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@ramit I was a fan of yours until this tweet

happening NOW in SF. Waymo car vandalized & lit on fire 🤯@sfchronicle

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I was forwarded an email this morning from a reporter at Business Insider who noted that there are four paragraphs in my 330-page PhD dissertation: “Material-based Design Computation,” which I completed at @MIT in 2010, dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/… where I omitted quotation marks for certain work that I used.  For each of the four paragraphs in question, I properly credited the original source's author(s) with references at the end of each of the subject paragraphs, and in the detailed bibliography end pages of the dissertation.  In these four paragraphs, however, I did not place the subject language in quotation marks, which would be the proper approach for crediting the work. I regret and apologize for these errors. Business Insider also identified one sentence in the dissertation where I paraphrased Claus Mattheck and did not cite him: “The range of loads to which a tree is exposed is vast and it includes forces of various magnitudes and directions, bending moments, torsional moments, and thermal stresses amongst others. If the tree is to resist the loads exerted upon it, these loads must be countered by a support applying equally large, but opposed, reaction loads against it.” (Oxman, p. 49) Compare with Mattheck: “The multiplicity of external loads to which a tree component can be exposed can be divided into forces, bending moments, torsional moments and thermal stresses. If the component is not to be moved, these loads must be countered by a support exerting equally large but opposed reaction loads.” I should have provided a citation to Mattheck for the above sentence.  I paraphrased from his book, “Design in nature: learning from trees, Springer 1998,” which I cited throughout my thesis, and properly attributed in the sections which follow the subject sentence.  I deeply apologize to Mattheck for inadvertently not citing him when I paraphrased the above sentence. I am grateful for Mattheck’s contribution to the field as I noted in the dissertation in a section entitled “Background and Reference” on page 114: “Similar advancements in optimization have been developed in the field of Biomimetics as engineers reveal Nature’s unique capacities for the design and optimization of its products. Within this scope, significant work has been carried out by Prof. Claus Mattheck, director of the Research Center at Karlsruhe. Mattheck embarked on the mission of simulating knot healing processes in trees. Knots are usually attributed to dormant buds or cut side branches and are generally considered as imperfections in the wood which greatly affect its mechanical properties. Taking an in inspiration from Nature, Mattheck’s aim was to develop processes to mimic growth and refinement and further implement them as computational routines in the field of shape optimization.” For one of the four paragraphs in question, Business Insider claims that I incorrectly attributed the cited paragraph to two papers by different authors: “Vincent, J. F. V., Structural biomaterials,” Macmillan, London, 1982 and Vogel, S., “Comparative biomechanics: life’s physical world,” Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. 2003. Business Insider claims the proper source for this paragraph is: "The mechanical properties of natural materials," by Michael Farries Ashby, L. J. Gibson, U Wegst and R Olive, published in 1995 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Ashby et al also cite Vincent and Vogel in their introductory paragraph just prior to the paragraph in question, as well as in their bibliography.  I believe, therefore, that Ashby may also be using Vincent and Vogel in the paragraph in question, but clearly, since one of the sources I cite is from Vogel 2003, there is a problem with the citation. Unfortunately, because some of the original sources are not online, and Business Insider was unwilling to give me beyond 4pm to review these citations, I cannot confirm whether Business Insider or the sources I referenced for this paragraph are correct. When I obtain access to the original sources, I will check all of the above citations and request that MIT make any necessary corrections. As I have dedicated my career to advancing science and innovation, I have always recognized the profound importance of the contributions of my peers and those who came before me. I hope that my work is helpful to the generations to come. I am also incredibly grateful for the 15 years I spent at MIT beginning when I enrolled in the PhD program in 2005, obtained my PhD in 2010, and later joined the faculty that same year.  I became a tenured member of the faculty in 2017 and then left MIT in 2020 after I got married, became a mother, and moved to New York City. I have continued my work in a new company I founded in New York City called OXMAN, which along with 27 other members of my team, we are working to advance innovation in product, architectural, and urban design.  OXMAN has been in stealth mode.  I look forward to sharing more about OXMAN later this year.