As summer comes to an end, we want to celebrate MIT-India’s summer interns for this year. While the year has been full of challenges, these five have persevered, and we wish them the best!

As we continue to be eager to travel, nostalgic for the times when we were in India, and our current cohort of South Asian Alumni Oral History Interns reach the conclusion of their work for the term, we at MIT-India thought it would be a prescient moment to look back at the history of our program and bring you five fun facts on the early days of MIT-India.

Last Thursday, MIT-India was honored to team up with the MIT South Asian Alumni Association to present a highly informative and important webinar on the impacts of the second COVID wave currently ravaging India, featuring medical, policy, and journalistic perspectives.

This year, twelve MIT students have been awarded Fulbright fellowships, and we’re pleased to feature two students who have chosen India as their destination.

MIT-Africa and MIT-India teamed up to host a discussion on community and belonging among South Asian diaspora communities in East Africa.

Bloom Nepal is a network of schools that is working to educate K-12 students to become leaders in various frontiers. The schools focus on helping students identify their true passions and talents, and providing opportunities for them to excel in the field of their choice. Founded by MIT alum Ram K. Rijal (Mathematics ‘12), Bloom Nepal was inspired by his time at MIT and his personal experiences growing up in a rural village in Nepal.

MIT student-led project brings together design, engineering, and social impact to address accessibility challenges in India.

Oral history project allows MIT students to dig deep into the longstanding connection between the Institute and South Asia.

This International Women’s Day, we spoke to two women in our community who are working to advance clean energy in the face of global challenges. Join us as they share their industry knowledge, strategies, and experiences to enact positive change.

International Day of Women and Girls in Science gives us an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women and girls in our community in science-related fields. This year, we spoke with two MISTI-India alumni about how their passion for science and experiences in India have inspired them to tackle pressing global health challenges.

MIT students Robert Koirala and Grace Smith intern for a nonprofit promoting educational and health equity in India.

The MISTI Career Conversations: Energy program serves as an innovative pivot from international internships to a virtual seminar series.

This summer, the MIT-India program was delighted to partner with Ek Kadam Aur to offer virtual internships to students interested in pursuing work in the fields of education and social impact.

Nieky Wang (Engineering '23) reflects on her remote internship with the CyCelS Lab at IISER Pune over the summer.

To say this summer was unusual would be an understatement. Like many of our peers, the MISTI-India program pivoted in March to figure out how to continue to offer our students enriching remote opportunities, in lieu of traveling to India.

We recently caught up with Dr. Shannon Olsson, PI at the Naturalist Inspired Chemical Ecology (NICE) group within the National Center for Biological Sciences (NCBS), who shared the exciting news that the contributions of two MIT-India alumni have been featured in an article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA (PNAS).

Bandhu is a mobile phone platform that minimizes information asymmetries so that low-income workers can make confident migration decisions using packages of jobs and housing – while also intelligently building customized work teams for potential employers. Prior to its official launch, its creators reflected on how MIT had helped to shape Bandhu, the value of social entrepreneurship at MIT, and how they hope folks will continue to use the technical skills they acquire at MIT to enhance outcomes for vulnerable populations.

As the world grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic, MIT-India’s hosts have been involved in various research and relief efforts that have impacted our understanding of the virus and response to the crisis in our schools and workplaces.

MISTI alum Uma Girkar sat down for an interview with MIT Professor Kyle Keane from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering to learn more about his humanistic co-design initiative in India.

On Thursday, May 7, 2020 MIT-India hosted a webinar to discuss the efforts of MIT alumni to tackle the global crisis in India, and the community building and collaboration that has led to incredible innovation and progress. We’ve compiled some highlights from the webinar below.