Lorna Gibson’s twin passions for birding and innovative instruction have generated a “first” for MITx: an eight-part, short-form video series designed for public viewing. “I’ve long wanted to do a project on how birds work from an engineering perspective,” says Gibson, a MacVicar Fellow and the Matoula S. Salapatas Professor of Materials Science and Engineering. “I hope this series will be a way to reach people who might not be interested in picking up an engineering book.”
The 2017 MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering Wulff Lecture. The Wulff Lecture is an introductory, general audience, entertaining lecture that aims to educate, inspire and encourage MIT undergraduates to take up the study of materials science and engineering.
Professor Gibson teaches two subjects at MIT: 3.032 Mechanical Behavior of Materials and 3.054 Cellular Solids: Structure, Properties and Applications. Both subjects are offered online through edX (3.032x and 3.054x); each is taught in three modules.
Robert Hooke's Micrographia was one of the first books to show drawings of objects viewed through an early microscope. The 10 minute video shows off a first edition (1665) of the book from Harvard University's Botany Library, describes how Hooke came to produce the book, and compares his wonderfully detailed drawings with modern scanning electron micrographs of similar objects.
Professor Lorna Gibson and her colleagues are studying how to model, fabricate and use structural bamboo products, similar to wood oriented strand board or plywood.
This video gives an overview of Professor Gibson's research on cellular solids, from engineering materials such as honeycombs and foams, to natural materials, such as plant tissues, to cellular materials in medicine, such as tissue engineering scaffolds. Outside of the lab, Gibson chaired committees examining the status of women faculty in engineering at MIT and has served as Chair of the Faculty and Associate Provost.
Here's a quick video update on research and education initiatives from DMSE. Professor Chiang offers his perspective on energy research, Professor Gibson describes DMSE's online educational offerings, Professor Fitzgerald explains DMSE's international collaboration with universities in Singapore, Professor Anikeeva discusses her research, and Professsor Kimerling explains the new photonics manufacturing consortium.
