The Women Who Mapped the Stars
When: Saturday, May 12th, 2018 3:00 to 4:30 pm
Where: Central Square Theater, 450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Mass.
IIT AGNE in partnership with Central Square Theater brings you a special performance and discussion on May 12th. The play about late 1800s, Harvard College Observatory “Computers†– women employed for half a man’s salary to analyze astronomic data — show us that the universe is larger than we ever dreamed. The thrilling story of five women who changed the way astronomers saw the universe.
For this special performance, get a 25% discount on Tier A and B tickets for Adults and Seniors by typing the discount code IITAGNE in the discount code box, in the top right corner on the tickets page. Students under 18 are $16 and above 18 are $21. (Discounted tickets are limited to 4 per individual and the theater is filling up fast for this performance). More info on the play and to purchase tickets click here Following the performance, we will have an engaging panel discussion
Mapping a Path Today: Roles and Challenges
When: Saturday May 12, 2018 at 5 pm
‘The Women Who Mapped the Stars’ describes the lives and accomplishments of five women employed at the Harvard College Observatory over a century ago. They worked at half a man’s salary and in their shadow. Despite the huge strides women have made since, the challenges faced by the women in the play seem just as relevant today.
How do we continue on our path of progress for the next generation?
How can we ensure that women bring their full potential to, and, benefit from humanity's science and technology-driven future?
These are questions we invite the audience to discuss following the matinee performance of Van Dyke’s play led by a dynamic panel including the playwright, Joyce Van Dyke and several voices from the science community to share their experiences and provoke:
· Joyce Van Dyke, Playwright
· Regina Jorgenson, Director, Maria Mitchell Obervatory
· Prof. Meenakshi Narian, Professor of Physics, Brown University
· moderated by Raji Patel, Co-director, MIT NASA Space Grant Program
Though the panel discussion is free, seating is limited and reservations are required. Please RSVP online on the Theater website.
Boston's Robotics Revolution Panel Discussion on April 21
A standing room only audience of over 90 attendees attended IIT AGNE's leadoff panel for the 2018 Sci/Tech Series.- Boston's Robotics Revolution. The attendees were enraptured by dynamic talks by Mark Raibert of Boston Dynamics, describing his firm's robots that ranged from Atlas the dynamic humanoid to SpotMini an agile four-legged robot that can climb stairs and open doors and will be soon available in production. Prof. Sangbae Kim demonstrated the agility of the robots created in the MIT Biomimetic Robotics Lab that has led to new designs for motors and actuators. A practical counterpoint came from the next two speakers. Shiraj Sen from GE Global Research described the reliability required of industrial robots that are used in dangerous or hazardous industrial settings. Krishna SriKrishna from iRobot explained the need for new production processes to manufacture consumer devices that are both low cost and reliable in large volumes. Tom Ryden opened the session with a great overview of the Boston Robotics ecosystem that proved once again why Boston is the epicenter of technology. The panel was ably moderated by IIT Madras alum Vivek Badami, Consulting Engineer at GE.