Marwa's CV

Resume PDF , CV PDF

EDUCATION

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA (JUNE 2020)

Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering, GPA (4.8/5.0)
Concentration in Advanced Modern Standard Japanese
MIT Fablabber (Fabrication Lab graduate)
Academic Coursework:

Freshmen Fall: Physics I: Mechanics (8.01), Intro to Solid-State Chemistry (3.091), Introduction to Biology (7.016), Science Writing and New Media (21W.031), Mens et Manus (3.0A1)

Freshman IAP: Intro to Architecture Design (4.02A), Intro to Python (6.S080)

Freshman Spring: Toy Product Design (2.00b), Physics II: Electricity & Magnetism, Multivariable Calculus (18.02), Digital Media in Japan and Korea (21G.067)

Sophomore Fall: Mechanics & Materials I (2.001), Dynamica & Controls I (2.003), Numerical Computation (MATLAB, 2.086), Differential Equations (18.03), Japanese V (21G.505)

Sophomore IAP: Mechanical Engineering Tools (2.670), Mobile Autonomous Systems Lab Competition (4th Place)

Sophomore Spring: Dynamics & Controls II (2.004), Design & Manufacturing I (2.007), Japanese VI (21G.506), Middle East in the 20th Century (21H.161)

Junior Fall: Thermal Fluids Engineering I (2.005), Measurement & Instrumentation (2.671), Management in Engineering (2.96), How to Make Almost Anything (MAS.863), Psychology of Gender & Race (WGS.228)

Junior Spring: Mechanics & Materials II (2.002), Thermal Fluids Engineering II (2.006), Design & Manufacturing II (2.008), Anime: Media & Culture (21G.596)

Senior Fall: Product Engineering Processes (2.009), Designing VR Experiences (2.S972), JAPAN 140A: Advanced Modern Japanese (Harvard University, HAA.031), Intro to Machine Learning with GANs (MAS.S68)

Senior Spring : Undergraduate SB Thesis in Mechanical Engineering (2.THU), Circuits & Electronics (6.002), Design for the Web (HTML, CSS, Javascript),

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

MIT Device Realization Group, Cambridge, MA Undergraduate Researcher (SEPTEMBER 2019 - MAY 2020)

Developed a virtual reality environment at MIT Nano using HTC VIVE and sensors for human physiological response as indicator of VR User Presence
Presented talk on research titled “Sensing Presence in VR” as part of the MIT Nano Sense Talks.
Submitted senior thesis paper titled "Design of a Virtual Environment for Physiological and Subjective Monitoring of User Presence in VR" under supervision of Dr. Brian Anthony

MIT Media Lab’s Personal Robots Group, Cambridge, MA- Undergarduate Researcher (FBRUARY 2019 - SEPTEMBER 2020)

Developed an android application with Kotlin for child-robot text-to-speech communication with Jibo the robot.
Co-led robotics workshop for 3 days at Arthur Healey School (Somerville, MA) for K1-K4 students.

MIT Biomimetics Lab , Cambridge, MA- Undergarduate Researcher (June- Sept 2017)

Aided with fabrication of stress field footpad sensor for overall fabrication process documentation.

WORK EXPERIENCE

GREE, Tokyo, Japan- XR Development Intern (JUNE - AUGUST 2018)

Developed an eductional virtual reality game for Japan’s National Space Agency (JAXA) and GREE’s “Arienai” Kids Workshop using Unity and HTC VIVE.
Voice-acted narrative for game support character, “Maru-Chan” in Japanese.

Universal Studios Japan, Osaka, Japan- Junior Experience Designer (POSTPONED)

Postponed till Japan border reopening.
Future work includes design of Virtual Reality experience for in-park attraction.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Product Engineering Processes (MIT 2.009), Remote -Teaching Assistant & Lead creative for animation and theme design (August 2020 - current)

Developed concept art and design for virtual theme reveal stage, costume design, and 2D animation.
Animation media release
Costume design media release
Mentored MIT seniors with capstone product engineering project

MIT Toy Product Design, Cambridge, MA- Undergraduate Teaching Assistant (FBRUARY 2020 - May 2020)

Mentored a team of six MIT undergraduate students on toy design ideation and fabrication.
Guided 30+ undergraduate students with running shop machines and electronics (until March due to COVID-19).

MIT International Science and Technology Initiative, Amman, Jordan- Team Leader & Instructor (January 2020 - February 2020)

Developed and taught a monthlong high school STEM curriculum focusing on product design, with hands on workshops in Python, Arduino, UI/UX Design, and Unity for 120 students from the Amman Academy and Jubilee School in Jordan.

MehtA+ college level Machine Learning Bootcamp, online- Teaching Assistant (May 2020-August 2020)

Mentored 8 students with machine learning projects for peer-reviewed academic paper and poster session. Projects include: Latin Translation with Machine Learning, Handwriting Recognition with Convolutional Neural Networks on Writings of George Washington.
Taught and developed python recitation content for 40 students in online recitation format
Projects Media Release

MIT Maker-spaces (Makerlodge, Makerworks), Cambridge, MA- Undergraduate mentor (September 2017 -March 2020)

Trained MIT freshmen on shop machines (laser cutter, 3D printer, bandsaw, drill press, hand tools) through a two-day hands on project. (Makerlodge)
Supervised and assisted MIT undergraduate and graduate students through several shop machines (laser cutter, 3D printer, vinyl cutter, desktop CNC mill for PCB fabrication) (Makerworks)

MIT Society of Women Engineers, Cambridge, MA- Instructor for Hello World Program (March 2017 -May 2017)

Taught basic HTML, CSS, and Javascript to middle school girls from the Greater Boston Area.
Mentored a group of 4 middle school girls on personal website projects.

MIT Physics (8.01): MECHANICS I, Cambridge, MA- Undergraduate Teaching Assistant (September- December 2017)

Directed and assisted more than 27 students with physics concepts by supervising in-class problem solving.
Graded more than 27 student problem sets on weekly basis

Additional Experience

Crown Prince International Scholarhsip Alumni Association, Bahrain Program Coordinator (August 2019- Current)

Co-organized a speed mentoring event at the Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance for Crown Prince International Scholarship (CPISP) Candidacy Program Candidates and CPISP Recepients.
Co-organized and moderated online panel series for CPISP Candiadtes on high school college prep, studying abroad, and choosing college majors

MIT Japan Program, Cambridge, MA Lecturer and Instructor (August 2020)

Developed and taught a two-day manga drawing and character design workshop for MIT Japan Program (MISTI) summer COVID events. Topics include: face composition, expressions, shading, half body drawing.
Critiqued student drawings by providing personalized feedback.

MIT Annual Fund, Cambridge, MA Tech Caller (February-May 2018)

Raised over $3,000 by professionally soliciting alumni gifts to the MIT Annual Fund.

PUBLICATIONS

Published SB Thesis, Cambridge, MA (MAY 2020)

M. AlAlawi “Design of a Virtual Environment for Physiological and Subjective Monitoring of User Presence in VR” B.Sc. thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, May 2020.

Unpublished Go Forth & Measure Project (MIT 2.671), Cambridge, MA (November 2018)

M. AlAlawi, “Effect of Hair Dye Color on Hair Fracture Properties”, MIT Measurement and Instrumentation Poster Session, Cambridge, MA, Nov 2018.

PRODUCTS

KanKan, Cambridge, MA (DECEMBER 2018)

Physical Kanji (Japanese-Chinese characters) to Kana (Japanese native characters) converter for printed Japanese text (Individual Project)

Aris, Cambridge, MA (DECEMBER 2019)

Mechanical beehive system that eliminates heavy box lifting from beekeeping (Team Product, Patent in Progress)

PATENTS

Aris, Cambridge, MA

H. Castillo, Q. Ai, M. AlAlawi, B. Bennington, N. Das, K. Gavin, D. Goetz, V. Hunter, S. Ihns, C. Jordan, S. Le, G. Li, F. McKellar, L. Milde, V. Muldoon, R. Tse, K. Zheng. “Box Separating System” (IN PREPARATION).

Skills

Hardware skills

Laser cutting, 3D printing, Drill pressing, Band sawing, CNC mill operation, PCB Design with Mill, Casting and molding, Vinyl cutting. (Comfortable with operating various machine shops and hand tools).

Software

C# (Unity), Python, Solidworks (CAD), Fusion360 (CAD + CAM), C++ (Arduino), HTML, CSS, KiCAD, Kotlin (Android Studio)

Art & Design

Storyboarding, 2D Animation, Digital Illustration (Raster and Vector art), UI/UX, Clipstudio Paint, Adobe Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Animate, After Effects).

Languages

Arabic (native fluent), English (bilingual fluent), Japanese (JLPT N2)

Activities & Leadership

MIT Digital Arts and Animation Group

Vice President (2019-2020), Marketing Director (2017-2019)
Led outreach initiative and handled all logistical details for inviting famous Webtoon artist ShenComix to MIT
Designed and taught manga and character design workshops twice on campus as part of the "Manga with Marwa" series.

Guest Speaker

MIT Japan Student Ambassador
MIT Nano Seminar Series presenter
University of Bahrain CPISP PEP Talks speaker
MIT guest speaker at various Bahraini private schools (BBS, IKNS, Al Hekma School, Al Noor School) as part of the MIT Arab Student Association College Prepatory Sessions

Awards and Honor Societies

Societies

MIT Pi Tau Sigma (PTS) Mechanical Engineering Honor Society
Cum Laude Honor Society

Awards

Crown Prince International Scholarship Recepient (The Court of the Crown Prince, 2014): Fully funded BSc to PhD scholarship awarded annually to the ten most academically outstanding Bahraini students.
Martin Luther King Leadership Award (Phllips Academy Andover, 2016): Leadership Award
Ahmed Al Omran Award (Ahmed Al Omran Family, 2014): Financial award gifted to the Bahraini student ranked first (nationally).
First on Bahrain Title with GPA 99.9% (High School) (Bahrain Ministry of Education, 2014)
Bahrain Ministry of Education National Math Award (First Place) (Quality Education Assessment by Bahrain Ministry of Education, 2012)
Bahrain Ministry of Education: First on Bahrain Title (Middle School) (Bahrain Ministry of Education, 2011)