On Friday, December 12, 2008, MIT President Emeritus Charles M. Vest will be speaking to the Philosophical Society of Washington at 8:15 p.m. at the Cosmos Club at Massachusetts Avenue and Florida Avenue at 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC.

The meeting is open to the public, free, and no reservations are required. Dress is informal. Meetings are followed by a social hour with beer, cider, snacks and conversation.

Date and Time:  Friday, December 12, 8:15 p.m.
Sponsor:  Philosophical Society of Washington
Title: “A Note to the New President: Science, Technology, and Education are Key to Your Leadership”
Speaker: Charles Vest, President, National Academy of Engineering and President Emeritus of MIT
Location: The John Wesley Powell Auditorium at the Cosmos Club, 2170 Florida Avenue NW, Washington DC.
Contact person:  Larry Millstein (202) 363-6740 
Meeting Abstract:

The ability of our new president to govern effectively and provide world leadership will depend profoundly on advancing and utilizing the knowledge and tools of science, engineering, and medicine.

The 21st century will be very different. And nothing can be taken for granted. To grasp the great opportunities of our times and to meet our challenges – from economic competition to energy, from healthcare to education, from security to infrastructure – federal policy and action must be informed and enabled by a vibrant science and technology enterprise. Indeed our national comparative advantage is a strong S&T base coupled to a free market economy and a diverse, democratic society. We will soon feel the full force of global competition. Jobs will follow innovation wherever in the world it is found, and innovation will follow basic research wherever it is conducted. All our children must be inspired and educated for productive, well-paying jobs in this knowledge economy.

In the 20th century, U.S. science, engineering, and medicine nearly doubled our life span, protected our nation’s security, fueled most of our economic growth, sent us to the moon, fed the planet, brought world events into our living rooms, gave us freedom of travel by air, sea, and land, established instant worldwide communications, enabled ubiquitous new forms of art and entertainment, and uncovered the workings of our natural world. It was a century of speed, power, and new horizons. We have come to take all this for granted.

Please note, The Cosmos Club has a dress code; jackets and ties required for gentlemen, similar attire for ladies (no jeans or tennis shoes).

The John Wesley Powell Auditorium is adjacent to the Cosmos Club, 2170 Florida Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008. Entrance is through the club gate, the first right-hand entrance on Florida Avenue north of the intersection with Massachusetts Avenue NW. The auditorium entrance is to the left of the gate.

The Cosmos Club is within walking distance of the Dupont Circle Metro stop (Q Street exit), the Connecticut Avenue bus routes (L2, L4), and the Massachusetts Avenue bus routes (N2, N4).

For additional information on Charles Vest and Philosophical Society of Washington lectures, vsit the group’s webpage here.

Each January, MIT alumni around the world celebrate IAP at local watering holes where they mingle, reminisce about Mystery Hunt puzzles and Charm School lessons, and play IAP-inspired games.

Baltimore-area alums of all ages and friends of the Institute are welcome to attend!

There will be a no-host bar with 1/2 price nachos, 1/2 price wings and several drink specials.

No registration fee, but please RSVP so we know how many people to expect.

For information on other “Toast to IAP” events in other cities, please visit this page.

• Where is mobility really going?
• Is it a phone or a TV set?
• What are the limitations of our mobile devices?
• When will we have more control over the phone/carrier combination?
• What opportunities still exist for entrepreneurs?

Event starts with buffet and networking (6:15pm – 7:00pm) followed by the program (7:00pm – 9:00pm).

General admission is free to all Forum members, $25 for non-members online, $35 for non-members at the door. Non-member price is subject to change.

Where:
Neotech Incubator
9250 Bendix Rd.
Columbia, MD 21045

Rt. 29 to Rt. 108 East, left on Bendix Road. Bear right to North side of Thomas B. Dorsey Building

Panelists:

Walt Mossberg 
Columnist
The Wall Street Journal

Walt Mossberg is the author and creator of the weekly Personal Technology column in The Wall Street Journal, which has appeared every Thursday since 1991. He is also the co-creator and co-producer of the technology industry’s most prestigious annual conference, D: All Things Digital, and is the co-executive editor of the technology web site, allthingsd.com, which extends the experience of the D Conference to the Web. In both ventures, he partners with the prominent blogger and author, Kara Swisher. 

He appears regularly on television and Internet video as a commentator on technology issues. He is a weekly contributor to the Fox Business Network, and has been interviewed repeatedly on programs like “Charlie Rose” and “The News Hour,” as well as on National Public Radio.The Washington Post has declared Mr. Mossberg “one of the most powerful men in the high-tech world” and “a one-man media empire whose prose can launch a new product.” And the New York Times calls him a “protean critic of the new economy’s tools and toys.” In 2008,Vanity Fair magazine listed him as a member of its “New Establishment” list of the 100 top leaders of the Information Age. 

Mr. Mossberg was awarded the Loeb award for Commentary, the only technology writer to be so honored. He has also won the National Headliner Award, the World Technology Award for Media and Journalism, and has been inducted into the ranks of the Business News Luminaries, the hall of fame for business journalists. He is a trustee of Brandeis University and holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Rhode Island.

Mr. Mossberg is based in the Journal’s Washington, D.C., office, where he spent 18 years covering national and international affairs before turning his attention to technology. A native of Warwick, Rhode Island, he holds degrees from Brandeis and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Ralph de la Vega
CEO
AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets
Ralph de la Vega, CEO, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets, was named to his current role in October 2008. Today, he leads all consumer marketing, sales, content and converged services, customer care and operations for wireless and wired. Previously, he served as President and CEO-AT&T Mobility where he was responsible for all of AT&T’s wireless business since October 2007. 

Prior to that, he served as group president-Regional Telecommunications and Entertainment, with responsibility for overall leadership in regional wired, including consumer, regional business sales and network. He was appointed to that post in January 2007, after the close of the AT&T-BellSouth merger, which consolidated ownership of Cingular. 

From 2004-2006, de la Vega served as chief operating officer of Cingular Wireless, with responsibility for technology planning, network operations, marketing, sales and customer care. Before joining Cingular in January 2004, he served as president-BellSouth Latin America, with overall responsibility for BellSouth’s operations in 11 countries: Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, Venezuela, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Nicaragua, Brazil and Guatemala. 

He also has served as BellSouth’s president of Broadband and Internet Services. In this position, he had overall responsibility for the deployment, marketing and operations of broadband services. In addition, he had responsibility for BellSouth Internet Services and BellSouth’s rapidly growing data support groups. 

Mr. de la Vega started his career in 1974 with BellSouth (then Southern Bell) as a management assistant. He has held numerous positions of increasing responsibility in Network Planning, Consumer Services, Engineering and Operations — including a rotational assignment at Telcordia (Bellcore) — and was responsible for all BellSouth Telecommunications Network Operations in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. 

A native of Cuba, he holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Florida Atlantic University and a master’s degree in business administration from Northern Illinois University, and he has completed the Executive Program at the University of Virginia.

Dr. Phillip Alvelda SM ’94, PhD ’95 
Serial Entrepreneur
Dr. Alvelda is the Founder and Chairman of the non-profit Westminster Institute for Science Education (WISE), and the thought-leader behind the WISE Labs collaborative approach to K-12 STEM education reform. WISE was founded to extend and enrich K-12 science, technology, and engineering education nationwide by enabling students of all ages to perform scientific inquiry and engineering development of their own instead of simply hearing about how others have done so in classroom lectures or cook-book style labs. The Institute’s primary goal is to harness each community’s enlightened self-interest in systematically and purposely training students to be creative and innovative in their explorations of 21st century challenges.

Prior to founding WISE, Dr. Alvelda was the founding CEO of MobiTV, Inc., now the world’s leading provider of live television, video-on-demand and digital music over mobile and broadband networks. Dr. Alvelda led the team that took the idea of “rich media delivery over wireless networks” from concept to market leadership with the world’s first live television experience over mobile phones. Under Dr. Alvelda’s leadership from November 1999 through April 2007, the Company created an entirely new media distribution channel, now called mobile television. Since MobiTV’s debut on Sprint in November 2003, Dr. Alvelda grew the Emmy® Award winning service to more than two million paying subscribers through expansion into several international markets, and launched a broadband PC version of the service in partnership with AT&T. The company now has over 4 million paying subscribers, making MobiTV the high-technology industry leader in converged media delivery services and the 8th largest television provider in the US, a remarkable feat accomplished in under five years.

Dr. Alvelda and his team were awarded an Emmy Award by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, selected byFast Company as the US’s 15th most influential high technology entrepreneur, and granted numerous other technology and industry leadership awards from AlwaysOn, CNET, Fierce-Wireless, Frost & Sullivan, Red Herring and other influencers for innovation and market leadership. He is a regularly invited speaker at media, telecom, and entrepreneurial industry events and conferences including the World Economic Forum where he was chosen as a “Technology Pioneer” in 2007. Dr. Alvelda continues to serve on MobiTV’s Board of Directors.

Prior to MobiTV, Dr. Alvelda was the founding CEO and CTO of The MicroDisplay Corporation, a manufacturer of ultra-high resolution miniature displays for portable systems and low cost HDTVs based on the technology he invented as part of his MIT Ph.D. dissertation. MicroDisplay was initially founded based on an $11 million DARPA contract for which Dr. Alvelda was the Principle Investigator. Prior to MicroDisplay, Dr. Alvelda attended graduate school at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, where he applied for, and won, a $6M grant from DARPA for which he was the Lead Investigator. The grant to develop VLSI Microdisplay Technologies ultimately became the foundation for his first company. 

Dr. Alvelda holds over 15 patents and patents pending on a wide range of technologies, a technical Emmy Award, a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from Cornell University, and Masters and PhD degrees in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Braxton Jarratt 
CEO
Clearleap
Braxton Jarratt, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of television infrastructure technology firm Clearleap, has an extensive history driving innovation and growth in media technologies. Immediately before co-founding Clearleap, he served as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at Tandberg Television (an Ericsson Company), where he led the rapid expansion into the North American market. He launched Tandberg’s pioneering dynamic VOD advertising system and led the overhaul of Tandberg Television’s brand. Prior to Tandberg, Braxton was in charge of product management, marketing, and business development at N2 Broadband, a venture-backed television software startup. There, he helped win deployments of the company’s on-demand software products in nearly every VOD site in North America.

Braxton was previously director of product strategy at Cox Enterprises and General Manager of the interactive media division. Here he launched the first broadband internet content service in partnership with @Home. Braxton’s entrée into the world of tech startups was as the head of commercial services with Primenet, an internet company purchased by GlobalCenter.

He built upon his extensive industry experience in 2007 to establish Clearleap, a media technology company that is working with content owners and television service providers to revolutionize the delivery and monetization of video content.

Baltimore-area alums of all ages are encouraged to attend!

There will be a no-host bar with drink specials till 7pm: All draughts $3.50, Rail liquor $3.50, House wine $4.50, $2.00 Miller Lite and Killian’s Draughts. And Ryan’s Daughter’s awesome $4 bar menu specials will also be available through 7pm.

No registration fee, but please RSVP so we know how many people to expect.

Or send us a private message to register:

Date: Monday, November 17, 2008
Time: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Location: UMBC, Catonsville campus, Room ITE 272, located off 95 and 195 on Rolling Road in Catonsville, MD.

Dr. Hochberg’s research focuses on developing assistive technology for people with paralysis. At Brown he collaborates with faculty in neuroscience, computer science, engineering, and neurotechnology. As an undergraduate, Dr. Hochberg was a fencer, a percussionist, and a pianist in a jazz combo. He earned his Ph.D. and M.D. from Emory University and completed his residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham & Women’s Hospital. Click here (September 3, 2008 Today at Brown article) or here (research profile) for more information.

Tickets purchased before November 12th are $15 (adults), $10 (students and young alumni/ae – classes ’04 – ’08) and $20 at the door. Contact MIT Club of Baltimore using this form to find out how to register.

Here‘s her bio as provided by the FDIC:

Sheila C. Bair was sworn in as the 19th Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) on June 26, 2006. She was appointed Chairman for a five-year term, and as a member of the FDIC Board of Directors through July 2013.

Before her appointment to the FDIC, Ms. Bair was the Dean’s Professor of Financial Regulatory Policy for the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst since 2002. Other career experience includes serving as Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions at the U.S. Department of the Treasury (2001 to 2002), Senior Vice President for Government Relations of the New York Stock Exchange (1995 to 2000), a Commissioner and Acting Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (1991 to 1995), and Research Director, Deputy Counsel and Counsel to Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole (1981 to 1988). While an academic, Chairman Bair also served on the FDIC’s Advisory Committee on Banking Policy.

Chairman Bair’s prior work focused heavily on the banking sector. As the Assistant Treasury Secretary for Financial Institutions, she was charged with helping to develop the Administration’s positions on banking policy issues. She worked closely with Treasury’s own banking regulatory bureaus, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision, as well as the Federal Reserve Board and the FDIC. Ms. Bair’s teaching and research at the University of Massachusetts also dealt extensively with banking and related issues.

Ms. Bair has served as a member of several professional and nonprofit organizations, including the Insurance Marketplace Standards Association, Women in Housing and Finance, Center for Responsible Lending, NASD Ahead-of-the-Curve Advisory Committee, Massachusetts Savings Makes Cents, American Bar Association, Exchequer Club, and Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

Five months after becoming Chairman, Ms. Bair was named to The Wall Street Journal magazine Smart Money’s (November 2006) “Power 30” list – the magazine’s lineup of the 30 most influential people in investing. Chairman Bair has also received several honors for her published work on financial issues, including her educational writings on money and finance for children, and for professional achievement. Among the honors she has received are: Distinguished Achievement Award, Association of Education Publishers (2005); Personal Service Feature of the Year, and Author of the Month Awards, Highlights Magazine for Children (2002, 2003 and 2004); and The Treasury Medal (2002). Her first book – Rock, Brock and the Savings Shock, a publication for children – was published in 2006.

Chairman Bair received a bachelor’s degree from Kansas University and a J.D. from Kansas University School of Law. She is married to Scott P. Cooper and has two children.

 

Breakfast will be available from 7:30am to 8:00am. The lecture and Q & A will go from 8am to 9am.

Pre-registration required. General Admission is $35, special group discount available for Members only.

1) Are you interested in attending cultural events?
      [  ] Yes
      [  ] No

2) What sort of cultural events would you be interested in?
      [  ] tour of Walters Art Musuem
      [  ] tour of Baltimore Museum of Art
      [  ] tour of American Visionary Art Museum
      [  ] tour of Contemporary Museum
      [  ] tour of Baltimore Museum of Industry
      [  ] Centerstage! group outing 
      [  ] Lyric Opera House group outing
      [  ] Baltimore Opera Company group outing
      [  ] Strand Theater group outing
      [  ] community theater group outing
      [  ] Baltimore Symphony Orchestra group outing 
      [  ] Other: (Please suggest some ideas!)

We are looking for lecture and/or social meeting spaces for the Club in Baltimore City, Columbia, Towson, Annapolis, Bel Air, among other locations.

Our requirements are:

• Accommodates approximately 20 people OR 50 people
• Refreshments available on-site or local bar/restaurants within walking distance
• Minimal or no fees for space
• Preferably easy parking

Our events are usually on weeknights but occasionally on weekends as well.

Take a look at our events calendar to take a look at the kinds of events we’ve held in the past and what we’ve got coming up!

If you can help, please let us know!

You may use this form to submit a message:

We’d love to get your ideas for future tours and other events.

Keep an eye on our events calendar to find out about our facility tours and other events we have planned in future months!

You may use this form to submit a message:

Yesterday, our very own Captain John Kaplan ‘86 (SM in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, and SM in Mechanical Engineering) kindly gave a group of alums an exclusive weekday tour of the United States Coast Guard YARD.

We were welcomed by the sign shown above!

The group convened at 4:30pm and we toured the facility on foot until 6:30pm. Following the tour, we enjoyed light snacks while Captain Kaplan gave a talk about the day-to-day operations of the Yard.

Take a look at our events calendar to find out about other tours and events we have planned in future months!

And if you’d like to join us for the November 19 GM Powertrain Plant tour, you’ve got until Wednesday November 12, 2008 to register.