Dr. AJ Perez’s Post

I first came to #MIT at 16 years old. 15 years and 3 MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering (MechE) degrees later I walked across the #MIT threshold as Dr. AJ Perez. This time next year I will have spent more of my life at MIT than not. Thank you all I have had the honor and pleasure to collaborate with! Gordon-MIT Engineering Leadership Program + MIT Morningside Academy for Design + Lemelson-MIT Program + MIT Lincoln Laboratory + Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship + MIT Industrial Liaison Program + MIT Sloan Executive Education + #BeaverWorks Below I have posted 2 photos. In the first photo I am holding my #phd diploma along with the MIT Sloan School of Management Sustainability Certificate. I am honored and humbled to be the first MIT PhD to complete the MIT Sloan School of Management #sustainability certificate MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative. I encourage future engineers and PhDs to pursue the sustainability sciences. In the second photo I am wearing all 3 of my MIT rings -- like #TomBrady or #LarryBird wears their championship rings. #3peat!!! Thank you to all of my family, mentors, colleagues, partners, and employees who supported this journey. The buzz of my time at Massachusetts Institute of Technology has grown ever louder. It's not #AI. It's not #biotech. The #buzz is all about #sustainability and #climatechange. This is the most pressing problem space for my generation and future generations to come. Together, we can make sustainable change. However, we must cut through the noise and focus on improving and funding the levers of positive change that matter. Easy to say, hard to do. We cannot get distracted with shiny toys or cool new tech. We must avoid funding #greenwashing charlatans and fraudsters. The stakes are too high. We need to find solutions that #scale quickly, affordably, and equitably. Here is my focused road map for a #sustainable #future for all of us: 1) Sustainable, healthy food production -- promotes #biosequestration of CO2, protect our #freshwater supplies, and ensure healthy farmable soil for centuries to come #GrowClean 2) Closed-loop, #affordablehousing #construction -- utilize global waste materials (i.e. consumer plastic) as raw material for a low-cost, #carbonnegative built environment #MITHAUS + MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering (MechE) + MIT Department of Architecture + MIT Civil and Environmental Engineering + MIT Morningside Academy for Design 3) Knowledge sharing -- we need to openly share failures, debate the holistic merits of the proposed solution strategies, and encourage emerging leaders to make the change #MIT #openscience These 3 themes align with the intersection of the #unsdgs and #maslow hierarchy of human needs. If this mission resonates with you, join us! Together we will sustainably solve these pressing global challenges! Contact: [email protected]