MIT Department of Biological Engineering

05/28/2026

Meet BE Class of 2026 graduating senior, Mateo Stagg…
FAVORITE COURSE 20 SUBJECT AND WHY?
20.260–Computational Analysis of Biological Data! After taking 6.100A/B–Introduction to Computer Science Programming in Python/Introduction to Computational Thinking and Data Science, I thought that computational biology wasn't for me because of how much I struggled. However, taking 20.260 and situating those computational skills within a biological context helped me realize how much fun it can be! Prof. Lauffenburger and Prof. White put so much care into making this class a joy, and having the chance to do a final project applying the skills we learned helped me finally feel confident in my coding skills.

WHAT WILL YOU MISS MOST ABOUT BEING AN UNDERGRADUATE AT MIT?
I will miss having so many incredible faculty, students, research, and resources so close by! Though the classes are difficult, having the chance to learn so much through both the instructors and chatting with my fellow classmates is an incredible honor.

WHERE WILL YOU BE NEXT YEAR?
I will be over in New York City as a research technician at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center! I will be working in the Norman Lab, leveraging single-cell perturbation platforms for rational engineering of immune cell state and function.

WHO DESERVES A SHOUT-OUT?
I'd have to give a huge shoutout to my UROP mentor, Rachel McGinn. Beyond helping me grow as a researcher and fueling my passion for immunology, she has been an incredible friend and has supported me throughout my time here at MIT. I'm also deeply grateful to Prof. Bryan Bryson for starting my research journey in my freshman year by offering me a position in his lab. I've learned so much about navigating life, academia, and science from him, and it has been a wonderful three years working in the Bryson Lab!

05/27/2026

MIT BE Senior Dinner 2026! Course twenteeee!

05/27/2026

The BE Graduate Program Brunch, in advance of today’s School of Engineering & Schwarzman College of Computing Advanced Degree Ceremony.

05/15/2026

Who's up at BATS?
Bishal Thapa (Voigt Lab): “Engineering Radiation Tolerant Fungi for Space Biomanufacturing”
Blythe Irwin (Birnbaum & DeKosky Labs): “Introducing RePLiCA: A Replication-Based Protein:Ligand Cellular Activation Assay”
https://be.mit.edu/our-community/seminars/

05/14/2026

Meet BE senior Isabella Pérez Rodríguez...
FAVORITE COURSE 20 SUBJECT AND WHY?
I would say my favorite subject was 20.109–Laboratory Fundamentals in Biological Engineering; it solidified my love for wet lab biology and taught both foundational and novel techniques in the field. It also gave me a lot of experience in scientific writing and communication, which has helped me become a better researcher. I also really enjoyed 20.309–Instrumentation and Measurement for Biological Systems and 20.330–Fields, Forces and Flows in Biological Systems, due to both the exciting content and exceptional teaching staff.

WHAT WILL YOU MISS MOST ABOUT BEING AN UNDERGRADUATE AT MIT?
I’m going to miss the authentic, collaborative spirit of this campus and the amount of resources and opportunities available to us. Everyone I've met has unique passions and goals that continue to inspire me. Most of all, I'll miss the friendships I made here, which truly defined my college experience and made MIT feel like home.

WHERE WILL YOU BE NEXT YEAR?
I'm heading across the Charles to begin a PhD in Bioengineering at Northeastern University, where I will do research on mammalian synthetic biology in Dr. Lei Wang's Lab.

WHO DESERVES A SHOUT-OUT?
So many people in the BE department have guided me through coursework, research opportunities, and grad school applications. I’m particularly grateful for the guidance of my academic advisor, Prof. Angela Koehler, and for the constant support from Becky and Maxine. I would also like to thank my direct UROP supervisor, Yichao Zhao, who challenged me to become a more independent researcher while cultivating a supportive and fun research environment. Finally, thank you to my second family at The Number Six Club for being my strongest support system these last four years.

05/13/2026

MIT BE engineers have developed a way to generate 3D photonic devices with nanoscale features, by shrinking them after fabrication.

MIT researchers made 3D devices with nanoscale features that can perform optical computing tasks using visible light. They developed a technique that creates vacancies throughout a hydrogel, then shrinks the specimen to about 1/2000 of its original volume.

05/06/2026

Meet BE senior Katie Spivakovsky...
FAVORITE COURSE 20 SUBJECT?
20.309 (Instrumentation and Measurement for Biological Systems) felt like the pinnacle of bioengineering. It combines multiple seemingly non-biological techniques, from Fourier transforms to electronic circuits, in order to investigate exciting biological questions. I enjoy that philosophy of tackling biology from unexpected directions. On top of fun content, the incredibly thoughtful teaching staff made the class truly exceptional.

WHAT WILL YOU MISS MOST ABOUT BEING AN UNDERGRADUATE AT MIT?
I'll miss having so many resources, friends, and facilities right at my fingertips. I appreciate how little activation energy it takes to get pset help on campus, visit a friend in a neighboring dorm, or go to the gym. Having that kind of support system and infrastructure has made me more productive and more connected to the people around me.

WHERE WILL YOU BE NEXT YEAR?
Next year I'll be earning my MPhil in Biological Science at the University of Cambridge as a Churchill Scholar, and then I'm heading to Caltech for my PhD in Bioengineering.

WHO DESERVES A SHOUT-OUT?
I am immensely grateful for many members of the BE community. My UROP PI, Prof Mark Bathe, and my mentors, Anna Romanov and Marjan Omer, have supported my evolving research interests since freshman year. I've learned a lot about life, science, and navigating academia from Prof Bryan Bryson. I'm grateful to Justin Buck for welcoming me in the BioMakerSpace, and I dearly appreciate Maxine Jonas, Steve Wasserman, and Phil Brooks for guiding me through multiple course 20 classes as a student and TA.

05/05/2026

In a new study, Hansen Lab researchers have measured chromatin movement at timescales ranging from hundreds of microseconds to hours, allowing them to rigorously quantify those dynamics for the first time.

For the first time, MIT researchers measured the dynamics of chromatin movement over an extended period of time, ranging from the scale of microseconds to hours. The findings offer insight into how gene expression is regulated, as well as how chromatin segments come together for other processes such...

05/01/2026

Who's up at BATS?
Matt Zackin (Niles Lab): “A Machine Learning Pipeline for Target-Specific Antimalarial Drug Discovery”
Daniel Sellers (Ribbeck Lab): “Intestinal Mucin Architecture as a Driver of Microbial Community Health” https://be.mit.edu/our-community/seminars/

04/30/2026

"Ask Janina Ojeiduma ’27 to describe one of her foremost personality traits and she’ll tell you: curiosity. I love to find different interests and fall down rabbit holes,” says the biological engineering major from Fulshear, Texas, outside Houston."

MIT HEALS SuperUROP Scholar Janina Ojeiduma '27 researches the impact of environmental toxins on human health