From blank verse to blockchain
Ryan Robinson '17 launches his startup with skills from the humanities and engineering
“My MIT education has shown me that in a world so filled with technology we have to make sure that we make room for humanity. From science to humanities, technology to business, and invention to exposure, every human action has a human effect. Technology — at its greatest — begins and ends at our common humanity.”
— Ryan Robinson ’17, 21E - Humanities and Engineering
The founder of a startup at the cutting edge of computer science and cloud computing, Ryan Robinson ’17 says that his MIT 21E joint degree in the humanities and engineering — has helped him understand the human dimensions of the world’s greatest challenges.
“My MIT education has shown me that in a world so filled with technology we have to make sure that we make room for humanity, says Robinson. "From science to humanities, technology to business, and invention to exposure, every human action has a human effect. Technology — at its greatest — begins and ends at our common humanity.”
Like many MIT students, Robinson arrived on campus ready to dive into mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, material science, quantum physics, computer engineering, and systems design. “In other words,” he says, “I wanted to do everything.”
He didn’t realize that “everything” would include poetry.
Robinson says MIT's joint degree in the humanities and engineering (21E) helped him understand the full complexity of the world’s problems. His startup, Conduit, aims to harness the world’s decentralized extra computing power to create a virtual quantum computer on the cloud for problem-solving.
The just pleasure
As a sophomore, Robinson marveled while Professor Howard Eiland analyzed Shakespeare’s Sonnet 121 in 21L.004 “Reading Poetry.”
Methodically, expertly, Eiland examined each line of the classic poem for historical resonance, allusions to other works, and etymological significance. Exposure to such mastery was inspiring, Robinson says. “I realized that the world is more complex than I had ever imagined and there’s a beauty behind that complexity if you are willing to look for it. It was at that moment that I saw myself as an MIT literature major.”
Later that semester Daria Johnson, the academic administrator for MIT Literature, stopped by 21L.004 to present different options for studying literature and the humanities in more depth. “She mentioned something called 21E,” Robinson remembers. “You combine humanities and engineering in a way that fit your passions — all of your passions. I switched majors the following semester.”
For the rest of his time at MIT, Robinson would move among engineering, physics, and humanities coursework — quantum computing theory and black feminism, structural design and Arthurian legend, information theory and romantic poetry. This dynamic, he says, brought “a new cadence of thought and understanding,” ultimately strengthening his grasp of the multifaceted challenges of the modern world.
In his literature courses, Robinson says he learned how to share information in a way that connects with an audience. Computer code may structure data well, but communicating information well requires an understanding of the human context. “It's that level of understanding that we'll need to make a responsible impact in the world,” he says.
Making a responsible impact
Since graduating from MIT, Robinson has launched Conduit, the company that he first conceived as an undergraduate. His startup, featured recently in Forbes magazine, is developing more efficient methods of producing blockchain, the complex secure technology behind Bitcoin. As Frederick Daso writes in Forbes, "Robinson wondered whether quantum computing could help drive down the costs of cloud computing, and help democratize resources" for problem solving. With Conduit, Robinson aims "to make affordable, distributed computation a reality."
Of launching and developing Conduit, Robinson says, “I use the skills I learned as a humanities and engineering major every day to move between the worlds of business and technology.”
Studying engineering, physics, and the humanities, Robinson reflects, has helped him understand the full complexity of the world’s problems. As MIT President Rafael Reif has noted, “Humanity faces urgent challenges — challenges whose solutions depend on marrying advanced technical and scientific capabilities with a deep understanding of the world's political, cultural, and economic complexities.”
In his literature courses, for example, Robinson says he learned how to share information in a way that connects with the audience. Computer code may structure data well, but communicating information well requires an understanding of the human context.
“Pursuing my interests in both engineering and humanities offered me perspectives and insights beyond formulas or words on a page,” says Robinson. “It's that level of understanding that we'll need to make a responsible impact in the world.”
Suggested links
Conduit
Quantum on the cloud
MIT Course 21E: Humanities and Engineering
Forbes: Meet the MIT graduate working on a decentralized option to cloud computing
MIT News Archive: Finding poetry in medicine
MIT News Archive: Powered by literature on her way toward an MD
SHASS News Archive: Daria Johnson of Literature receives MIT Excellence Award
Story prepared by MIT SHASS Communications