Daniela Rus

Daniela Rus is the Andrew (1956) and Erna Viterbi Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at MIT. Rus’ research interests are in robotics, artificial intelligence, and data science.

The focus of her work is developing the science and engineering of autonomy, toward the long-term objective of enabling a future with machines pervasively integrated into the fabric of life, supporting people with cognitive and physical tasks. Her research addresses some of the gaps between where robots are today and the promise of pervasive robots: increasing the ability of machines to reason, learn, and adapt to complex tasks in human-centered environments, developing intuitive interfaces between robots and people, and creating the tools for designing and fabricating new robots quickly and efficiently. The applications of this work are broad and include transportation, manufacturing, agriculture, construction, monitoring the environment, underwater exploration, smart cities, medicine, and in-home tasks such as cooking.

Rus serves as the Associate Director of MIT’s Quest for Intelligence Core, and as Director of the Toyota-CSAIL Joint Research Center, whose focus is the advancement of AI research and its applications to intelligent vehicles. She is a member of the Toyota Research Institute advisory board.

Rus is a Class of 2002 MacArthur Fellow, a fellow of ACM, AAAI and IEEE, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is the recipient of the 2017 Engelberger Robotics Award from the Robotics Industries Association. She earned her PhD in Computer Science from Cornell University.

John Werner

John has created a career out of bringing ideas, networks and people together to generate powerful results. Currently, John serves as Managing Director and Partner at Link Ventures, and as Chief Network Officer, SVP Corporate Development of Cogo Labs. Before joining Link Ventures and Cogo Labs, John’s deep curiosity and penchant for problem-solving led him to a diverse set of roles spanning many fields and interests. Previously, John was a VP at Meta, a Y-Combinator augmented reality startup based in Silicon Valley. John’s also served as the Head of Innovation and New Ventures at the MIT Media Lab’s Camera Culture Group, and the Managing Director of Emerging Worlds SIG, where he led the launch of collaborative innovation centers in Mumbai, Nashik, and Hyderabad.

John also channels his passion and curiosity into cultivating platforms for thought and exchange. John is the Founder & CEO of ARIA, a community focused on the potential of augmented reality and the Blockchain+AI+Human, which takes place at MIT and the World Economic Forum in Davos with MIT Professor Sandy Pentland. John also founded Ideas in Action Inc., a non-profit that creates and produces TEDxBeaconStreet, whose talks have accumulated 250+ million YouTube views.

John was also a co-Founder of Citizen Schools, an advisor for PhotoButler, Vestigo Ventures and Founders Forum (Boston), an MIT Connection Science Fellow, a Loeb Fellow at the Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and a graduate of Hamilton College. John was recognized by Harvard Business Review for his leadership; by BostonInno in 2014 as a top 50 on Fire in Boston; Boston Chamber with a TOYL (Ten Outstanding Young Leaders) Award in 2006. In his free time, John is a passionate photographer and an accomplished triathlete (qualified for the worlds and 4x nationals). John and his family live in Brookline, MA.

Rucha Kelkar

Rucha is a freshman at MIT; she is a candidate for a Bachelor’s Degree in Brain and Cognitive Sciences, on a pre-med track. She was nominated for the FRC Dean’s List Award by mentors on her high school FRC team, was an NCWIT Aspirations in Computing Affiliate Award Recipient, and is a Dr. Bart Kamen Memorial FIRST Scholar. She is currently pursuing a research position in the Early Childhood Cognition Lab at MIT under Dr. Laura Schulz and graduate student Junyi Chu, where she studies children’s perception of invisible forces, their abilities to determine when to accept or reject conjectures given a specific circumstance, and theory of mind. Her interests include dancing on the Bhangra team, travelling, and exploring new cultures.

Stephanie Fu

Stephanie is a freshman (originally from Manhattan, KS) planning on majoring in computer science and minoring in business analytics. She participates in Battlecode as a developer and financial chair, MIT’s Machine Intelligence Community as a former DevOps and current Marketing member, HackMIT’s organizing team, and is actively involved in the dance and music scenes on campus. Stephanie is currently conducting research under the Department of Materials Science and Engineering to develop digital fibers for fabric computing – her responsibilities include prototyping fiber sensors, processing activity and temperature data, and developing convolutional neural networks to classify and make predictions based on the data. In her spare time, she enjoys participating in hackathons with friends, playing and teaching violin, and learning to spin poi (hopefully poi on fire soon!).

Vittorio Colicci

Vittorio is a first-year student studying aerospace engineering and physics at MIT. He attended high school in Trumbull, Connecticut, where he was president of the Ethics Club, an editor for the school newspaper, and a two-time Academic Decathlon state champion. Since starting at MIT, Vittorio has been an active member of the Rocket Team and has engaged in projects in both the Space Systems and Space Propulsion Laboratories. Some of his work includes modifying the test data processing software used for REXIS, an instrument aboard the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, and developing new materials to be implemented in electrospray thrusters. Looking forward, Vittorio will serve as the Rocket Team Propulsion Lead for the upcoming academic year and will return to campus early as a counselor for the physics pre-orientation program this summer. His interests include space exploration, propulsion, archery, and photography.

Nathaniel Boerner

Nathan Boerner is a freshman student at MIT that doesn’t know what he wants to do in life (much less how to write a bio). However, in all probability he’ll major in mechanical engineering while studying music on the side. Raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Nathan homeschooled and studied origami, music, CGI, and advanced procrastination. He now uses all four regularly at MIT as a member of OrigaMIT, a cellist in the MIT Symphony Orchestra, a vocalist/beatboxer for the MIT Cross Products acapella group, and a researcher in MIT’s Mechanical Engineering department, where he simulates the acoustics of stringed instruments. Obligatory boring stuff: Nathan has had works accepted by OrigamiUSA’s Origami by Children national exhibition, is an alumnus of the Davidson Young Scholars Program and the John Hopkins Study of Exceptional Talent, received recognition as a FIRST Lego League mentor, and is a 2018 U.S. Presidential Scholar. He also doesn’t have a right arm. Shark incident or some such…

Juan Aleman

Juan Aleman is a first-year student at MIT planning to major in bioengineering with a pre-med focus. Growing up in Los Angeles, CA, Juan attended St. John Bosco High School. Currently at MIT, he is involved in several undergraduate support services such as MedLinks and PeerEars. Within these programs, he assists students in alleviating stress and communicating their struggles with professors, friends, and family. Looking forward, Juan is going to be actively involved in research over the summer within the bioengineering department along with volunteering at Mass General Hospital. In his spare time, he is actively pursuing his faith, performing in several dance groups, and looking for opportunities to go out into the wilderness for hikes in nature.

Janice Yang

Janice is a first-year student at MIT planning on studying Data Science or Business Analytics. She grew up in Taipei, Taiwan, and attended Taipei American School. She is a passionate musician and dancer, singing for MIT’s East Asian interest a cappella group MIT Syncopasian as a soprano and soloist, acting as stage director and publicity chair for the group. As a member of one of MIT’s sororities Alpha Chi Omega, she also does work for the chapter’s philanthropy involving healthy relationships and domestic violence awareness. She is very passionate about travel and meeting new people, which she very much looks forward doing this summer working at a startup in Israel.

Brandon Yue

Brandon is a first-year student attending MIT who plans to major in Computer Science. Originating from Tesla STEM High School in Washington state, he swam competitively for 12 years and plans to do so through college.