MIT Technology and Policy Program

Daniel Xue | MIT Grad Blog Original Article: MIT Grad Blog Part 1: Greed I am easily MIT’s biggest free food fiend. Of course, everyone here loves free food and the Institute always has plenty to give out if you know the right places to look (spoiler alert: usually not the free food mailing lists). […]

Chris Colcord SM ’25, one of two recipients of this year’s TPP Thesis Award, is going to work at EDF’s Innovation Lab, where he’ll bridge engineering, policy, and economics to advance industrial climate solutions.

Ananda Santos Figueiredo ’25 joins TPP in the fall!

IDSS and TPP celebrated the 2025 graduates during the School of Engineering and Schwarzman College of Computing Advanced Degree Ceremony on Wednesday, May 28, 2025. TPP awarded 22 Master of Science degrees.

A team co-led by TPP alum Danielle Wood ’04, SM ’08, PhD ’12 with members including TPP/AeroAstro alum Miles Lifson SM ’20, PhD ’24. created a system called the Space Sustainability Rating (SSR) to help address the growing issues around space debris.

The 2024 MIT Policy Hackathon empowered participants with the data and methods to collaboratively tackle challenges in healthcare, climate resilience, and more.

The MIT-GE Vernova Energy and Climate Alliance will fund three master’s student projects in MIT’s Technology and Policy Program.

Project co-founded with TPP graduate Lihui Zhang SM ’21 works to create a “symbol of unity that promotes global representation in space.”

TPP alum Sarah Fletcher SM ’12, PhD ’18 focuses on the challenge of water insecurity.

Professors Maria Yang and IDSS faculty Kenneth Oye are honored as “Committed to Caring” for their mentorship of graduate students.

This January, TPP students Shreeya Parekh and Nicola Lawford designed and taught the cybersecurity workshop Ciberseguridad Sin Barreras: Protecting Every Byte and Right at Universidad Panamericana in Mexico City as a part of the MISTI Mexico program.

Current TPP student Kevin Lin Yang spent last summer at the World Wildlife Fund assessing the feasibility of current biodiversity policies, as well as their compatibility with existing climate policy goals.

This year’s IDSS student-run MIT Policy Hackathon challenged teams to help the Commonwealth mitigate the impacts of flooding on low-income communities.

IDSS researchers including TPP alum Ben Lewis SM ’24 in the MIT Initiative on Combatting Systemic Racism are building an open data repository to advance research on racial inequity in domains like policing, housing, and health care.

In a study published in Joule, Professor Olivetti along with recent graduates Basuhi Ravi PhD ’23 and TPP alum Karan Bhuwalka SM ’21, PhD ’24 examine the case of nickel, which is an essential element for some electric vehicle batteries and parts of some solar panels and wind turbines.

Before coming to TPP, Anthony Valiaveedu spent a few years at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission where he worked on AI safety. One of his older papers was recently released on applying neural networks for predicting Critical Heat Flux.

Nirmal Bhatt, a dual MS candidate at MIT, has a strong background in energy systems, beginning with his work on solar and storage technologies during his mechanical engineering studies.

Homes in the South and Southwest of the U.S. could use more aid for energy costs, due to a growing need for air conditioning in a warming climate says study co-authored by IDSS faculty Christopher Knittel and recent TPP graduate Peter Heller SM ’24.

TPP alum Jesse Jenkins SM ’14, PhD ’18 listed as one of Time’s most influential people of 2024.

TPP alumna Danielle Wood ’04, SM ’08, PhD ’12 on MIT research team identifying facility-level factors that could worsen heat impacts for incarcerated people.

TPPers Estelle Martin and Jazmin Muciño, as part of MIT’s D-Lab’s Energy in Global Development class, traveled to Ghana to address the problem of invasive aquatic weeds in the Volta River by converting them into charcoal briquettes for local use.

Funded by TPP, Maria Garcia-Garcia ’24 participated in the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress (CSPC) Presidential Fellows Program, which aims to cultivate civic-minded leaders through virtual workshops on topics like foreign policy and Supreme Court cases, culminating in a policy analysis paper and a conference in Washington D.C.

Current TPPer Adam Ali’s recent internship at Shell Techworks involved projects on carbon capture technology, drilling electrification, and maritime policy analysis, enhancing his skills in systems thinking, techno-economic analysis, and policy evaluation while aligning with his current research and future goals in the energy sector.

The Technology, Data, and Policy Conference at MIT, hosted by the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS) and the Technology and Policy Program (TPP), showcased the intersection of cutting-edge research and public policy.

Ortiz is an internationally recognized researcher in biotechnology and biomaterials, advanced and additive manufacturing, and sustainable and socially-directed materials design.

VEIR, founded by TPP alum Tim Heidel ’05, MNG ’06, SM ’09, PD ’10, PhD ’10, has developed a transmission line that can move more power over long distances using the same footprint as traditional lines.

TPP alum Emily Calandrelli SM ’13 will be heading to space with Blue Origin.

Ben Lewis SM ’24 received the Collier Medal for his service and impact in local communities, particularly his advocacy of prevention centers and other often stigmatized harm reduction tactics.

Kailin Graham’s SM ’24 award-winning thesis explores whose jobs are most likely to be impacted by the energy transition away from fossil fuels.

TPP alum Anna Waldman-Brown ’11, SM ’18, PhD ’23 is elected to MIT Corporation.

IDSS and TPP celebrated the 2024 graduates during the School of Engineering and Schwarzman College of Computing Advanced Degree Ceremony on Wednesday, May 29, 2024. TPP awarded 37 Master of Science degrees.

Last summer, TPP student Dansil Green interned with the Aerospace Corporation’s Center for Space Policy and Strategy in Washington, DC.

TPP student Pragya Neupane, whose research uses Natural Language Processing to analyze healthcare literature, advises a group for Nepali Women+ in Computing at the world’s largest minorities-in-tech conference.

TPP student Graham Turk’s research shows how electricity rate design is not a zero-sum game. Smart electricity rates can reduce the need for costly grid upgrades while encouraging electrification and protecting households that can’t yet afford a heat pump or electric car.

A new map shows which U.S. counties have the highest concentration of jobs that could be affected by the transition to renewable energy. The work was developed by TPP alum Kailin Graham and Chris Knittel.

Through research combining drug policy, race, and criminal justice – and through advocacy and community action – TPP student Ben Lewis champions harm reduction.

TPP student Chelsea Conard models threats to cyber systems where data privacy and sensitivity are high, seeking comprehensive insights and benchmarks through close collaboration with the Federal Reserve and industry partners.

New paper co-authored by TPP graduate student Michael Giovanniello shows how policymakers could encourage the nascent clean hydrogen industry without indirectly increasing its carbon emissions.