Angel Island - MIT Club of Northern California

MIT CLUB
THE REGIONAL ALUMNI NEWSLETTER OF THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
http://www.mitcnc.org
of NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
Summer - 2008
Bringing Down the House with
Jeff Ma
Save the Date
MITCNC Spotlight
How do you beat the odds in Vegas?
featuring
Nicholas Negroponte
That question was on the minds of more than 70 attendees on Tuesday, May 6th, who gathered at the Orrick offices in San Francisco
to hear about Jeff Ma’s experience with the MIT Blackjack Club.
Jeff Ma, a ’94 course 2 (Mechanical Engineering) alum, rose to
fame after the book Bringing Down the House – which tells the
story of six MIT kids who won millions in Las Vegas by counting cards – became a national bestseller. The book, in which the
protagonist was based on Jeff, has recently been converted into the
smash hit movie “21,” starring Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, and
Kevin Spacey. “21” recently opened as the number one box office
draw in US theatres.
Jeff shared a number of stories that were not in the book, and he
had quite a few funny anecdotes about various celebrities and athletes that he had played Blackjack with. He recounted his experience hanging out with Kate Bosworth and Laurence Fishborne
while promoting the movie, and how even the star power of Kate
Bosworth could not prevent him from being asked by security to
kindly step away from the Blackjack tables at the Playboy Club.
Jeff reiterated that winning at Blackjack is all about numbers and
reminded everyone that card counting is not illegal (although naturally it is frowned upon in Las Vegas). He also learned many lessons from his card-counting days that are applicable to real-life.
(cont. See Page 5)
October 13, 2008
Reception beginning at 6pm
for more info visit
www.mitcnc.org
Professor Nicholas Negroponte
Co-founder MIT Media Lab, Founder and Chairman, One Laptop Per Child Foundation
MITCNC 100th Birthday Event:
June 15th - Angel Island
Your MIT Club of Northern California is turning 100 years old!
Sunday, June 15th 11 AM – 4 PM, lunch provided
Angel Island
Join us for some summer fun in the sun on Angel Island (http://
www.angelisland.org/). Rest, relaxation, and fun with fellow
alums are the orders of the day, with biking, hiking, and many
other activities available in this well-kept scenic park.
Friends and family members are welcome, and lunch is on us!
Bring those frisbees and volleyballs too!
This event is capped at 100 attendees, so hurry up and visit our
website to pre-register online:
http://www.mitcnc.org/Events_Single.asp?eventID=1418
(cont. See Page 7)
Also In This issue:
MITCNC Hiking and Cycling
2
Sacramento Area Events
4
MIT On the Road
4
Science And Technology
5
Semiconductor/ Entrepreneurship 7
Video Archive Info.
7
3C’s Program Event
11
Jeff Ma ‘94
Celebrating
100 Years
11th Annual Cycling Trip to Tiburon:
Upcoming Event September 27, 2008
Alcatraz by Pier 41
11:00 AM - Route Orientation/Waivers 11:30 AM prompt depature. Contact Ken Fujimoto ‘88 email: knfemail-bike@yahoo.
com
Ride one of the most beautiful routes in the country and have intelligent conversation (it can’t be helped) along the way. But wait
- there’s more... Food! We setup the schedule to have a leisurely
lunch at Sam’s, a true Bay Area institution. And it’s as easy as
riding a bike.
Join us for the 11th Annual MITCNC bike trip for both the dedicated and the leisurely type bike riders. The route is about 15
miles. We’ll be starting at Pier 41, going through Aquatic Park,
Fort Mason, Presidio Park, over the Golden Gate Bridge, downtown Sausalito and then near the water all the way to Tiburon. Just Top: Mt. Tam Hike. Below: 10th Annual Tiburan Cycling trip.
about everyone should arrive in Tiburon by 2:30 leaving time for
a leisurely lunch (self-hosted) on the patio at Sam’s before taking
Upcoming MITCNC Hiking Events:
the 4:40 ferry back to Pier 41. The ferry ticket for adults is $9.00,
for children $5.00.
June 15, 2008, 9:15 AM **SHARP** -- Angel Island (SF Bay)
- 6 miles, 800’ elevation
To accommodate bikers of various skill levels, there will be two
groups composed of “weekend warriors” and “recreational” bik- Held in conjunction with our 100th Anniversary Event. Register
ers. Please indicate with your RSVP if you are interested in the for the event at www.mitcnc.org and stop by after the hike.
“advanced” group who plan to go up through Corte Madera, LarkIt’s not just a hike, it’s an adventure. We missed this trip last
spur and Kentfield.
year, but we take a ferry to Angel Island - the large island in the
For those who don’t have bikes, you can rent bikes and helmets at
the Blazing Saddles store at Pier 41. Their phone number is (415)
202-8888 and their web page is http://www.bikethebridge.com.
The bike rentals run around $28-$48 day depending on what type
of bike you want. Relatively inexpensive parking in the area can
be found at Pier 29, and Green and Embarcadero.
The MIT Club of Northern California and organizers do not assume any responsibility for any personal injuries or property damage suffered during this event. Cycling is a sport that has inherent
risks. Each participant is entirely responsible for being aware of
these risks and taking necessary precautions.
Every cyclist must wear a helmet. The following items will be
useful during the bike ride: water bottles, sun block, snack food,
money to spend along the way (e.g., at restaurants), sweater (to
wear on the ferry ride back).
2 Summer 2008
Bay near Tiburon. The top of Mount Livermore has 360 degree
views, probably the best anywhere in the Bay Area, and there are
a lot of historically interesting sites on the island as well.
July 20, 2008, 11 AM -- Alamere Falls (Marin) - 8.6 mi, 500’
elevation, 4.5 hours
Coastal breezes keep use cool while we hike to a rare 40’ ocean
bluff waterfall. Spectacular ocean scenery throughout.
August 17, 2008 11 AM -- Steep Ravine to Stinson Beach (North
Bay) - 8 Miles, 1500’, 6 hours
The annual pilgrimage to Jim Reich’s personal favorite site. It’s
a bit steep (the trail actually goes up a ladder at one point), but
the trees and water are spectacular, and lunch on Stinson beach
is very pleasant too.
For more information visit Jim Reich’s webpage:
http://mithikes.n3.net/
where details on each upcoming hike are available 1 week prior
to each event.
Celebrating
100 Years
President’s Message
New Officers
We are pleased to welcome two new officers to the leadership team:
Shuja Keen ’99 and John Velasco ’05. Shuja is our newly created Director – Angel Investments. Shuja has been managing our
partnership with Keiretsu Forum and is looking to build the community of MIT entrepreneurs and angel investors in the Bay Area.
John currently already serves MIT as VP for the Class of 2005
and as class representative for MIT10. As Director – Sacramento Area Events, John will be building on the efforts of Anthony Pelosi ‘01 to organize more great events in the Capitol area.
IT Project
I’m happy to report news on a project to enhance the club’s IT
system, as we have signed a contract with Kintera as the platform for our new system. The genesis of this project precedes
my term as President, as we began down this path over a year
ago when Catherine Calarco G’06, Ben Matteo, and a core IT
project team began the heavy lifting. The deficiencies in our
current IT system are felt most acutely by officers and event organizers; however, we hope you will all notice improvements
when you visit our website after the new system goes live.
-tion. I cannot overstate the perseverance and patience exhib-ited by
the IT team during this process, to say nothing of thecountless volunteer hours they have invested. The IT team, led by Catherine Calarco, includes Ed Tau ‘95, Javed Samuel ‘04, and Dick Clayton ‘62.
We now are moving on to the implementation stage, with Javed Samuel and Monika Gorkani leading the way. We are still
mapping out the time-line for when we will migrate to the new
system, but our intention is have the new website functional during the summer. If you are interested in joining the effort, please contact Javed ([email protected]) or Monika
([email protected]). We are specifically looking for one
person to lead the web design part of the project and another person to define processes for managing the new web site. This is
an exciting time for the club, so please join us on this key effort.
Volunteer Spotlight
I would like to take this opportunity to express thanks to all of
our volunteers who organize events, lead programs, and support internal club operations to make our club so successful.
I would also like to highlight and thank two of our officers who
have made special contributions to the club. (There is a long
list of such contributors, so we have plenty of material for future
newsletters!) Please join me in thanking Ben Matteo ’96 and Bill
Reenstra ’72. You will all recognize Ben, as he is our Immediate Past President, and Bill’s name may be familiar to many of
This project has involved extensive internal team discussions, you as well. What you may be less familiar with are some of the
coordination with and support from the MIT Alumni Associa- specific ways in which they have helped make the club a success.
tion in Cambridge, consultation with our Executive Committee,
- Nelson Lin G ‘91 MITCNC President
and drawn-out contract negotiations to arrive at the final soluThank You Ben!
Thank You Bill!
Ben Matteo ’97
Ben began his service to the club in 1999. He moved quickly from
organizing individual events to serving as program director for the
Growing Companies Lecture Series, and then assumed co-leadership
of the entire Entrepreneurship program as VP of Business Events.
He served as Executive Vice President from 2004-2005, President
from 2005-2007, and currently serves on the Board of Directors.
Bill Reenstra ’72
Bill’s service to MIT and MIT alumni predates his joining the
MITCNC. Prior to his return to the Bay Area in 2005, Bill
served on the Board of Directors of the MIT Club of the Delaware Valley for nine years and as President for two years. He
has since served as our VP of East Bay Events and Faculty
Speaker Series, and he is also an officer of the Class of ’72.
Throughout his time with the club, Ben demonstrated a talent for
recruiting and mentoring new volunteers and an eagerness to lead
new initiatives to improve club operations and to extend the scope
of club activities. Along with Sramana Mitra G’95, Ben rejuvenated the Entrepreneurship program, organizing the group into a
cohesive series of successful programs with an army of volunteers.
Bill has made great efforts to bring a variety of events to our East
Bay alums: social events, evening lecture events featuring luminaries such as Nobel Laureate Prof. George Smoot, and many
other activities. Bill has also spearheaded the Faculty Speaker
Series, in which the club brings MIT faculty to the Bay Area to
audiences. This includes formal programs, such as the 100th Anniversary Lecture Series and MIT on the Road, and ad hoc opAs President, Ben helped initiate the project to upgrade our IT portunities when faculty are passing through the Bay Area and
system, a long needed enhancement, and it was with his efforts may be willing to take time to speak with an alumni audience.
that the club incubated the California Clean Tech Open (CCTO),
a state-wide competition that focuses on clean technology and re- Beyond his role within the MITCNC, Bill has taken the initiative
newable energy. The first competition, held in 2006, featured 44 on a nation-wide MIT effort – the Inspirational Teacher Awards
finalists and over $500 thousand worth of prizes awarded. CCTO – which began in 2007. This program was created to recognize
has been enormously successful, generating tremendous public- and honor those teachers who inspire excellence in their students
ity, and establishing itself as a key catalyst for environmental and thereby make a positive difference in the world. Award winsustainability in California. In recognition of the club’s accom- ners are nominated by current MIT students and selected by the
plishments regarding CCTO, MITCNC received the Presiden- MIT Alumni Association. In the inaugural year, 30 teachers natial Citation Award from the MIT Alumni Association in 2007. tionwide were recognized, including three from the Bay Area.
Celebrating
100 Years
3 Summer 2008
MIT On the Road in San Francisco
On the Ides of March, as part of the club’s 100th Anniversary Lecture
Series, the MIT Alumni Association brought “MIT on the Road” to
San Francisco. MIT on the Road is the Alumni Association’s program which brings selected MIT faculty to cities across the country.
A capacity crowd of over 200 attendees converged on the Fairmont Hotel for a full day of faculty lectures in three research areas where MIT faculty are leading the way: on how the brain
learns sequences of behavior, global climate modeling, and
our ability to meet human consumption needs with limited resources. The program also provided ample opportunity for alums to re-connect and to make new acquaintances, with lunch,
breaks and a cocktail reception interspersed throughout the day.
Michale S. Fee from the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences discussed research with songbirds in which single neurons in the
birds’ brains are monitored to identify circuits that perform
key functions of vocal production and learing. Based on these
experiments, Profesor Fee proposed a model for vocal control and learning based on ideas of reinforcement learning.
John C. Marshall from the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences discussed different ways
of modeling climate change and the possibility that anthropogenic forces may trigger abrupt climate change.
John E. Fernandez ‘85 from the School of Architecture discussed the environmental impact of the built environment – particularly urban environments – in terms
of energy and material resource consumption. Professor
Fernandez also discussed options, both in design and technology, which could bring enormous energy and material savings.
Thanks to Lou Alexander and the MIT Alumni Association for making this event possible. Thanks to Lightspeed Venture Partners for
sponsoring the entire 100th Anniversary Faculty Lecture Series.
Sacramento Area Events
Bodies Revealed Event March 8th
Thanks to the initiative shown by Anthony Pelosi ’01, Sacramento area alums gathered on March 8th for what hopefully was the
first of many more events near the state capitol. The day began
with a trip to the Bodies Revealed exhibit, featuring preserved
human bodies and body parts in a variety of dissections and positions, to gain insight and appreciation into the complex biological
human system. Those who were new to cadavers learned a lot
and those who were old hands enjoyed teaching and exploring
further.
After leaving the exhibit the group went to Bucca Di Beppo for a
family style Italian dinner to share experiences from the day and
to learn more about each other. There were 16 in attendance, 11
alumni plus family, including Jim and Joan Shewbridge ’76 who
came all the way down from Oroville and Kimberly Kempadoo
’05 and Kevin Richardson ‘01 who made the trip from San Francisco! The group had a wonderful time and vowed to meet again.
Trip to see the Movie “21”
Following up on the Bodies Revealed exhibit, roughly twenty
alums and guests – including a few recently admitted students
-- gathered for a “21” movie outing. Jeff Ma ‘94, the inspiration
behind the story, was happy to hear that he had a positive affect
on school pride and the decision making process of a few young
aspiring students. Thanks to John Velasco ’05 for organizing this
fun event.
Anthony Pelosi moved to San Francisco in April but plans to stay
active in the Sacramento community. John Velasco ‘05, who did
a great job organizing the “21” outing, has graciously assumed
responsibility for now. To make this role more official, we have
designated John the new Director of Sacramento Area Events.
If you are interested in participating in events in the Sacramento
area please email John at [email protected].
Left: Two generations of MIT alums enjoy MITOR. John Chisholm ‘75 and Elda Chisholm ‘49. Right: Harbo Jensen ‘74, President of the MIT Alumni Association and member of the MITCNC Board of Directors, makes a point during MIT on the Road.
4 Summer 2008
Celebrating
100 Years
Science and Technology Series
Upcoming Event : High Tech High
with Larry Rosenstock
On January 29th alums and friends gathered at Google for a presentation by Dr. Larry Rosenstock, CEO and Founding Principal
of High Tech High, a public charter school in San Diego. Dr.
Rosenstock described a high school where there are no textbooks,
schoolwork is all done by computer, and where the students learn
by working on projects designed by their teachers. Faculty selection is highly selective, as only 2% of teaching applicants are
brought on board. Of note, students themselves are involved
in the selection process. Moreover, many of the teachers have
Ph.D.s and High Tech High has been approved, and has its own,
teacher credentialing program where it offers a Masters in Education.
Graduates of High Tech High have been very successful. Since
its first graduating class in June 2003, all 236 graduates of the
school have been accepted into colleges and universities. High
Tech High students have authored two books on San Diego Bay,
both with forwards by Jane Goodall.
Another aspect of the school is the strong internship and mentoring focus. Students complete internships with local businesses
and non-profit organizations, with over 800 internships having
been completed at roughly 200 organizations. For mentorship,
older students work with and coach younger students, and new
students are mentored as well.
Acceptance to High Tech High is by a lottery, which has resulted
in a diversified student body. The school operates a “village” for
K-12 of three small high schools, two middle schools, and an
elementary school in Point Loma in San Diego. Two other High
Tech High schools have been started in other parts of San Diego
County with the goal of anchoring similar “villages.” The movement is catching on, as High Tech High has received a Gates
Foundation award to establish High Tech Highs in 10 other locations in California.
MITCNC Video Archive
Missed an event? Want to go back and view the video? Thanks
to Hank Magnuski ’73 (Course VI), selected MITCNC events
have been recorded in high-resolution video -- courtesy of
equipment lent by NCast Corporation -- and are archived on
the web.
Over 2,000 viewings have been logged to date!
The archives currently contain video of the following events:
- Dr. Peter Karp “What Do Biofuels and AntiBacterial Drug Discovery Have in Common?
Bioinformatics analysis of metabolic networks” April 10th, 2008
- Nobel Laureate Professor George Smoot dis
cusses “The History and Fate of the Universe.”
Oct 3rd, 2007
- MIT 100th Anniversary Celebration featuring
Professor Pawan Sinha: “Learning to See in
Late Childhood.” Sept 23rd, 2007
- MIT Inspirational Teacher Awards Ceremony.
Sept 23rd, 2007
- Spotlight MIT 2007 featuring Institute Professor
Robert Langer. May 31st 2007
Bringing Down the House (from page 1)
His work with other team members really taught him the value
of teamwork and that setting common goals was vital to their
success.
To access these videos, please go to the following website:
In keeping with the theme of the evening, five copies of the book
Bringing Down the House, autographed by Jeff himself, were
raffled off to those attending the sold-out event.
Thank you, Hank!
http://www.vimeo.com/MITCNC
Special thanks to the Emerging Companies Group at Orrick for
generously sponsoring this event.
Celebrating
100 Years
5 Summer 2008
Semiconductor Entrepreneurship
Series: Energy and the Future
On February 12th, the Semiconductor Entrepreneurship Series
sponsored an event featuring Dr. Amit Kumar, CEO of Combimatrix, who has conducted photovoltaic research at Caltech,
Stanford and Harvard. Dr. Kumar compared and contrasted various energy sources using a very analytical approach, providing
both technical and economic perspectives and presenting a great
overview of the global energy picture. He reviewed the current state of the art as well as some of the technical challenges
related to broad acceptance and use of solar energy. Dr. Kumar
also discussed opportunities for developing technologies, making investments, and developing policy.
The event was sold out and the enthusiastic audience posed several interesting questions. The audience and Dr. Kumar himself
posed several interesting questions.
Dr. Kumar feels that oil prices will continue to trend up in the
future with some fluctuations as in the past decades. He further expects energy usage to double worldwide in 30 to 50 years
from 15TW (Terawatts) to about 30TW. With fossil fuels as a
primary source, cost goes up and carbon emissions increase with
several complications.
Solar energy provides a very viable way to address the whole
energy issue, but several issues such as cost, storage and inverters have to be addressed with technological advances. The ultimate solution may be a combination of solar, hydro, wind and
nuclear (fission and fusion). But, the effort required is bigger
than the Manhattan or Apollo projects to effect serious change.
Opportunities exist in solar in several areas - silicon supply or
other materials, new types of cells, thin films, storage, catalysts
for hydrogen evolution, inverters and electric vehicles.
Dr. Kumar sees plenty of employment opportunities in the Valley and beyond with the push for alternative energy, for both
fresh graduates and experienced professionals.
The MITCNC Semiconductor Entrepreneurship Series would
like to acknowledge the event sponsors for their generous support:
Cooley Godward Kronish, LLP
Doll Capital Management
Dr. Max More
Emerging Technologies: Be
Proactive, not Cautious
On April 29th Dr. Max More presented an interesting philosophical discussion about how we face change, particularly in
regards to technological advances. Dr. More discussed how
people’s freedom to innovate technologically is highly valuable – even critical – to humanity. However, he feels that this
implies a range of responsibilities for those considering whether
and how to develop, deploy, or restrict new technologies.
Among the issues discussed were the need to assess risks and
opportunities using an objective, open, and comprehensive
decision process based on science rather than relying upon collective emotional reaction. Dr. More also emphasized the need
to account for the costs of restrictions and lost opportunities as
fully as direct effects. He favors endeavors that are proportionate to the probability and magnitude of impacts and that have
the highest payoff relative to their costs. Finally, Dr. More
places a high priority on people’s freedom to learn, innovate,
and advance.
The substantial group of attendees gathered around the podium
with Max and the long discussion that ensued even after the
formal event ended was indicative that attendees were truly
engaged by Dr. More’s talk and ideas.
Thanks to Google for hosting and sponsoring this event.
Visit www.MITCNC.org
For More Information
A solar cell, made from a monocrystalline silicon wafer
6 Summer 2008
Celebrating
100 Years
MITCNC Life Sciences Forum: Dr.
Peter Karp on Bioinformatics
On April 10th, the Life Sciences Forum hosted a talk by Dr. Peter
Karp, Director of the Bioinformatics Research Group at SRI International’s Artificial Intelligence Center. Roughly fifty alums,
guests, and students attended the event. Dr. Karp discussed how
bioinformatics can be applied to such disparate topics as drug
discovery and biofuels development.
Having authored more than 90 publications on bioinformatics
and computer science, Dr. Karp is a significant contributor to the
field of bioinformatics. Over the past 15-years Dr. Karp and his
bioinformatics research group have endeavored to develop software and databases for metabolic pathway information. One of
the many products of this research is BioCyc, a collection of 371
Pathway/Genome Databases. Each Pathway/Genome Database
in the BioCyc collection describes the genome and metabolic
pathways of a single organism (with the exception of the MetaCyc database, which is a reference source on metabolic pathways
from many organisms). Within the BioCyc collection are databases that fall under three varying levels of curation, ranging
from computationally-derived databases with no manual curation
to moderately and intensely curated databases.
Among the intensely curated Pathway/Genome Databases is EcoCyc. Dr. Karp highlighted EcoCyc as an exceptional scientific
database for the bacterium Escherichia Coli K-12 MG1655. EcoCyc can be described as a very comprehensive online review article that tracks our evolving knowledge of the E. Coli genome and
E. Coli cellular networks. Through extensive literature-based curation, EcoCyc contains 16,300 citations through a collaborative
effort between Dr. Karp’s group at SRI International and groups
at UCLA, New Mexico, and Australia.
Dr. Karp further elaborated how algorithms and software can be
used to predict the metabolic network of an organism. Behind
BioCyc’s Pathway/Genome Databases is the Pathway Tools software, developed by Dr. Karp and his group. Pathway Tools is
an innovative multiplatform software that allows for the transformation of a genome into a Pathway Tools schema and the
computational creation of a new Pathway/Genome Database.
With the tools of the trade identified, Dr. Karp dove into the
working relationship between bioinformatics and anti-bacterial drug discovery. Evidently, knowledge of metabolic pathways inferred through bioinformatics and predictive software
can be used to identify small molecules that bind and inhibit
crucial pieces of cellular machinery. Identifying the target
site is as important as identifying the small molecule and Dr.
Karp revealed that an ideal target would not have a backup
system and would be essential for growth in a human host.
In a different fashion, knowledge of metabolic pathways is
utilized in Biofuels research to modify input-output properties. Rather than using predictive knowledge of metabolicpathways to eradicate bacteria, this knowledge is used to
leverage or modify the metabolic network to utilize a speci
fied input and to produce a desired output, namely biofuel.
Celebrating
100 Years
Dr. Karp closed his talk with an invitation to visit BioCyc.org,
with database files freely available online. In addition, Pathway Tools software is freely available to non-profit organizations. Video recordings of Dr. Karp’s talk can be found online at:
http://www.vimeo.com/MITCNC
The Life Sciences Forum would like to thank Google for hosting
and sponsoring this event.
Dr. Peter Karp
Angel Island: (cont. from Page 1)
Ticket prices are as follows:
Online registration:
MITCNC members: $5
Non members: $10
Walk-in (space-permitting):
MITCNC members: $10
Non members: $15
For more information please contact:
Daphne Lin ‘04: [email protected]
Abdallah Jabbour ‘04: [email protected]
Thank you to our sponsors!
Platinum, corporate sponsor: The Revere Group (http://www.reveregroup.com)
Bronze : Artists’ Vocal Ensemble (http://www.ave-music.org/)
Bronze : TechShop (http://techshop.ws)
Directions:
-----------------To get to Angel Island, you will need to take the ferry from either
SF, Tiburon, Alameda or Oakland. We recommend the Tiburon
ferry because it’s the fastest and has the most flexible schedule:
1) From SF, take the Blue and Gold ferry from Pier 41. Details at
http://www.blueandgoldfleet.com/Ferry/Angel/index.cfm
2) From Tiburon, the ferry leaves every hour starting 10am. Details at http://angelislandferry.com/modules.php?name=Ferry_Sc
hedule&month=06&year=2008
3) From Alameda and Oakland, you can take the Alameda/Oakland Ferry. Details at http://www.eastbayferry.com/when/angel.
html.
Once you get off the ferry, head towards the Platform Group Picnic Area. This site contains 24 picnic tables and is located near the
front right of Ayala Cove, overlooking the harbor.
7 Summer 2008
MITCNC Membership: Thank you
for your support
Dear Alumni:
On behalf of the entire MIT Club of Northern California, I would
like thank all of our members and volunteers for their generous
support of the MITCNC during our centenary year.
Thanks to all of your support and participation, we have had
a number of fantastic events this past year, and we have many
valuable events slated for the upcoming 2008-2009 year. We
look forward to another great year with your involvement and
enthusiasm. Please be on the lookout for renewal details over
the summer.
Warm Regards,
Manjari C. Bhatia ‘98
VP of Membership & Volunteer Integration
MIT Club of Northern California
[email protected]
The MITCNC would like to thank the generous support of
our Patron Members. Patron Members contributed $100 in
membership fees during the 2007-2008 year.
Mr Nobuo N Akiha
Mr Allen D Ball
Mr Roger J Bamford
Mr Richard W Boberg
Mr Thomas G Burns
Mr Tom Chang
Dr Paul W Chin Jr
Dr Earl T Cohen
Mr David L desJardins
Dr John A Dracup
Mr Bradley A Edelman
Mr Keith M Ferguson
Mr Bert E Forbes
Mr James W Giffin
Mr Arthur A Gleckler
Ms Dong Joo Ha
Mr James J Heeger
Mr Stephen D Hester
Dr Karin Hollerbach
Dr Samuel Holtzman
Mr John W Jarve
Mr. Matthew Philip Jennison
Dr Harbo Peter Jensen
Ms Charlene C Kabcenell
Mr Dirk A Kabcenell
Dr John S Keen
Mr Ronald B Koo
Dr Frederick W Lam
8 Summer 2008
Mr Reynold H Lewke
Dr Nelson P D Lin
Mr Evan D Matteo
Mr Robert A Muh
Dr Mehdi Namazian
Mr. Barry A Newman
Mr Walter C Price Jr
Mr Gerald S Rau
Mr David W. Rice
Dr Albert D Richards
Mr Gerard J Rudisin
Dr Vincent Salmon
Mr Charles M Salter
Mr Chet Sandberg
Mr. Michael P Santullo
Ms Libby Seifel
Mr Howard Shao
Mr Ben H Shih
Ms Megan J Smith
Dr James E Spencer
Ms Joanne E Spetz
Mr Edward F Tau
Mr Harry B Tierney
Dr Paul A Swartz
Mr Augustus O Tai
Dr Robert B Telfer
Dr Chuxin Zhou
Dr Arnold M Zwicky Jr
Manjari C. Bhatia ‘98
The MITCNC would like to thank the generous support
of our Sustaining Members. Sustaining Members contributed $50 in membership fees during the 2007-2008 year.
Mr Sumit Agarwal
Ms Antonella I Alunni
Dr Eric H Anderson
Dr Edward M Barrall II
Mr Michel B Baylocq
Mr Charles H Benet
Mr Douglas B Berman
Mr Ralph R Bestock
Dr Richard A Blanchard
Mr Nathan A Brookwood
Mr Alan B Casamajor
Dr Franklin F K Chen
Dr Chee-Yee Chong
Ms. Christina S Chu
Mr George H Chu
Ms Joyce A Chung
Mr Richard J Clayton
Mr. Thomas Cornely
Mr James R Deasy
Mr Robert D Drescher
Mr Eric Elias
Mr David R Emberson
Mr Jesse D Erickson
Mr Andrew Fillat
Mr Edward E Frey
Dr Inez Y Fung
Mr Terence M Garvey
Mr Keith D Gilbert
Dr Lance A Glasser
Dr Mateo Go Jr
Mr Carl A Gowan
David L Greenspan
Mr Ping-Shun Huang
Dr Malo Andre Hutson
Mr Harold E Jandebeur
Dr Stevan Jovanovich
Mr Kirpal S Khalsa
Dr Edouard Kujawski
Dr Paul J Kuzmenko
Mr Michael W Lardner
Dr Raymond W LaTona
Mr Eugene H Lee
Dr Donald M Levy
Mr Donald S Levy
Mr Mark S Linsky
Ms. Kei-Lee Kelley Liu
Mrs Angeli S Maney
Mr Alan M Marcum
Dr Roger L McCarthy
Mr Nimish Mehta
Mr Peter S Menell
Ms Jane E Mermelstein
Mr Tim Montgomery
Dr William E Murray Jr
Mr Christopher J Neil
Mr Benjamin F Nicholson
Mr Donald W Olechowski
Mr Gerard A Palmeri
Mr Thomas E. Pare Jr
Mr Raymond Pestalozzi
Mr Stephen C Peters
Mr Kirk L Reistroffer
Mr Nicolas Saint-Arnaud
Dr Hiroshi H Saito
Mr Constantine P Sapuntzakis
Mr Brian D. Schumacher
Mr David L Simson
Mr Steven R Sommer
Dr Frederick A Stawitcke
Mr Richard M Tavan
Ms Vandana Upadhyay
Mr. Murali Srinivasan Vajapeyam
Mr Ronald J L Van Veen
Mr Hai Dinh Vo
Mr Brian G Warshawsky
Mr Scott D Williams
Mr Thomas K Wong
Dr Joanne W Yun
Mr L Gene Zellmer
Celebrating
100 Years
MITCNC Presents Leadership
Awards to High School Juniors
MIT10
Thanks to Patricia Cheng ’98 for working with the various teachers and administrators to coordinate this year’s awards.
We also planned a Lunar New Year brunch where more than
40 alums gathered to enjoy dim sum at the Hong Kong Flower
Lounge in Millbrae. Attendees mingled and won cash and prizes in a modified version of “Deal or No Deal” with traditional
“red envelopes” containing various amounts of cash. We are
also bringing back the Dine-Arounds, where group of alums
join together for culinary adventures around the Bay Area.
For the past several years, MITCNC has awarded the MIT Leadership Award to area high school juniors to recognize and encourage outstanding student leaders who have interests in science and
technology. In addition to recognizing deserving students, the
award serves to raise awareness of what MIT has to offer. Recipients receive an engraved clock and a one year subscription to
Technology Review.
This year we are proud to announce the following recipients:
Abhimanyu Belani Parsia Keynejad
H.M. Gunn High Aragon High
San Mateo
Palo Alto
Leeann Saw
San Ramon Valley High
Danville
Tse-Yin “Ingrid” Tu
R.L. Stevenson High
Pebble Beach
Ashley Chou
Saratoga High
Saratoga
Eric Law
Carlmont High
Belmont
Dylan Dullea
Tamalpais High
Mill Valley
Mariam Martirosyan Kartik Venkatraman
Los Altos High
The Harker School
Los Altos
San Jose
Sung Jin Park
Jean Feng
Monta Vista High Lynbrook High
San Jose
Cupertino
Justin His
Palo Alto High
Palo Alto
Be part of MIT10 and volunteer! MIT10 refers to alums
who have graduated within the last 10 years. Our programs are designed for the young (and young at heart) alums. Our most popular events are joint alumni club mixers, held in conjunction with other area alumni clubs.
About 200 Bay Area alums from Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, and MIT mingled with each other at Blue Chalk in
February, and we’ll have another one coming up in June.
If you have program ideas or would like to help lead an event,
please contact Elizabeth Lin ’00 at [email protected].
Albert Wong
Homestead High
Cupertino
Shajee Rizvi
Woodside Priory School
Portola Valley
MIT CLUB OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
John Chisholm, ‘75 Chairman of the Board
Thomas Burns ‘62
John Chisholm ‘75, G’76
Dick Clayton ‘62
Mark Gorenberg ‘78
Karin Hollerbach ‘88
Harbo Jensen ‘74
John Keen G’94
Ronald Koo ‘89
Fred Lam ‘89
Ben Matteo ‘97
Evan Matteo ‘ 94
Roger McCarthy ‘77
Fred Middleton ‘71
Bill Murray ‘67
Consultant, Environmental & Energy
Chairman/CEO of CustomerSat, Inc.
Partner, Sycamore Venture Capital
Partner, Hummer Winblad
Taku Group
Manager, Chevron Corporation
Juniper Networks
Maxim Integrated Products, Inc.
Molecular Diamond Tech
Matteo Industries
Big Tree Properties
Chairman Emeritus, Exponent
Managing Director,
Sanderling Ventures
Compensics
Barry Newman ‘79
Michael Sarfatti ‘76
Elizabeth Seifel ‘78
Joanne Spetz ‘90
Gus Tai ‘91
Edward F. Tau ‘95
NeoCarta Ventures
HIA Consulting
President, Seifel Consulting, Inc.
Professor, UCSF
Trinity Ventures
LinkedIn
(H) Paul Cook ‘48
(H) Christian Matthew ‘43
(H) Denman McNear ‘48
(H) Bob Muh ‘59
(H) Paul Shepard ‘53
(H) David Weitz ‘87
Agile TV Corp
CEO, Sutter Securities
Land Manager, Cargill Salt
VP Intellectual Property, Syrrs, Inc.
(H) Honorary Board Member
Celebrating
100 Years
9 Summer 2008
Chinatown Computer Help Day
At 9AM on the morning of March 29th there were already three
people waiting at the door of Help for the Elderly Technology
Information and Empowerment (TIE) Center (www.www.selfhelpelderly.org/) in San Francisco’s Chinatown, waiting for the doors
to open at 10AM. They brought their old computer CPU’s and
laptops to the first Chinatown Computer Help Day where certified
ReliaTech technicians (www.Reliatech.org) and SF Connect volunteers (www.SFConnect) diagnosed their problems and helped
them get their computers running again.
be able to find confidential health information online, search for
housing, read their hometown newspapers, email their families
and view videos of their grandkids.
Additionally, ten severe hardware issues and four OS corruption
problems were referred to the ReliaTech store with offers of discount on services
These free, public events are increasing Internet use in low income
communities by providing information, training and technical support directly to the people who need the help.
Emy Tseng’01 works with community groups, local businesses
By 11AM, there were more than 100 people in the Center, waiting and government agencies to bridge the digital divide in San Franfor repairs, receiving one-on-one computer training or learning cisco.
from one of the workshops on Interent Safety and Security, how
to make phone calls using Skype or how to purchase a low-cost
computer.
Many of the people at the event were recent immigrants or monolingual Mandarin or Cantonese speakers. Fifteen enthusiastic
young volunteers helped to translate the technical language - both
into the participant’s native language and to help make the terms
easier to understand.
In four hours, 52 computer problems had been diagnosed, explained and, often, repaired. Six ReliaTech Technicians and SF
Connect volunteers such as MIT alumnus Kenneth Fujimoto, ‘88,
were able to provide RAM upgrade; install Wireless NIC (WiFi);
fix software and Internet issues; and remove viruses. 52 people
Volunteers help fix computers
left the event and joined the online community - now 52 people
will
MIT CLUB OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA LEADERSHIP
OFFICE
NAME
President
Treasurer
Secretary
Sloan CNC President
AMITA Liaison
Immediate Past President
VP - Membership & Volunteer Integration
Director - Volunteer Integration
Executive VP
Director - Sponsorship
Director - MSB Nanotech Forum
Director - Career Development
Director - Life Sciences Forum
Director - Science Lecture Series
Director - IT Inplementation
VP - Social Communities
Director - Sports and Recreation
Director - MIT10
VP - Entrepreneurship
Director - Entrepreneurship Mentoring Program
Director - Convergence, Community and Commerce
Director - BoomerTech
Director - Renewable Energy & Clean Tech
Director - Semiconductor Entrepreneurship
Director - Angel Investments
VP - Communications
Webmaster
VP - East Bay Events and Faculty Speaker Series
Director - Sacramento Area Events
Chair Spotlight MIT
Nelson Lin G‘91
Michael Sarfatti ‘76
Elizabeth Reierstad ‘02
Patricia Erickson ‘65
Radha Nayak G‘93
Ben Matteo ‘97
Manjari Bhatia ‘98
Alison Chaiken G‘89
Catherine Calarco G‘06
Elizabeth Reierstad ‘02
Wasiq Bokhari ‘92
Alice Moy ‘02
Elizabeth Ng ‘78
Charles Zhou G‘91
Javed Samuel’04
Ben Skolnik ‘04
John Keen G’94
Elizabeth Lin G’00
Richard Rabbat G‘98
Jennifer Wang ‘92
Vandana Upadhyay G‘92
Michael Sarfatti ‘76
Anna Halpern-Lande G‘98
Alissa Fitzgerald ‘90
Shuja Keen ‘99
Monika Gorkani G’93
Administrative Assistant
Ethan Merrittt
10 Summer 2008
PHONE
(650) 320-8472
(415) 885-2293
(415) 846-0868
(650) 279-5600
(408) 936-2548
(415) 850-5494
Bill Reenstra ‘72
John Velasco ‘05
Brad Schneider ‘00
(415) 637-6396
EMAIL ADDRESS
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
salissa.fi[email protected]
[email protected]
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[email protected]
Celebrating
100 Years
MITCNC 3C’s Program: Me
Myself and I - The challenge
of Idenity on the Web
The MITCNC Convergence, Community and Commerce Program hosted an event on identity management on April 24th at
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich Rosati in Palo Alto entitled “Me, Myself and I: The Challenge of Identity on the Web”.
The event featured experts in the web identity management space
- Mr. Gerry Gebel, VP and Research Director of The Burton
Group, an enterprise IT research and advisory services firm, Mr.
David Morin, Senior Platform Manager at Facebook.com, one of
the leading social application and social networking companies
in the world, an Mr. Ajay Madhok, a global pioneer in identity
technology and CEO of Equals.com, a hot new Silicon Valley
and India startup that provides a user-centric trusted identity platform for managing communications.
The moderator, Mr. Gerry Gebel, set the discussion quickly by
explaining the need for a web relationship layer, as opposed to a
strict identity layer.
Identity on the web remains a problem because all of the identity
tokens - email addresses, URLs, and so on, are too public and
permanent. If one were to publish one’s email address online,
one quickly finds his/her address becoming the target for spam,
or worse, finds that email address harvested and submitted by
email referral companies to unknowing legitimate third party
companies looking to increase their electronic mailing lists.
While no one has demonstrated how solving the web identity
problem could be a financially viable business plan, such a business, called an identity oracle, is conceptually straightforward.
An identity oracle is a company whose sole asset is its database
of personal information and whose business plan is primarily to
act as a transaction broker, and, secondarily, to serve as a vendor
of minimal consumer identities. Because a user’s personal information is its primary asset, it will only provide user information
to a vendor only if the vendor signs a non-disclosure and limited
use agreement backed by stiff penalties against the vendor if the
user information is mis-used.
Mr. Gebel explained further that, surprisingly, even an identity
oracle is insufficient for the needs of the web because identity information often needs to be used within the proper relationship
“context.” It is these contexts that are weakly defined by social
networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace. How
these relationships can be captured in a uniform fashion is thus
the billion dollar question of identity on the web.
Both Facebook and Equals.com are well-situated to tackle the
problem of web identity because both see identity and relationship as key ingredients in each company’s business plan.
Celebrating
100 Years
Mr. Morin explained that Facebook is very careful with Facebook
identities and the relationships that amongst these Facebook identities (i.e, the Facebook social graph). For example, while it does
not prevent a user from disclosing personal identity tokens like
phone numbers and email addresses on his/her Facebook page,
it does not force the user to provide that information up front.
Indeed, Facebook acts as a communication intermediary between
Facebook users, allowing two different Facebook users to communicate without either party knowing how to contact the other
party outside of Facebook. Facebook frowns on zombie or false
Facebook identities and actively cracks down on violators of its
account policy.
Similarly, Facebook seeks to preserve the integrity of both the
Facebook social graph and each user’s application and personal
metadata. Thus, while an application could leverage the social
graph to spread itself virally, it only has a limited view of a user’s
social graph. The application would also have limited access to a
user pictures, “Wall” writings, and personal information, and no
access at all to a user’s private information.
As a provider of user-centric identity tools, Equals.com also sees
relationship and identity as going hand in hand, Equals CEO, Mr.
Madhok, explained. Equals sees that it does not own the user’s
identity. Instead it provides the user with tools to control how he
can assert and share his identity, and to define how he can communicate with friends and others.
Central to the Equals story is the i-name, a form of abstract identifier that is compatible and congruent with uniform resource
identifiers (URI) and internationalized resource identifiers (IRI).
A user could obtain an i-name and use Equals to associate his
i-namewith his personal and work email addresses, phone numbers, and so on. He could then present the i-name safely to online
companies, digital acquaintances and the like. None of the recipients would have access to his email or phone number, though,
thanks to Equals, these recipients would still be able to reach the
user because it could ask Equals to establish contact with the user
on their behalf. On the other hand, if the user wishes to block a
digital acquaintance from reaching him, the user could inform
Equals to do so.
Equals allows its user to maintain multiple relationship contexts.
A user could for example maintain two relationships with another user, one as a friend, and one as a business associate. Equals
could then allow certain types of transactions between these two
users to go through only if the correct relationship context was in
effect; for example, the two users could communicate with each
other through Equals as friends or as business associates but may
only be able to transfer money to each other as business associates.
Mr. Gebel, Mr. Morin and Mr. Madhok agreed that the questions
surrounding identity and relationships on the web were by no
means answered. However, everyone agreed that the only solution that could succeed in the long term is one which puts the
user first.
11 Summer 2008
Bicycle Repair Event
Six MIT alumni joined the Silicon Valley Bicycle Exchange
on March 8th in Mountain View to fix donated bicycles for
kids. The recipients of the donated bicycles were Big Brothers and Big Sisters and Samaritan House.
Alumni got a
chance to socialize as they munched on pizza and picked up
maintenance pointers from the experienced long-term SVBE
volunteers.
SVBE has donated over 100 repaired bikes to
local charities this year. The Bicycle Repair Event was the
second of an occasional recurring series.
For information on MITCNC Volunteer
Opportuniites - contact
Alison Chaiken G ‘89
[email protected]
or
visit www.mitcnc.org for more info
Megan (left) and Jon (Right) focus on repairing bicycles to be donated to the Big Brothers and Sister Samaritan House
MIT
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Building 10 Room 110
Cambridge, MA 02139
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MIT Club of Northern California Newsletter
12 Summer 2008
Celebrating
100 Years