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I am excited to be able to close out the year with a cheerful announcement! Motivated by the MIT presidential priority on climate, IDSS is launching a Maritime Consortium, a research collaboration focused on reducing emissions in maritime shipping. Working with the Center for Ocean Engineering in Mechanical Engineering, MIT Sea Grant, and industry stakeholders, this new IDSS collaboration will be co-led by me and IDSS affiliate Themis Sapsis, the William I. Koch Professor of Mechanical and Ocean Engineering.
From working to decarbonize local fishing fleets in Gloucester and New Bedford, MA, to retro-fitting US vessels under the Jones Act with nuclear propulsion, this is a research effort for climate that at its core has bipartisan considerations over livelihoods and service to the nation.
The Consortium will launch research that addresses multiple challenges in fleet shipping, including:
- Alternative fuels, nuclear propulsion, and electrification
- Data-driven modeling and generative AI for ship design
- Bio-inspired hydrodynamic designs
- Cybersecurity for ports and vessels
- 3D printing for on board manufacturing
There are many members of the cross-disciplinary IDSS faculty who have expertise in climate research, and this new collaboration connects with MIT Climate Project mission leaders across campus, namely Elsa Olivetti, Chris Knittel, and Andrew Babbin. As policy considerations will be integral to these approaches as well, we aim to draw on the expertise and connections that the Technology and Policy Program brings to the table.
In this newsletter, we are highlighting some of the many projects already underway that show both the diversity of approaches to addressing climate change and the centrality of data science methods in offering new insights, new ideas, and new pathways to change. These efforts range from using weather and energy use data to optimize renewable energy farm locations, to creating new training algorithms to help future AI systems handle variability more efficiently.
The power of cross-disciplinary collaboration and a data-informed, problem-oriented approach was on display at the MIT Policy Hackathon, an annual event run by IDSS students that is open to the public and routinely includes a climate challenge — this year's focused on climate resilience, sponsored by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Our holiday celebration left me feeling so grateful for this community, from our exceptional staff who organized the event to our own professor Ali Jadbabaie, whose beautiful guitar playing added much to the festive mood! The new year is nearly here, and I hope 2025 brings you creativity, happiness, and success!
Happy holidays!
Fotini Christia, Director, IDSS
Ford International Professor of the Social Sciences
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