Conference Details - Speakers

Marc Baldo is the an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Associate Director of the Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE).

Professor Baldo is also a principal investigator in MIT's Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE). Professor Baldo's research interests include molecular electronics, electrical and exciton transport in organic materials, energy transfer, metal-organic contacts, heterogeneous integration of biological materials, and novel organic transistors.

Professor Baldo received his B. Eng. (Electrical Engineering) from the University of Sydney in 1995 with first class honors and university medal, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Princeton in 1998 and 2001, respectively. In 2002 he joined MIT as an Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering. In 2004, he was appointed Esther and Harold E. Edgerton Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering.

Biographical Sketch
Martin Z. Bazant received both a B.S. degree in mathematics and physics (1992) and an M.S. degree in applied mathematics (1993) from the University of Arizona. He completed a Ph.D. in condensed matter physics from Harvard University in 1997 under the direction of Efthimios Kaxiras. He continued at Harvard with a postdoctoral fellowship, 1997-98, before coming to MIT as instructor in applied mathematics and postdoctoral associate, 1998-99. Professor Bazant joined the MIT faculty in applied mathematics in January 2000, and in 2008 also joined the faculty in chemical engineering. His research focuses on the mathematical modeling of transport phenomena. His contributions include theories of induced-charge electrokinetics in microfluidics, intercalation dynamics in Li-ion batteries, and dense granular flow. Professor Bazant received an Early Career Award from the U.S. Department of Energy in 2002. He held the Paris Sciences Chair in 2002 and 2007 and the Joliot Chair in 2008 and 2012 at Ecole Superiure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles. In 2007, he was selected by Popular Science for its Brilliant 10 listing of the nation's top young scientists.

Research Summary
Professor Bazant is broadly interested in applied mathematics and engineering physics. Research focuses on transport phenomena in microfluidics and electrochemical systems, motivated by applications in energy storage, water purification, and lab-on-a-chip technology. Current topics include nonlinear electrokinetics, "shock" electrodialysis, electrodeposition, super-hydrophobic surfaces, super-capacitors, fuel cells, and rechargeable batteries. Bazant spent his first ten years on the faculty at MIT in the Department of Mathematics, where he led the Nonlinear Electrokinetics Group, Dry Fluids Laboratory, and Applied Mathematics Computational Laboratory. Bazant joined the Department of Chemical Engineering in December 2008 while retaining a joint appointment in Mathematics. His research now combines mathematical modeling with experiments. His group has students from Chemical Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, Mechanical Engineering, and Materials Science.

Biographical Sketch
After receiving his doctorate in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Florida in 2009 for his studies on defect equilibria in SOFC materials, Sean was a postdoctoral associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he continued his studies in solid state ionics. In June 2011 he joined the International Institute for Carbon Neutral Energy Research at Kyushu University in Japan as an assistant professor.

Research Summary
Sean's interests lie in determining and controlling defects at interfaces and in bulk materials to manipulate electrochemomechanical properties. For example, in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) and three way catalysts (TWCs), there is an exchange of oxygen between the environment and the material. The rate of this exchange is crucial to maximizing SOFC power and TWC efficiency, and it has the potential to be modified by controlling the interfacial and bulk electronic and ionic defect type and concentration. Additionally, a strain in the lattice occurs upon decrease in oxygen content, known as chemical expansion, often resulting in failure of devices if not properly understood or accounted for. Recent work by our group has identified the origin of this chemical expansion and demonstrated, via defect engineering principles, a method to minimize it. Another research example is our development of models that predict and aid in control of defect concentration and transport in radiation detector devices with the aim of maximizing photodetection sensitivity while avoiding long-term ionic carrier migration.

Biographical Sketch
Cullen Buie obtained his M.S. (2005) and Ph.D. (2008) in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University under the guidance of Professor Juan Santiago. Professor Santiago's group at Stanford explores applications of electrokinetic phenomena for microfluidics and fuel cells. Cullen's work at Stanford involved water management for hydrogen fed proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), methanol delivery for DMFCs, and modeling of transport phenomena in electroosmotic pumps. Prior to attending Stanford, Cullen received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from The Ohio State University (2003). Cullen joined the faculty at MIT in the Department of Mechanical Engineering as an assistant professor in January 2009.

Research Summary
My research mission falls into two general fields. The first is Microfluidic Microbiology, and the second is Electrokinetic Manufacturing. Microfluidics, the manipulation of fluids and particles with length scales of 1-100 µm, offers the ideal platform to analyze microorganisms approaching single cell resolution. One challenge in microfluidics is that given the small length scales it's difficult to incorporate efficient pumps, valves, and other mechanical elements at this scale. Another challenge is the ability to measure physical properties of cells (phenotypes), which is necessary to assess diversity of a population. To combat these issues my research group utilizes electrophoresis and dielectrophoresis to manipulate and simultaneously characterize cell populations. We have invented low-cost, high-sensitivity techniques that facilitate cell phenotyping for numerous applications, from healthcare to biofuels.

Our second research thrust is the use of electrokinetics to manufacture thin film surface coatings. In spite of the promise offered by nanotechnology there are still relatively few practical applications employing nanoscale phenomena. One reason for this is the difficulty (both in cost and complexity) associated with scaling nanoscale effects to industrial applications. My research focuses on using electrokinetics as a bridge between the nanoscale and the macroscale. This is achieved by employing a process known as electrophoretic deposition where the native surface charge on a colloidal particle is exploited to deposit the particle on a surface. The key advantage is that the use of electric fields allows manipulation of nanoscale particles in a process that readily scales to industrial relevance.

Biographical Sketch
Dr. Ivan Celanovic received a Diploma Engineer degree from the University of Novi Sad, Republic of Serbia, in 1998, an M.Sc. degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 2000, and an Sc.D. degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, in 2006, all in electrical engineering and computer science. In 2006, he joined the MIT Laboratory for Electromagnetic and Electronic Systems (LEES) as a Postdoctoral Associate and in 2008, he joined the MIT Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies where he is currently the Principal Research Scientist. In 2009 he co-founded Typhoon HIL Inc., a venture backed power electronics design and test automation company that successfully developed and commercialized a new platform for test and quality assurance for power electronics and renewables.

Research Summary
His work is focused on a spectrum of emerging solid-state energy conversion technologies, including: photonic crystals, high-temperature nano-photonics, portable power sources, novel solid-state heat to electricity conversion systems, power electronics, ultra-high fidelity real-time emulation, smart grid technologies and applied controls. Dr. Celanovic has published over 45 papers and two book chapters.

Biographical Sketch
Jung-Hoon Chun is director of the Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity (LMP) and a professor of mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He has been a member of the MIT Mechanical Engineering faculty since 1989 and has over 100 publications and patents to his credit. His research focuses on the development of Innovative Manufacturing Processes. His research areas include droplet-based manufacturing processes, microelectronics manufacturing processes such as chemical-mechanical polishing and polymer-based microfluidic devices manufacturing. One of his patented manufacturing process, the uniform-droplet spray process, has been commercialized worldwide for the production of solder spheres used in electronics packaging.

His teaching focuses on these research areas and on management in engineering. Dr. Chun also has experience in many large-scale international collaborations and industry-MIT consortia. He is active in advising and consulting for many for-profit and non-profit organizations worldwide, in technical as well as policy areas. Dr. Chun received a B.S. from Seoul National University, an M.A.Sc. from the University of Ottawa, and a Ph.D. from MIT, all in mechanical engineering.

Research Summary
Chun's research is focused on innovation in manufacturing processes involving thermofluid phenomena during processing. He is the primary creator of patented processes for producing uniform metal droplets, monitoring solidification fronts non-invasively in metal casting, and coating photoresist in semi-conductor fabrication. His work has been included in numerous refereed publications. A former Vice President of an entrepreneurial business, Chun has brought to MIT an integration of business and scientific knowledge, resulting in curricular revisions and additions. One such example is his course Management in Engineering, which brings the expertise of business leaders into the classroom.

Olivier de Weck was born in Switzerland and holds degrees in industrial engineering from ETH Zurich (1993) and aerospace systems engineering from MIT (2001). Before joining MIT he was a liaison engineer and later engineering program manager on the F/A-18 aircraft program at McDonnell Douglas (1993-1997).

Professor de Weck is a leader in systems engineering research. He focuses on how complex man-made systems such as aircraft, spacecraft, automobiles, printers and critical infrastructures are designed and how they evolve over time. His main emphasis is on strategic properties that have the potential to maximize lifecycle value (a.k.a the "iIities"). Since 2001 his group has developed novel quantitative methods and tools that explicitly consider manufacturability, flexibility, commonality, and sustainability among other characteristics. Significant results include the Adaptive Weighted Sum (AWS) method for resolving tradeoffs amongst multiple objectives, Time-Expanded Decision Networks (TDN), the Delta-Design Structure Matrix (DDSM) for technology infusion analysis and the SpaceNet and CityNet simulation environment. These methods have impacted complex systems in space exploration (NASA, JPL), oil and gas exploration (BP) as well as in sophisticated electro-mechanical products (e.g. Xerox, Pratt & Whitney, DARPA). Prof. de Weck’s teaching emphasizes excellence, innovation and bridging of theory and practice. He is an Associate Fellow of AIAA, Academic Council member of INCOSE and serves as Associate Editor for the Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets and the Journal of Mechanical Design. He won the 2006 Frank E. Perkins Award for Excellence in Graduate Advising, a 2007 AIAA Outstanding Service Award, the 2008 and 2011 best paper awards from the journal Systems Engineering and the 2010 Capers and Marion MacDonald Award for Excellence in Mentoring and Advising. From 2008-2011 he served as Associate Head of the Engineering Systems Division at MIT. Since early 2011, he serves as Executive Director of the new MIT Production in the Innovation Economy (PIE) initiative.

Professor de Weck's research interests, teaching emphasis and professional experience is mainly in two areas:

(1) Systems Architecture and Engineering?Systems Architecting establishes the high-level concept for a new system while Systems Engineering then translates this concept to a detailed design that can be implemented and tested and ultimately operated. We are particularly interested in architectural patterns of systems including their complexity, modularity and evolution over time. We carefully study the Management of Engineering Change and Change Propagation Analysis. Rarely is the initial choice of architecture and initial design complete and correct. Many cycles of redesign and engineering changes are often required to get it right. Our goal is to quantitatively describe and substantially improve these processes in order to better manage complex technology projects. Increasingly these questions also apply to critical infrastucture systems and the design of cities.

(2) Space Exploration Logistics?The traditional mode of exploring our solar system (and beyond) has been to send single-mission robotic probes that are extremely capable and reliable. However, now and in the future we will explore space with combinations of humans and robots. We build infrastructures in space (e.g. the International Space Station ISS) and we plan for sustained campaigns of exploration where one mission builds on the next. This requires extensive logistics and supply chain management both on Earth and in Space. This kind of logistics is quite different from commercial logistics on Earth. We are an academic leader in the field of Space Logistics and have developed methods and tools (e.g. SpaceNet) for tackling these challenges in a scientific way.

Biographical Sketch
- BS Physics, BS Aerospace Engineering, BA Plan II Honors Program: University of Texas at Austin, 2000
- MS Mechanical Engineering: MIT, 2004
- PhD Mechanical Engineering: MIT, 2005
- Director's Postdoctoral Fellow, Technical Staff Member: Los Alamos National Laboratory, 2005-2008
- Assistant Professor: MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering, 2008-present

Research Summary
Michael Demkowicz studies the fundamental processes by which solids change their atomic structure when driven far from equilibrium, e.g. when plastically deformed, bombarded by energetic ions, shocked, or exposed to environmental extremes like rapidly varying temperatures and pressures. Understanding how materials respond to these external stimuli can be used to create strategies for designing materials with desired properties from the atomic scale up. Professor Demkowicz's recent work has focused on nanocomposites under intense irradiation. Traditional structural materials degrade and fail under these conditions, but certain nanocomposites contain high volume fractions of "super sink" interfaces that allow them to self-heal. By understanding how radiation damage is trapped and removed at such interfaces, Prof. Demkowicz aims to enable the design of a new class of radiation-tolerant materials that would make future nuclear reactors maximally safe, sustainable, and efficient. Another avenue of research pursued by Professor Demkowicz is in understanding the mechanical and transport properties of glasses. This class of materials differs fundamentally from crystalline solids in that it possesses no long-range lattice periodicity. The behavior of glasses therefore not only poses a challenge to our current understanding of materials but also offers opportunities for creating new materials that circumvent the drawbacks of traditional ones at the atomic level. Areas of current interest for Professor Demkowicz also include shock physics, nanoscale cellular materials (open and closed cell nanofoams), response of interfaces to severe plastic deformation, and the behavior of materials in extreme environments.

Biographical Sketch
Yoel Fink is a Professor at the Materials Science and Engineering Department at MIT. He received a B.A. degree in Physics (Cum Laude) and a B.Sc in Chemical Engineering (Summa Cum Laude) from the Technion, Haifa, in 1994. In 2000 he was awarded a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. That same year he joined the Faculty of the Materials Science and Engineering Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Professor Fink’s research group has pioneered the field of multimaterial multifunctional fibers. He was a recipient of the Weizmann Institute Amos De-Shalit Foundation Scholarship in 1992, was awarded the Hershel Rich Technion Innovation Competition 1994, was a recipient of the Technology Review Award for the 100 Top Young Innovators in 1999 and was awarded the National Academy of Sciences Initiatives in Research Award for 2004. In 2006 he won the Joseph Lane Award for Excellence in Teaching, and in 2007 he was named one of the MacVicar Fellows awarded annually in recognition of outstanding teaching abilities. Professor Fink is a co-founder of OmniGuide Inc (2000) and served as its chief executive from 2007-2010; he is currently Chairman of the Board. He is the coauthor of over seventy scientific journal articles, and holds thirty-six issued U.S. patents on photonic fibers and devices. In September 2011 Professor Fink became Director of MIT’s Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE).

Research Summary
Professor Fink's research interests are in the theory, design, fabrication and characterization of multimaterial multifunctional fibers and fiber assemblies. Fibers are among the earliest forms of human expression, yet surprisingly have remained unchanged from ancient to modern times. Prof. Fink’s group asks the questions: Can fibers become highly functional devices? Can they see, hear, sense and communicate? Their research focuses on extending the frontiers of fiber materials from optical transmission to encompass electronic, optoelectronic and even acoustic properties. What makes their fibers unique is the combination of a multiplicity of disparate materials arranged in elaborate geometries with features down to 10 nanometers. Two complementary approaches towards realizing sophisticated functions are utilized: on the single-fiber level, the integration of a multiplicity of functional components into one fiber, and on the multiple-fiber level, the assembly of large-scale fiber arrays and fabrics. Their multimaterial fibers offer unprecedented control over material properties and function on length scales spanning the nanometer to kilometer range.

Michael Fleischman is Co-Founder, President & CTO of Bluefin Labs where he leads the technological vision of the company. His PhD work at MIT led to the development of the algorithms that power Bluefin Labs technology. Michael brings over 10 years of experience in natural language processing, computer vision and machine learning. He holds degrees in Philosophy, Psychology, Computational Linguistics and Computer Science, has over 30 academic publications

Biographical Sketch
Jeffrey C. Grossman is a Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He majored in physics at Johns Hopkins University, where he received his bachelor’s degree, and then went to the University of Illinois to carry out his graduate studies, where he earned a Ph.D. in theoretical physics. Professor Grossman performed postdoctoral work at U.C. Berkeley, and was then awarded the Lawrence Fellowship at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where he helped establish their research program in nanotechnology. He returned to U.C. Berkeley as Director of a Nanoscience Center and Head of the Computational Nanoscience research group, which he founded, with a focus on designing new materials for energy applications. Prof. Grossman joined MIT in Fall 2009, assuming a position that was the result of an interdepartmental search organized by the School of Engineering for faculty pursuing energy research. At MIT, he leads a research group that develops and applies a wide range of theory and simulation techniques to gain fundamental understanding, develop new insights based on this understanding, and then use these insights to design new materials for energy conversion and storage with improved properties, working closely with experimental groups at each step. Recently, Professor Grossman has launched his own experimental Lab to complement the modeling work. He has published more than 90 scientific papers on the topics of solar photovoltaics, thermoelectrics, hydrogen storage, solar fuels, nanotechnology, and self-assembly. He has appeared on a number of television shows to discuss new materials for energy including the Fred Friendly PBS series and the Ecopolis program on the Discovery Channel. He holds 11 current or pending U.S. patents.

Biographical Sketch
Professor Jongyoon Han is a principal investigator in the Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE) at MIT. He received a B.S. degree in the department of physics of Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, in 1992. He received an M.S. degree in physics from the same department in 1994. Professor Han received his Ph.D. from the School of Applied and Engineering Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, in 2001. Before joining MIT as an Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering in July 2002, he was a research scientist at Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA where he studied protein microfluidic separation systems. In 2003, he received a second MIT faculty appointment as Assistant Professor of Biological Engineering. He was the recipient of 2003 NSF CAREER Award, and 2009 Analytical Chemistry Young Innovator Award from American Chemical Society. Professor Han's current research interests revolve around the application of micro and nanofabrication technology to a wide range of applications, including the molecular separation and concentration, biosensing, cell manipulation and separation, neuroscience and technology, and even desalination.

Research Summary
In recent years, my group's research focused on molecular and cell separation/sorting technologies, as well as novel use of various types of ion-selective membranes. Specific examples include: (1) Biomolecule separation using a nanofluidic molecular sieve: Currently, most biomolecule purification and separation uses random nanoporous materials as a molecular sieving matrix. We are developing MEMS(Micro-Electro-Mechanical System)-based nanofluidic molecular sieves that can filter and separate various biomolecules based on their size or charge density. Unlike polymeric gels or nanoporous molecular filters, nanofluidic molecular sieves and filters could be engineered to have precise physical and chemical characteristics, therefore can have higher separation efficiency and selectivity. (2) Biomolecule and cell concentration/sensing using ion-selective membranes: Ion-selective membranes, such as nanofluidic channels and charged gels, can create the phenomenon of ion-concentration polarization (ion depletion), which moves around ions and charged molecules in a controllable manner in a microfluidic system. We have developed various biomolecule and cell concentration devices using this phenomenon, enabling higher detection sensitivities for immunoassays, enzyme-activity assays, and cell-based assays. (3) Small-scale seawater desalination: Using ion-concentration polarization, we have developed an energy efficient but scalable seawater desalination and water purification system. The separation mechanism is applicable to a broad class of contaminants, including salts, heavy metal ions, virus and bacteria particles, and other colloid in a single step operation. The energy efficiency of this desalination process is comparable to the current state-of-the-art large scale reverse osmosis, but the technology is scalable and miniaturiazable, ideally suited for portable, self-powered water purification for remote and disaster relief applications. (4) Electrochemical modulation of nerve cells using ion-selective membranes: Ion-selective membranes can be used to convert electrical signals into electrochemical ones by modulating ion concentrations near nerve cells. We are currently studying a method of locally modulating various ion concentrations near nerve cells in order to change the nerve cells' excitability on demand. This could have broad implications in neural prosthetics engineering by facilitating low-current nerve stimulation and inactivation for next generation neural prosthetics.

Biographical Sketch
Cesar A. Hidalgo is an assistant professor at the MIT Media Lab and faculty associate at Harvard University's Center for International Development. Before joining MIT, Hidalgo was an adjunct lecturer in public policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and a research fellow at Harvard's Center for International Development. A native of Santiago de Chile, Hidalgo holds a PhD in physics from the University of Notre Dame and a bachelor's degree in physics from the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile. Hidalgo is also a co-author of The Atlas of Economic Complexity.

Research Summary
Hidalgo's work focuses on the use of big data to improve our understanding of complex systems, from the world economy to the development of human culture. His research combines the development of empirical methods, analytical models, and online rapid visualization tools. Hidalgo is also an art enthusiast and has created interactive art exhibits as well as published artwork that uses data collected originally for scientific purposes.

Scott Kirsner is a journalist who writes about innovation and entrepreneurship. His “Innovation Economy” column appears Sundays in the Boston Globe, and he also writes a companion blog at boston.com/innovation. Scott has been a regular contributor to Fast Company, BusinessWeek, Variety, and Wired. Scott’s writing has also appeared in the New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter, Salon, the San Jose Mercury News, and Newsweek, among other publications. Scott serves as the program chair for three regional events on innovation: the Nantucket Conference, held each May since 2000; Future Forward, held each fall since 2001; and the Convergence Forum, launched in 2004. He is the author, most recently, of the book Fans, Friends & Followers: Building an Audience and a Creative Career in the Digital Age. His earlier books include Inventing the Movies, a technological history of Hollywood that was published in 2008, and The Future of Web Video: New Opportunities for Producers, Entrepreneurs, Media Companies and Advertisers, published in 2007. He can be reached at kirsner@pobox.com.

Karl F. Koster is the Executive Director of the MIT Office of Corporate Relations. The Office of Corporate Relations at MIT includes the Industrial Liaison Program, which celebrated 60 years of service to the Institute and its corporate partners in 2008.

In that capacity, he and his staff work with the senior administrative and faculty leadership of MIT in developing and implementing strategies for enhancing corporate involvement with the Institute. Mr. Koster has been involved with faculty leaders in identifying and designing a number of major international programs for MIT. Many of these programs focus on institutional development and are characterized by the establishment of strong, international, programmatic linkages between universities, industry, and governments.

Mr. Koster graduated from Brown University with a B.A. in geology and economics in 1974, and received a M.S. from the MIT Sloan School of Management in 1980. At the Sloan School he concentrated in international business management and the management of technological innovation. Prior to returning to MIT, Mr. Koster worked as a management consultant for seven years in Europe, Latin America, and the United States on projects for private and public sector organizations.

Andrew W. Lo is the Charles E. and Susan T. Harris Professor, a Professor of Finance, and the Director of the Laboratory for Financial Engineering at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Prior to MIT Sloan, he taught at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School as the W.P. Carey Assistant Professor of Finance from 1984 to 1987, and as the W.P. Carey Associate Professor of Finance from 1987 to 1988. His research interests include the empirical validation and implementation of financial asset pricing models; the pricing of options and other derivative securities; financial engineering and risk management; trading technology and market microstructure; statistics, econometrics, and stochastic processes; computer algorithms and numerical methods; financial visualization; nonlinear models of stock and bond returns; hedge-fund risk and return dynamics and risk transparency; and, most recently, evolutionary and neurobiological models of individual risk preferences and financial markets.

Lo has published numerous articles in finance and economics journals. He is a co-author of The Econometrics of Financial Markets and A Non-Random Walk Down Wall Street and the author of Hedge Funds: An Analytic Perspective. Lo is currently an associate editor of The Financial Analysts Journal, The Journal of Portfolio Management, The Journal of Computational Finance, and Statistica Sinica.

His awards include the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship, the Paul A. Samuelson Award, the American Association for Individual Investors Award, the Graham and Dodd Award, the 2001 IAFE-SunGard Financial Engineer of the Year award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the CFA Institute’s James R. Vertin Award, and awards for teaching excellence from both the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and MIT Sloan. A former governor of the Boston Stock Exchange, he is currently a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, a member of the NASD’s Economic Advisory Board, and founder and chief scientific officer of AlphaSimplex Group, LLC, a quantitative investment management company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Lo holds a B.A. in economics from Yale University as well as an A.M. and a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University.

Professor Lo's other interests include Financial Risk/Big Data. At the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), Lo is looking to recruit lab members to work with him on a new collaboration between Sloan and Citigroup focusing on the role of technology in the future of retail banking. Lo hopes to not only work with fellow CSAIL members on this project, but also to introduce lab members to Citigroup executives in an effort to promote financial services research.

Biographical Sketch
Muriel Médard is a Professor in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at MIT. She was previously an Assistant Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and a member of the Coordinated Science Laboratory at UIUC. From 1995 to 1998, she was a Staff Member at MIT Lincoln Laboratory in the Optical Communications and the Advanced Networking Groups. She received B.S. degrees in EECS and in Mathematics in 1989, a B.S. degree in Humanities in 1990, a M.S. degree in EE in 1991, and a Sc. D. degree in EE in 1995, all from MIT. Professor Médard's research interests are in the areas of network coding, wireless networks and reliable communications, particularly for optical and wireless networks. She was awarded the IEEE Leon K. Kirchmayer Prize Paper Award (2002), the IEEE Communication Society and Information Theory Society Joint Paper Award (2009), and the William R. Bennett Prize in the Field of Communications Networking (2009). She received a NSF Career Award in 2001, was the co-winner of the 2004 MIT Harold E. Edgerton Faculty Achievement Award and one the recipients of the inaugural EECS Faculty Research Innovation Fellowships. She was named a 2007 Gilbreth Lecturer by the National Academy of Engineering. Professor Médard is a Fellow of IEEE, and is the First Vice President and the President Elect of the IEEE Information Theory Society.

Research Summary
Professor Médard's research interests are in the areas of network coding and reliable communications, particularly for optical and wireless networks. She was awarded the 2009 Communication Society and Information Theory Society Joint Paper Award for the paper "A Random Linear Network Coding Approach to Multicast," Tracey Ho, Muriel Médard, Rolf Kotter, David Karger, Michelle Effros Jun Shi, Ben Leong, IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, vol. 52, no. 10, pp. 4413-4430, October 2006. She was awarded the 2009 William R. Bennett Prize in the Field of Communications Networking for the paper "XORs in the Air: Practical Wireless Network Coding," Sachin Katti , Hariharan Rahul, Wenjun Hu, Dina Katabi, Muriel Medard, Jon Crowcroft, IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking, Volume 16, Issue 3, June 2008, pp. 497 - 510. She was awarded the IEEE Leon K. Kirchmayer Prize Paper Award 2002 for her paper "The Effect Upon Channel Capacity in Wireless Communications of Perfect and Imperfect Knowledge of the Channel," IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, Volume 46 Issue 3, May 2000, Pages: 935-946. She was co-awarded the Best Paper Award for "Reliable Architectures for Networks Under Stress," G. Weichenberg, V. Chan, M. Médard, Fourth International Workshop on the Design of Reliable Communication Networks (DRCN 2003), October 2003, Banff, Alberta, Canada. She received a NSF Career Award in 2001 and was co-winner 2004 Harold E. Edgerton Faculty Achievement Award, established in 1982 to honor junior faculty members "for distinction in research, teaching and service to the MIT community." In 2007 she was named a Gilbreth Lecturer by the National Academy of Engineering.

Biographical Sketch
Samuel Madden is a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. His research interests include databases, distributed computing, and networking. Research projects include the C-Store column-oriented database system, the CarTel mobile sensor network system, and the Relational Cloud "database-as-a-service." Madden is a leader in the emerging field of "Big Data," heading the Intel Science and Technology Center (ISTC) for Big Data, a multi-university collaboration on developing new tools for processing massive quantities of data. He also leads BigData@CSAIL, an industry-backed initiative to unite researchers at MIT and leaders from industry to investigate the issues related to systems and algorithms for data that is high-rate, massive, or very complex.

Madden received his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley in 2003 where he worked on the TinyDB system for data collection from sensor networks. Madden was named one of Technology Review's Top 35 Under 35 in 2005 and is the recipient of several awards, including an NSF CAREER Award in 2004, a Sloan Foundation Fellowship in 2007, best paper awards in VLDB 2004 and 2007, and a best paper award in MobiCom 2006.

Biographical Sketch
Thomas W. Malone is the Patrick J. McGovern Professor of Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management and the founding director of the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence. He was also the founder and director of the MIT Center for Coordination Science and one of the two founding co-directors of the MIT Initiative on "Inventing the Organizations of the 21st Century." Professor Malone teaches classes on organizational design, information technology, and leadership, and his research focuses on how work can be organized in new ways to take advantage of the possibilities provided by information technology.

For example, Professor Malone predicted, in an article published in 1987, many of the major developments in electronic business over the following 25 years: electronic buying and selling, electronic markets for many kinds of products, outsourcing of non-core functions in a firm, and the use of intelligent agents for commerce. Then, in 2004, Professor Malone summarized two decades of his groundbreaking research in his critically acclaimed book, The Future of Work (also translated into six other languages).

Professor Malone has published over 100 articles, research papers, and book chapters, including a widely cited 2010 article in Science magazine on measuring the collective intelligence of human groups. He is also an inventor with 11 patents and the co-editor of three books: Coordination Theory and Collaboration Technology (2001), Inventing the Organizations of the 21st Century (2003), and Organizing Business Knowledge: The MIT Process Handbook (2003). In 2012, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Zurich.

Malone has been a cofounder of three software companies and has consulted and served as a board member for a number of other organizations. He speaks frequently for business audiences around the world and has been quoted in numerous publications such as New York Times, Economist, and Wired. Before joining the MIT faculty in 1983, Malone was a research scientist at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). His background also includes a B.A. in mathematical sciences from Rice University, an M.S. in engineering-economic systems from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. in cognitive and social psychology from Stanford University.

Scott R. Manalis received a B.S. in physics from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1994, and a Ph.D. in applied physics from Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA in 1998.

His research interests are the development of nanofabrication technologies for building molecular-scale devices, the use of MEMS for novel detection schemes, and the application of such devices to biology. Dr. Manalis was the recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) from the Department of Defense.

The Manalis group applies microfabrication technologies towards the development of novel methods for probing biological systems. Current projects focus on using electrical and mechanical detection schemes for analyzing DNA and proteins.

The overall goal of Professor Manalis' research program is to develop quantitative, high-throughput, real-time measurement techniques for measuring molecular interactions in biological systems. This laboratory uses standard silicon microfabrication principles to develop novel molecular detection schemes and apply them to biomolecular recognition. Successful validation of these methods requires the integration of engineering and biological approaches, and hence this work is thriving within the interdisciplinary environment of CSBi. Many critical characteristics of a living system can be discovered by monitoring parameters such as DNA sequence variation, gene expression, and protein interactions as a function of time, physiological response, and disease state. The most sensitive assays available today rely on fluorescent or radioactive labeling, which require multistep sample preparation methods and relatively large sample volumes. Hence, assay development and throughput can represent critical bottlenecks for large-scale applications. Therefore, we are developing sensitive and efficient label-free methods for measuring specific proteins and DNA that will be suitable for very large numbers of very small samples.

Biographical Sketch
Alex "Sandy" Pentland directs MIT's Human Dynamics Laboratory and the MIT Media Lab Entrepreneurship Program and advises the World Economic Forum, Nissan Motor Corporation, and a variety of start-up firms. He has previously helped create and direct MIT's Media Laboratory, the Media Lab Asia laboratories at the Indian Institutes of Technology, and Strong Hospital's Center for Future Health.

Forbes magazine declared Pentland "one of the seven most powerful data scientists in the world," along with the founders of Google and the CTO of the United States. Pentland is among the most-cited computational scientists in the world, and a pioneer in computational social science, organizational engineering, mobile computing, image understanding, and modern biometrics. His research has been featured in Nature, Science, the World Economic Forum, and Harvard Business Review, as well as being the focus of TV features including "Nova" and "Scientific American Frontiers."

Interesting experiences include winning the DARPA 40th Anniversary of the Internet Grand Challenge, dining with British Royalty and the President of India, staging fashion shows in Paris, Tokyo, and New York, and developing a method for counting beavers from space.

Research Summary
Professor Pentland is a pioneer in organizational engineering, mobile information systems, and computational social science. Pentland's research focus is on harnessing information flows and incentives within social networks, the big data revolution, and converting this technology into real-world ventures. Pentland is founder and director of the Human Dynamics Lab, and the Media Lab Entrepreneurship Program. He advises the World Economic Forum, Nissan Motor Corporation, and a variety of start-up companies. He is among the most-cited computer scientists in the world, and in 1997 Newsweek magazine named him one of the 100 Americans likely to shape this century. His book, Honest Signals: How They Shape Our World was published in 2008 by the MIT Press.

Rama has been applying data science to business problems across a range of industries for over 20 years. He founded CQuotient on the premise that infusing Big Data-driven predictive insight systematically into everyday decisions would be transformative to the efficacy of enterprise marketing.
Prior to CQuotient, Rama taught data science in the MBA program at MIT Sloan School of Management. Earlier in his career, as Chief Scientist and VP of R&D at price optimization software firm ProfitLogic, Rama pioneered the development of techniques for optimally pricing and promoting seasonal and fashion-sensitive merchandise for retailers. In recognition, Chain Store Age magazine awarded him its “40 Under 40: Rising Star of Retail” award in 2004.
After the successful acquisition of ProfitLogic by Oracle Corporation in July 2005, Rama became Chief Scientist and Vice-President of Analytic R&D for Oracle’s Retail Global Business Unit. In this role, he led a global team of engineers and scientists in the research, design and development of forecasting, planning and optimization software products for retailers.
Prior to ProfitLogic, Rama founded and ran an analytics consulting firm and an asset management analytics software firm. Before becoming an entrepreneur, Rama was an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company and a Senior Portfolio Manager at CIBC Oppenheimer.
Rama has a B.S. in Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Operations Research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

John Reed was born in Chicago in 1939, and was raised in Argentina and Brazil. He came to the United States to attend college and, in 1961, graduated from Washington & Jefferson College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under a joint degree program, earning the BA and BS degrees. After serving as a Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers, US Army from 1962-64, he returned to MIT and received the MS degree from the Sloan School of Management.

Mr. Reed spent 35 years with Citibank/Citicorp and Citigroup, the last 16 years as Chairman. He retired from Citigroup in April 2000. He returned to work as Chairman of the New York Stock Exchange from September 2003 until April 2005, and is currently serving as Chairman of the MIT Corporation. He is a trustee of MDRC, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the NBER. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and of the American Philosophical Society. He and his wife, Cynthia, live in Duxbury, Massachusetts.

Biographical Sketch
Deb Roy directs the Cognitive Machines group at the MIT Media Lab and is also the Co-founder and Chairman of Bluefin Labs, a social TV analytics company. A native of Canada, Roy received his bachelor of computer engineering from the University of Waterloo in 1992 and his PhD in cognitive science from MIT in 1999. He joined the MIT faculty in 2000. Roy studies how children learn language, and designs machines that learn to communicate in human-like ways. To enable this work, he has pioneered new data-driven methods for analyzing and modeling human linguistic and social behavior. He has authored numerous scientific papers on artificial intelligence, cognitive modeling, human-machine interaction, data mining, and information visualization. Roy built upon deep machine learning principles developed in his research over the past 15 years to co-found Bluefin Labs in 2008. Roy's research as well as his commentary on the social TV analytics industry are both frequently featured in the media including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Advertising Age, WIRED, National Geographic, the BBC, and National Public Radio. A frequent speaker at industry and academic events, Roy's talks range from keynotes at academic conferences to running strategy sessions for senior industry executives to a TED talk that has garnered millions of views.

Research Summary
Roy studies how children learn language and designs machines that learn to communicate in human-like ways. To enable this work, he has pioneered new data-driven methods for analyzing and modeling human linguistic and social behavior. He has authored numerous scientific papers on artificial intelligence, cognitive modeling, human-machine interaction, data mining and information visualization.

Biographical Sketch
Christopher A. Schuh, the Danae and Vasilis Salapatas Professor of Metallurgy and a MacVicar Faculty Fellow, was appointed head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE) in October 2011. Professor Schuh earned his B.S. in 1997 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his Ph.D. in 2001 from Northwestern University, both in materials science and engineering. His current research focuses on experiments, analytical theory and computer simulations that explore the processing-structure-property relationships in structural metals. His group is particularly interested in the role of structural disorder and its effect on mechanical properties. Schuh’s research covers many length scales, from long-range disorder in grain boundary networks to the nanoscale disorder in amorphous and nanocrystalline alloys. DMSE has a research budget of approximately $40 million annually from government grants, industry and other Institute partnerships for use on hundreds of projects involving its 34 faculty members. Both its graduate and undergraduate programs were ranked first in the nation in the latest U.S. News and World Report rankings.

Research Summary
Professor Schuh’s group uses experiments, analytical theory, and computer simulations to explore the processing-structure-property relationships in structural metals. They are particularly interested in the role of structural disorder and its effect on mechanical properties. Grain boundaries, the interfaces between crystal grains in a material, are of particular interest to his group, and they develop new approaches to engineering the chemistry, density and crystallography of grain boundaries in a variety of engineering materials.

Biographical Sketch
Julie Shah is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics and leads the Interactive Robotics Group of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Shah received her SB (2004) and SM (2006) from the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT, and her PhD (2010) in Autonomous Systems from MIT. Before joining the faculty, she worked at Boeing Research and Technology on robotics applications for aerospace manufacturing.

Research Summary
Prof. Shah has developed innovative methods for enabling fluid human-robot teamwork in high-intensity domains, ranging from manufacturing to surgery to space exploration. Her group draws on expertise in artificial intelligence, human factors, and systems engineering to develop interactive robots that emulate the qualities of effective human teams to improve the efficiency of human-robot teamwork. This work has been successfully applied to multiple robot testbeds, including the NASA ATHLETE Rover, a mobile, dexterous humanoid robot in the MIT Media Laboratory, and assembly manufacturing applications.

Biographical Sketch
Willard (Bill) Simmons developed DataXu's core technology while earning his PhD at MIT. He came to DataXu with true rocket science credentials: he developed and tested real-time flight software for guidance, navigation, and control of the Atlas family of space launch vehicles. Simmons, a co-founder of DataXu, holds a PhD in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT and is an expert in optimal system design and developing reliable real-time software.

Research Summary
At DataXu, we are transforming the way global brands market to consumers in the digital world. An enterprise data and analytics company, DataXu offers DX3, the first omni-channel marketing management platform. DX3 helps you easily manage the deluge of big data, turning insights about consumer behavior into immediate decisions that impact Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI). We help brands to more effectively and efficiently reach and engage consumers, resulting in improved brand engagement, customer acquisition, and sales. The private company is backed by Atlas Venture, Flybridge Capital Partners and Menlo Ventures. For more information, visit www.dataxu.com or follow us atTwitter.com/dataxu.

Dr. David Singh, who earned his Ph.D in Physics at the University of Ottawa, Canada, is a Corporate Fellow in the Materials Science and Technology Division of the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He is a participant in the MIT led S3TEC Energy Frontier Research Center. He is a recipient of the UT-Battelle Director's Award for Outstanding Individual Accomplishment in Science and Technology. Dr. Singh has been with ORNL since 2004 and has authored more than 400 papers during his career. He has been honored for his sustained pioneering work on the development of methods of electronic structure.

Biographical Sketch
Anthony J. Sinskey, Sc.D., is a Professor of Biology and Health Sciences and Technology at MIT. He received his Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his Sc.D. in Microbiology and Food Science from MIT. Prof. Sinskey completed his postdoctoral studies at the Harvard School of Public Health. He conducts interdisciplinary research in metabolic engineering focusing on the fundamental physiology, biochemistry and molecular genetics of important organisms. His wide-ranging research interests involve helping lead the MIT-Malaysia Biotechnology Partnership Program, overseeing the Centre for Biotechnology of New Materials in Siberia, Russia, and collaborating with colleagues in the chemical and electrical engineering departments on the design, fabrication and instrumentation of microbioreactors. As an authority on biotechnology and business, Prof. Sinskey has been actively involved in the start-up of new companies and in consulting new and established firms. Prof. Sinskey has published numerous technical reports and papers in microbiology, biotechnology, biopolymer engineering and metabolic engineering, holds key research patents licensed from MIT, serves on the editorial boards of several renowned journals, and is a member of the board of directors of several biotechnology/pharmaceutical companies. Prof. Sinskey has participated in the founding and development of several successful biotechnology companies including Metabolix, Genzyme, Natural Pharmaceuticals, Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Tepha and ABEC. He is recognized as a leading expert in the formation of new biotechnology enterprises and is a renowned academic entrepreneur.

Research Summary
The specific goals of Professor Sinskey's Laboratory are to establish an interdisciplinary approach to metabolic engineering, focusing on the fundamental physiology, biochemistry and molecular genetics of important organisms. In particular, we are studying key factors that regulate the synthesis of different biomolecules. We apply metabolic engineering in several different project areas. Among prokaryotic systems, we study bioconversion processes to produce triacylglycerols in Rhodococcus opacus, and biopolymer synthesis among Gram-negative bacteria such as Ralstonia eutropha, biofuel synthesis in engineered R. eutropha, and metabolism and genetics of Corynebacterium glutamicum. Among eukaryotic systems, we are studying the effects of polyphenolic compounds on different eukaryotic cell lines and tissue types.

Biographical Sketch
Timothy M. Swager is the John D. MacArthur Professor of Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A native of Montana, he received a BS from Montana State University in 1983 and a Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in 1988 under the direction of Robert H. Grubbs. After a postdoctoral appointment at MIT in the laboratory of Mark S. Wrighton, he was on the chemistry faculty at the University of Pennsylvania as an Assistant Professor from 1990-1996 and as a Professor in 1996. He moved to MIT in July of 1996 as a Professor of Chemistry. He has published over 300 peer-reviewed papers, has more than 50 issued/pending patents, is on a number of scientific advisory and editorial boards, and is the scientific founder of 3 companies. Swager has received a number of awards and honors including: 2013 ACS Award for Creative Invention, Election to the National Academy of Science 2008, Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 2006, Christopher Columbus Foundation Homeland Security Award 2005, The Carl S. Marvel Creative Polymer Chemistry Award (ACS-Polymer Div) 2005, Clare Hall Visiting Fellow (U. Cambridge, England) 2005, Vladimir Karapetoff Award (MIT) 2000, Cope Scholar Award (ACS) 2000, Union Carbide Innovation Recognition Award 1997-8, Philadelphia Section Award (ACS) 1996, Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar 1995-1997, Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow 1994-1996, DuPont Young Faculty Award 1993-1996, NSF-Young Investigator 1992-1997, Office of Naval Research Young Investigator 1992-1995.

Research Summary
My research is focused on molecule-based designs for the creation of advanced materials and devices. We established a new paradigm in chemical sensors by demonstrating that molecular wires (electronic polymers) can amplify individual chemosensory events. These amplification principles function in both resistive- and fluorescence-based sensors. I have worked to extend these amplification methods to real-world applications including hand-held explosives detectors presently being used by the US military that are orders of magnitude more sensitive than present airport security systems. Our group has also developed novel emissive nanoparticle systems for biological diagnostics. To create resistive molecular wire types of sensors, we have recently developed novel manufacturing methods for the production of sensors based upon conductive carbon nanotube networks. This fabrication innovation is ideal for high volume applications and flexible on-demand distributed manufacturing. Our group has also created advanced materials for other technologies. We have developed novel radicals that produce record enhancements of magnetic resonance signals by a process know as dynamic nuclear polarization. These processes provide improved sensitivity, resolution, and new capabilities for medical MRI. We have developed novel materials for improved organic photovoltaic energy conversion by creating structures that restrict the unproductive recombination of carriers to generate higher currents. Novel functionalization chemistries of nanocarbon materials have been developed for energy conversion and chemical sensing. These include novel ways to convert graphite into functionalized soluble graphene. We have developed general new principles for the creation of low-density materials with high degrees of free volume and have demonstrated how these same principles can be used to create high performance complex polymer and liquid crystal materials. Interlocking polymer structures based on these principles have improved strength and created materials with improved ballistic protection. We have extended the interactions with liquid crystals for improvement of device performance. Ongoing activities include all of the above and new methods for the efficient synthesis of organic electronic materials.

Biographical Sketch
Prof. Trancik earned a B.S. in materials science and engineering from Cornell University (1997), and a PhD in materials science from Oxford University (2002), where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar. Trancik was a postdoctoral fellow at the Santa Fe Institute and a fellow at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, where she focused on modeling energy systems. She has also worked for the United Nations, and as an advisor to the private sector on the development of low-carbon energy technologies. She has published in journals such as the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Nano Letters, and Environmental Research Letters.

Research Summary
Prof. Trancik's research centers on evaluating and optimizing the performance of energy technologies in terms of their environmental impacts and cost, by combining the development of novel quantitative models and theory with the analysis of large datasets. She is particularly interested in understanding how the dynamic performance of technologies is influenced by their engineering design and the contexts in which they operate. Trancik uses this knowledge to set design targets that help accelerate the development of these technologies in the laboratory. Projects focus on electricity and transportation, with an emphasis on solar energy conversion, storage technologies, and liquid fuels.

Biographical Sketch
Bernhardt L. Trout is a Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT. He is currently Director of the Novartis-MIT Center for Continuous Manufacturing and the Co-Chair of the Singapore-MIT Alliance Program on Chemical and Pharmaceutical Engineering. He received his S.B. and S.M. degrees from MIT and his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. In addition, he performed post-doctoral research at the Max-Planck Institute.

Research Summary
Professor Trout’s research focuses on molecular engineering, specifically the development and application of both computational and experimental molecular based methods to engineering chemical products and processes with unprecedented specificity. Since 2000, he has focused on molecular engineering for pharmaceutical processing and formulation of both small molecules and biologics. In 2007, together with several colleagues from MIT, he set up the Novartis-MIT Center for Continuous Manufacturing, an $85 million partnership with the objective of transforming pharmaceutical manufacturing. In addition to Novartis, he has worked with many other pharmaceutical companies in research or consulting. He has published 120 papers and currently has 8 patents pending.

Biographical Sketch
Harry L. Tuller is Professor of Ceramics and Electronic Materials and Director of the Crystal Physics and Electroceramics Laboratory at MIT. He holds three degrees from Columbia University: a B.S. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering, and an Eng.Sc.D in Solid State Science and Engineering. He is Editor-in-chief of the Journal of Electroceramics and Series Editor of the book series Electronic Materials: Science and Technology. Tuller's research is aimed at understanding composition, structure-property-performance relationships in electrically and optically active materials and devices.

Current research emphasizes modeling, processing, characterization and optimization of solid state ionic devices (sensors, batteries, fuel cells); photoelectrochemical and solar cells; radiation detectors, and MEMS structures and devices.

Research Summary
Dr. Tuller's research focuses on defects, transport and electronic structure of metal oxides and their integration into sensors; fuel cells; solar cells, and MEMS devices.

Biographical Sketch
Prof. Yanik received his BS and MS at MIT in Engineering and Physics and his PhD at Stanford in Applied Physics. He completed postdoctoral work in Stanford Bioengineering and Neurosurgery Departments with Steve Quake and Theo Palmer. He is currently a tenured Associate Professor at MIT and founder and chairman of Entera Pharmaceuticals, specializing in high-throughput technologies for drug discovery. His work on high-throughput neurobiology and neuronal regeneration is recognized by NIH Director's Pioneer Award (youngest recipient), NIH Director's New Innovator Award, NIH Transformative Research Award, Packard Award in Engineering and Science, Alfred Sloan Award in Neuroscience, NIH Eureka (Exceptional Unconventional Research Enabling Knowledge Acceleration) Award, Shillman Career Award, NSF Career Award, Silicon Valley Innovator's Challenge Award, Technology Review Magazine's "World's Top 35 Innovators under age 35", Junior Chamber International's "Outstanding Young Person", and Technology Research News Magazine's "Top ten advances of the year." His team's studies have been highlighted in ABC, The Economist, Scientific American, Nature, New Scientist, Biophotonics International, Popular Mechanics, Nature Physics, The Scientist, Genome Technology, and others.

Research Summary
Prof. Yanik’s lab is developing advanced high-throughput technologies for engineering the complex function, reprogramming, and regeneration of the nervous system. We employ a state-of-the-art multidisciplinary approach including microfluidics, microrobotics, ultrafast optics/microscopy, quantum physics, tissue engineering/printing, stem cell reprogramming, genetics, and RNA/polymer biochemistry. We also work with a variety of organisms and preparations ranging from C. elegans, zebrafish, primary rodent and human tissue cultures to human embryonic stem cell derived neurons.

Bilge Yildiz is an associate professor in the Nuclear Science and Engineering Department at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The aim of Yildiz’s research is to advance the quantitative understanding of how surface activity and charge transport kinetics are driven by dynamic harsh environments, and to apply this knowledge to enable the design of novel surface chemistries for highly efficient solid oxide fuel/electrolysis cells and for corrosion-resistant materials. Yildiz’s research builds equally on experimental and computational techniques at comparable length and time scales. She and her group have developed a unique capability to probe the surface electronic state with high spatial resolution in situ at elevated temperatures, in reactive gas conditions and with induced stresses, using scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. Her research has demonstrated and explained how elevated temperatures and material strain state alter the surface cation chemistry and electronic structure on transition metal oxide surfaces. Her group has quantitatively elucidated the mechanisms by which the lattice strain facilitates oxygen ion diffusion in fluorite and perovskite oxides, and favors oxygen chemisorption and vacancy formation on perovskites. These findings are important for accelerating oxygen transport, oxygen reduction and water splitting kinetics on novel electrolyte and cathode structures made of ionic materials, as well as for suppressing corrosion kinetics. Dr. Yildiz and her group also work on capturing computationally the evolution of defect structures at the atomic level over experimental time scales, an important new capability to predict the aging of material microstructure both in high temperature fuel cells and in corrosion.
Professor Yildiz received her PhD in nuclear science and engineering at MIT (U.S., 2003), and her BSc in Nuclear Energy Engineering at Hacettepe University in Turkey (1999). After working as a postdoctoral researcher at MIT(2003-2004) and research staff at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) (2004-2007), she returned to MIT as an assistant professor in 2007. Her teaching and research efforts have been ecognized by the Outstanding Teaching (2008, 2002), the NSF CAREER (2011), Charles W. Tobias Young Investigator Award of the Electrochemical Society(2012), Somiya Award for International Collaboration (2012), and the ANL Pace Setter (2006) Awards, and the Norman C. asmussen Career Development Professorship (2010-2012).