Student work tested on zero-gravity flight

Deepika Gopalakrishnan (MDE ’24) took project testing to the next level with a zero-gravity flight.

In Fall 2023, Deepika took an MIT elective called Prototyping our Sci-Fi Space Future: Designing & Deploying Projects for Zero Gravity Flights (MAS.838 / 16.88). As part of the course and per Deepika, “I developed a tangible board game, and my project was selected to be tested in zero gravity. What this means is that I get to go on a parabolic flight, which will simulate zero gravity and test out my product!…Ever since my childhood, I’ve been curious about space and what it would feel like to be weightless, to walk on the Moon and Mars.”

As a student in the MDE program, Deepika took electives across Harvard schools and at MIT. The structure of MDE encourages this kind of cross-disciplinary exploration.