2005 Class Project
The class project is a report on the opportunities for biomedical research at MIT, as seen through the eyes of students in the early stage of academic studies at the Institute. Organized and written by the members of 22.A09, Freshman Advisor Seminar on Career Options in Biomedical Research, and 22.013 Undergraduate Seminar in Nuclear Science and Engineering, this Perspective is a record of the presentations and discussions that took place during the Fall semester of 2005. It is intended to be useful for any prospective students, or students in general, interested in a glimpse of the myriad of activities and programs available at the Institute, and the process of personal growth that can result from the seminar experience.
Background
A new president, Dr. Susan Hockfield, was inaugurated at MIT in the spring of 2005. One of her first actions in office is to convene a Student Advisory Board (SAB) to undertake an assessment of MIT from the student perspective. The SAB report, released in April 2005, is a document worthy of attention by anyone who has an interest in MIT.
Entitled MIT in Transition - Student Perspectives on MIT's Legacy Strengths, Emerging Challenges, and Future Directions, this document is the inspiration for a new class project. The idea is to copy this process of empowering the students to undertake a broad-based assessment of a very diverse organization and come to some understanding of its evolution in a continually changing environment. To do anything, the students must not be afraid to ask simple but fundamental questions, and demand the answers be given in understandable terms for the constituents of the organization - the students. In our class, we ask the students to examine not an institution, but a diverse collection of activities and programs pertaining to many aspects of biomedical research. The challenge to the students, again, is not to be intimidated or overwhelmed, rather to dig in and make some sense of the confusing scene. It is an experiment in a real sense, no one knew what to expect from this exercise. In any case we pushed on early in the semester and ask the students to try it.
Charge to the Class: Thoughts on the Term Project (PDF)
Project Report
The following table presents the students' assessment of emerging directions in biomedical research and perspectives on the guest speakers. These sketches appear courtesy of the student authors and are used with permission.
Assignment files.
| Lec # |
PERSPECTIVES ON Guest SPEAKERs, WRITTEN BY STUDENTS |
| 2 |
Prof. Bevin Engelward (Biological Engineering, MIT), by Cathy Zhang (PDF) |
| 3 |
Dr. Fred Bowman (HST, MIT-Harvard), by Daon Ha (PDF) |
| 7 |
Drs. Maria Mody and Seppo Ahlfors (Martinos Center, HST/MGH), by Monica Crespo (PDF) |
| 8 |
Dr. Elizabeth Hillman (Martinos Center, HST/MGH)
Note: As of Fall 2006, Dr. Hillman directs Columbia Unversity's Laboratory for Functional Optical Imaging.
|
| 9 |
Prof. Jacquelyn Yanch (Nuclear Science and Engineering, MIT), by Minwah Leung (PDF) |
| 10 |
Drs. Ken Kwong and Bruce Jenkins (Martinos Center, HST/MGH), by Xin He (PDF) |
| 11 |
Prof. Sidney Yip, by Justin Tan (PDF) |
| 12 |
Dr. Mark Fenske (Martinos Center, HST/MGH), by Xin He (PDF) |
| 13 |
Dr. Tom Deisboeck (Martinos Center, HST/MGH), by Bruck Assefa (PDF) |
The next documents contain the students' own biographical statements. These appear courtesy of the students and are used with permission.
Bruck Assefa (PDF)
Monica Crespo (PDF)
Daon Ha (PDF)
Xin He (PDF)
Minwah Leung (PDF)
Sara Rubenstein (PDF)
Justin Tan (PDF)
Cathy Zhang (PDF)