In Ancient Greece, the word “symposium” referred to a gathering of rich men reclining on comfy couches while drinking and battling wits. The symposium that I attended on Friday was quite a different assembly. Held at the beautiful new conference center at Harvard Medical School, the New England Science Symposium featured oral presentations and posters from students of a wide range of ages and backgrounds. The event officially began at 8 AM, and the morning was spent listening to medical and graduate students present their research. At 11 AM, the keynote presentation was given by Dr. Roderic Ivan Pettigrew, the director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, who received his PhD in Nuclear Engineering from MIT in 1977. He gave an inspiring presentation that highlighted some incredible biomedical research, including a glucose-sensing contact lens that has a little patch of color that changes in response to glucose levels. I was famished by the end of the talk, but luckily it was lunch time! One chicken sandwich, cookie, and bag of chips later, I found myself back in the auditorium listening to the final round of presentations. 
Then, it was my turn! The poster session was from 2:00-3:40 PM, when I had the chance to present my summer research conducted at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to several judges and Harvard Medical School faculty. It’s always neat to explain your work to people who know so much more about it than you do… Following the poster session was a panel about navigating our scientific careers. Anyways, I would encourage you all to take any opportunity that you can to present any research that you have done; not only do you get free goodies like food and a tote bag, but you meet a lot of inspiring people and improve your scientific communication skills.
Saturday night was my sorority’s annual Fondue Dessert extravaganza! Given that I have been on the planning committee for the past two years, this event is near and dear to my heart [click here for last year's entry]. We invited faculty, administrators, and staff to meet and chat with the sisters of Alpha Chi Omega (abbreviated as “AXO”) from 8 to 9 pm; from 9 to 11 pm, we opened the house to the whole MIT community. More than forty faculty members and 350 students contributed to the consumption of 75 pounds of chocolate in 3 hours.
There is nothing like talking to your professors while surrounded by burbling chocolate fountains and every possible baked good dipped in chocolate. We were honored to have in attendance President Susan Hockfield, her husband, Dr. Tom Byrne, and her daughter, as well as the Dean of Undergraduate Education, Daniel Hastings, and his wife. Of course, no AXO fondue event is complete without Matt’s presence. As always, he was swarmed by admirers (photographic evidence included below, as well as here.) I get so overwhelmed with joy when such influential members of the MIT community take time out of their busy schedules to hang out with students on a Saturday night! I think it says volumes about their commitment to student life, given the range of conversations from suggestions of creating more studio space for student artists to advice for candidates running for student council president.
Thanks to everyone who came and made the night a huge success. To those of you who have not yet stepped foot on campus, I hope you can make it next year!
Comments (Closed after 30 days to reduce spam)
Posted by: 0 on March 5, 2007
OK, you can talk and discuss about this with other bloggers.
thanks
Posted by: Saman on March 5, 2007
Another time
Posted by: Minh on March 5, 2007
and Ben's : benjones at mit dot edu
Help me guys. Its urgent.
Posted by: Viksit on March 5, 2007
you can confirm the e-mails yourself. just search for people. find the search box in the MIT homepage.
i think those are the e-mails but check again and make sure.
and yeah, if it's urgent i don't think that sending e-mails would be a good idea. they usually take 3 to 5 days to respod. that's if they do. and you know, they are really busy these days so don't expect much. and no, were I you i won't make a phone call. i think the admissions office can help, call them.
Posted by: Amjad on March 5, 2007
But you shouldnt have written those ids straight away. (Read : Spamming threat)
I hope Melis will remove the post soon.
Posted by: 0 on March 5, 2007
Yea. I'll call them.
Posted by: Viksit on March 5, 2007
I love you, caffeine and chocolate. What would I do without you?
Thanks for the advice.
Posted by: turnef on March 5, 2007
I love you, caffeine and chocolate. What would I do without you?
Thanks for the advice.
Posted by: turnef on March 5, 2007
Posted by: 0 on March 5, 2007
Posted by: milena on March 5, 2007
Posted by: anonymous on March 5, 2007
Posted by: The madman who makes people fly on March 5, 2007
Posted by: Elizabeth on March 5, 2007
Dan Beard got rejected =(
Posted by: Karin on March 5, 2007
Posted by: Christina on March 5, 2007
Adam S.- My everloving devotion, or at least for the next 11 days, 52 minutes...
Posted by: Elizabeth on March 6, 2007
Posted by: Saman on March 6, 2007
Posted by: Meara on March 6, 2007
Posted by: Aditya on March 6, 2007
what for?
well, we can just talk there and waste time lol. i mean we are gonna post comments here at mit blogs and there at the group wasting double the time, and that's what we want. i guess we all want to waste our time at least 'till march 17th
Posted by: amjad on March 6, 2007
go take a look at it.
Join it. it'll be fun
here:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2250308853
Posted by: Amjad on March 6, 2007
Posted by: The madman who makes people fly on March 6, 2007
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