Keep yourself accountable and meet your resolutions! Writing Together Online offers structured writing time to help you stay focused and productive throughout the IAP. We hold writing sessions every weekday, Monday through Friday, 9-10:30am. Join our daily 90-minute writing sessions and become part of a community of scholars who connect online, set realistic goals, and write together in the spirit of accountability and camaraderie. The program is open to all MIT students, postdocs, faculty, staff, and affiliates who are working on papers, proposals, thesis/dissertation chapters, application materials, and other writing projects.Register for IAP Writing ChallengeStarting on Mon, Jan 6th, through Fri, Jan 31st Mon-Fri 9-10:30am (Eastern Time)Those who attend at least 5 sessions during the IAP will be automatically entered into the raffle of gift-card prizes taking place on Fri, Jan 31st at 10:30am. The more you participate, the more times you will be entered into the raffle of prizes.For more information and to register, check the WCC website. Please spread the word and join with peers and friends.

Hacker Fab is an open-source initiative that provides blueprints, build instructions, and process knowledge for making nanofabrication machines and using them to create integrated circuits. Over IAP, join us for our course consisting of very brief lectures + guided build sessions, in which we will construct a photolithography stepper, spin coater, magnetron sputterer, and work towards the fabrication of diodes and transistors from scratch. The final build session will feature a short lecture and guidance from BreakingTaps!Hacker Fab will be sticking around at MIT after IAP, and is looking for student leaders that would be interested in taking ownership of project directions into the academic year.Please join the Hacker Fab Discord here and assign yourself a role as an MIT student: https://discord.gg/zfssVDC9

Monday, January 27-Friday, January 31, 2025 9:00 am - 1:00 pm ET each day (5 classes) Location: 3-133 Register by Saturday, January 25. Email Pablo Duenas (pduenas@mit.edu)For the 16th consecutive year, this five-session hands-on learning experience continues to evolve, delving into mathematical modeling to understand and accelerate the transition toward net-zero targets. With a primary focus on electricity systems, the course examines their pivotal role in a carbon-constrained economy. Participants will address critical challenges, such as the deployment of renewable energy resources, the surge in active demand response and electric vehicle integration, the synergies between electricity and hydrogen to support deep decarbonization, and the pending expansion of energy access in non-electrified areas of Africa, Latin America, and Asia. These challenges require advanced mathematical models for optimizing and analyzing complex decision-making processes. In addition to theoretical insights, the course offers practical tools, enabling participants to run case studies and explore the impact of different mathematical formulations. Real-world applications will be showcased to underscore the power to inform key stakeholders and public opinion, providing a robust foundation for driving collective action toward a net-zero future.No prior experience is required, although basic familiarity with Python and Julia programming can be helpful. Participants are welcome to attend individual sessions.Monday, January 27Part 0: How mathematical models contribute to achieving the net-zero target on timeCarbon emitters, decarbonization solutions, and the pivotal role of electricityLeveraging models to inform policymakers, stakeholders, and public opinionIntroduction to fundamentals on optimization techniquesPart 1: Removing carbon emissions at the community levelScheduling a decarbonized Home Energy Management System (HEMS)Energy communities and enabling active participation of buildingsTuesday, January 28Part 2: Removing carbon emissions from daily electricity productionUnit-Commitment (UC): daily dispatch of electricity generation unitsManaging uncertainty through stochastic optimization of UCWednesday, January 29Part 3: Removing carbon emissions from annual electricity productionMedium-term operation planningManaging uncertainty through stochastic hydro-thermal coordinationPart 4: The network as the backbone of electric systemsUnderstanding the role of the electricity networkManaging network constraints with Locational Marginal PricingThursday, January 30Part 5: Models for informing utility-scale investmentsBasic concepts: optimal mix problem by screening curvesDOLPHYN: an expansion model for studying low-carbon energy futuresFriday, January 31Part 6: Electrification and energy transition: openTEPES, REM, DECARBopenTEPES: informing infrastructure needs across AfricaREM: developing national electrification plans worldwideDECARB: is the distribution grid ready for wide electrification?InstructorsPablo Duenas, Research Scientist, MIT Energy Initiative (pduenas@mit.edu)Andres Ramos, Professor, Universidad Pontificia Comillas (arght@mit.edu)Javier Garcia-Gonzalez, Professor, Universidad Pontificia Comillas (javiergg@mit.edu)Ruaridh Macdonald, Energy Systems Research Lead, MIT Energy Initiative (rmacd@mit.edu)Yifu Ding, Postdoctoral Associate, MIT Energy Initiative (yifuding@mit.edu)Invited speakersGraham Turk, Deputy Director of Utility Regulation, Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority

This course is aimed for architecture and urban planning students and enthusiasts. It will introduce the synthesis of data-driven research and urban design. The workshop will walk participants through their own data collections using gaze tracking glasses and heart rate monitors on campus.

Chemistry Student Seminar (CSS) is a student-organized seminar series that host graduate students and postdocs to share their research in a friendly and informal environment. Free donuts and coffee are provided.

Organzied by the 11-6 (Urban Science and Planning with Computer Science) program, this workshop builds on the urban-related 6.100B problem sets (network routing, recursion and Monte Carlo simulation) but focuses on real-world contexts and decision-making cases. You will look into why these problems matter and who make the decisions - from the access and control of local roads, to mandatory insurance policy for coastal development, to locating essential public services, and hone your innovative problem-solving ability by designing and testing alternative problem formulations and exercising Python programming skills.11.085 | 1-0-1 Units for registered students. Audits welcomed.Schedule (All sessions from 10AM-12PM and will be held in 9-255):Monday, January 27 (Socio-technical Perspectives on Path Optimization Problems)Wednesday, January 29 (Stakeholders’ Interests and Risks in Public Policy Making)Friday, January 31 (Polling Places Locations, Closures and Where to Provide Essential Public Services)