Time: 12:00 PMLocation: Rochester, NY

Workshop blurb:Ever wondered how are objects from our daily lives designed? How can we generate a computer 3D model of a classic iPod, a Play Station controller, or a LEGO Tower Bridge? What about designing the Taipei 101 tower? A banana? Or how about visualizing and interacting with these objects using VR? In this fun MIT IAP 2026 workshop, you will learn the skills to design and VR-visualize all of these, and much more!Split into 8 (6 CAD, 2 VR) 2-hour long sessions, the first half of each session will be spent learning new Autodesk Inventor and VR skills, while the second half will see the application of these new skills through in-class activities, with a focus on reverse engineering. In contrast to traditional mechanical design courses, this workshop places greater emphasis on the design process itself, understanding how we can plan and best leverage our available tools to arrive to our desired result. Thus, the sessions are less about following the instructions on an engineering drawing, and more about independent thinking and strategizing, reverse engineering an object into a 3D model. New to this edition of "How to CAD" are 2 sessions that will go through the process of visualizing 3D models using VR!Logistics:Please express your interest in this workshop by filling up the following form.You can find the "How to CAD Almost Anything" syllabus for this IAP 2026 here.

IAP 2026 provides members of the MIT community (students, faculty, staff, and alumni) with a unique opportunity to participate in a wide variety of activities, including this lecture series on climate change produced by MIT’s Center for Sustainability Science and Strategy (CS3). Please join CS3 during IAP 2026 to learn more about the science of climate change and policies aimed at stabilizing the global climate.

Time: 5:00 PMLocation: Cambridge, MA

The irony of artificial intelligence is that it often reveals more about human intelligence than machines themselves.From AI in the home to robots in the workplace, the presence of AI all around us compels us to question its potential and recognize the risks. What has become clear is that the more we advance AI technology and consider machine ability versus human ability, the more we need to mind the gap.Researchers at MIT have been at the forefront of this evolving field. The work presented in this exhibition builds on the pioneering contributions of figures such as Claude Shannon and Seymour Papert, while highlighting contemporary research that spans computer science, mechanical engineering, neuroscience, and the social sciences.As research probes the connections between human and machine intelligence, it also underscores the profound differences. With AI now embedded in everyday life — from smart assistants in our homes to robots in the workplace — we are challenged to ask critical questions about its potential, its risks, and the boundaries between machine ability and human capability.Join us in shining light on the tremendous promise, unforeseen impacts, and everyday misconceptions of AI in this riveting, interactive exhibition.Learn more about the exhibition.

Imagine different worlds in Cosmograph: Speculative Fictions for the New Space Age, an exhibition that brings art and science together to examine possible futures where outer space is both a frontier for human exploration and a new territory for exploitation and development by private enterprise.We are living at the dawn of a New Space Age. What will the future hold? Will space elevators bring humanity's space junk to turn it into useful material here on Earth? Will asteroid mining be the next frontier in prospecting? Will the promise of geo-engineering turn into a nightmare of unintended consequences?Explore these possibilities and more in our new exhibition that blurs the lines between fact and fantasy, and art and science.