Annual Technology Day Report 2010

Note: This video has some audio problems, which get resolved early on with some help from an audience member, presumed to be a Course VI alum. MIT President Susan Hockfield delivers a general update on the Institute to MIT Alumni gathered in Kresge for the annual Technology Day event. Focusing first on everyone’s most pressing concern, Hockfield provides an overview of the Institute’s finances, and reports on a campus-wide response to the economic downturn that has resulted in a leaner and stronger MIT. Going forward with a balanced budget, MIT is benefitting from The Idea Bank, a community-wide on-line discussion that produced hundreds of ideas on how to reduce expenses. Many of these changes required an examination of business practices aimed at more efficient, streamlined operations. One highly visible change involved the reorganization of the MIT News Office, and the MIT Home Page with Technology Review which created a more unified approach to external communication, and an overall leaner operation. One result? MIT’s website is now the most visited university website in the world. Hockfield also updates on major building projects, including the celebrated opening of the new Media Lab (Bldg. E14), and the much-anticipated new Sloan building (Bldg. E62) in 2011. Additionally, as the Koch Institute for Integrated Cancer Research (Bldg. 76) nears completion, she provides details on the plan to bring 12 biologists and 12 engineers together as they take on the cancer research in new ways that speak to the MIT interdisciplinary approach to solving very big problems. Initiatives begun the past year include new programs in leadership, energy, sustainability, entrepreneurship and finance. Questions from the audience include MIT’s role in trying to solve the oil leak in the gulf (MIT faculty are on the case), MIT’s help in providing insight and analysis on the causes of the global economic crisis challenges in the banking industry, more on solar energy and...

Channel: MIT World Video Length: 0s Date Found: Sun, Sep 05 2010 7:01 AM Category: Science Date Produced: Mon, Jul 12 2010 12:00 AM View Count: 0