When Lana Osusky (AeroE PhD candidate) went to Boston to present her research, she didn’t expect to end up presenting in her hotel room, while under lockdown.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT)Women in Aerospace Symposium, which took place on April 18 and 19 at the MIT campus, was an opportunity for female doctoral candidates from across the globe to present their research and network with professionals. Participants came from top schools such as Stanford, Harvard, Cornell, CalTech, MIT, the University of Colorado, Penn State and the University of Toronto.
Unfortunately, the event took place during a harrowing time – the tragic Boston Marathon bombing took place just a few days before. And unbeknownst to attendees, they would soon be affected by its aftermath.
“The first day was an amazing day of talks,” said Osusky. “After going out to dinner, we went back to our hotel, which was on the MIT campus.”
That night, the two bombing suspects allegedly shot and killed an MIT police officer. “I heard a loud ‘boom’ noise, but thought it was a car backfiring,” said Osusky.
“I woke up to a bunch of missed emails and texts from friends and family, asking if I was OK,” she said. That’s when she found out what had happened, and that the hotel was now under lockdown on what was supposed to be the second day of the symposium. It also happened to be the day she was going to present her research.
As she and fellow attendees tried to digest what took place just a short distance from where they were staying, one of the attendees suggested that the conference could continue at the hotel so that the remaining participants could still present their work.
“We went up to my room, set up a video stream so that other participants who were not at the hotel could watch, and we presented,” said Osusky. An MIT faculty member even managed to get to the hotel to attend the talks, bringing with her a projector so that the presentations could be shown on the wall.
Osusky, who works under the supervision of Professor David Zingg (Director, UTIAS), was able to present her work on an aerodynamic shape optimization algorithm that can facilitate the design of more efficient aircrafts. “Everything that was supposed to happen on the second day of the conference ended up happening… just in the hotel room,” she said.
Osusky says she’s come away inspired by the people of Boston and the teamwork of her colleagues. “MIT took such good care of us during the whole ordeal,” she said. “And I was already so inspired by the women I met there – but after all of that? You could not be part of a more amazing group of people. I was so inspired by how we worked together and supported each other,” she said.
Before heading home, Osusky made sure to visit Boston’s Copley Square, the site of the memorial for the victims of the marathon bombing. “It was very emotional,” she said.
