Many branches in Killian Court were downed after Tropical Storm Irene tore through Boston and Cambridge late Saturday night and Sunday morning. Five basements on campus were flooded, but MIT made it through mostly unscathed.

A bird takes refuge on the dock of Pierce Boat House during Tropical Storm Irene this Sunday.

MIT150 Idea Bank posters have suggested that MIT should hold open houses more often. In this April file photo, a team from the Research Laboratory of Electronics help open houses guests build a simple DC motor in the Stata Center.

FAST LIGHT lit up the Charles River last May in the culmination of a semester of art installations around campus, as seen in this file photo. Idea Bank commenters have asked for the spirit of FAST installations to continue.

MIT President Susan J. Hockfield uses a sword to cut the MIT-shaped cake at the Toast to Tech event in June.

At noon on April 30, an organized “flash mob” convened in Lobby 7, singing and dancing to a selection of pop and dance music. The flash mob required advance sign-up and rehearsal attendance.

Children learn the inner workings of a joystick-controlled robotic manipulator at a technology demonstration in the Stata Center during MIT’s Under The Dome Open House celebration. Approximately 20,000 attendees visited campus for the first open house in over 30 years.

MIT seen from Boston (left to right): LightBridge, SKY Event, Liquid Archive, and Light Drift were installed along the Charles River for the MIT150 FAST Light festival last spring.

Former Chancellor Phillip L. Clay PhD ’75 speaks at the MIT Next Century Convocation.