MIT School of Engineering

MIT Research Scientist Afreen Siddiqi ’99, SM ’01, PhD ’06 and MIT Professor Vinod Vaikuntanathan SM ’05, PhD ’09 are among 223 scientists, artists, and scholars awarded 2026 fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Working across 55 disciplines, the fellows were selected from almost 5,000 applicants for “prior career achievement and exceptional promise.”

Afreen Siddiqi is a research scientist in the Engineering Systems Laboratory in MIT Aeronautics and Astronautics. Her expertise is in the development of systems-theoretic analytical methods and quantitative modeling for technical systems in space and on Earth that need to operate and adapt in changing environments.

Vinod Vaikuntanathan is the Ford Foundation Professor of Engineering in the MIT EECS Department. A principal investigator at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, his research focuses upon the foundations of cryptography and its applications to theoretical computer science at large.

https://news.mit.edu/2026/mit-affiliates-awarded-guggenheim-fellowships-0501

A new study published in "Science" led by Alex Shalek, director of MIT IMES, shows how a key T cell protein called LAT keeps immune responses in balance. LAT coordinates the many signals that drive T cell activation. The findings reveal that the protein does not switch these signals on separately; instead, it holds them in balance, so that disrupting one part of the protein affects the entire response.

The team of researchers developed a genetic screening approach that links specific parts of LAT to their effects on T cell activation. The screen identified many important regions across LAT, including several with no previously known role. The team also found that the overall pattern of electrical charge along the protein, rather than any single position, matters for its function.

https://imes.mit.edu/news-events/shalek-lab-study-reveals-how-key-t-cell-protein-keeps-immune-responses-balance

When a gene is turned on in a cell, it creates a ripple effect along the DNA strand, changing the physical structure of the strand. A new study by MIT researchers shows that these ripples can stimulate or suppress neighboring genes.

The new findings offer guidance that could make it easier to control the output of synthetic gene circuits, which are designed to reprogram cellular behavior. By altering the relative ordering and arrangement of genes, or “gene syntax,” researchers could create circuits that work together to maximize their output.

“This is really exciting because we can coordinate gene expression in ways that just weren’t possible before,” says Katie Galloway, an assistant professor of MIT Chemical Engineering (ChemE) and senior author of the study, which appears in "Science." “Syntax will be really useful for dynamic circuits. Now we have the ability to select not only the biochemistry of circuits, but also the physical design to support dynamics.”

https://ow.ly/pwK150Z1fvv

Researchers at MIT, GE HealthCare, and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point have developed a computational model that links thousands of molecular signals to fitness levels, revealing pathways that could inform future studies to improve fitness training and speed injury or disease recovery.

To develop their model, the researchers analyzed more than 50,000 biomarkers in 86 cadets at the U.S. Military Academy who were training for a military competition. Using the data, the researchers were able to identify molecular pathways that appear to contribute to higher levels of physical fitness.

“We had 50,000 measurements, and we wanted to get it down to about 100 where there’s some likelihood that the markers that we’re measuring are mechanistically linked to physical fitness. So, not just a statistical correlation, of which there will be many, but markers where there’s a likelihood that there is a causal relationship,” says Ernest Fraenkel, a professor in MIT’s Department of Biological Engineering and a senior author of the study, which appears in the journal Communications Biology.

https://news.mit.edu/2026/mapping-molecular-markers-of-physical-fitness-0428

By the age of 14, Gabriele Farina had focused on an idea that would prove foundational to his career.

“I was fascinated very early by the idea that a machine could make predictions or decisions so much better than humans,” he says. “The fact that human-made mathematics and algorithms could create systems that, in some sense, outperform their creators, all while building on simple building blocks, has always been a major source of awe for me.”

Now an assistant professor in the MIT EECS Department, Farina combines concepts from game theory with such tools as machine learning, optimization, and statistics to advance theoretical and algorithmic foundations for decision-making. His work aims to simplify massive, complex real-world scenarios where calculating such an equilibrium could take a billion years.

📸: Jerard Welcome

https://news.mit.edu/2026/untangling-strategic-reasoning-to-advance-ai-gabriele-farina-0505

MIT chemical engineering alum Brian Bilello ’97 is the president of the New England Revolution and chaired the board of Boston Soccer 2026, the organization that successfully campaigned for Boston to be a World Cup host city.

In a recent interview with Slice of MIT, Bilello, who also played varsity soccer at MIT, described why he was so enthusiastic about Boston hosting the event.

“The city will see numerous benefits from hosting the World Cup,” he says. “First, there is a significant financial impact from the massive numbers of visitors who will come to matches from around the world. These fans will boost our economy by purchasing flights, hotels, and meals; patronizing local retail establishments; and spending to attend other events in and around Boston. This spending all translates into direct tax revenue. Then, there is also the tremendous opportunity to boost future tourism by showcasing Boston to a global audience as one of the world’s elite travel destinations.”

📸: Photo illustration by Emily Muldoon Kathan; photo by Mimi Murad/New England Revolution

https://alum.mit.edu/slice/why-does-world-cup-matter-mit-alum-explains

Zane Schemmer, a PhD candidate in the MIT Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), is a recipient of 2026 Graduate Student Extraordinary Teaching and Mentoring Award. The award recognizes graduate students who have demonstrated extraordinary teaching and mentoring efforts as a teaching or research assistant.

📸: Conor McArdle

https://engineering.mit.edu/news/zane-schemmer-receives-2026-graduate-student-extraordinary-teaching-and-mentoring-award

In a recent interview with Time, Dr. Sreedevi Rajagopalan, director of the MIT Sustainable Supply Chain Lab at the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics, explained how expedited shipping increases emissions by forcing multiple trips.

“If you have expedited shipping, then you are not actually able to consolidate packages,” says Rajagopalan. “As a result, you end up delivering less goods in a short period. You also end up visiting the same route, maybe multiple times the same day or consecutive days. So that actually results in very high emissions.”

https://time.com/article/2026/03/31/slower-shipping-climate-benefit/

Avani Ahuja ‘26, a recent graduate of the MIT EECS Department and MIT Mechanical Engineering, received the 2026 Henry Ford II Scholar Award. The award honors a senior undergraduate student who is in high academic standing and shows exceptional potential for leadership in the profession of engineering and in society.

📸: Conor McArdle

https://engineering.mit.edu/news/avani-ahuja-26-receives-henry-ford-ii-scholar-award