The MIT SP Graduate Student Dinner Seminar Series provides the institute wide platform for students to communicate their research and passion to a large audience outside of their own field, in low-pressure, diverse, inclusive, and collaborative environment. 

Dinner Served

Sponsors: Office of the Graduate Education (MIT OGE)

RSVP at https://goo.gl/forms/gv2va9ijX2KlXouh1

Speakers

The Intersection of Art and Science: Imagining our Future in Space
# Lizbeth B. De La Torre, MIT Media Lab

We are hosting the panel discussion for upcoming students.

Life, wellness, and research at MIT
Panel with students from various departments at MIT
# Rachel Holladay
# Karthik Sastry
# Suzane Cavalcanti
# Arkopal Dutt
# Jin Wu
# Nicholas Triantafillou
# Lizbeth B. De La Torre
# Mohammad Islam

Speakers and Panelists:

Liz B. De La Torre
Lizbeth B. De La Torre is an MS candidate in the Media Lab's Space Enabled group. With an BFA in Entertainment Art, designing vehicles, props and environments for feature film, Liz uses design thinking methods and techniques to imagine the future of technology in space through a Hollywood lens. Liz comes to the Media Lab from The Studio at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where she worked on creative projects and tech demos for various space missions and pre-mission formulation for future missions. Apart from designing two NASA Travel Posters, she also co-lead research in astronaut devices and wearables for situational awareness and robotic interaction on Mars.

Rachel Holladay
Rachel Holladay is a second year computer science PhD student at MIT co-advised by Alberto Rodriguez and Tomas Lozano-Perez. She works in the MCube Lab (Manipulation and Mechanisms at MIT) and LIS Group (Learning and Intelligent Systems). Her current research focuses on the intersection of manipulation and motion planning. Rachel is interested in how we can develop algorithms to enable robots to dexterously use simple tools and leverage regrasping strategies.

Mohammad S. Islam
Mohammad Islam is entering his fourth year as a PhD student in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He is originally from New York City, where he spent most of his life with his family (which includes four younger siblings). At MIT, he studies high performance and GPU computing for efficiently solving differential equations and linear systems which arise in aerospace engineering applications. During his free time, he enjoys playing video games, talking walks around Boston and eating.

Karthik Sastry
Karthik Sastry is a PhD student in the Economics Department. His current research focuses on the propagation and effects of information (about new policies, structural changes, or temporary shocks) in the macro-economy. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking, reading, and playing the viola. He joined MIT in Fall 2016, after receiving a B.S. in Economics from Princeton University. He has lived in Sidney Pacific for two years and currently serves as its Vice President of Resources.

Suzane Cavalcanti
Suzane Cavalcanti is a third year PhD student in the Chemical Engineering department and part of the Computational Science and Engineering program. Her research involves developing numerical methods for simulation and optimization of chemical engineering processes using novel non-differentiable models. She is originally from Brazil and did her undergrad in ChemE at the University of Campinas. Her personal experience dealing with chronical health issues has led her to become a passionate advocate of work-life balance at MIT, dedicated to increasing awareness on the importance of taking care of physical and mental wellbeing. Suzane is the Wellness Chair at the Sidney Pacific grad residence, where she holds meditation and relaxation events.

Jin Wu
Jin is a third year graduate student doing a dual degree in (1) Integrated Design and Management (IDM) and (2) Mechanical Engineering. She earned a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Toronto. Her educational background, work experience, and research spans across six different fields: electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, neuroscience, product design, graphic design, and business. In her spare time, she enjoys building guitars and skateboards, fixing planes (Cessna 150), and (hopelessly) cheering for the Minnesota Vikings.

Nicholas Triantafillou
Nicholas Triantafillou is a 5th year PhD student studying arithmetic geometry in the math department. He particularly likes algorithms for computing invariants of algebraic varieties, arithmetic statistics, and problems which involve both pure mathematics and computer science.

Arkopal Dutt
Arkopal is currently a PhD student in the department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT. He earned his S.M. with the MSEAS lab under the direction of Prof. Pierre Lermusiaux where he worked on uncertainty quantification in stochastic dynamical systems and schemes for data assimilation. Prior to MIT, he spent 4 years at IIT Bombay from where he graduated with a B.Tech in Aerospace Engineering. He also enjoys dabbling in information theory, and machine learning intersecting with physics.

Goals of the SP General Audience Graduate Seminar Series

Communicate Research and Teaching in STEM, Design, Entrepreneurship, and Arts

• Gives graduate students an opportunity to practice public speaking in a low-pressure environment. 
• Increases students' comfort levels with unfamiliar research topics and provides them exposure to fields and opportunities outside of their primary area of research. 
• Helps graduate students think about presenting their work to experts, non-expert, and potential UROPs. 

Inspire Multidisciplinary Collaborations and Foster Inclusive Environment

• Embraces diversity and creates an inclusive and supportive scientific environment 
• Helps inspire interdisciplinary collaborations, as students learn about problems in other fields that could be attacked using their own expertise. 
• Helps potential UROPs to connect with graduate students and mentors. 

Learn, Grow, and Network with MIT Graduate Students and UROPs 

• Creates a bridge to close the gap between graduate and undergraduate research community. 
• Provides a networking platform to students and brings them together to talk about the work that they love and learn a bit more about what their fellow graduate students in different departments do in their everyday life. 

Join us for the seminar and dinner at MIT's Sidney Pacific graduate residence! 

Contact: Neil Gaikwad, gaikwad@mit.edu for more information