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Reviving a Tradition of Learning by Doing
Apr. 12, 2026 at 7:20pm
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A cross-disciplinary team of MIT students designed and installed a solar-powered charging station on campus as part of the university’s New Engineering Education Transformation (NEET) program, reviving the school’s hands-on learning ethos.
The project embodies NEET’s mission of interdisciplinary, project-driven study with experiential learning at its core, empowering students to tackle complex societal challenges that span multiple fields. It also represents a return to MIT’s cherished tradition of visible, collaborative, student-driven initiatives that bring prototypes to campus life.
The solar-charging station, nestled in a quiet campus courtyard, offers climate-friendly power for phones, laptops, and tablets. The team, comprising students from chemical engineering, materials science, mechanical engineering, and nuclear science, designed the station’s forest-inspired look to evoke organic connectivity, with tree-trunk-inspired supports, oyster-mushroom-shaped desk space, and curved solar panels resembling a forest canopy. The project required navigating real-world bureaucracy and overcoming unexpected design-implementation challenges.
The founding executive director of MIT’s New Engineering Education Transformation (NEET) program.
A nuclear science and engineering major focusing on clean energy, who was drawn to the early ideation and brainstorming stages of the project.
A materials science and engineering major who joined NEET in search of an open, interdisciplinary approach to climate and sustainability.
A NEET lecturer and the lead instructor for the CSS thread of the class that created the solar-charging station.
A fifth-year mechanical engineering student who joined NEET last year and now serves as a teaching assistant for the class.
“I was especially drawn to the early stage of the project, when ideation and brainstorming took center stage in ways I hadn’t seen before.”
— AaronDe Leon, nuclear science and engineering major
“I like the interdisciplinary aspect.”
— Celestina Pint, materials science and engineering major
“The freedom to explore as deeply as desired and to make design decisions along the way was invaluable.”
— AaronDe Leon, nuclear science and engineering major
This year’s Introduction to Design Thinking and Rapid Prototyping class will fabricate and install a new solar-powered charging station featuring a fresh design.
The solar-charging station project demonstrates how MIT’s NEET program is reviving the university’s hands-on learning tradition, empowering students to tackle complex sustainability challenges through interdisciplinary, project-driven study and experiential learning.
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