Tuesda,$e tember25 2012 mm EWB-IIT attends MCN conference By Utsav Gandhi CAMPUS EDITOR One of the many advantages of joining the student chapter of a regionally or nationally recognized organization is the opportunity to travel around the country for annual conventions and conferences. These usually bring with them: career enriching workshops, keynote sessions by some of the most brilliant minds in the field, and invalue able networking with other students working in the same field. Engineers Without Borders HT is the studentchapterofa national organization committed to bringing environmentally and economically sustainable engineering proje ects, in an effort to advance the standards of life in developing countries. One ofthe over arching targets of the national organization is to help advance towards the Millennium Development Goals that were set forth by the United Nations Development program, in the year 2000. These are a set ofeight goals including universal education, maternal and child health, environmental sustainability, and the alleviation of poverty, hunger and disease . which the United Nations wishes the world to achieve by the year 2020. EWBe 11T had the unique opportunity ofgoing to Northeastern University in Boston, MA, to attend the Millennium Campus Conference this past weekend. This bright together over twelve hundred college students and profese sionals from the industry/government/none profit world engaged in achieving one ofthe more oftheMDGs justlikeEWB. The conference was a unique op portunity to interact with some incredibly passionate students putting forth their skills to advance the complicated topics of global development. Healthcare, environment/suse tainability, groundwork engineering projects and developmental economics were some of the overarching themes of the Conference. Even more inspiring was the opportunity to listen to what the keynote speakers had to side dress. Dr. leffery Sachs . who conceptuale ized the MDGs himselfand is considered the worlds leading living economist . was there, the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner was there, and so was Dr. Baul Farmer . a visionary exe pert in developmental healthcare around the world. Their words, calls to action and the sheer passion exhibited by the other attende ees have nothing but inspired us to channel our own passions in developmental work Traveling to Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology was in the icing on the cake . a learning experience in itself Some ofthe sessions offered value able tips on making a career out ofglobal ser vice, using social media effectively to spread advocacy on our college campus, building sustainable partnerships with grasseroot communities while carrying out develop mental work, the eternal debate ofworking locally vs. globally when pursuing a career in developmental work, and the pressures faced by the developing world with respect to die mate change. An innovation expo featured some unique social engineering projects undertake en by students from across the country such as a soccer ball, which produces electricity as you play with it. Engineers Without Borders offers unique projects for its student membership. Even if you are not interested in making a career in this field, these projects provide valuable experience in teamwork, commur nication and critical thinking. Come to their General Body Meetings every alternate Mone day at lunch, look up their website at ewbue saiit.moonfruit.com, follow them on Facee book (EWB III) or Twitter (@EWBUSAIIT) or email them athit.ewb@gmail.com to get onto their mailing list. Photos by Ursav Gandhi om UTSAV GANDHI MSI volunteer information sessions By Shreeyeh Rajan p epr-obably S etold me that it i omethingI . attend, and that it ould be r-th it. I attended the se ion, appl ed for it, and let .Icannot tell you how right my oommatex As an IIT tudent, thi one of ' .voucoulde r ha . ungchildrenabou enceb litrtorme i g l ont of them and on 111“ fun dinato ., an seum of S 'en and Indu the whole time. The interns, t cilitat yourse Nothing can telyou ho that ees, be ni nething u di ov ‘ If The MSI info be he d in MTCC Room 109 (n the Commons, next to the )ne Stopi from 11-50 to 1:50 pm. on Septemb 20 and Thu day, To apply tor one of the voluntee- t attend one ofthe info this opportunity to vole gh g pla ' 1min mum flll elccrrnu.ecrrc tummy NSF Director delivers Darsh Wasan lecture By Utsav Gandhi CAMPUS EDITOR Students may have seen the tradie tional programming events put together by Union Board and the Office of Alumni Relae tions, among others, during Homecoming Week However, every year, Homecoming and the presence of alumni on campus also bring with itself some annual educational and acae demic lectures. The Chemical and Biological Engineering department, for example, puts together the mucheawaited Darsh Wasan Lece ture, delivered by eminent professionals from industry or academia. For example, two years ago, HT was the host to the alumna Dr. Susan Solomon; who is credited to have made the initial discovery ofthe ozone hole. The Darsh Wasan Lecture was established in 2008 in hone or of HT Motorola Chair and the Vice Presie dent of International Affairs Darsh Wasans extraordinary contributions to the university over the last fortyeight years, wherein he has held virtually every academic and administrae tive post. Dr. Subra Suresh, director ofthe Nae tional Science Foundation, delivered this years lecture, “Challenges and Opportunities for Global Science.” on Tuesday, September 18th. Earlier, he also held the position ofDean ofthe School of Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology (yes, Mm). Stressing on NSEs unwavering mission to focus on cue couraging the spirit ofresearch among the stun dent population, Dr. Suresh defined the NSEs role in cuttingeedge science as the harbinger of an era of observation and data interpretation. The huge inflow of globalized data information that we see todaybrings a formidable challenge of trying to ascertain who will archive it and how we make it permanent. Governmentswill have to work with individuals, academia and private research institutions to ensure personal freedom, intellectual rights and international cooperation among the scientific community. The NSE under his leadership has invested $75 million in the emerging fields of robotics, nane otechnology and the Human Genome Project. Internationally, he stressed on the importance of collaborating with science institutes in Chile (where 70% of all the worlds astronomical obe servations are made), partnerships with CERN (recently in the news for the HiggseBoson Pare tide) and a $50 million supercomputing center in Wyoming. Dr. Suresh also spoke about his ten cent collaboration with US AID (an agency authorized to send US taxpayer money abroad to support science in developing countries); a project called PEER (Partnership forEnhanced Engagement in Research), which has seen the number ofprojects go from five at the time of inception to fortyefive at present. “Good sci ence anywhere is good science everywhere” , provided that open and transparent processes are followed. With that in mind and keeping in consideration the importance of collaborative policies to advance scientific research around the world, he spoke about the recently introe duced Global Summit on Merit Review, initiae tive, a convention ofG20+OECD countries to develop a globally conducive environment for innovation. The talk was followed by a recap tion and dinner; with a chance for students to personally interact with Dr. Suresh as well as other esteemed alumni. The presence of such a reputed academic and scientist on campus is surely an occasion to remind ourselves that 117 linois Institute ofTechnology is at the forefront ofinitiating positive discussion to advance sci ence and technology