MIT Washington Summer Internship Program
Applications for the MIT Washington Summer Internship Program are now open! The deadline is January 5, 2026 for all student materials.
The MIT Washington Summer Internship Program is dedicated to connecting STEM students with the policymaking process in Washington, DC. For more information about the types of internships and projects our program supports, navigate to the “intern” page on our website – there you’ll find a list of alums with their MIT majors, grad years, and internship location.
FAQs:
- All undergraduates NOT graduating in spring 2026 are eligible to apply (all majors, minors, etc!)
- Housing in DC is covered by the program and a $5,000 living stipend is provided to all participants.
- Students attend a spring break trip from Monday-Wednesday for cohort-building and networking.
- Participants enroll in 17.307 in spring 2025 and fall 2026 which provides 12 units of HASS-S credit.
Any questions can be directed to: Katherine Hoss, hoss@mit.edu
New IAP Course: Intro to UX/UI
Faculty Sponsor: Daniel Jackson
Course Instructors:
Rachel Onwu (ronwu@mit.edu) – Course 6-3 & 9
Krystal Montgomery (mkrystal@mit.edu) – Course 6-3 & 4B
Teresa Jiang (teejay@mit.edu) – Course 4 & 15
Gloria Zhu (gloriazh@mit.edu) – Course 6-2 & 4B
Dates: January 5 – 16, 2026
Class Times: M – F, 2:00 – 4:00 pm
Course Description: This course will serve as an introduction to UX (user experience) and UI (user interface) design, giving students the opportunity to learn design principles/methodologies and apply them to a real-world scenario. We aim to follow the design thinking process throughout the course, providing lessons on user research, wireframing, low/high-fidelity prototyping, usability testing, and setting up a portfolio. Each student will be given a case study at the beginning of the course to apply the process practically and to enhance the UI/UX of a digital platform. Classes will follow a lecture and workshop format, to allow students to apply what they learned directly to their projects, receive peer and instructor feedback, and iterate in real time. By the end of the course, students will present a polished prototype and a documented case study suitable for inclusion in a design portfolio.
Prerequisites: None
Objectives
- Understand the foundations of user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design, including design thinking and the product design lifecycle.
- Get exposure to methods and tools for conducting UX research and creating UI design.
- Collaborate in small teams, practicing critique, peer feedback, and iteration in a studio-style environment.
- Build a portfolio-ready case study, documenting the problem, design process, prototypes, and final solution.
- Engage with guest speakers from academia and industry to gain perspective on careers in design and product development.
Introduction to American Sign Language: Non-credit Activity for IAP 2026
Global Languages is offering a non-credit IAP activity: Introduction to American Sign Language. This virtual course will run from January 6–20, 2026, with ten sessions held via Zoom from 10:00–11:30 AM (ET). Designed for beginners with no prior experience, the class introduces the fundamentals of ASL and Deaf culture. Participants will develop basic signing skills and explore topics such as ASL’s role in Deaf history and contemporary culture. The course provides a strong foundation for future ASL study. Sessions will be led by Andrew Bottoms, a native ASL user born into a Deaf family in North Carolina. He holds dual bachelor’s degrees in American Sign Language and Deaf Studies from Gallaudet University. Enrollment: Limited to 20 participants Attendance: Full participation in all ten sessions is required Eligibility: Open to all members of the MIT community Registration Timeline Opens: Monday, November 24 at 2:00 PM Closes: December 8 (or earlier if capacity is reached) Notifications: All applicants will be informed of their enrollment status by December 15 Due to high demand, seats will only be offered to those who can commit to attending all ten sessions—no exceptions. See GL website for more details and access to online registration form.
Take an IAP class or workshop with EAPS!
12.S594: Special Seminar in EAPS — Auditory Perception of Natural Data, Part I (Direct Sonification of Oscillatory Signals)
Most of the wave-like phenomena in nature are far outside of the range of our direct perception, above and below, in spatial and temporal scales. Data representing such processes comes from sensors with often sparse, incomplete information. Usually, as scientists, we look at these signals and then design processing schemes to make inferences. However, our visual perception is not necessarily optimized for extracting meaning from waves. Often, we can gain significant, complementary or deeper insight by listening to it. So why don’t we? Sonification is the process of turning data of any kind into an audible representation. Any oscillatory signal can be frequency-shifted into our audible range and played as a sound. Our auditory perception has better temporal resolution than our visual perception, and is particularly attuned to interpretation of dynamics, including cause and effect, forcing and response. Combining visual and auditory representations of data can help us understand complex spatial-temporal interactions among events.
In this short, project-based course, we will first provide methods for sonification of oscillatory data (in python), and discuss simple to increasingly complex implementations (filtering, time compression/expansion), and spatialized audio for listening to multiple sensors simultaneously. We will also discuss when these methods break down (for non-oscillatory, non-stationary data). During the first two class sessions, we will explain and illustrate these methods with some of our current work on the wide range of length and time scales of earthquakes in a range of settings (including volcanoes, geothermal heat mines, tectonic faults, and the laboratory). Most of the class (days 3-5) will be for student projects. Please bring ideas for your own datasets to sonify, from your research or otherwise, from any domain. I can also provide datasets. At the end of the week, everyone will present their sounds, explain the phenomenon, the sensing method, and the research questions being explored through their sonification, and discuss questions generated in the process of making and listening.
Instructor: Ben Holtzman
Level: G(undergrads welcome, check with instructor)
Schedule: January 12-16, 2026; 2:00-5:00 pm
Units: 2
Asteroid Impact Alert! A Planetary Defense Simulation Workshop
(Non-credit | Open to all MIT students | Prerequisite: Basic Python coding ability)
An asteroid is on a collision course with Earth — can you help save the planet?
In this interactive IAP workshop, participants will simulate a real planetary defense mission: assessing asteroid impact risks, designing a spacecraft to deflect it, and calculating what happens if the mission fails. Along the way, you’ll explore orbital mechanics, impact physics, and spacecraft imaging — and maybe even avenge the dinosaurs.
Schedule:
- Wed, Jan 14 | 9:30–11:30 AM
- Fri, Jan 16 | 2:00–4:00 PM
- Wed, Jan 21 | 9:30–11:30 AM
- Fri, Jan 23 | 2:00–4:00 PM
Lecturer: Dr. Saverio Cambioni
Format: Short lectures and collaborative coding exercises
💫 No credit, no stress — just science, strategy, and saving the world. Sign up here.