Magnanti on MIT's 'Learning by Doing' Imperative |
| John Dodge, Editor-in-Chief -- 3/5/2008 11:36:00 AM |
Visit our Engineering Education Coverage Page for more stories, photos, podcasts and in-depth statistics! Thomas L. Magnanti, Ph.D, was dean of MIT’s engineering school for eight and half years until midnight July 22. The day before, he tossed out the ceremonial first pitch at a Red Sox game because he wanted to do it as engineering dean. Currently, he is one of 14 Institute Professors at MIT, the school's most prestigious, and has been on the faculty since 1971. He is an expert in applied and theoretical aspects of large-scale optimization. Among many accolades, he is credited with starting several new majors and programs. He is a big fan of “learning by doing.” DN Editor-in-Chief John Dodge caught up with him recently in his office, four floors above MIT’s main and fabled thoroughfare, the “Infinite Corridor.” ... Q: Is there a crisis in engineering education today? Magnanti: There’s a national crisis in conveying the fact that engineering is inspiring and exciting to attract people [into it]. We also have large drop-out rates. Last I recall, 50 percent of all engineering students leave that program before they complete it. It’s really hard stuff. We have not made it exciting enough. Q: What do you think the answer is? Maganti: [The answer is] putting what we are teaching in context and providing programs like UPOP and more hands-on learning – project-based courses, internships and learning by doing. Over time, that will remedy the crisis. The National Academies issued a report, The Gathering Storm and found the right incentives, courses, curriculum and government policies [will] improve the system. ...http://www.designnews.com/article/CA6538130.html |
Friday, June 20, 2008
Magnanti on MIT's 'Learning by Doing' Imperative
News stories: Auction of radio airwaves will influence Canada's prosperity; etc.
Wireless spectrum: FAQs
Auction of radio airwaves will influence Canada's prosperity
Last Updated: Monday, May 26, 2008 | 3:13 PM ET Comments11Recommend29
By Peter Nowak CBC News
New cellphone carriers are expected as a result of Industry Canada's spectrum auction. (Fabian Bimmer/Associated Press) The federal government's auction of wireless airwaves — which will usher in new cellphone providers — kicked off on March 10, when bid applications were due. While wireless spectrum is a highly technical issue that makes most people's eyes glaze over, it is extremely important to Canada's future prosperity.
With only about 60 per cent of Canadians subscribing to a cellphone service, Canada is well behind the rest of the industrialized world in adopting mobile communications. That means we are missing out on numerous business, educational, entertainment and cultural advances that are happening elsewhere.
In other countries, more workers are experiencing the benefits of being freed from their desks. People are saving time by shopping or banking on their cellphones while taking public transit to and from work. Some are catching up on their television shows by watching episodes on their phones. Lives are also being saved through medical information transmitted over wireless networks.
The government has blamed this lag on the lack of competition in Canada's cellphone market. The upcoming spectrum auction, beginning on May 27, is its effort to correct the problem.
What is spectrum?
Spectrum is a catch-all term for the radio airwaves that many wireless gizmos use to communicate information. Radios use spectrum, as do the rabbit-ear antennas on older television sets. The CBC, for example, is broadcast free to many parts of Canada using a part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Cellphones, of course, also use it.Spectrum is divided into different frequencies and measured in units called hertz.
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http://www.cbc.ca/technology
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Short video:
Ocean Tracking Network: An Introduction
Duration: 02:18, Format: Quicktime
Broadband connection recommended.
(Well, we can tell that intelligence has been elevated to a new level, thanks to the sensor technology, thanks to computers, and thanks to civilization. --Alex Wang)
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Interactive: Canda's median housing cost
BMW Sauber sweeps surprising Canadian Grand Prix
Early race accident caused by Lewis Hamilton takes him and Raikkonen out
Last Updated: Sunday, June 8, 2008
Bootleg booze overwhelms Nunavik communities: leaders
Last Updated: Monday, June 9, 2008 | 10:36 AM ET
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David Colman: Don't use that tone with me
Monday, June 9, 2008 | 08:02 AM ET
By David Colman, a partner with TriOpus Group in Regina
(Listen to the original audio)
Normally when I book hotels, I use the internet. The bad news about using the internet is it is not the 'personal touch' experience that we often crave. The good news is that it's not the 'personal touch' that we often receive!
Recently, I had to book a hotel in Florida directly over the phone, rather than the more reliable, but perhaps less personal, internet approach. The hotel I called in Tampa is part of a major international chain. I was hoping for, and expecting, a warm and courteous reception when I called. What was I thinking?
But the agent's tone and attitude told me that:
- She hated her job (at least at that moment)
- I'd interrupted her daily ritual of watching Oprah
- She was discussing last night's date with a friend or
- I was the least important person in the world to her
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The government's sale of public airwaves, which is likely to result in new cellphone carriers, closed out its second week with more than $3.1 billion raised so far in what is turning out to be a hotly contested auction.
Motorists feeling the pinch after oil prices surge
Last Updated: Saturday, June 7, 2008 | 11:18 AM ET Comments255Recommend123
CBC News
Canadian gas prices rose Saturday morning after oil finished the week at a record high, closing at $138.54 US a barrel.
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Gasoline prices
| City | Cents per litre |
|---|---|
| Vancouver | 141.6 |
| Calgary | 132.9 |
| Winnipeg | 132.9 |
| Toronto | 134.9 |
| Montreal | 140.2 |
| Halifax | 135.6 |
...
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Canadian internet television broadcaster JumpTV Inc. will merge with NeuLion Inc., a U.S. company controlled by Charles Wang, the firms said Monday.
Privately-held NeuLion, which is based in Plainview, N.Y., offers television programming over the internet, along with video streaming technology and other web services.
Toronto-based JumpTV will issue more than 49.5 million common shares, 1.8 million contingent shares, plus five million warrants to the shareholders of NeuLion as part of the merger.
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Privately-held NeuLion, which is based in Plainview, N.Y., offers television programming over the internet, along with video streaming technology and other web services.
Toronto-based JumpTV will issue more than 49.5 million common shares, 1.8 million contingent shares, plus five million warrants to the shareholders of NeuLion as part of the merger.
...
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Wine uncorks challenge to beer as alcohol drink of choice: StatsCan
Last Updated: Monday, June 9, 2008 | 4:01 PM ET
Sports: Matt Stairs - Hockey Coach
Sports
Matt Stairs - Hockey Coach
February 8, 2008 (Runs 6:44)
Turns out baseball is Matt Stairs' second love. First comes hockey, so the Toronto Blue Jay spends his winters coaching a high school team in Bangor, Maine. Tom Harrington reports http://www.cbc.ca/national/blog/video/sports/matt_stairs_hockey_coach.html
铁臂阿童木 (Tetsuwan Atom)
All photos are ©2004 Tezuka Production Co., Ltd. Tokyo, Japan |
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REFERENCE LINKS :
astro-boy.net
astroboy-online.com
tezuka.co.jp
ASTRO BOY now has fans all over the world, and continues to appear in movies, television and video games.
ASTRO BOY's original name was Tetsuwan Atom.
http://www.robothalloffame.org/04inductees/astro_boy.html
Blocking trick: How do I make a link to another webpage?
How do I make a link to another webpage?
- Highlight the text you'd like to turn into a link. If you do not select any text before using the link button, your link will be created but without anything to click on.
- Click the Link button (or hit control+shift+a on your keyboard):
- A pop-up window will appear prompting you for a URL you'd like to link to. Type the URL in the text box. Remember the
http://!
If this link button doesn't appear in your browser, or isn't working for some reason, you can type in the link by hand:
TEXT
Here's an example scenario:
Let's say you want to tell people about some cool website you found, let's call it, www.somecoolwebsite.com. Here's an example of what you might type into your blog:
Hey all. Check outthis! It's a really cool website I found.
In this example, the word "this" would be the link to www.somecoolwebsite.com. That is, it would show up as a blue underlined word on your blog. The key things to note are:
- The "a href" stuff must be enclosed in these kind of brackets
<>. That lets the computer know you're entering HTML and not just typing stuff to be displayed. - The website you want to link to must be in quotes, and must always start with
http://. If you don't have thehttp://, the link probably won't work. - Any text you type after the
>that closes out the bit where you write the website address will be the actual link that shows up on your blog. Thetag lets the computer know that any text afteris just normal text and should not be part of the link. Note: You have to put thein, otherwise the rest of your blog post will be treated as a link, and it will probably cause other weird things to happen that you don't want.
Notes:
- The hyperlink button is only present in Internet Explorer 5.5/Windows and newer, as well as browsers based on Mozilla 1.3 or later(Camino/Firebird/etc.).
- If you are using a Windows browser, there is a keyboard shortcut to do the same thing. Select the text you want to link and then hit ctrl+shift+a.
- For more information on what you can do with links, please see How can I do more with links?
http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=41379
News story: Air Canada to cut 2,000 jobs
20 June, 2008 - Published 13:20 GMT
Air Canada to cut 2,000 jobs
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Air Canada has announced it is cutting 2,000 jobs - eight per cent of its workforce - by the end of this year. Canada's flagship airline blamed the sharp cut in capacity on rising fuel costs. The carrier has also cut some of its routes. This report from Lee Carter:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/witn/2008/06/080620_air_canada.shtml
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