MIT Technology and Policy Program

TPP student Sukhi Gulati, who studies internet policy and policy compliant software, interned during the summer of 2022 as a technologist with the Center for Democracy & Technology.

MIT study co-authored by TPP Director Noelle Selin and SES alum Minghao Qiu (PhD ’21) finds increased usage of wind power improves air quality in U.S., however only a third of the health benefits are being seen in disadvantaged communities.

A new MIT study by TPP Director Noelle Selin, SES alum Minghao Qiu PhD ’21, and Corwin Zigler finds that the health benefits associated with wind power could more than quadruple if operators prioritized turning down output from the most polluting fossil-fuel-based power plants when energy from wind is available.

Delegates from MIT including current TPP students Serena Patel and Youssef Shaker attended COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, where international climate negotiations went down to the wire.

Aaron Schwartz’s TPP research on energy, economics, and policy helped prepare him for a new role in clean energy advocacy.

TPP alum Danielle Wood, director of the Space Enabled research group at the Media Lab, discusses space technology and sustainability at the “Bloomberg New Economy Forum.”

The 2022 MIT Policy Hackathon explored policy solutions to sociotechnical challenges focused on post-pandemic efforts to build a better society, with challenges in cybersecurity, environmental justice, and city planning.

New tool pinpoints policy combinations that maximize health benefits. “This tool can help integrate the siloed sustainability issues of air pollution and climate action,” says the study’s lead author William Atkinson TPP ’22.

Rui-Jie Yew TPP ’23 researches at the intersection of computation, law, and ethics, exploring regulatory incentives for addressing harm caused by emerging algorithmic technologies.

Allie Shepard ’19, TPP ’23 interned in the New York City Mayor’s Office, where she got a firsthand view of the opportunities for climate change mitigation policy at the city level.

Farri Gaba TPP ’22 hopes to leverage his experience researching last-mile drone delivery to help solve sociotechnical challenges in sustainable transportation and logistics.

Systems engineer, Space Force Lieutenant, and recent TPP alum Jonathan Novak wants to make sure that satellites are designed to be resilient against solar weather.

Associate Provost Richard Lester and TPP Director Noelle Selin discuss MIT’s Climate Grand Challenges.

Fellows conduct policy research and travel to Washington, DC to talk to national policymakers and leading experts.

IDSS and TPP celebrated the 2022 graduates in-person during the inaugural School of Engineering and Schwarzman College of Computing Advanced Degree Ceremony on Thursday, May 26, 2022. TPP awarded 32 Master of Science degrees.

TPP alum Matt Orosz MNG ’03, SM ’06, PhD ’12, PD ’13 founded OnePower a company that builds networks of minigrids powered by solar energy to bring electricity to rural regions of Lesotho.

The authors of the report estimated that the costs of transforming power grids in the Northeast, Southeast, and Texas will range between 21 percent and 36 percent higher than if nothing was done to promote storage-backed renewable energy. TPP alumni Drake Hernandez ’21 and Cathy Wang ’21 contributed to the The Future of Energy Storage: An Interdisciplinary MIT Study.

TPP Director Noelle Selin hopes that initial progress will highlight the worldwide effort to address the climate challenge. TPP student Joy Jackson is optimistic that there are many avenues for research to make its way into policy.

Using a unique modeling strategy, MIT Joint Program researchers including Dr. Jennifer Morris TPP ’09 find several possible patterns of energy and technology development under a specified long-term climate target or economic outcome.

Activating a Clean Air Act provision could deliver major climate, health and economic benefits, says new study co-authored by TPP director Noelle Selin and TPP student Paul Picciano.

To put global climate modeling at the fingertips of local decision-makers, some scientists, including TPP Director Noelle Selin, think it’s time to rethink the system from scratch.

TPP Director Noelle Selin co-leads a project that leverages advances in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science to improve the accuracy and utility of climate models.

TPP student Nicolas Guetta-Jeanrenaud is part of a team of researchers led by TPP Faculty Advisor Siqi Zheng who are measuring how the pandemic affects public sentiment.

Jisoo Hong’s (TPP ’23) research on language and scientific controversy brings together linguistic anthropology and machine learning.

First-year TPP student and Environmental Solutions Initiative (ESI) research assistant, Yiran He, plugs into projects like Here & Real which engages with U.S. regions facing particular economic risks in the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Teams proposed policy solutions to challenges in health care and COVID-19, internet policy and cybersecurity, housing and city planning, transportation, and environmental justice.

Current TPP students Kailin Graham and Youssef Shaker among organizers of the 2021 MIT EnergyHack.

TPP Director Noelle Eckley Selin is one of the principals in a new collaboration with Biogen to accelerate the science and action on climate change to improve human health.

Sometimes flowers can be the villain. Water hyacinths, with their seemingly harmless violet petals and lush green leaves, have invaded tropical parts of Central Africa, including Benin. TPP alum Danielle Wood uses space technology as part of the solution.

Noelle Selin will co-chair the Climate Nucleus, a new committee charged with implementing MIT’s climate action plan.

MIT Policy Hackathon is a 48-hour hackathon convened by students from MIT’s Institute for Data, Systems, and Society and the MIT Technology and Policy Program that aims to address some of today’s most relevant societal challenges while fostering an interdisciplinary spirit.

MIT students Disha Trivedi and Ty Christoff-Tempesta both have TPP-funded internships this summer at the Massachusetts State House.

Karan Bhuwalka, recent TPP alumnus, reflects on TPP’s interdisciplinary approach and bringing data science, manufacturing, and social issues together in his research on the materials that make up electric vehicles.

As he sets off on retirement, longtime TPP staff member Ed Ballo reflects on the journey that brought him to TPP – and on where his journey goes from here.

Space suits that fit women are just a first step to a more inclusive space sector. TPP alum Emily Calandrelli is optimistic that with inclusion will come bold new ideas.

Graduating TPP student Becca Browder is taking her research on commercial spaceports to a new job at SpaceX – and has worked for years to get an MIT experiment on the moon.

Thandolwethu Dlamini, a TPP graduate student, founded The Knowledge Institute, which earned a $20,000 grant at the 20th annual MIT IDEAS Social Innovation Awards.

“The proposed new Sustainability Policy Hub, coordinated by TPP, will help MIT students and researchers engage with decision makers on topics that directly affect people and their well-being today and in the future,” says Noelle Selin, director of TPP.

A champion for LGBTQ rights, Brinton got dual masters in nuclear engineering and TPP so they could “save the world from nuclear waste.” 

Emily Calandrelli, SM ’13 and TPP alumna, is the aerospace engineer behind Emily’s Wonder Lab, a new TV show designed to get all kinds of kids excited about science.

Jennifer Morris, TPP alumnus and current research scientist at the MIT Joint Program and MIT Energy Initiative, is the co-author on a study of how bioenergy with carbon capture and storage could help stabilize the climate without breaking the bank.

Professor and TPP alumnus Danielle Wood and a team of collaborators from NASA, East Carolina University, Ghana Statistical Service and the Ghana Space Science and Technology Institute published a new study on the scope of vegetation loss in Ghana due to mining.

A paper from TPP alumni researchers Nestor Sepulveda, Jesse Jenkins and Aurora Edington evaluates the role and value of long-duration energy storage technologies in securing a carbon-free electric grid.

This year’s Margaret MacVicar Faculty Fellows include TPP research advisor and Faculty Advisory Network member Elsa Olivetti.

The Space Enabled research group will be featured on the educational television show called “Xploration Outer Space” hosted by TPP Alum Emily Calandrelli.

Saha Global, co-founded by TPP Alumna Kate Cincotta, helps Ghanaian women start profitable water treatment businesses to serve their communities.

In the new book “Mercury Stories,” TPP Director Noelle Eckley Selin and Henrik Selin examine sustainability through analyzing human interactions with mercury over thousands of years.

Team brings diverse backgrounds and expertise, including students from the Technology and Policy program and alumni Karen Tapia-Ahumada, to address challenges for the clean energy transition.

IDSS is delighted to share that three core faculty members have been promoted to the rank of full professor, effective July 1, 2021, including Noelle Selin, the Director of TPP and Jessika Trancik, a member of the Faculty Advisory Network.