Mind & Hand / Robots & Beyond / Flashes of Inspiration
MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA
MDA has designed three exhibitions for the MIT Museum, constituting nearly 3/4 of its public display space. Working with Museum staff and curators, MDA was responsible for the design and specification of gallery renovations, exhibit casework, interactives and AV hardware, graphic elements, and collection mounts. We provided full design documentation, oversaw the competitive bid process for fabrication and vendors, supervised all contractors, and assisted with installation on all three projects.
The core exhibition – Mind & Hand: The Making of MIT Scientists and Engineers – presents a comprehensive history of science and engineering education at MIT. Rich in collection objects and media, the exhibition presents a series of classroom settings highlighting achievements and the changing curriculum at MIT in the context of national and world events.
Robots & Beyond: Exploring Artificial Intelligence at MIT explores the work of the AI Lab. This permanent exhibition includes a collection of historical experimental apparatus, video presentations of research work at MIT, and interactives that allow visitors to experience artificial intelligence technologies in use today. MDA assisted in acquiring donated services and hardware from the scientific community.
Flashes of Inspiration details the ingenuity of “Doc” Edgerton in making the invisible visible through the use of high-speed photography and the strobe light. The exhibition includes biographical videos, interactive “hands-on” elements related to Doc’s experiments and inventions, CD Rom work stations, and the display of numerous artifacts from the MIT collection.
> Download PDF about this project.