Dear CEE Community and Friends,

In this month’s newsletter, we are excited to report that two CEE faculty members have been selected as the mission directors for the Climate Project, as announced by President Sally Kornbluth. We highlight a promising gene silencing therapy for fatal prion diseases developed by CEE alumnus Eric Minikel, the Science Roundtable on Carbon Capture and Storage formed by Prof. Charles Harvey and leading climate experts, and a workshop conducted by graduate student Laxman Kaffle to assist undergraduates, recent graduates, and masters students in perfecting their research paper writing skills. 

Also in this newsletter, we congratulate Stefany Moreno-Gámez, recipient of the 2024 Dr. Eddie Méndez Scholar Award, as well as Prof. Tal Cohen, honored with the Arthur C. Smith Award for her dedication to undergraduate education and student life. Prof. Herbert Einstein is recognized for being nominated for a Teaching with Digital Technology Award, as well as the Best Paper Award at the American Rock Mechanics Association (ARMA) symposium for his work with Damian Stefaniuk and Eve Meltzer.

Lastly, research led by Prof. Josephine Carstensen and Prof. Caitlin Mueller explore strategies to reduce embodied carbon in structural engineering practices, and we share two final project videos for course 1.200 Transportation: Foundations and Methods instructed by Prof. Cathy Wu.

Sincerely,

Ali Jadbabaie

JR East Professor

Department Head, MIT Civil and Environmental Engineering

Core Faculty, Institute for Data, Systems, and Society

President Sally Kornbluth announced the leaders of the six Climate Missions of the Climate Project at MIT. The project is a major new effort to change the trajectory of global climate outcomes for the better over the next decade. CEE Prof. Jesse Kroll will co-lead the “Restoring the atmosphere, protecting the land and oceans” mission alongside Prof. Andrew Babbin of EAPS. Prof. Benedetto Marelli will be leading the “Wild cards” mission, seeking out unconventional solutions outside the scope of the others.

CHARMed collaboration creates a potent therapy candidate for fatal prion diseases

A new gene-silencing tool developed by CEE alumnus Eric Minikel and colleagues shows promise as a future therapy against prion diseases and paves the way for new approaches to treating disease.

CEE Prof. Charles Harvey and leading climate experts form Science Roundtable on Carbon Capture and Storage

The Roundtable will provide a unified voice among technical experts on the challenges with carbon capture and storage. Their goal is to elevate the science and data that shows carbon capture is among the most expensive, least effective climate “solutions.”

Graduate student hosts research paper writing workshop

Laxman Kafle conducted the 2-hour workshop for third and fourth year undergraduate students, recent graduates, and masters students. The online workshop was organized by the Engineers Without Borders Pulchowk and IEEE Pulchowk Students Branch, and it was open to all interested participants.

CEE postdoc one of eight recipients of 2024 Dr. Eddie Méndez Scholar Award

Stefany Moreno-Gámez received the national award that recognizes exceptional postdoctoral researchers from historically underrepresented groups in science. As a postdoc in the Cordero Lab, Stefany’s research focuses on understanding how dietary and host-derived polysaccharides shape the ecology and physiology of the gut microbiome.

Tal Cohen receives Arthur C. Smith Award

Prof. Tal Cohen has received the Arthur C. Smith Award, an Institute-wide award that recognizes a member of the MIT faculty for their meaningful contributions and devotion to undergraduate student life and learning. 

CEE research receives Best Paper Award

At the American Rock Mechanics Association annual symposium, held June 24-26 at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, CO, Eve Meltzer, Damian Stefaniuk, and Prof. Herbert Einstein were awarded best paper for their work, “A Microscale Analysis of Millimeter-wave Induced Vitrified Basalt for Use in Enhanced Geothermal Energy Systems.”

Prof. Herbert Einstein nominated for a Teaching with Digital Technology Award

The Teaching with Digital Technology Awards are student-nominated awards for instructors who have effectively used digital technology to improve teaching and learning at MIT.

New research from Prof. Josephine Carstensen, Prof. Caitlin Mueller, and Maggie Smith MEng ’23 surveys structural engineers on their perceived barriers to lowering embodied carbon and using automated design tools to increase material efficiency. This work identifies lack of awareness, perceived cost increase, and lack of power as the key barriers to reducing embodied carbon.

Riccardo Fiorista and Tinus Alsos explore short-term origin destination demand prediction in their final project for course 1.200 Transportation: Foundations and Methods with Prof. Cathy Wu. Current modeling approaches used by transit agencies mostly consider long-term patterns to predict where people are traveling. This project seeks to understand how transit agencies can accurately predict short-term origin destinations to better predict how crowded a platform may become during busy periods.

Optimizing Bluebikes' Operational Strategy to Enhance User Experience and Reduce Costs

Failure to redistribute Bluebikes promptly can lead to customer dissatisfaction. Graduate student Ceci Zhang experienced frustration firsthand, and in her final project for course 1.200 Transportation: Foundations and Methods taught by Prof. Cathy Wu, she seeks to minimize this frustration and improve user experience by reducing the operating cost of Bluebikes.

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