Everything around you is made of materials. In this interactive lecture, Professor Vanessa Chan will explore the world of materials science and engineering through three key approaches: applying materials in new areas, inventing new materials, and fabricating materials in innovative ways. She will showcase how materials science has paved the way, drawing on examples from consumer electronics, medical inventions, and sustainable energy. Chan will also dive into the challenges of commercializing technologies, highlighting why it’s not just technical hurdles but also commercialization barriers that must be overcome. She’ll discuss understanding decision-makers in the value chain, regulatory challenges, and unit economics.The Wulff Lecture is an engaging and accessible presentation designed for a broad audience. Its purpose is to inform, inspire, and motivate MIT undergraduates to explore the study of materials science and engineering. The event extends an invitation to all MIT, with a special emphasis on welcoming first-year students

Melanie Wasserman University of California, Los Angeles Anderson School of Management

John Asker (UCLA)

Speaker: Dev Sinha (University of Oregon)Title: From Milnor invariants to E-infinity cochain structuresAbstract: We share current work which goes back and forth between geometric and algebraic topology. We start with generalization of Milnor invariants of links, which works beyond where their indeterminacy limits them and extends to links any three-manifold. This generalization arises from analysis of the classical bar construction. (So we are making progress by connecting two pieces of mathematics developed in Fine Hall in the 1950’s.) These ideas also lead to new algorithms to produce all polynomial functions on presented groups. We then share recent work relating cup product to intersection product on geometric cochains through vector field flows. This leads to a conjectural new approach to E-infinity structure on cochains by “resolving partial-definedness” rather than resolving non-commutativity. What unites these projects is a goal of producing homotopy invariants through a combination of tools including geometric cochains, configuration spaces and bar constructions.

Daniel M. Sturm (LSE)