Adedolapo “Dolapo” Adedokun, senior at MIT, has been named one of 12 recipients of the 2023 George J. Mitchell Scholarship. After graduating in Electrical and Computer Engineering next spring, he will travel to Ireland to undertake a Masters in Intelligent Systems. at Trinity College Dublin as the fourth MIT student to receive this award.
Mitchell Fellows are selected on the basis of their academic achievement, leadership and dedication to public service. The scholarship is named in honor of US Senator Mitchell’s contributions to the Northern Ireland peace process. This year, more than 350 American students have been invited to apply for the prestigious scholarship, which is sponsored by the US-Ireland Alliance and funds a year of graduate study in Ireland.
Adedokun grew up in East Brunswick, New Jersey, and is the son of Nigerian immigrants. His goal is to become a technologist who builds platforms for artistic expression that can be used to democratize music education.
Adedokun was supported in the application process by MIT’s Distinguished Fellowships team in career counseling and professional development, and by the Presidential Committee of Distinguished Fellowships. Mark Brennan PhD ’20, member of the Presidential Committee for Distinguished Fellowships, says: “Dolapo is at the frontier of ensuring equitable access to arts education, one of the most important but unequally available aspects of the system. American school. With a passion for jazz and extensive experience developing commercial technology, he has all the elements in place to stimulate technology-supported arts education in American schools.
As a computer scientist and jazz instrumentalist, Adedokun wishes to use the power of technology and music to foster bonds between people, allowing all communities to have a voice to express themselves artistically. He is also motivated by his observations on inequalities in broadband access, especially for communities of color, and wishes to contribute to innovations in this area to ensure that all students, regardless of background or circumstances, have access to broadband. access to internet infrastructure to achieve education.
It was after taking both 6.033 (Computer System Engineering) and 21M.080 (Music Technology) that Adedokun was inspired to invent a smart home system that allowed users to anonymously layer different melodies as they entered and came out of a building, which created a unique environment. and a rich soundtrack for every day. Adedokun wishes to develop his talents in music and computing in tandem, perhaps using the realm of network latency to enable musical collaboration that defies the limits of geographic boundaries.
Adedokun has brought his passion for leadership to many organizations at MIT. In his second year, Adedokun was elected President of the MIT Chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers, leading an initiative to create 10 new business relationships to increase minority participation in STEM fields and technology industry. Within his computer science department, he was one of 10 students selected for the EECS Undergraduate Student Advisory Group (USAGE). Topics covered by Adedokun include advising on the structure of introductory courses, promoting new AI study programs and a pre-orientation program for incoming first-year students, and improving the training of graduates. teaching assistants. Adedokun sits on the board of directors of the Harvard / MIT Cooperative Society, the oldest university cooperative in the United States. Adedokun credits his membership in Chocolate City, a living MIT group, as a force to anchor him and provide him with the essential support he needed at MIT.
