MIT Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics | October 2024 | |
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Save the date: AeroAstro Thankful Gathering 2024
When: Wednesday, Novemer 20, 4:00 - 5:30pm
Where: Grier Room, 34-401
RSVPs required
The entire AeroAstro community is invited to come together for an afternoon of good food and gratitude. The annual Thankful Gathering is a time to reflect on all we share as a department, and to appreciate one another for the dedication, support, and friendships that make our work and our studies meaningful. We look forward to celebrating together!
The Roundup is a monthly newsletter to keep the AeroAstro community up-to-date on research, community news, and important happenings across the department and MIT.
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Allan Shaw, retired member of the AeroAstro staff, passed away on Sept 30, 2024 at the age of 94. Allan dedicated nearly four decades to MIT, from 1952 to 1990, during which he managed the original Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel and the Engineering Project Lab. | |
The GA^3 team completed another Cambridge Fall Classic 5k, with 24 members crossing the finish line. | |
The October Maker Meeting featured a creative (and spooky) pop-up card workshop. | |
New student group Doctors Without Gravity, the MIT/Harvard Aerospace Medical Association student chapter, held their first meeting. Interested members can sign up for their mailing list to join future events. | |
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Spot Awards: Congratulations to Alexa Torres, Anthony Zolnik, Brían O’Conaill, Claudia Forero-Sloan, Corrine Giordani, Esther Allen, Eunice Nganga, Janine Liberty, Jean Sofranas, Karen Bruce, Pam Fradkin, Quentin Alexander, Rachael Draper, Rachel Ornitz, Denise Phillips, and Suxin Hu on their outstanding performance this month.
Have someone you would like to recognize? Submit a nomination on our website!
Training:
A new web-based module encourages staff members to explore Program/Project Administration careers. The module can be completed at any time and is accessible via the Atlas Learning Center.
The next LBGTQ+ 101: You Are Welcome Here training takes place on November 15 at 11am. Sign up to learn about terminology, unpack biases, and learn how to be a visible, vocal ally to the LBGTQ+ community.
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Di Wu (ARCLab) won the Best Poster Lightening Pitch at the Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies (AMOS) Conference in Hawaii this September. ARCLab also honored the winners of the MIT ARCLab Prize for AI Innovation in Space at the conference, with both first and second place teams joining to present their work in a poster session.
Nathanael Jenkins (APG) was awarded the ‘BAE Systems Prize’ for the best individual research project at the Imperial College London Department of Aeronautics.
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Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion | |
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Diversity, Equity and Inclusion best practices:
Racial Microaggressions in Everyday Life
November is National Native American Heritage Month, also called American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month. It’s a time to honor and celebrate the vibrant, diverse cultures, traditions, and histories of Native people and recognize their valuable contributions. Check out how NASA is celebrating!
Upcoming event:
Join Diversity Officer Denise Phillips for a Book Discussion on Wandering Stars: A Novel by Tommy Orange.
Wednesday, November 20, 2024, 2:30-3:30 p.m
33-218 or join the event via Zoom
Register to receive the book
Last month, Graduate students participated in a DEI poll at orientation. Below is a word cloud of their answers in response to the question "When you think of diversity, equity, and inclusion, what comes to mind in 2024?"
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Sam Austin and Nathanael Jenkins (APG) attended the SAE AE-2 Lightning Committee meeting in Cape Canaveral. The pair presented to a committee developing a new aerospace standard on simulation for certification – and caught the ULA Vulcan Centaur 2 rocket launch the next day.
Students taking the 16.851 Intro to Satellite Engineering course had the opportunity to assemble and launch rockets with the help of a custom-built virtual reality simulation, developed by Mollie Johnson (ESL).
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Prof. Eric Evans recently participated in an at-sea visit to the USS Nimitz, the lead ship of the U.S. Navy’s Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. He and a group from the Defence Science Board, for which Evans serves as co-Chair, observed launches and landings for F-18s and E-2D aircraft from the carrier deck. | |
AeroAstro CommLab manager Brian Mernoff captured the Aurora at his home. | |
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The AeroAstro Comm Lab provides 1-1 peer coaching sessions for all forms of technical communication. Make an appointment today to improve the effectiveness of your next paper, poster, presentation and more!
This month, we ran a successful Research Statements Workshop and Master’s Thesis Kick-off Lunch!
Upcoming Workshop:
Physicality of Presentations
Thursday, 11/14, 10-11am
RSVP for the workshop
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Near-zero environmental impact aircraft | In the cover story of this month’s Sustainable Energy and Fuels, researchers in LAE propose an aircraft-energy system that simultaneously addresses both aviation’s climate and air quality impacts and operation, defining such an aircraft as having net-zero climate impacts and a 95% or greater reduction in air quality impacts. | | | | |
