the inaugural 2022 BioInnovation Institute & Science Prize for innovation by the editors of Science and the BioInnovation Institute foundation for harnessing silk to extend the shelf-lives of foods and spinning that technology out of the lab into startup, Mori. Read more about Marelli’s winning technology in an article he wrote for Science.

CEE grads awarded NSF Graduate Research Fellowships

Nicolette Bugher PhD ‘25 and Isabel Honda PhD ‘25 were named fellows of the prestigious 2022 National Science Graduate Research Fellowship Program for their fundamental environmental research.

Empowering people to adapt on the frontlines of climate change

In the MIT Climate Grand Challenges flagship project co-led by Elfatih Eltahir, the H.M. King Bhumibol Professor, a new platform will unite climate models, impact predictions, random control trial evaluations, and humanitarian services to bring cutting-edge tools to Bangladeshi communities.

Leading industry toward sustainability and equity

CEE and LGO alumna Janelle Heslop is combining her drive toward sustainability and personal passion around diversity and representation in STEM in her current work at Amgen.

Graduate Open House Reception

The department welcomed newly accepted students at the Graduate Open House reception. Winston the pug who comes to CEE every Wednesday even stopped by to welcome the new grads and enjoyed his time as well for all the pets and belly rubs.

View photos