David Mindell

Frances and David Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing

Contact Info

Office Phone

617.253.0221

Email

mindell@mit.edu

Office

33-314

Administrative Assistant

Frances Marrone
franm@mit.edu
617.253.4885

Financial Contact

Kathryn Fischer
katfisch@mit.edu
617.253.4289
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Affiliated Labs

I'm interested in human and machine collaboration; navigation and autonomy for transportation and mobility; ultra-wideband systems; history of aviation and spaceflight;  entrepreneurship.

Specialization and Research Interests

Human-machine interaction, deep ocean robotics, archaeology in the deep ocean, history of aviation and spaceflight, social implications of engineering

Teaching Interests

Engineering Apollo, Introduction to the History of Technology (STS. 340), 16.445, “Entrepreneurship in Aerospace and Mobility Systems”

Academic Degrees

B.S. 1988 Electrical Engineering, Yale University; B.A. 1988 Literature, Yale University; Ph.D. 1996 The History of Technology, MIT

Society Memberships

Associate Fellow, AIAA; Senior Member, IEEE; Fellow, Explorers Club; Fellow, Massachusetts Historical Society; Society for the History of Technology

Positions Held at MIT

Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing (Assistant Professor 1996-99, Associate Professor 2000 2005); Director, Program in Science, Technology, and Society; Professor of Engineering Systems; Housemaster, MIT Edgerton House; Chair, MIT 150th Anniversary Steering Committee (2011)

Positions Held outside MIT

Founder and Executive Chairman, Humatics Corporation; Operating Partner, Blackhorn Ventures; Visiting Scientist, Deep Submergence Laboratory, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; Member, NASA Historical Advisory Committee; Member, IEEE Spectrum Editorial Board; Member, Deep Submergence Science Committee

Awards & Honors

  • Margaret MacVicar Faculty Fellow, MIT, 2001
  • Sally Hacker Prize, Society for the History of Technology, 2001
  • IEEE Life Member Prize in Electrical History, 2001
  • Abbott Payson Usher Prize, Society for the History of Technology, 1998

Research & Publications