Friday, October 10, 2025
Symposium
8:00 am – 5:30 pm | Kresge Auditorium (W16)
A full day of talks and discussions featuring distinguished leaders, faculty, researchers, and collaborators in the TPP community and beyond will examine the past, present, and future of technology policy.
7:30 AM
Coffee/tea available
8:00 AM
Welcome: Celebrating 50 Years of Impact: MIT Technology and Policy Program
Christine Ortiz, Director of the MIT Technology and Policy Program (TPP), Associate Director of the MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS), Morris Cohen Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, MIT
Frank Field ’78, SM ’81, PhD ’85, Director of Education, MIT Technology and Policy Program (TPP) and Senior Research Engineer, MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS)
8:15 AM
Convocation
Tiffany Chu ’10, Chief of Staff to Mayor of Boston, Michelle Wu, City of Boston, Massachusetts
8:30 AM
Session 1: Energy Policy in Artificial Worlds: Simulation as Strategy
Daniel Xue TPP ’26 (Introductions)
Tory Clark SM ’15, Partner, Energy and Environmental Economics, Inc. (E3)
Travis Franck SM ’05, PhD ’09, Climate Modeling and Policy Director at the Climate Policy Lab; Assistant Research Professor, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University
Bethany Patten MBA ’13, Executive Director of the MIT Climate Policy Center
Nestor Sepulveda SM ’16, PD ’20, PhD ’20, Advanced Energy Investments, Google
Erin Smith SM ’21, Clean Grid Director, Environmental League of Massachusetts
Graham Turk SM ’24, Regulatory Program Manager at Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (Moderator)
9:30 AM
Session 2: Reimagining Global Environmental Governance: Technology as Catalyst
Ruby Aidun TPP ’26 (Introductions)
Robert Chen ’76, SM ’82, Director Emeritus and Senior Research Scientist (retired), Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia Climate School, Columbia University
Christi Electris SM ‘ 07, Executive Director, Senior Fellows, and co-founder of Croatan Institute (Moderator)
Michael Gillenwater SM ’96, Cofounder & Executive Director, Greenhouse Gas Institute
Catherine Wolfram PhD ’96, William Barton Rogers Professor in Energy and a Professor of Applied Economics at the MIT Sloan School of Management
10:30 AM
Break
10:45 AM
Session 3: Governing the Machine: Aspiration as Architecture
Fischer Argosino TPP ’26 (Introductions)
Keynote: David Clark EE ’68, SM ’68, PhD ’73, Senior Research Scientist, MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL)
Nathaniel Fruchter SM ’18, Staff Engineer, Google Security & Privacy
Marzyeh Ghassemi PD ’17, PhD ’17, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, MIT
Francisco Martin-Martinez PD ’14, Senior Lecturer in Natural Sciences and Computational Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and an affiliate member of the King’s Institute for AI (Moderator)
Cecilia Testart SM ’16, PD ’21, PhD ’21, Assistant Professor in the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy and the School of Computer Science at the Georgia Institute of Technology
11:45 AM
Session 4: The Future of Technology Policy as a Domain of Scholarship
Alicia Ouyang ’19, TPP ’26 (Introductions)
Sunand Bhattacharya, Associate Vice Provost, Design and Innovation Strategies, Boston College
Erica Fuchs ’99, SM ’03, PD ’06, PhD ’06, Kavčić-Moura Professor, Department of Engineering and Public Policy and Heinz College (by courtesy); Director, Critical Technology Initiative, Carnegie Mellon University
Babak Heydari, Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering; Co-Program Director of the Master of Science in Engineering Management program; Director of the Multi-AGent Intelligent Complex Systems (MAGICS) Lab, and affiliate faculty at the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs and the Network Science Institute, Northeastern University
Andrew Jones ’10, SM ’14, PhD ’18, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University (Moderator)
12:30 PM
Lunch
1:15 PM
Ceremony Honoring TPP Leadership by Technology and Policy Student Society
Richard de Neufville ’60, SM ’61, PhD ’65, Founding Director, MIT Technology and Policy Program (TPP), Professor of Institute for Data, Systems and Society (IDSS)
Nicholas Ashford, Professor of Technology & Policy
Fotini Christia, Ford International Professor of the Social Sciences in the Department of Political Science and Director, MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society
Munther Dahleh, William A. Coolidge Professor in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) and Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS), MIT; Former Director, IDSS
Frank Field ’78, SM ’81, PhD ’85, Director of Education, MIT Technology and Policy Program (TPP) and Senior Research Engineer, Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS)
Daniel Hastings SM ’78, PhD ’80, Former MIT Technology and Policy Program (TPP) Director; Cecil and Ida Green Education Professor Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT (in absentia)
David H. Marks, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering Systems, Emeritus
Dava Newman SM ’89, PhD ’92, Apollo Program Professor of Astronautics, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Institute for Data, Systems, and Society, Harvard-MIT Health, Sciences, and Technology, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Former Director, MIT Media Laboratory and MIT Technology and Policy Program (TPP)
Noelle Selin, Former Director, MIT Technology and Policy Program (TPP), Professor in the Institute for Data, Systems and Society (IDSS) and the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS), MIT (in absentia); Director, Center for Sustainability Science and Strategy
Tom Sheriden, Professor, Emeritus, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Psychology, MIT (in absentia)
Marvin Sirbu, Professor Emeritus, Engineering and Public Policy, Industrial Administration, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University (in absentia)
Richard Tabors, Executive Vice President, NewGrid and Chairman, PowerIntel; Former Senior Lecturer, MIT Technology and Policy Program (TPP); Former Associate Director, MIT Laboratory for Electromagnetic and Electronic Systems (LEES)
2:00 PM
Session 5: Redefining Security Policy: Trust as Infrastructure
Samuel Wu TPP ’27 (Introductions)
Keynote: Eric D. Evans, Director Emeritus, MIT Lincoln Laboratory; Professor of the Practice, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and Senior Fellow, Security Studies Program, MIT
The Honorable Jane Harman, Former U.S. Representative for California’s 36th Congressional District
David Luzzi, Senior Vice Provost for Research and Vice President of the Innovation Campus at Burlington, MA (ICBM) at Northeastern University, Chairman of the Board; George J. Kostas Research Institute for Homeland Security at Northeastern University, Professor, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Northeastern University (Moderator)
Dava Newman SM ’89, PhD ’92, Apollo Program Professor of Astronautics, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Institute for Data, Systems, and Society, Harvard-MIT Health, Sciences, and Technology, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Former Director, MIT Media Laboratory and MIT Technology and Policy Program
2:45 PM
Break
3:00 PM
Special Address
Christine Ortiz, Director of the MIT Technology and Policy Program (TPP), Associate Director of the MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS), Morris Cohen Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, MIT (Introduction)
The Honorable Senator Edward J. Markey, United States Senator for Massachusetts
3:30 PM
Session 6: Materials, Manufacturing, Econeutral Prosperity: Design as Directive
Eli Duggan TPP ’26 (Introductions)
Karan Bhuwalka SM ’21, PhD ’24, Research Scientist at Precourt Institute for Energy, Stanford University
Lily Fitzgerald SM ’19, Director, Center for Advanced Manufacturing, Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (Moderator)
Pedro Lerner SM ’97, Grupo UNACEM
Elsa Olivetti PD ’07, PhD ’07, PD ’08, Jerry McAfee (1940) Professor in Engineering, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, MIT
4:15 PM
Session 7: The Future of the Research University and The Role of Technology Policy: Pedagogy as Leadership
Megan Finnigan TPP ’26 (Introductions)
Munther Dahleh, William A. Coolidge Professor in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) and Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS), MIT; Former Director, MIT Institute for Data Systems and Society
Ceasar McDowell, Professor of Practice of Civic Design, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, MIT
Ken Oye, Professor Emeritus, Department of Political Science, Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS), MIT
Ellan Spero PD ’14, PhD ’14, Instructor, MIT Technology and Policy Program (TPP), Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS), and Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE), MIT (Moderator)
5:00 PM
Special Announcement
Marie Floryan SM ’22, President, MIT Science Policy Initiative (Introduction)
Maria Zuber, MIT Presidential Advisor for Science and Technology Policy; E.A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics, Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, MIT
5:10 PM
Closing
Frank Field ’78, SM ’81, PhD ’85, Director of Education, MIT Technology and Policy Program (TPP) and Senior Research Engineer, MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS)
Christine Ortiz, Director of the MIT Technology and Policy Program (TPP), Associate Director of the MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS), Morris Cohen Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, MIT
Celebration Reception
6:00 pm – 8:30 pm | Morss Hall (50)
Reception: Celebrating MIT Technology and Policy Program-50-Year History