Tim Rupert

It was super fun to get to talk a little about our research as well as the big things happening at HEMI and JHU!

Life is a never-ending succession of NFL teams adding ping pong tables w/stories about how they're finally coming together as a family and enjoying each other's company, and NFL teams removing ping pong tables w/stories about how they're finally taking football seriously.

I debated whether to share my story on here, but I guess I will. I think there's an idea out there that millions of violent criminals are pouring across the border, carrying machetes and drugs, looking to harm Americans. Certainly, while some people fall into that category, the vast majority of undocumented immigrants don't. My family escaped Vietnam after the Tet Offensive and went through an arduous journey that eventually landed them in the Canada. My father worked there for a time as a janitor; my mother, a secretary. When work fell through, my dad was offered to work with his sister in the United States, so he went, as our family needed money. He ended up staying in the US longer than he was supposed to — not knowing immigration laws — and asked my mom to come be with him. Of course, she went and carried me over the border while I was still a baby. I'm still unsure whether we technically broke an immigration law. The border between Canada and the United States was pretty porous (as it is today, for the most part). But either way, since I came here without legal documentation, I eventually fell into the category of being an undocumented immigrant. Yet, I've been in the United States since I was a baby. My identity and roots are very much based in this country, no different from anyone else. The lack of legal immigration has totally shaped my life. It has made every interaction with the law much scarier. It has shaped which opportunities I could or could not get. It has taken an emotional toll, as this legal issue hangs over your head like a black cloud. There are millions of people in my situation — people who were brought here as children, some babies, and were unable to raise their hand during this process and say "maybe we should hire a lawyer." Parents may have crossed the border not knowing about the law, as the law can be pretty confusing and lawyers are expensive. Perhaps, in the end, they should have hired a lawyer; but sometimes life is messy. In the end, they crossed for the same reason many people rise every day: to support their families. I think it's unreasonable to deport millions of people who have contributed positively to society. It's simply not true that the majority of these people are violent criminals carrying drugs. Many own small businesses; many work as skilled laborers (including garment workers!). The vast majority are good, honest people. For those of us who grew up in the United States, sending us "back" to our "home" country would mean sending someone to a foreign land, as they grew up in the United States. Tearing families apart based on immigration status seems inhumane. About twenty years ago, I watched with some small measure of hope that the Dream ACT would pass and help a portion of undocumented immigrants. I saw people march angrily in the streets (something I supported). But I was dismayed to see nothing really come about. In fact, when Obama passed DACA, I was skeptical that it would be sensible to give your information to the federal government without a guaranteed path to citizenship. It seems that the Trump administration may use those lists to hunt down immigrants. I think the ICE sweeps are inhumane. I support and admire the protestors who are putting their bodies on the line for non-violent resistance. Ultimately, I think we need to solve this issue on a systemic level. It's unreasonable to me to expect that the government will deport some 10-20 million people. Even deporting 1 million will cause an insane amount of chaos, not to mention an incredible amount of wasteful government spending. The militarization of law enforcement is over the top and only escalate the situation. I have seen people march on this issue, only for it to be dropped later and dissolve into quiet grumbles. In the end, nothing is done for immigrants. Time passes until decades later, we have another political crisis like the one we have today. This cycle seems unsustainable. I hope people sustain this energy to solve the immigration issue and put undocumented immigrants — most who are peaceful, skilled, and hard-working citizens — on a path to citizenship. As time continues to go by, many undocumented immigrants are seeing their lives wasted away. If you care about this issue, I hope you get involved on the long haul: volunteer for pro-immigrant groups, donate to mutual aid, and perhaps pursue career paths that help people in this situation. I was moved to read someone on here say that, when they found their employee was undocumented, they helped them get a green card. The path was difficult, as our immigration system is broken (it took them 11 years). But I can tell you that this is like pulling someone drowning in raging waters. Ultimately, I hope me sharing this story helps push back against the idea that all undocumented immigrants are MS-13 members. I know many people in my position and they are all like your neighbors.

Erasing history and refusing to celebrate great Americans is horrible. We should all decry this hateful behavior.

SecState Rubio claims that no on has died because of USAID cuts and suggested that I had lied in my reporting. So here I show him photos of specific children who have died because of the Trump administration's reckless cancelation of aid: nytimes.com/2025/05/31/opi…

Months of outrage over the government “giving money to Harvard” and folks are still clueless. These are highly competitive contracts for specialized research. Not gifts. It's work for hire like paying Boeing to build planes.

America cannot long remain free, nor first among nations, if it becomes the kind of place where universities are dismantled because they don't align politically with the current head of the government.

A statement from Sally Kornbluth, President of MIT

@senseuncommonly @stshuken @SokobanHero You are the worst.

@stshuken @SokobanHero A pragmatic approach to running a non politicized educational institution (one that also depends on visa student's tuition $$) would have gone a long way to help the Harvard Corporation to avoid this confrontation. No sympathies..

Harvard notified me today that this K99 grant is terminated.

Another in a long list of dumb decisions. If a rival wanted to decrease the US's place in the world, destroying the best science education and innovation system would be a great place to start. Instead, we are doing it to ourselves... cen.acs.org/policy/researc… via @cenmag

An important read, especially if you want to understand research. The gov't puts out problems they want solved, and then research labs compete for that funding. Nothing is a hand-out and it has been a huge resource for our country. apnews.com/article/trump-…

The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights. Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government. hrvd.me/ResearchFundin…

You are not powerless, and he is not unstoppable. Look at, and learn from, the funding freeze and how quickly he was forced to surrender.

All I want for Christmas is a 3rd MVP for Lamar Jackson.

Professor Sarah Finkeldei @FinkeldeiSarah was named in American Nuclear Society’s Nuclear News 40 under 40 list @ANS_org . The honor recognizes her contributions to #nuclear energy research and #education outreach. @UCIChemistry Read more: ps.uci.edu/news/3217

@MikeKesslerPhD @JHUMaterials Super cool! Way to go Ken!

Nice work by @JHUMaterials professor Ken Livi, who used electron microscopy to analyze dust samples, and the rest of the JHU team, to bring this environmental concern to light. The findings are also featured today in the Baltimore Banner and CBS News. cbsnews.com/baltimore/news…

Big things are happening at Hopkins in materials. Come join us and be a part of it!

@MitraLTaheri Lol, this has to be a joke...

And now THIS, too?! Hard no.

@MitraLTaheri @smathaudhu I saw this in Fed Hill and had the same thought!

@smathaudhu is this your house?

Congrats to professors @timmyrupert, @MitraLTaheri , and Michael Falk on their new $3M grant from ARPA-E on strengthening nanocrystalline tungsten materials for nuclear environments. #JHUMaterials engineering.jhu.edu/materials/news…