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2013 News Archives

Edgar Blanco quoted in coverage on Wal-Mart: “Wal-Mart gives suppliers a deadline to disclose factory details” – Marketplace – American Public Media – April 15, 2013

Blanco also quoted in article on research on reducing emissions through logistics: “Going Green to Save Green” – Inbound Logistics – April 2013

Bryan Reimer quoted in Tech Review story on self-driving car: “Proceed with Caution toward the Self-Driving Car” – MIT Technology Review – April 16, 2013

TPP student Jesse Jenkins quoted in article about a group of MIT students and postdocs who went to Capitol Hill to urge reversal of budget cuts: “MIT Science Policy Initiative members visit Capitol Hill to support funding for research and development” – MIT News – April 17, 2013

Ongoing coverage of Ernest Moniz’s nomination as Secretary of Energy, including:
“Moniz Nominated as Energy Secretary” – MIT Technology Review – April 23, 2013
“China Must Exploit Its Shale Gas” (op-ed) – The New York Times – April 12, 2013
“Energy Nominee Moniz on Path for Approval” – Wall Street Journal – April 10, 2013
“Obama's energy, environment picks face Senate grilling this week” – Reuters – April 8, 2013
“Energy Dept. choice backs natural gas use” – Washington Post – April 9, 2013
“Three Obama Nominees Encounter No Opposition at Senate Confirmation Hearings” – The New York Times – April 10, 2013
"Moniz backs natural gas 'revolution’" – Associated Press – April 9, 2013

Bryan Reimer quoted in New York Times article about driver workload management: “As Workload Overwhelms, Cars Are Set to Intervene” – The New York Times – April 5, 2013

Research by Chris Caplice and Basak Kalkanci mentioned in article on ocean transportation: "Myths and Realities of Ocean Shipping" (p. 6) – Supply Chain Management Review – Mar/Apr 2013

John Hansman quoted in article on study of smaller airports: “Imperiled Towers Fall in Safety for Low-Traffic Airports” – Bloomberg News – April 4, 2013

Missy Cummings quoted in Boston Globe article on drone manufacturers: “Drone manufacturers struggle for acceptance” – The Boston Globe – April 7, 2013

Sandy Pentland mentioned in piece on data science: “The Potential and the Risks of Data Science” – The New York Times – Bits blog – April 7, 2013

Research of Thomas Allen mentioned in article on engineering workplaces to maximize innovation: “Engineering Serendipity” – The New York Times – April 7, 2013

Thomas Kochan quoted in NPR story about sanitation workers in Memphis
“Decades After MLK Death, Memphis Jobs In Spotlight”
NPR - Online – April 3, 2013

Seth Lloyd quoted on quantum computers in article about BlackBerry
“If Mike Lazaridis Can't Save BlackBerry, He'll Try To Save Waterloo”
The Huffington Post – March 29, 2013

Also, Lloyd quoted in:
“Entangled photons beat noise through teamwork”
Nature – Online – April 5, 2013 (This article also ran with Scientific American)

Michael Cusumano considers the economic implications as educational institutions expand online learning:
“Are the Costs of ’Free’ Too High in Online Education?”
Communications of the ACM – April 2013
“Beware of the High Cost of ‘Free’ Online Courses”
The New York Times – Bits blog – March 25, 2013
“Is the Internet Sending Higher Education the Way of the Newspaper Industry?”
Boston Magazine - Online – March 27, 2013

Research of Jessika Trancik covered in Forbes article: “Moore's Law vs. Wright's Law” – Forbes – March 25, 2013

ESD PhD student Jameson Toole profiled on MIT website: “Making sense of big data: PhD student Jameson Toole wants to harness data to improve human lives” – MIT News – March 26, 2013 - homepage spotlight (Also picked up on Phys.Org)

Coverage of paper co-authored by a grad student in Sandy Pentland’s research group and César Hidalgo (along with two others):
“How hard is it to 'de-anonymize' cellphone data?”
MIT News – March 27, 2013
“Mobile location data 'present anonymity risk'”
BBC News – March 25, 2013
(Read paper in Scientific Reports:“Unique in the Crowd: The privacy bounds of human mobility”)

Research of Jessika Trancik covered in Forbes article: “Moore's Law vs. Wright's Law” – Forbes – March 25, 2013

Professor Noelle Selin and Professor John R. Williams have been awarded seed funding from MITEI for their project proposals. MITEI awarded more than $2 million to 14 projects across four schools and nine departments. Selin’s project is “Improving Methods to Assess Multipollutant Regulatory Outcomes” and Williams’s project is “Optimum decision-making in reservoir management using reduced-order models.” Read more here.

Continuing coverage of Ernest Moniz as energy secretary nominee, including:
“Republican puts hold on EPA nominee; hearing set for Moniz”
Reuters – March 18, 2013
Obama's energy pick powered by industry heavyweights
Salon.com (originally ran in ProPublica ) – March 20, 2013

Joe Coughlin weighs in on the “bucket list”: “The Experts: Do We All Need 'Bucket Lists'?” The Wall Street JournalMarch 19, 2013 (contains a link to a video interview)

Bryan Reimer talks about redesigning automobile user-interface technology to make cars more responsive and safer for an aging consumer population: “A Truly Customized Vehicle” – MIT ILP website – March 14, 2013

Alex (Sandy) Pentland talks about studying cellphone data for clues about our behavior: “Who Made That Cellphone?” – The New York Times – March 15, 2013

Also, article mentions Pentland and his research on “honest signals”: “How To Master Yourself, Your Unconscious, And The People Around You: Part 5”
Forbes – Online – March 19, 2013

Seth Lloyd quoted in article about quantum computer: “Quantum computer could solve prime number mystery”: New Scientist - OnlineMarch 18, 2013

Article by Shalom Saada Saar (affiliated with CTL and SDM): “Talent Strategies: The Challenge of Developing and Retaining Talent" - Supply Chain Management Review - March 15, 2013

Mention of Production in the Innovation Economy Report (and recent Brunel Lecture speaker John Reed): “The Stock Market and the Economy's Apparent Disconnect” – Bloomberg Businessweek - March 14, 2013

Additional coverage of Ernest Moniz, nominated as Secretary of Energy
Extensive coverage, a small sampling includes:
“Ernest Moniz's 'Clean Coal' Stance Draws Fire from Environmental Groups “–Huffington Post – March 14, 2013
“How Obama’s Cabinet will shape his second term” – Washington Post – March 11, 2013
“Will Secretary Moniz Put Energy Back Into The Department of Energy?”
– Forbes – March 9, 2013

List of top supply chain thought leaders includes David Simchi-Levi and Yossi Sheffi: “In Search of the Ultimate Supply Chain Thought Leaders“
SCM Operations – March 2013

John Hansman quoted in Reuters article on Boeing 787 Dreamliner: “UPDATE 4-U.S. NTSB still seeking root cause of Boeing 787 fire” ReutersMarch 8, 2013 (picked up by additional media outlets, such as CNBC Online and Boston.com)

John Fernandez mentioned in article about MIT senior Marisa Simmons: “Better buildings, better lives” – MIT News – March 15, 2013

Eric von Hippel mentioned in article about innovation in health care: “Recipe for Relevance: Blend Digital Health Developers and Clinical Providers” – Forbes – Online – March 6, 2013

Tom Allen mentioned in article about telecommuting: “The work-from-home tug of war” – USA Today – March 12, 2013

ESD has received its first national ranking in U.S. News and World Report as part of the new expanded Engineering Specialties category:  Industrial/Manufacturing/Systems.  (This category used to be just “Industrial/Manufacturing,” but following an 18-month effort by INCOSE, IIE and ASEE, the category was broadened this year to include the engineering of "Systems.”) ESD was ranked 3rd nationally with a score of 4.3 on the 5 point scale. (Georgia Tech leads the category with 4.8, followed by Michigan at 4.6. MIT is co-ranked with Northwestern, Stanford and Berkeley.) The details of the top 10 schools are shown here. Read the MIT News Office coverage of the U.S. News rankings here: “New rankings acclaim MIT’s graduate programs in engineering, business” (MIT News – March 12, 2013). This related article talks about the value of programs with a systems approach: “Revamped Engineering Programs Emphasize Real-World Problem Solving” (US News & World Report – March 14, 2013), and includes a quote from LGO student Rachel Kelley.

Professor Nancy Leveson will be leading a second STAMP/STPA workshop at MIT March 26-28. (View conference agenda.) This event was tremendously successful last year, with more than 200 people from 19 countries attending. You can register (for free) online here.

MIT and Accenture recently announced a five-year research collaboration to develop advanced analytics solutions. The alliance will be headed by Narendra Mulani, senior managing director for Accenture Analytics, and Professor David Simchi-Levi. The alliance’s research aims to close the gap between the advance of analytics technologies and their successful application in specific industry and government environments. Read more here.

A team including TPP students Zak Accuardi and Yuanjian Carla Li won awards at the U.S. Department of Energy case competition last weekend. The Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Challenge is an effort to reduce the energy use of commercial buildings by 20% by 2020 by catalyzing private-sector investment and innovation. As part of the initiative, DOE runs an annual Better Buildings Case Competition, inviting university energy clubs to propose the best and most innovative solutions to our nation's energy efficiency problems.  Each team was assigned two cases. Accuardi and Li’s team worked on cases on an energy efficiency strategy for Fort Worth and a business plan to upgrade heating and cooling systems in a big box retail chain. The team won awards for both cases. Read more here.

Magdalini Papadaki (a postdoc associate working with Gigi Hirsch in the NEWDIGS program at CBI) and Shweta Humad Sharma (Sloan graduate student currently working with NEWDIGS) were part of the MIT Science Policy Initiative delegation that participated  in the Congressional Visits Days (March 12-13) to discuss the importance of research funding continuation, in light of the recent sequestration voting in Congress. Read more here.


Major media coverage around the announcement of Prof. Moniz as nominee for Secretary of Energy; a very small sampling of the coverage includes:

Coverage of Jessika Trancik’s research aiming to determine how quickly technologies will advance:

Thomas Kochan talks about labor unions:

Article by Steve Eppinger taking a systems engineering view of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner: “A systems engineering view of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner” – MIT Sloan Experts (MIT Sloan website) – March 4, 2013

MIT AgeLab's Joe Coughlin interviewed in article about behavioral economics: "How Industry Experts Are Making Sense of Behavioral Economics" – Bank Investment Consultant – March 1, 2013

Article on parking app developed by team that included Robert Hampshire (MLK VisitingAssistant Professor, ESD): “Smartphone apps put parking spots at your fingertips” USA Today – March 3, 2013


John Reed talks about the challenges and opportunities of working with a complex sociotechnical system
– February 27, 2013

Dr. Daniel Livengood awarded inaugural Daniel and Eva Roos Engineering Systems Dissertation Prize – February 28, 2013

Prof. Nancy Leveson and the ESD Student Society honored with Joseph A. Martore Awards – February 28, 2013

Coverage of recent MIT Production in the Innovation Economy report:

Articles on Ernest Moniz as candidate to head US Energy Department:

Article on the international work of MIT BLOSSOMS: “Learning Blossoms” – The Star – February 22, 2013

Opinion piece by Valerie Karplus (ESD PhD graduate): “The Case for a Higher Gasoline Tax” – The New York Times – February 21, 2013

John Hansman quoted in article on Boeing’s efforts to fix the battery of the 787:“Source: Boeing to propose 787 battery fix to FAA” U.S. News & World Report (originated with the Associated Press)February 20, 2013

Yossi Sheffi quoted in article about Boeing’s problem of where to store the 787s that continue to be made after the grounding of the 787 Dreamliner fleet: “New Dreamliner Headache: Parking Space”– The New York Times – February 19, 2013

Missy Cummings quoted in article on how American firms that make drones are now focusing on the U.S. market: “Drone Makers Take Aim at U.S. Market” – Wall Street Journal – February 19, 2013

CIO Journal piece by Irving Wladawsky-Berger mentions systems safety book by Nancy Leveson: “What Doesn't Kill Us Makes Us Stronger” – WSJ BlogsFebruary 17, 2013

Retirement advice piece by Joseph Coughlin: “4 questions to ask before downsizing your home MarketWatchThe Wall Street JournalFebruary 20, 2013

Article on rush-hour traffic research led by Marta González: “Traffic: Which Boston-area neighborhoods are to blame?” – The Boston Globe – February 17, 2013

Missy Cummings talks about drones on WGBH 89.7’s Innovation Hub: “Drones: The New Wave of Defense” (text and audio) – WGBH – Innovation Hub – February 15, 2013

Olivier de Weck named new editor-in-chief of INCOSE's flagship journal Systems Engineering – February 11, 2013

Dava Newman talks about the space suit of the future (article and videos): “MIT Professor Has Created a Safer, Skin Tight Space Suit That Will Make It Easier to Work on Mars” – Space Industry News – February 5, 2013

Article about John Hansman and his aviation research: “Elegant and Efficient: The Only Way to Fly”– MIT ILP Institute Insider – February 6, 2013

John Hansman talks about the Boeing 787:

Reuters news item about Ernest Moniz: “Exclusive: Obama considering MIT physicist Moniz for energy secretary – sources”Reuters – February 6, 2013

Bryan Reimer quoted in article about Google’s “driverless car”: “Can You Be Trusted with Google’s Driverless Car?” – Forbes (online) – January 30, 2013

Piece about transportation in retirement written by Joseph Coughlin: “Transportation: Retirement on the Move” – MarketWatch – January 29, 2013

Article about LGO graduate Liz Katcoff:“Student overcomes cancer to shine at internship and graduate” – MIT News – January 25, 2013

Article about recent awards for LGO faculty members and alumni for their work in operations research: “Six from LGO recognized for research” – LGO website – January 17, 2013

Article about Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech):

Editorial about BLOSSOMS co-authored by Richard Larson: “A richer Science, Maths experience” New Straits Times – January 18, 2013

Utterback honored as exemplar of excellence
– January 17, 2013

Additional coverage of traffic research led by Marta González: “Key source of Bay Area traffic headaches revealed by top researchers” – MercuryNews.com – January 8, 2013

John Hansman quoted in coverage of recent Boeing Dreamliner problems:

Item on the work of Sandy Pentland: “The Science of Subtle Signals” – Forbes – Online – January 7, 2013

Op-ed co-authored by Alan B. Davidson, visiting scholar at TPP and former director of public policy for the Americas at Google: “Is Google Like Gas or Like Steel?” – The New York Times – January 4, 2013 

 
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