#Antoine Varner

[wannabecatwriter]

Antoine followed Amanda, only to be interrupted by a familiar face, who has grown tired of Josie’s company.

“Hi, babe. Missed me?”

Ugh! Why now, he thought.

“What is it, ‘Lupe’? I mean, that’s obviously not your real name, is it?” he groaned.

“It’s as real as your ‘single’ status, isn’t it?” she smirked. “Does your lovely wife know your habit of picking up women at bars? Or is she blissfully unaware?”

“You and I both know I was drunker than a skunk that night,” Antoine frowned.

“Oh, I don’t know about that. You spoke quite eloquently for a ‘drunk’ guy, if you ask me. And did a few other things quite well,” Maria grinned, giving him a once-over that made him feel like a piece of meat. “How do you think wifey would feel if she found out about our little rendezvous?”

“What do you want, Maria?” he asked growing wearier by the minute.

“Hmm, I don’t know, I haven’t decided yet.”

She enjoyed knowing she had this guy’s marital status in her hands.

“Well, decide what you will,” he glared, before storming off and heading to the bathroom before the urge to take another drink hit him.

[sfisoyehana]

Providing students with a venue to practice presenting has been instrumental in boosting their confidence

One occasion has become a sign of practically every scholastic meeting: the banner meeting. Banners summing up research are attached onto unlimited columns of release sheets. Pioneers in some random field wander through the banners, asking moderators inquiries about their work on the spot. For junior scientists taking an interest in banner meetings unexpectedly, the occasions can be overwhelming.

The Graduate Association of Mechanical Engineers (GAME) and MIT's Department of Mechanical Engineering are attempting to eliminate the terrorizing factor that encompasses banner meetings and introductions. For the 6th year straight, they have composed the Mechanical Engineering Research Exhibition (MERE), which was hung on Oct. 11 in MIT's understudy community. More than 60 alumni understudies, postdocs, and Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) understudies introduced their examination undertakings to almost 200 participants in a banner meeting style occasion. The occasion was composed by graduate understudies Crystal Owens and Maytee Chantharayukhonthorn.

"Giving understudies a scene to work on introducing has been instrumental in boosting their certainty," says Evelyn Wang, Gail E. Kendall Professor and office head in mechanical building. "Regardless of whether understudies seek after a vocation in the scholarly world, industry, or government, the capacity to plainly impart about their work will consistently be a significant aptitude."

Nicholas Fang, teacher of mechanical designing and GAME workforce counselor, has seen these aptitudes of specialized correspondence improve in understudies who partake in MERE year-to-year. He likewise considers the to be as an incredible prologue to MIT for first-year graduate understudies and students who are thinking about alumni learn at MIT.

"Support by first-year understudies is essential to this occasion," he clarifies. "New understudies can't sit down in each and every lab to find out about one another's work, so MERE gives them the best chance to become acquainted with the examination in the division overall."

Mechanical building research across MIT is inconceivably various and addresses a wide area of controls, however one regular topic joined the exploration introduced at MERE — each venture offered arrangements and experiences that would one be able to day have unmistakable effect on a worldwide scale.

Arrangements in human wellbeing

Two instances of activities that could affect human wellbeing adopted various strategies to improving our comprehension of cerebrum disease. Cynthia Hajal is utilizing microfluidic chips to develop veins that emulate the human mind. A PhD applicant working with Roger Kamm, Cecil and Ida Green Distinguished Professor of Biological and Mechanical Engineering, Hajal is utilizing microfluidics to study how malignancy metastasizes in the cerebrum.

"The thought is to modify human organs outside of the body to track and test various illnesses," clarifies Hajal. To track and test mind malignant growth, Hajal and her group place cells taken from a human cerebrum into microfluidic channels that are siphoned with supplements and serum. Around seven days after the fact, the cells self-amass into mind vessels. The examination group at that point places tumor cells into the channels and tracks their movement after some time.

"Our cycle causes us picture metastasis in short time periods so we can truly back off and discover what precisely is going on at each phase of the cycle," Hajal includes.

Ali Daher, then, utilizes numerical demonstrating with expectations of one day helping specialists decide the best course of treatment for glioblastoma multiforme cerebrum tumors. "At the point when a specialist is currently thinking of a treatment plan for the patient, they are confronted with numerous difficulties," says Daher, a senior considering mechanical building.

To help advise a specialist's treatment plan, Daher is using numerical models to anticipate how a tumor may respond to treatment plans. Utilizing a diminished request conspire created for liquid frameworks by Pierre Lermusiaux, teacher of mechanical building, Daher chipped away at a calculation that could help specialists figure out what treatments would be most effective.Improving admittance to food and water

Notwithstanding human wellbeing, one more unavoidable topic at MERE this year was the means by which people cooperate with nature. Two tasks specifically focused on how we can improve admittance to food and water, particularly in creating nations.

Sonal Thengane, a postdoc working with Ahmed Ghoniem, the Ronald C. Crane (1972) Professor, is creating composts made of carbon-rich biochar to improve soil quality and harvest yield. Biochar is made by roasting (drying with fire) squander from homesteads or woodlands. "At the point when it is blended into the dirt, the biochar is extremely permeable and holds the dampness and supplements for a more extended time," says Thengane.

Thengane's work has just been tried on a ranch in Kenya and will before long be tried in the United States and India with help from the Abdul Latif Jameel World Water and Food Security Lab (J-WAFS). He and his group have likewise investigated the chance of repurposing the flotsam and jetsam from woods flames and logging buildups, and utilizing it in biochar-based soil. "We are likewise working in California, which has had so many timberland fires as of late," he clarifies. "California has numerous homesteads that could profit by this dirt."

While Thengane is dealing with improving harvest yield and expanding admittance to more secure food, Hannah Varner is wanting to improve admittance to new water in India. An alumni understudy in MIT's GEAR Lab, Varner is currently constructing a model framework that desalinates saline water in India.

"Groundwater holds a ton of potential for tackling the water emergency in places like India and the southwestern United States," says Varner, who works with Associate Professor Amos Winter. The issue with groundwater is it regularly is salty — containing an excess of salt to be consumable. Using displaying and a comprehension of liquid elements and electrochemical cycles, Varner had the option to plan a framework for purpose of-utilization desalination of saline water in India.

"The truly energizing thing is I had the option to plan a framework and afterward carry it to Bangalore this mid year," she says.

Grant champs

All through MERE, members like Varner talked with judges who evaluated their introduction aptitudes. Grants were given to the accompanying understudies:

In front of the rest of the competition introductions: Erin Looney for "Quickening Cleantech Hardware System Development;" John San Soucie for "Gaussian dirichlet Random Fields For Inference Over High Dimensional Categorical Observations;" Nick Selby for "Teachbot : An Education System For Workforce;" and Meghan Huber for "Visual Perception Of Stiffness From Multijoint Motion"

Best first-time moderator: Kuangye Lu for "Far off Epitaxy Of Gaas On Cvd Graphene For Wafer Re Usability And Flexible Electronics"

Best UROP: Helen Read for "Break Toughness Of Polyacrylamide Hydrogels"

Second-place other participants include: Chinmay Kulkarni, Cynthia Hajal, Jongwoo Lee, Francesco Sigorato and Matteo Alberghini, Kiarash Gordiz, Nisha Chandramoorthy, Noam Buckman, Emily Rogers, and Sydney Sroka.

The accompanying moderators were given fair notices: James Hermus, Yeongin Kim, ZhiYi Liang, Lauren Chai, Sanghoon Bae, Antoine Blanchard, Rabab Haider, Scott Tan, and Jaewoo Shim.

Making your own karma

After the finish of the show, Helen Greiner '89, SM '90 conveyed a feature discourse. A pioneer in the field of mechanical technology, Greiner followed her vocation way before a group of people loaded up with mechanical building understudies. Propelled by the Star Wars character R2D2, Greiner took an early enthusiasm for advanced mechanics. In 1990, she helped to establish iRobot.

[dorcasrempel]

Students present mechanical engineering projects that have global impact

One event has become a hallmark of nearly every academic conference: the poster session. Posters summarizing research are tacked onto endless rows of bulletin boards. Leaders in any given field meander through the posters, asking presenters questions about their work on the spot. For junior researchers participating in poster sessions for the first time, the events can be daunting.

The Graduate Association of Mechanical Engineers (GAME) and MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering are working to remove the intimidation factor that surrounds poster sessions and presentations. For the sixth year in a row, they have organized the Mechanical Engineering Research Exhibition (MERE), which was held on Oct. 11 in MIT’s student center. Over 60 graduate students, postdocs, and Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) students presented their research projects to nearly 200 attendees in a poster session-style event. The event was organized by graduate students Crystal Owens and Maytee Chantharayukhonthorn.

“Providing students with a venue to practice presenting has been instrumental in boosting their confidence,” says Evelyn Wang, Gail E. Kendall Professor and department head in mechanical engineering. “Whether students pursue a career in academia, industry, or government, the ability to clearly communicate about their work will always be a crucial skill.”

Nicholas Fang, professor of mechanical engineering and GAME faculty advisor, has seen these skills of technical communication improve in students who participate in MERE year-to-year. He also sees the event as a great introduction to MIT for first-year graduate students and undergrads who are considering graduate study at MIT.

“Participation by first-year students is very important to this event,” he explains. “New students can’t take a seat in every single lab to learn about each other’s work, so MERE gives them the best opportunity to get to know the research in the department as a whole.”

Mechanical engineering research across MIT is incredibly diverse and touches upon a wide swath of disciplines, but one common theme united the research presented at MERE — every project offered solutions and insights that could one day have tangible impact on a global scale.

Solutions in human health

Two examples of projects that could impact human health took different approaches to improving our understanding of brain cancer. Cynthia Hajal is using microfluidic chips to grow blood vessels that mimic the human brain. A PhD candidate working with Roger Kamm, Cecil and Ida Green Distinguished Professor of Biological and Mechanical Engineering, Hajal is using microfluidics to learn more about how cancer metastasizes in the brain.

“The idea is to rebuild human organs outside of the body to track and test different diseases,” explains Hajal. To track and test brain cancer, Hajal and her team place cells taken from a human brain into microfluidic channels that are pumped with nutrients and serum. About seven days later, the cells self-assemble into brain capillaries. The research team then places tumor cells into the channels and tracks their progression over time.

“Our process helps us image metastasis in short intervals of time so we can really slow down and find out what exactly is happening at every stage of the process,” Hajal adds.

Ali Daher, meanwhile, uses mathematical modelling in the hopes of one day helping doctors determine the best course of treatment for glioblastoma multiforme brain tumors. “When a doctor is in the process of coming up with a treatment plan for the patient, they are faced with many challenges,” says Daher, a senior studying mechanical engineering.

To help inform a doctor’s treatment plan, Daher is utilizing mathematical models to predict how a tumor might react to treatment plans. Using a reduced-order scheme developed for fluid systems by Pierre Lermusiaux, professor of mechanical engineering, Daher worked on an algorithm that could help doctors determine what therapies would be most effective.

Improving access to food and water

In addition to human health, another pervasive theme at MERE this year was how humans interact with the environment. Two projects in particular honed in on how we can improve access to food and water, especially in developing countries.

Sonal Thengane, a postdoc working with Ahmed Ghoniem, the Ronald C. Crane (1972) Professor, is developing fertilizers made of carbon-rich biochar to improve soil quality and crop yield. Biochar is made by torrefying (drying with fire) waste from farms or forests. “When it is mixed into the soil, the biochar is very porous and retains the moisture and nutrients for a longer time,” says Thengane.

Thengane’s work has already been tested on a farm in Kenya and will soon be tested in the United States and India with support from the Abdul Latif Jameel World Water and Food Security Lab (J-WAFS). He and his team have also explored the possibility of repurposing the debris from forest fires and logging residues, and using it in biochar-based soil. “We are also working in California, which has had so many forest fires recently,” he explains. “California has many farms that could benefit from this soil.”

While Thengane is working on improving crop yield and increasing access to safer food, Hannah Varner is hoping to improve access to fresh water in India. A graduate student in MIT’s GEAR Lab, Varner is in the process of building a prototype system that desalinates brackish water in India.

“Groundwater holds a lot of potential for solving the water crisis in places like India and the southwestern United States,” says Varner, who works with Associate Professor Amos Winter. The problem with groundwater is it often is brackish — containing too much salt to be potable. Utilizing modeling and an understanding of fluid dynamics and electrochemical processes, Varner was able to design a system for point-of-use desalination of brackish water in India.

“The really exciting thing is I was able to design a system and then bring it to Bangalore this summer,” she says.

Award winners

Throughout MERE, participants like Varner spoke with judges who assessed their presentation skills. Awards were given to the following students:

First-place presentations: Erin Looney for “Accelerating Cleantech Hardware System Development;” John San Soucie for “Gaussian dirichlet Random Fields For Inference Over High Dimensional Categorical Observations;” Nick Selby for “Teachbot : An Education System For Workforce;” and Meghan Huber for “Visual Perception Of Stiffness From Multijoint Motion”

Best first-time presenter: Kuangye Lu for “Remote Epitaxy Of Gaas On Cvd Graphene For Wafer Re Usability And Flexible Electronics”

Best UROP: Helen Read for “Fracture Toughness Of Polyacrylamide Hydrogels”

Second-place runners-up include: Chinmay Kulkarni, Cynthia Hajal, Jongwoo Lee, Francesco Sigorato and Matteo Alberghini, Kiarash Gordiz, Nisha Chandramoorthy, Noam Buckman, Emily Rogers, and Sydney Sroka.

The following presenters were given honorable mentions: James Hermus, Yeongin Kim, ZhiYi Liang, Lauren Chai, Sanghoon Bae, Antoine Blanchard, Rabab Haider, Scott Tan, and Jaewoo Shim.

Making your own luck

After the conclusion of the exhibition, Helen Greiner ’89, SM ’90 delivered a keynote speech. An innovator in the field of robotics, Greiner traced her career path in front of an audience filled with mechanical engineering students. Inspired by the Star Wars character R2D2, Greiner took an early interest in robotics. In 1990, she co-founded iRobot.

After a decade of trial and error, iRobot found success with products such as the Roomba and PackBot. While the Roomba has cemented its place in popular culture, thanks in large part to a Pepsi advertisement featuring Dave Chappelle, the PackBot has made a huge impact on how military operations are executed.

“These robots were credited with saving the lives of hundreds of soldiers and thousands of civilians,” Greiner recalls.

Greiner encouraged students to “make their own luck.” With luck and determination, the students and postdocs who presented earlier in the day could someday see their products, designs, and theories have the kind of impact Greiner’s robot innovations have had. 

Students present mechanical engineering projects that have global impact syndicated from https://osmowaterfilters.blogspot.com/

[grandpacrunk]

#omegapsiphi #DJSekoVarner Early morning on this day, 23 years ago (1/29/94) The "Infamous 7 Sons of Scarface" aka "Seven Plus One" saw it through and were birthed into Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. as we crossed the burning sands. We have had our ups & downs over the years at times or it seemed like we would need a miniseries similar to "The New Edition Story" called "The Spring '94 Story" however, I would not have it any other way. Love you all!!! 1. Andre (MIA)Vickers, 2. Seko(Malcolm/Farrakhan)Varner, 3. Stanley(Xactly) Williams, 4. Thomas(Magilla)Boone, 5. Nathan(Chocolate Doughboy) Woodard, 6. Antoine(Bigsexxy) Hickman, 7. John (Jabber) Jessup, Dean of Pledges-Thomas (Scarface) Atkins 10-85PG-(Omega Chapter), Asst. Dean of Pledges- Jerome (Foofur) Alston 3-89GXi-(Omega Chapter) (at Lambda Omega Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc)

[wannabecatwriter]

After the long evening of chatting and networking, Amanda also allowed herself to have a drink. And no sooner had she drank some, had she noticed her husband heading for the drinks himself.

Again.

“Darling, are you quite alright?” she asked. “You’ve had a few too many already, haven’t you? And you’re not looking like yourself.”

“I’m fine, Mandy. Just a little peopled out, I guess,” Antoine made an excuse.

“It’s not like you. You’re usually the life of the party. But I get it, I’m actually just waiting for the cake to be served, so we can head home,” she admitted.

“For reals?” he perked up.

“Yeah, but we can’t leave just yet. That would be so rude. But come on, join us by the window. They’re having an interesting business discussion.”

[wannabecatwriter]

That bastard! Maria knew this was no accident and that Antoine did it on purpose.

But there he was, walking away like he was innocent.

Innocent, her ass.

She’ll get him for this. And that bitch Janis. She knew the woman saw everything. But the old biddy always had it out for her anyways.

They’ll see. They will all see what she was capable off yet.

But for now, Maria was done with this evening and company.

[wannabecatwriter]

To her major displeasure, Maria was back in her path once more.

“Drinking? You know that stuff ages you quickly, right? But I can understand - when your career isn’t going too well, the urge to drink is there.”

A bubble of laughter escaped from Josie.

“What’s so funny?” Maria frowned.

Alcohol was certainly unhealthy, but it sure could put some things into perspective, thought Josie.

“Oh, you know. It’s just amusing. We’re at this fancy club, with all these fancy rich folks who you could be socializing with. And instead, you’re here, stuck to me like glue,” Josie grinned.

“Excuse you?!” Maria looked affronted.

“Oh, don’t deny it, hon. All this talk about me being entertaining on the set - you really like, me don’t you?” Josie smiled. It totally made sense. Why else would Maria hang around her this whole time? “But just as friends, right? I don’t really swing that way...”

“You fucking bitch!” Maria spat, but before she could add anything more to that, she found herself quickly falling forward.

Antoine, who had returned from the bathroom a little calmer than before, made sure to quickly walk behind Maria and give her an ever so slight shove that sent the high-heels-wearing woman toppling.

Right into Josie, who also found herself toppling backwards, terrified as she hated losing her balance.

As she yelled and dropped her drink, she found herself caught by someone solid and strong right behind her.

[wannabecatwriter]

While Chandra was busy schmoozing with the crowd, Josie finally made it to the lounge, where she almost collided with a young man coming in.

He gave her what he probably thought was a seductive once-over, but once Josie saw that hair, it was an absolute nope from her. A high maintenance man was the very last thing she wanted in her life.

Chandra quickly spotted her from across the room and quickly hurried to do damage control before Josie could interact with anyone.

[wannabecatwriter]

Antoine was looking at Maria quite a bit tonight.

He didn’t know her officially until tonight. But he did know her.

Unfortunately.

As soon as he spotted her here tonight he instantly recalled an evening out at the bar, when after a few drinks, he ended up enjoying a very hot night with a good-looking young woman.

As it happened, that woman was Maria. And the night happened after he became Amanda’s husband.

From the sardonic smiles she shot him tonight, he knew she quite enjoyed having this information on him.

He needed another drink.

And there was the waitress. And she was quite cute too.

“Well, hello,” he half-slurred, shooting Anna what was likely supposed to pass for a seductive smile.

“What the fuck?” thought Anna. Dude was here with his wife and flirting with her? Yikes, big yikes.

As soon as he took the drink, she made sure not to go around him for the rest of the evening.

[wannabecatwriter]

“Are you still selling that building over by the docks?” Maria asked Kimberly.

“Most likely, once I figure out the best time to do it to avoid being robbed clean by Uncle Sam,” Kimberly nodded.

“Ugh, taxes. Yeah, fuck us, right?” Maria agreed with the sentiment. “Say, how much does that building cost? A million, right?”

“Probably a little more, but around that amount.”

“Great! My father wants to sell of a building right by the movie theater. It’s smaller, but the cost would be in the same bracket. How about we do an exchange? I recall you saying you wanted to invest in an office building,” Maria offered.

“Right by the movie theater? That does sound quite convenient. When can I see it?” Kimberly was intrigued.

“As soon as next week.”

“Great!”

“Drinks, ladies?” Anna walked up to them with a fresh batch.

“Oh, no thank you,” Kimberly shook her head. “I’ve had more than enough.”

“Likewise,” Maria agreed. She preferred to keep her head clear during such events, unlike certain blond individuals, who were currently busy shooting her worried looks.

[wannabecatwriter]

“Antoine, dear,” Janis addressed the young man. “Did I ever tell you how much of a resemblance you have to my dear Brandon when he was young?”

“Oh, thank you, Mrs. Langford,” Antoine beamed at her. It was no secret her late husband was a major looker in his young days. “I’ll take it as a compliment.”

“Hmm. But young man, if you want your looks to last longer, you should go easy on those drinks. How many have you had just this evening?”

“I haven’t had that many, ma’am,” he answered somewhat brusquely.

“Are you trying to kid me or yourself?” Janis shook her head.

Oh well. One could give advice. One couldn’t take the advice for the other person.

“He has been drinking a bit much tonight,” Amanda agreed with her once Antoine walked off. “Don’t know what got into him. He’s not usually like that.”

“Of course, of course.”

Another one who was kidding herself, thought Janis. Oh well. Oh well.

[wannabecatwriter]

“It’s a great venue, isn’t it?” Amanda checked in with her husband. “Their live entertainer is quite something.”

“She’s good, no doubt,” Antoine agreed. “Thanks for bringing me here.”

“Of course, I thought it would be nice for us to have a night out. Maybe we should come here some time without everyone else, too.”

“I’d love that,” Antoine agreed.

As the couple kissed, two of the present women were very interested in their romantic mood: Kimberly, who herself was previously involved with Antoine and who knew just how fake that young man could be, and Maria, who also had a dalliance with him, alas one that went much more on her terms than the man knew.

[wannabecatwriter]

The Varners were frequent fixtures at society events lately.

Amanda saw them as an opportunity to network and and establish new connections with suppliers.

Antoine, being an artist, also saw them as an opportunity to meet people and find new markets for his artworks. And the readily available alcohol flowing around these events wasn’t so bad either.

There was one problem for him, of course - these events always seemed to be full of women he’s had flings with in the past. Sure, his wife knew he was hardly a monk before they married, but Antoine wondered if she knew just how many of her acquaintances he knew far closer than she would’ve liked him to know.