Aaron Rose is a senior at MIT majoring in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Aaron grew up in suburban Chicago and Boca Raton, Florida. More than anything else, Aaron hates writing bios about himself, so he asked some people who knows him well for their thoughts.

“One of those good looking guys who is just a bit too short.” – Aaron’s younger, taller brother

 

“With coordination that resembles an infant trying to catch a ping pong ball, and the quickness of a sloth with its legs tied together, I am glad he is no longer pursuing a professional basketball career.”

– Aaron’s high school basketball captain

“Rooming with Aaron was almost indescribable. But if I had to describe it, it would be as the single worst experience of my life.”

– Aaron’s former roommate

“One thing Aaron has consistently done all semester is not follow the instructions on his assignments.”

– Aaron’s design professor

“Aaron is really in way over his head. He should have stuck to electrical engineering and had an easy senior spring.”

– Aaron’s brain sitting in the first class

Aaron has virtually no prior experience in journalism, but has long been a voracious consumer of the news. He’s incredibly excited to be in MAS.700. He just started his Twitter account again, you can find him @aaronrose87.

My name is Sands Fish. I am currently a first year master’s student in the Media Arts and Sciences program at the MIT Media Lab. I work under Ethan Zuckerman in the MIT Center for Civic Media as a Research Assistant, primarily focused on the Media Cloud platform. I design data visualizations that reveal hidden patterns in the content and structure of the news at large scales. My current efforts are in detecting conversations and frames in issues discussed online, anywhere from main stream media to citizen blogs. This effort (initially called a “Network of Frames”) is a network visualization that represents media sources and the words they use most frequently. The network shows common usages of words between different media sources and the layout of the network highlights clusters of language, indicating at the very least themes emerging from overall coverage of the issue. Before arriving at the Media Lab, I worked as a fellow and researcher at Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society and as a senior software engineer and data scientist at the MIT Libraries.

In my role as a designer and artist, I focus on using generative visuals, artificial intelligence, and hardware interfaces to expose beauty and intricacy in patterns from the natural and digital world. I am also one of the organizers of the Cambridge/Somerville based Tech Poetics community; a loose collection of new media and technology artists in the greater Boston area practicing or interested in the use of technology (loosely defined) in their artistic practice.

You can find me on Twitter at @sandsfish and my home on the web is http://sands.fish.

Hi World!

I’m Adrienne, a former news technology catalyst and current jack-of-all-trades at the Harvard Business School Digital Initiative. I also moonlight as a Research Affiliate at the Center for Civic Media. A designer by training, and a coder/hacker/maker by nature, I enjoy being a bridge for cross-disciplinary teams. I even worked in sales, once upon a time!

During my tenure at the Boston Globe, I began studying the development and evolution of online communities which continues at HBS and MIT. After being tasked with managing the dreaded comments section of a major media outlet, I became more interested in why certain online communities flourish and others wither. What causes people to treat others as words on a screen, rather than humans on the “other end of the line?”

In my spare time, you’ll likely find me on a mountain somewhere: rock climbing, snowboarding, or just hiking to a remote lake in the middle of a forest.

Hi, I’m Ashley – and I’m guessing you’ve heard the old adage, “A picture is worth 1,000 words.” I’ve taken that idea to heart, as have many across media, business, and government. We know that we remember what we see four times more than what we read, and process images 60,000 times faster than text. Yet we’re still figuring out how to best harness the true power of visual content (produced by professionals and citizens alike) – and strategically address all of the challenges that come with it.

This is particularly evident in today’s global context, where a photo, video, or infographic can deliver an unparalleled immediacy of (mis)understanding. That’s why I earned degrees in both foreign affairs and photography, and am currently a Master’s candidate studying international communications and business at The Fletcher School.

At the moment, I’m focused on initiatives like revitalizing one of Fletcher’s program and research centers to explore the newest trends in journalism, cyber, and public diplomacy. Immediately prior to graduate school, I worked in external affairs and project management for a DC-based NGO that serves as a center for global leadership development. And most importantly, I’m looking forward to learning from all of you!