Comment by areoform | Hacker News Reader

Comment by areoform | Hacker News Reader

While there are those who will write about the broader failings of the MIT Media Lab, and there is much to be written about, it's important to take a minute to recognize just how prescient and important this choice is. Newman's work on space suit design is something I'm familiar with and have followed for quite some time, there is - simply put - nothing out there like her work. https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/617047main_45s_building_future_spac... (Submitted to HN here, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21620979 )

She also helped design the weird idea variant of dynamic/static loading on an astronaut's body to reduce bone loss, https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/strg/2012_nstrf_... http://web.mit.edu/aeroastro/www/people/dnewman/pdf2/WaldieN... The GCLS did not work out. But it was far more interesting than the rougher Roscosmos variant. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pingvin_exercise_suit)

I believe that Prof. Newman is the right choice for the Media Lab, because she has Gotten Stuff Done. Stuff that has flown in space and has made meaningful contributions to her field. She's an excellent choice.

Damn that spacesuit is really freaking cool!

Yes, getting things done is very important because the tendency around MIT is to get lost in all of the interesting intellectual distractions.

But her experience with space suits seems to be pretty different from the computers and artistry that dominated the Media Lab in the past. There has been lots of robotics but not much material science.

Of course she's in the right social circles. She knows how to navigate MIT politics. But so did Ito-- until he was fragged.

I just don't see much in her past that overlaps with what made the Media Lab interesting. So maybe she'll adapt. Or maybe she'll just turn it into some kind of combination of fashion and materials place.

A good football coach doesn't have to be great at playing the style that they coach their players for. Having worked with her before, Dava is a great leader and manager - which is I think what's needed for a position like this.

Ted Lasso, is that you?

You've met Dava?

She used to be the director of the graduate program I was in.

That's pretty cool. I feel like these people (who very smart people choose to lead), must be some next level incredible intellect.

It's a double edged sword especially in academia. People who are excellent at executing in their field of choice are not always good managers. This is a bit of a personal soapbox, but I think one of the most entrenched problems in graduate education is the assumption that someone who is promoted on their academic merit will also make for an effective advisor/lab manager/project director/etc.

Depending on what you do, you might have a natural gift or be a good learner for management skills—but you also may not. If you're not and shoehorned into it for tenure (or whatever other reason), both you and your students suffer.

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