Join Megan Masterson, a PhD candidate in Physics at the MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research for a conversation around Pedro Gómez-Egaña: The Great Learning.In this talk, Megan will connect many of the themes that permeate Pedro Gómez-Egaña: The Great Learning, including temporality, intensity, and alignment, to the mysteries of the cosmos. She will specifically discuss how these themes persist in her own research on the growth of supermassive black holes, where the intense gravity distorts our view and influences our perception.About the SpeakerMegan Masterson is a Physics PhD candidate at the MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, where she works on some of the most extreme objects in the universe — supermassive black holes. Megan’s work focuses on understanding how these black holes grow; she uses both ground- and space-based telescopes spanning multiple different wavelengths of light to map how material accretes onto these cosmic beasts. Megan is involved in many astronomy outreach initiatives, including Astrobites, Astronomy on Tap, and MIT Astrogazers, through which she shares her passion for science communication and the wonders of the cosmos.Graduate Student TalksMIT graduate students explore current exhibitions at the List Center through the lens of their own research, background, and interests. Join us for this interdisciplinary lecture series where we dive into how art and research are overlapping on MIT’s campus.

The Kevin Lynch Award was established to honor the memory of Kevin Lynch, an MIT alumnus, urban designer, author and member of the faculty of the Department of Urban Studies and Planning for thirty years. Through his practice, research and writing, Lynch encouraged planning and design professionals and students to adopt approaches to planning that are sensitive to the importance of place as well as the importance of people’s experience of place and to the importance of balancing physical interventions with consideration for the natural environment. As someone who accepted the reality of climate change early on, Lynch understood the delicate relationship between humans and their environment, and he worked to develop methods of practice to better integrate individuals’ perceptions into professional recommendations and theories to better explain the complex relationships among people and the built environment. Since its establishment in 1988, the MIT department of urban studies and planning has granted Kevin Lynch Awards to individuals or organizations whose work embodies and advances Kevin Lynch’s research, as developed in his seminal works, Image of the City (1960), What Time is this Place? (1972), Good City Form (1981) and Site Planning (1984). Nominees have been selected for their plans, books, research, designed projects, media productions, public processes, or similar contributions to merit the award.This year's awardee will be Kofi Boone, FASLA. Kofi Boone is a Joseph D. Moore Distinguished Professor and University Faculty Scholar at NC State University. Kofi is a Detroit native and a graduate of the University of Michigan. His work is in the overlap between landscape architecture and environmental justice with specializations in democratic design and interpreting cultural landscapes. He is the founder of the Just Communities Lab, Immediate Past President of the Landscape Architecture Foundation, and serves on the boards of Black Landscape Architects Network and the Land Loss Prevention Project.This year’s Lynch Award nominations and deliberations were done in collaboration between the City Design and Development faculty at the Department of Urban Studies and Planning, and the Urbanism faculty at the Department of Architecture at MIT.

What could healthcare look like in the next 10 years?In this collaborative, student-led discussion, we will explore strategies for improving communication around healthcare issues, making complex topics like vaccinations and genetic screening accessible, and fostering better public understanding. Don’t miss this opportunity to be part of the conversation!

Speakers:Victoria Avis, MIT DUSP MCP CandidateMichael Eschleman, Development Program Manager and ConsultantShamil Ibragimov, Scholar in residence, Legatum Center for Development & EntrepreneurshipNeil Levine, International Relations and NGO Professional Coach and ConsultantPaula Ruiz-Castillo, MIT PhD ’16, Global Health Research Operations Consultant - Global Heath Medical WriterNoel Shaskan, Health Community Lead, MIT SolveAre you hoping for a career in international development, humanitarian engineering, development economics, or global health? Are you concerned about these career paths given the recent assault on the sector and dismantling of US foreign assistance in general and USAID in particular?You are not alone! And it is perhaps more important than ever to use your skills and experience to address global challenges and assist in reducing inequality around the world.At this session, you’ll have an opportunity to connect with experienced international development professionals from organizations based in the Boston area, as well as staff and faculty from MIT, to get their perspectives on how to succeed in global development in the current climate.Participate in intimate round table discussions with our speakers to learn about different career paths, new and emerging strategies to enter into the field, and the resources available at MIT to gain valuable experience. Be sure to come with many questions!Register on Handshake

Jo Nagasaka Presented with the Architecture and Urbanism Group Part of the MIT Spring 2025 Architecture Lecture Series.This lecture will be held in person in Long Lounge, 7-429 and streamed online.Lectures are free and open to the public. Lectures will be held Thursdays at 6 PM ET in 7-429 (Long Lounge) and streamed online unless otherwise noted. Registration required to attend in-person. Register here or watch the webcast on Youtube.

Boston Chapter of IEEE Computer Society and GBC/ACM7:00 PM, Thursday, 24 April 2025MIT Room 32-G449 (Kiva) and online via ZoomLearning, engineering, and targeting cell states in cancerAva AminiPlease register in advance for this seminar even if you plan to attend in person athttps://acm-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Msf8F_LXTcSD2mWpDeVx5AAfter registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.Indicate on the registration form if you plan to attend in person. This will help us determine whether the room is close to reaching capacity. We plan to serve light refreshments (probably pizza) before the talk starting at around 6:30 pm. Letting us know you will come in person will help us determine how much pizza to order.We may make some auxiliary material such as slides and access to the recording available after the seminar to people who have registered.Abstract:Cancer is often treated using a reductionist approach: distilled to an individual subtype, mutation, or phenotype. But fundamentally, cancers are complex ecosystems that necessitate systems-level understanding and intervention. Addressing this problem is equal parts biology and computer science. In Project Ex Vivo, a joint cancer research collaboration between Microsoft Research and the Broad Institute, we are envisioning a new, constructionist paradigm for precision oncology, one powered by the bottom-up integration of computation and experimentation to understand the complexity of cell state ecosystems in cancer. In this talk I will share our recent efforts to build AI models to better define, model, and therapeutically target cell states in cancer.Bio:Ava Amini is a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research in Cambridge, MA. Her research focuses on developing new AI methods to understand and design biology, with the ultimate aim of realizing precision biomedicines that improve human health. She is a co-lead of Ex Vivo , a collaborative effort between Microsoft and the Broad Institute, that is focused on defining, engineering, and targeting cell states in cancer.In addition to research, Ava is passionate about AI education and outreach — she is a lead organizer and instructor for MIT Introduction to Deep Learning , an in-person and global course on the fundamentals of deep learning.Ava completed her PhD in Biophysics at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she was advised by Sangeeta Bhatia at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and supported by the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Ava received her Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Molecular Biology from MIT.Directions to 32-G449 - MIT Stata Center, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA: Please use the main entrance to the Stata Center at 32 Vassar Street (the entrance closest to Main street) as those doors will be unlocked. Upon entering, proceed to the elevators which will be on the right after passing a large set of stairs and a MITAC kiosk. Take the elevator to the 4th floor and turn right, following the hall to an open area; 32-G449 will be on the left. Location of Stata on campus mapThis joint meeting of the Boston Chapter of the IEEE Computer Society and GBC/ACM will be hybrid (in person and online).Up-to-date information about this and other talks is available online at https://ewh.ieee.org/r1/boston/computer/. You can sign up to receive updated status information about this talk and informational emails about future talks at https://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/ieee-cs, our self-administered mailing list.