Dava Newman SM ’89, SM ’89, PhD ’92, MIT professor of aeronautics and astronautics whose innovative work has advanced human performance in space in order to reach interplanetary, has been named the new director of MIT Media Lab, efficient July 1, 2021.
“Leading the legendary Media Lab is a dream for me and I can’t wait to help myself write the next chapter of this unique creative, impactful, compassionate community,” says Newman. He is currently a professor of Apollo Astronautics in the MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a faculty member in the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Science and Technology.
Newman brings a bold interdisciplinary perspective to a laboratory renowned for its free approach to technological innovation. His work has integrated engineering, design and biomedical research to better understand and facilitate human adaptation to lightweight environments. His career interests also include innovation and access to education, climate change, the performing arts and science and technology policy.
Newman’s unusually wide range of interests combined with disciplinary expertise and talent for invention match the Media Lab’s approach of combining diverse perspectives to build more productive, equitable and satisfying societies.
“I truly see the MIT Media Lab as the best place in the world to bring science, engineering, art and design together to creatively meet the huge challenges facing humanity,” says Newman. “The magic of the Media Lab – which I hope to help – is to provide a reliable, open and stimulating space in which each person can contribute with extraordinary expertise, while being stretched beyond the comfort zone to collectively imagine a better and bolder future. “
The selection was announced today in a letter to the Dean Hashim Sarkis School of Architecture and Planning community.
“In a field of outstanding candidates, Professor Newman has distinguished himself through his pioneering research, wide range of multidisciplinary commitments, and exemplary leadership,” Sarkis wrote. “He is a designer, thinker, creator, engineer, educator, mentor, convener, communicator, futurist, humanist and, most importantly, optimistic.”
Media Lab conducted an extensive worldwide search for a new director, eventually identifying 60 candidates, 13 of whom were interviewed by the search committee.
“We haven’t lost the irony that the global research culminated in the selection of a member of the MIT community,” said Pattie Maes, professor of arts and media science and chair of the search committee.
“But Dava has emerged as an exceptional and interesting candidate, whose interest in how science, design and technology can intersect in truly new ways aligns well with the lab’s core mission, as does its infectious optimism.” playful attitude, to make and fearless approach to big and challenging problems.
“I am particularly pleased with her personal passion for promoting climate research, education and the arts, which are all areas that Media Lab hopes to strengthen in the coming years,” added Maes, who also chairs the five-member executive committee. led Media Lab since the resignation of former director Joi Ito 15 months ago.
Newman has been a principal investigator in four space missions, developing new experiments and techniques for measuring the dynamics of astronaut activity on the space shuttle, the Mir space station, and the International Space Station. She developed four advanced suit concepts for intravehicular and extravehicular activity in space and paved a new path in studying astronaut motion control.
Among his innovations, Newman is well-known for developing the 2007 BioSuit TIME Best Invention, which is a supple space suit with a “second skin” that would allow astronauts more flexibility, while providing the pressure needed to function well in a lightweight environment. First designed – and still intended – for future exploration of the Moon and Mars, Newman’s BioSuit research has generated another potential application as a support device for people with long-term medical challenges.
In addition to its technical applications, the striking BioSuit design has also been exhibited at the Venice Biennale, the American Museum of Natural History, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
In addition to his distinct intellectual interests, Newman brings an important leadership portfolio to the position of director. Nominated by President Obama, she served as Deputy Administrator of NASA from 2015-2017, the first female engineer in this high-ranking role and helped develop the Human Journey to Mars plan. Newman also directed the MIT Technology and Policy Program from 2003 to 2015 and was director of the MIT Portugal program from 2011 to 2015 and from 2017 to the present. A longtime advocate for STEM education and for women in science and engineering, Newman is also co-chair of a committee of the National Academies of Biological and Physical Sciences and serves on several nonprofit and nonprofit boards.
Newman earned a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Notre Dame in 1986, a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from MIT in 1989, a master’s degree in technology and policy from MIT in 1989, and a doctorate in aerospace biomedical engineering from MIT in 1992; she was also elected to the MIT Corporation as a graduate member that year. After a year of college at the University of Houston, she joined MIT in 1993 and has been a member of the faculty ever since.
Among the distinctions awarded by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), the Explorers Club, and numerous other organizations, Newman has received the NASA Distinguished Service Medal and is a member of the AIAA. In 2000, she was named a Margaret MacVicar Fellow, a 10-year MIT chair awarded for excellence in university teaching and innovation in education. Newman also served as head of household from 2005 to 2015 at Baker House, a licensed residence.
From Newman’s time at NASA, she says, “It’s been an incredible honor to serve and lead, with a portfolio of exploration, science, technology and innovation. It was also a great opportunity to work closely with the White House, Congress, various government agencies and international partners, all offering invaluable lessons on how to balance the cultivation of individual talents and personalities with the development of collective vision and mission to achieve. big things on a national and global scale. Newman also stressed the importance of diversity among innovators: “It is an absolute priority for academia, government, industry and the arts to make a dramatic change at sea. I am thinking of diversity, inclusion, innovation and expression working together to achieve our goals of dynamic equity and radical reinvention. “
Since its inception in 1985, Media Lab has promoted an interdisciplinary culture to create technologies and experiences that enable people to understand and transform their lives, communities and environments. It combines a broad research agenda and a higher education program in arts and media sciences. The lab has 22 research groups including robotics, smart prostheses, cognitive enhancements, innovative learning, music and more. Laboratory researchers have developed Scratch, a programming language used by about 50 million children worldwide, as well as an influential technology that has exposed racial prejudice in facial recognition systems and pioneered research areas such as laptops, tangible interfaces. and affective calculation. Currently, the Media Lab community includes approximately 400 teachers, researchers, students and staff.
Globally, Media Lab’s coverage has been expanded by more than 100 companies founded by the Media Lab faculty, graduates and research staff. There are also over 100 Media Lab graduates who have continued to hold college positions at top institutions around the world.
“I’m going to start by listening and learning a lot,” says Newman. “I like meeting people where they are and encouraging them to put all their great ideas on the table. I think this is the best way to move forward, working with the whole community – faculty, students and staff – to achieve everyone’s creativity. I can’t wait to get started. There are so many interesting, important things to do … together. “