First year: Ways of Thinking
In SP.248 NEET Ways of Thinking, Digital Cities section, first-years apply creative ideation exercises to design a solution/intervention to improve urban living.
Sophomore year: Introduction to Design Thinking and Rapid Prototyping
Sophomore year: 3.0061/22.03 Introduction to Design Thinking and Rapid Prototyping, a sophomore class in the Climate & Sustain ability Systems thread, provides hands-on experiences in creativity, problem scoping, prototyping, system design and integration, problem solving and debugging, and portfolio design and communication.
Junior/Senior years: Research ImmersionSenior year: Seniors design spring capstone
Junior/Senior years: Research Immersion in LMIn 20.054 Research Immersion, juniors or seniors in the Living Machines thread identify a project in a participating research lab, propose a project related to the drug development theme, and deliver presentations and reports while conducting the project. The research projects involve experimental design and the design of experimental devices such as microfluidic devices or organ-on-a-chip.
Senior year: AM seniors design spring capstoneIn the Autonomous Machines thread, seniors work with experts from Aurora Flight Sciences, a Boeing company, to choose their spring capstone project through a fall seminar (16.634), and then conduct their spring capstone project class, 16.84 Advanced Autonomous Robotic Systems, under the guidance of Aurora experts and the NEET instructor.
Design Thinking, Prototyping and Education in the NEET program
Nov 3, 2022
The three-year NEET program, offered through the School of Engineering, creates and provides new hands-on learning experiences for MIT undergraduate students, integrating design thinking and prototyping within a cross-departmental community. They join as sophomores and learn how to address complex societal challenges through one of the four interdisciplinary ‘threads’: Autonomous Machines, Climate & Sustainability Systems, Digital Cities, or Living Machines. The School of Architecture and Planning offers the Digital Cities thread, in collaboration with the School of Engineering. In NEET’s first-year discovery class, SP.248 NEET Ways of Thinking, student teams engage in interdisciplinary challenges taken from NEET threads.
Design thinking and prototyping are core elements of the NEET curriculum. A few examples across first-year as well as sophomore, junior and senior years—
Crisis and catalyst: The impact of COVID-19 on global practice in engineering education
Oct 28, 2022
The report forms one element of the CEEDA study, which explores the impact of COVID-19 ‘emergency teaching’ on the engineering education sector. The first output is the Crisis and Catalyst report, which explores feedback from across the global engineering education community on the experience of emergency teaching and how it might impact the future trajectory of the sector. The second output is a series of in-depth case studies which explore the institutional response to emergency teaching at six leading universities in engineering education.
MIT NEWS: An interdisciplinary journey through living machines
Oct 19, 2022
Excerpt from An interdisciplinary journey through living machinesWith NEET, Sherry Nyeo is discovering MIT’s undergraduate research community at the intersection of computer science and biological engineering:
For undergraduate students like Sherry Nyeo with multidisciplinary interests, the NEET Living Machines program opens up a community with a vast network of people within bioengineering research while they simultaneously earn a major of their choice (computational biology in Nyeo’s case). “That’s what makes working with biology and bioengineering so cool in my mind.” Nyeo says. “You get to study what evolution has perfected (or not) over billions of years, and you get to use it as a tool to apply to so many other problems humans encounter.”
NEET featured in story at engineering.com
Jan 5, 2022
Excerpt from The Rise of Blended Learning: How the COVID-19 Pandemic is Shaping the Future of Engineering Education:
New Program Offerings at MIT Focus on the Future of Engineering: "At NEET, Dr. Mitra and his team aim to provide students with a new approach to undergraduate education. The program offers three cross-departmental threads titled Autonomous Machines, Living Machines and Climate & Sustainability Systems. Each thread is designed to tackle interdisciplinary challenges engineers face in the real world. Courses are designed to include an element of teamwork and closely resemble engineering in the workforce, focusing on collaboration and innovation. Students learn the “NEET Ways of Thinking”—a set of cognitive approaches such as critical thinking, creative thinking and ethical thinking that would help them to learn and work more effectively on their own. NEET students earn a degree in their major and a NEET Certificate in one of the three threads."
NEET "Learning Vignette Series" Launch
Nov 18, 2021
We have embarked on a new pilot for introducing our sophomore-year Scholars to the NEET Ways of Thinking. This pilot project, led by Dr. Rea Lavi, NEET Lecturer and Curriculum Designer, is the NEET Learning Vignette Series, co-developed with experts from around MIT: Creative Thinking, with Prof. Les Norford and Maroula Zacharias from School of Architecture and Planning; Ethical Thinking, with Mallory Webber from School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences; and Learning How To Learn, with Karrie Peterson and Elizabeth Kuhlman from MIT Libraries.
Each vignette is made-up of a short video (~10 minutes) and a reflective assignment based on the video. The assignment should take ~35 minutes to complete. While these vignettes are not mandatory for NEET Scholars, we recommend completing them during the sophomore year. And even if you're not a NEET Scholar, we recommend you check these out! We hope you find them informative and useful.
The first vignette we're piloting this semester is Ethical Thinking for Engineers, developed by Dr. Lavi and Mallory Webber from the Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy in MIT SHASS. Check out the video here and the reflective assignment form here. You're welcome to send feedback to Rea at ude.tim%40ivalaer.
NEET Faculty Lead Mike Short Featured in MIT School of Engineering Video "Wizard Professor"
Nov 1, 2021
A video featuring MIT Prof. Mike short, and how he engages students in his introductory nuclear physics class..
"Short is a wizard professor, casting spells on his students, whom he refers to as "raw stuff" and "absolutely brilliant" as he leads them through personalized, unique, and often outrageous-sounding assignments that help them not only understand, but also come to love the subject. In his ever-expanding quest for teaching excellence, Short took advantage of the unforeseen twists and turns of the pandemic to unlock secret passages to new horizons in learning."
View the video
NEET at the 128th Annual Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE)
Oct 13, 2021
Technical paperA peer-reviewed paper co-authored by NEET instructors on NEET's pivot to remote teaching from Spring-Fall 2020 has been published in the proceedings of the 2021 American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Conference. This paper covers NEET’s emergency teaching efforts during Spring 2020 (following the campus shutdown mid-March) as well as planned remote teaching efforts during Fall 2020. It details strategies and solutions for project-centric, team-based, and hands-on remote pedagogy. You can access the paper here.
Panel discussionA NEET team comprising Autonomous Machines Scholar Leilani Trautman ’21, Executive Director Dr. Babi Mitra, and Curriculum Designer Dr. Rea Lavi, took part in an online panel discussion titled Innovations Worth Advancing: Big Ideas and Putting Them into Action. The panel was presented by the University of Maryland at the ASEE annual conference. You can watch a recording of the panel here.
NEET paper on "The NEET Ways of Thinking: Implementing them at MIT and assessing their efficacy" appears in AEE Special Issue
Sept 29, 2021
Our peer-reviewed paper titled The NEET Ways of Thinking: Implementing them at MIT and assessing their efficacy has been published in a Spring 2021 special issue of Advances in Engineering Education (AEE). This issue is titled Worldwide Leading Innovative Engineering Education Programs. NEET executive director Babi Mitra is one of the three guest editors of this special issue. You can access the paper here and read more about the special issue here.
NEET Founding Thread Lead Prof. Elsa Olivetti wins 2021 MIT Bose Award for Excellence in Teaching
August 11, 2021
Prof. Olivetti's contributions include "designing and implementing a subject on industrial ecology and materials, co-design of the Advanced Materials Machines NEET program, and developing a new undergraduate curriculum." She is also co-director of the MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium.
NEET Steering Committee member Maria Yang appointed Associate Dean of MIT's School of Engineering
August 11, 2021
NEET Steering Committee member Maria Yang, Gail E. Kendall Professor of Mechanical Engineering, was named Associate Dean of MIT's School of Engineering, along with Daniel Hastings, Cecil and Ida Green Education Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
NEET Executive Director Amitava 'Babi' Mitra delivers Keynote Address at Regional Research Symposium on Problem Based Learning 2021
July 14, 2021
NEET Executive Director Amitava 'Babi' Mitra delivered a keynote address at the Regional Research Symposium on Problem Based Learning (RRSPBL 2021) on June 18th, 2021. In his address, he described how the NEET program at MIT uses problem based learning to help students build "the essential skills, knowledge, and qualities needed to address the formidable societal challenges posed by the 21st century." The symposium was organized by the Karnataka State Higher Education Council, Bengaluru, India in collaboration with the UNESCO Aalborg Centre for Problem Based Learning in Engineering Science and Sustainability, Aalborg University, Denmark.
NEET Autonomous Machines Senior Project featured in the May/June 2021 issue of The Infinite
June 15, 2021
In his cover note, Dean of Engineering Anantha Chandrakasan writes that "You’ll also meet some of our recent graduates who fondly recall their experiences in the New Engineering Education Transformation (NEET) and working from a distance and across the globe to design an autonomous air pollution monitoring system." The project was designed by NEET AM seniors Chloe Nelson-Arzuaga, Jeana Choi, Daniel Gonzalez-Diaz, Leilani Trautman, Rima Rebei, and Berke Saat.
NEET Digital Cities junior Amelia Dogan contributes to panel on the complexities of Asian American identity and recognition in higher education
May 24, 2021
"A broad-ranging panel discussion on May 18 examined the complexities of Asian American and Pacific Islander identity and acceptance at MIT, while underscoring the need for collaborative work among groups to combat prejudice and create equity."
NEET Living Machines Faculty Lead Linda Griffith featured in NYT Profiles in Science for her work on endometriosis
April 27, 2021
Professor Griffith's mission is to change the conversation about endometriosis “from one of women’s pain to one of biomarkers, genetics, and molecular networks.” NEET Living Machines students have the opportunity to do research in Prof. Griffith's Center for Gynepathology Research at MIT.
"Up for a Challenge": MIT News Profiles NEET Living Machines senior Jose Aceves-Salvador
April 22, 2021
An MIT Biology major with a concentration in Education, Jose Aceves-Salvador is also a teacher, mentor, researcher, dancer and cheerleader who will be attending Harvard Medical School this fall to pursue a PhD through the Biological and Biomedical Sciences program.
NEET Living Machines Faculty Lead Linda Griffith among five MIT faculty members elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences for 2021
April 22, 2021
"Five MIT faculty members are among more than 250 leaders from academia, business, public affairs, the humanities, and the arts elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the academy announced Thursday."
NEET Faculty Leads Elsa Olivetti and Michael Short Among 2021 MacVicar Faculty Fellows
March 11, 2021
"The Office of the Vice Chancellor and the Registrar’s Office have announced this year’s Margaret MacVicar Faculty Fellows: professor of mathematics Larry Guth, associate professor of materials science and engineering Elsa Olivetti, associate professor of nuclear science and engineering professor Michael Short, and professor of biology and biological engineering Michael Yaffe."
NEET Scholar Amy Jin named 2021 Gates Cambridge Scholar
Feb 22, 2021
"MIT senior Amy Jin has won the prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship, which offers students an opportunity to pursue graduate study in the field of their choice at the University of Cambridge in the UK. Jin will join the other 23 U.S. citizens in being members of the 20th class of scholars."
NEET Faculty Lead Jonathan How Among Four MIT Researchers Elected to the National Academy of Engineering for 2021
Feb 12, 2021
"Election to the National Academy of Engineering is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. Academy membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to 'engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature' and to 'the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education.'"
NEET Junior Lilly Papalia's Team Wins GM/MIT Blacktop Build in IAP 2020
March 15, 2020
Lilly's team project focused on finding a way to create multiple test audio files for voice recognition in GM cars. The team participated in an externship at the GM plant in Warren MI where they worked on advancing their simulation concept.
2021 Bernard M. Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Education Awarded to MIT Educators, Linda Griffith and Douglas Lauffenburger
January 7, 2021
The National Academy of Engineering announced today that the 2021 Bernard M. Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Education will be awarded to Linda Griffith and Douglas Lauffenburger of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) “for the establishment of a new biology-based engineering education, producing a new generation of leaders capable of addressing world problems with innovative biological technologies.”
Universities as Engines of Economic Development: Making Knowledge Exchange Work
New Book Published!
Co-authored by Edward Crawley, John Hegarty, Kristina Edström and Juan Cristobal Garcia Sanchez (SM '20), this book demonstrates how universities can contribute to economic recovery after Covid-19, shaping universities to be engines of economic development.