The MIT 24-Hour Challenge is back on Thursday, March13—and this year, the Riccio-MIT Graduate Engineering Leadership Program (GradEL) has an exciting microchallenge! We’re aiming for 100 donations of any amount in just one day, and we need your help to reach our goal.
Why give to GradEL? Your support empowers MIT graduate students to become exceptional technical leaders. Every gift expands innovative programming that equips them to tackle global challenges and lead with purpose in their fields. Together, we can shape a future driven by impactful, visionary engineers.
And there’s more—your gift to GradEL will also help MIT School of Engineering reach its overall goal of 600 donations. If that milestone is reached, Paul Green ’73 and Professor Emeritus Joel Schindall ’63, SM ’64, PhD ’67 will unlock a generous $100,000 gift for the school!
This is your chance to make a double impact: strengthen GradEL’s mission and help secure $100K for MIT School of Engineering—all in just 24 hours.
Mark your calendar for March 13 and look for the donation link in your inbox. Together, let’s invest in the future of engineering leadership
Wednesday, March 19, 5-7 p.m., Room 32-124 (dinner included)
What happens when you face a technical challenge that no class or training ever prepared you for? In this interactive workshop, you’ll learn problem-solving techniques like root cause analysis, problem definition, and the power of asking the right questions.
Then, put your skills to the test with industry guests as they share real, unexpected challenges from their careers—guiding you through an investigation to develop and refine solution proposals.
GradeEL Lecturer Samuel “Mooly” Dinnar will be presenting at the Harvard-MIT Summit on AI and Negotiation on March 8 & 9 at MIT. Hosted by the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, the summit will feature cutting-edge research and innovations in the field from global invited-only researchers, academics and experts. Presenting in the AI as a Teacher track, Dinnar will focus on Using GenAI to Improve Human-to-Human Interactions in Multiparty Negotiation Instruction.
Dinnar teaaches GradEL’s Multi-Stakeholder Negotiation for Technical Experts course. He is also an aerospace engineer, computer scientist, entrepreneur, and business executive. As a Research Associate at MIT and Harvard, he developed and taught many negotiation and mediation courses including at PON, HNI and globally. He is author with Susskind of the book “Entrepreneurial Negotiation” (Palgrave 2019.) His e-mail address is sdinnar@mit.edu.
Formal title and abstract of the presentation:
Negotiation Coaching Bots and Backtable Bots: Using GenAI to Improve Human-to-Human Interactions in Multiparty Negotiation Instruction
This session describes the Negotiation Coaching Bots using GenAI that were developed for teaching in two muti-party negotiation courses at MIT (Spring 2024) and the resulting papers about the experience. Three kinds of bots were created for various stages: a PREPARATION coaching bot for each role-player before entering the actual human-human multi-party interaction in an upcoming specific simulation; a BACKTABLE bot that allows learners to interact with (imaginary) backtable stakeholders from the assigned negotiation partners; and a DEBRIEF bot that coaches individuals to reflect deeply after their negotiation. We share our process of Seven Steps to Building GenAI Negotiation Bots, paying specific attention to the important Four Aspects of Prompt Design, and how we provided the students a choice about their coach’s personality style. We’ll present data from the students’ learning steps and reactions to being coached with bots in 2 different 6-person role-plays, emphasizing the importance of context and asking-questions to productive coaching, and to developing the students’ Personal Theory of Practice. We’ll conclude with ideas and recommendations regarding the further possible development of Negotiation Coaching Bots, and how they can be used in a wide range of teaching and training settings.
Thursday, February 27, 5-7 p.m., Room 32-124 (dinner provided)
Are you prepared to “hit the ground running” at your next internship or in a new role after graduating? Learning how to “take charge” and actively engage with your new responsibilities is an important skill to master.
This workshop will help you understand and build this skillset as it relates to your future goals. Hear from a panel of MIT Grad Students as they share their experiences and advice on successfully kickstarting their careers.
Who should attend:
What you’ll learn:
Inside scoop from lecturer Monica Pheifer on why MIT grad students should take her “Engineering Leadership Practicum” course. In a fun, interactive setting, this new spring 2025 GradEL course teaches students essential skills to kickstart their careers. Learn more: https://gradel.mit.edu/class/6-s660/
How do engineering leaders navigate the changes that new technologies bring, especially in the era of AI, MR, and robotics? Albert Shum, retired Microsoft Corporate VP of Design and former innovation leader at Nike, shared his thoughts and engaged with students at a Lunch & Learn this week at MIT’s Graduate Engineering Leadership Program (GradEL). Shum emphasized that engineering leaders need to consider the ethical and social impacts of new technologies such as AI. He also shared his journey as a product design leader, stressing the importance of being customer centric and developing products that serve customer needs and solve human problems – whether engineering new disruptive products or incrementally improving existing ones.
Are you ready to enhance your technical expertise with people skills that will help you today and in your career? The Graduate Engineering Leadership Program (GradEL) combines experiential learning, teamwork opportunities, and leadership skill development to prepare you for your future career. Whether you’re new to thinking about technical leadership or looking for ways to hone your skills, our courses will transform your career. Discover how to illuminate your path forward this Spring!
6.S660 Engineering Leadership Practicum
Master the skills to solve problems together with this unique opportunity to act as members of and lead teams in a series of activities that simulate engineering leadership challenges:
React to the changing needs of galactic council stakeholders as you build a fleet of spaceships
Influence others to get the right puzzles allocated to your team’s unique set of skills
Optimize process flow and choose strategic capital investments for your new restaurant endeavor
Balance the goals of your company’s board of directors and the global UN as you strive to build infrastructure for sustainable energy
Due to the pilot nature of this course, we have limited enrollment. Learn more and share your interest to secure your spot early by pre-registering directly with the instruction team here! (Registration via WebSIS will still be required)
6.S640 Unpacking Impact: Transforming Research into Real-World Solutions
What is the value of your research beyond publishing the next paper? Who will your work impact and how is it measured? How do you assess new technologies and roadmap broad applications over time?
Map out how effective influence can support your research results to have long-lasting impact
Learn how to better define and articulate the problems your research addresses
Identify stakeholders to validate needs and solutions
Design a custom plan for how to optimize the impact of your research
Apply now for this course! (Registration via WebSIS will still be required)
6.9250 Leadership – People, Products, Projects
Get a head start on developing product ideas and prototypes to meet real customer needs. Learn and practice essential product management, project management, and collaboration skills on cross-functional teams. Hear feedback from real industry guests to realize your and your product’s potential. (Pre-register directly on WebSIS.)
6.9260 Multi-Stakeholder Negotiation for Technical Experts
Technical experts don’t just negotiate one-on-one. Engineering team members and leaders are required to deal with their own team, other stakeholders within their organizations and many external parties. Learn how to create alignment and resolve disputes among diverse stakeholders and communication styles. Leverage simulations, role-plays, case studies, and video analysis to improve your techniques. (Pre-register directly on WebSIS.)
Bring your incomplete self to learn the fundamentals of engineering leadership capabilities. Great technologies are delivered in teams; learn how to build one and be your best as part of one by developing self-awareness, motivating others, practicing creative problem solving, influencing without authority, managing conflict, and communicating effectively. (Pre-register directly on WebSIS.)
The abilities to negotiate with, and influence others, are essential to being an effective leader in technology-rich environments. GradEL’s 6.9270 Negotiation & Influence Skills for Technical Leaders course provides graduate students with underlying principles and a repertoire of negotiation and influence skills that apply to interpersonal situations, particularly those where an engineer or project leader lacks formal authority over others in delivering results. Taught by lecturer Rachel Moore Best.
Behind the scenes look at one of GradEL’s core courses: 6.9280 Leading Creative Teams. In this class, students were asked to re-create a drawing based solely on a partner’s verbal descriptions — an exercise in communicating effectively in a team. In Leading Creative Teams, students learn how to build a team and be their best as part of one by developing self-awareness, motivating others, practicing creative problem solving, influencing without authority, managing conflict, and communicating effectively. Taught by Senior Lecturer David Nino.