Lock The Quill

We take our mobile studio to Lobby 7 and kibitz with students, while Bill recruits unsuspecting visitors (with mixed results).

MIT Professor Ely Sachs, the pioneer in 3-D printing, then spends time with us in the lab talking about education, learning, and his over two decades developing Guided Discovery - his pedagogy that has been foundational at MIT MechE and beyond, guiding students to encounter the wonders of key scien...

L.S. McKee joins us in the lab to talk about her new collection of poetry, Creature, Wing, Heart, Machine.
Laura and I taught 2.009 together for a few years before she moved down south. Laura was a lecturer in the Writing, Rhetoric, and Professional Communication Program at MIT before moving on to UGA, Athens, where she is Coordinator for Writing Across the Curriculum in the English Department.
https://lsmckee.com/index.ht...

Three alumni stop by the lab to tell the story of how they took a class assignment at 2am, developed it into their senior capstone project, and ultimately founded a medical device company that, six years later, received Class III Premarket Approval from the FDA. Avive is the youngest team to receive such a PMA and their founders were selected for the 2024 Forbes 30 Under 30.
Their Automated External Defibrillator, the Avive Con...

One of my favorite professors, Gilbert Strang, comes by the lab to talk about his time at MIT since 1952. Anyone who knows professor Strang knows him to be one of the best mathematics teachers and a prolific writer with a heart of gold.
Professor Strang retired last spring (2023). His last 18.06 lecture was to a packed standing room of students, staff, faculty, friends, and family. We are privileged to have him visit the lab f...

After President Kornbluth's inauguration, end-of-year projects, finals, commencement, and a long summer break, we've ramped up for a second season. 

A three minute review of the more frivolous moments of season one, and a quick teaser of the soon-to-be-released season two premiere.

Podcast specific:
Podcast Instagram: @lockthequill
Comments or questions: lockthequill@mit.edu

The La...

As campus prepares for inaugural events, MIT's 18th President, Dr. Sally Kornbluth, visits the lab to talk with us about her move from Provost at Duke University in Durham NC to President of MIT. We talk about leadership, the early read on campus, and some thoughts about getting the job done.
We meet Lock the Quill's newest feet on the street, Danny and Dylan, of the Grounds Department, and we close the episode with ...

MIT mechanical engineering professor Sangbae Kim drops by after 2.007 lecture to talk about the virtual / physical divide and his concept of physical intelligence - the  seemingly impenetrable category of subconscious physical tasks and motions that carries so much potential for the future of robotics and physical services.
We talk about his research and his group's shift to the integration of machine learning and model-ba...

Professor Maria Yang comes to the lab to talk about the early years at MIT and Stanford, and her research in design processes. We also chat about the discipline, and she shares the latest scuttlebutt on the Morningside Academy for Design.

We send off another sticker to the March Global Challenge winner, and test Maria's acronym and abbreviation recall skills.  Spoiler: she knows them...really well.

Morningsi...

We first met Kait when she was an undergrad with us at MIT, and now she's back home as Professor Becker with the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
We talk about her experiences with the MIT Glass Lab and Pappalardo Lab, her post-graduate research with Rob Wood at Harvard, and her current projects at MIT.

We also chat about music and hatch a plan to roam the infinite corridor in T. Rex costumes.

So h...

We intercepted Sanjay Sarma before he took off for Logan Airport and meet in building 35 to discuss his book, Grasp - the Science Transforming How We Learn, education, and MIT.
Professor Sarma recently stepped down as MIT Vice President of Open Learning where he led MIT initiatives, such as MITx, edX, OpenCourseware, the Integrated Learning Initiative, and many others.  He is now heading to Malaysia, to take the tiller as Presi...

Alex Slocum comes by the lab before we head out to a talk. We chat about mentors, influential professors, and his early days at the National Bureau of Standards (now NIST). Alex takes us on his journey bouncing between MIT and "the Bureau", finally landing in building 35 at MIT. 
He talks about our sophomore design class, 2.007, a special project at the National Archives, and shares his thoughts on fixing things and m...

MIT alumna and friend of the lab, Lauren Hernley, recounts her path to finding a job with a design consultancy, after encountering some speed-bumps along the way. Hear from Lauren and industry leaders about the importance of experience, real skills, and relationships.
Plus, our first Lock the Quill Global Challenge winner is announced and Scott and Danny try to figure out the Austin ice skating thing.

Thanks to:
...

We have a conversation with Mechanical Engineering Professor Amos Winter and some friends to talk about his experiences at Tufts University and MIT. Professor Winter takes us on an international tour and discusses his projects over the years in underwater vehicles and exploration, his bio-inspired Roboclam work, and a sampling of his current research with his Global Engineering and Research Lab. 
Plus, we settle the meddling is...

Dr. Thorndike-Breeze of the MIT Comparative Media Studies Program at MIT joins us to talk about her journey to MIT, the importance of self-expression in her work, strength and resilience through collaboration and improv, and a few important mentors.

The MIT Press book chapter we reference, from Wikipedia @ 20: Stories of an Incomplete Revolution.

Podcast specific:
Podcast Instagram: @lockthequill
Comments or questi...

We sit down with Peko Hosoi, the Neil and Jane Pappalardo Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT. Join us as Peko talks about her move from west to east to middle to east to west and back to east. She talks about the Kadanov years in Chicago, her first faculty appointment at Harvey Mudd, and her move back to MIT.

Plus, we connect with the winner of last week's "Sounds from the Lab"

Podcast specific:
P...

Professor Steven Leeb drops by the lab to talk about some key moments as an undergraduate and graduate student at MIT. We find ourselves on the topic of 80s nerd movies, but get back to talking about research and MIT magic. 
We test Steve's knowledge of department numbers and present the 2022 Big Nut Award. 
Our first installment of "Sounds from the Lab" goes live. Comment @lockthequill for the chance to take...

Professor Ellen Roche shares her journey to MIT from Galway, and we talk about her cardio-vascular device design and computational modeling research. Ellen gives the thumbs up to The Cranberries and The Coronas, and you'll hear how she does on a quiz. 
We'll then give an old friend a call to hear what's going on across the river. 

Podcast specific:
Podcast Instagram: @lockthequill
Comments or questions: lo...

We're a group of shop nerds at MIT's Department of Mechanical Engineering Pappalardo Lab  - machinists, engineers, scientists, & designers - and are sitting down with (sometimes standing or chasing) colleagues, students, and alumni to share their stories and chitter-chatter about research, life, and the campus scuttlebutt.  

Podcast specific:
Podcast Instagram: @lockthequill
Comments or questions: lockthequill@...