November 30, 2009

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – For the second year in a row, MIT had a pair of representatives on the CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Football Academic All-America Team. A Third-Team selection last season, Alex Rubino was voted to the First Team while Brian Doyle earned a spot on the Second Team. The accolades raised the football program’s total to an Institute-best 29 awards and maintains MIT’s position as the all-time NCAA Division III leader with 160 honors since 1980.

In addition to Rubino and Doyle, seniors Will Gibson, Brian Mickle, and Zach Rose were named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team and advanced to the national ballot.

A four-year starter on the Engineers’ defensive line, Rubino received his second straight New England Football Conference (NEFC) Boyd Division Second-Team selection. He also earned the Hal Chalmers Award, which goes to the senior scholar-athlete in the league. Rubino ranked in the top-10 in the NEFC in tackles for loss, producing 12 tackles that yielded 37 yards. A Chemical Engineering major with a minor in Economics, he is a member of the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. Rubino was a member of a team that conducted an on-site feasibility study of installing solar and/or wind power on Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School. He continued his research in alternative energy at the Cummins Group by looking at methods of converting carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide using a vanadium organometallic framework.

Doyle, a First-Team All-District pick last year, collected his first national accolade. The junior defensive back finished the season tied for fifth in the NEFC in interceptions and recorded the second longest interception return in the league (51 yards). For his efforts, he was named to the Boyd Division First Team. A Mechanical Engineering major with a concentration in Economics, Doyle held an internship at Bose Corporation where he simulated force analysis of car suspension systems on various roads. He is currently working on a UROP with a graduate student on internal waves research and has ran several experiments involving boundary-layer flows driven up a heated slope in a fluid with background temperature and salinity stratifications.

Gibson, a linebacker and Biological Engineering major, racked up 57 tackles, including 4.5 for a loss of 19 yards. He forced and recovered a pair of fumbles and notched a pass break-up. A 2009 Rhodes Scholarship Finalist, Gibson was a First-Team All-District selection last season. He has conducted extensive research in stent thrombosis and has been published six times in four medical journals. Through the Washington, D.C.-based Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), Gibson has a patent pending for methods of proper stent alignment in non-overlap and congruent overlap configurations. He is an Amgen Scholar, Burchard Scholar, and the President of the American Medical Students Association. Gibson is a member of the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.

Mickle, a defensive lineman and Management major, totaled 25 tackles, including three for a loss of 12 yards and a nine-yard sack. He also forced and recovered a fumble for the Engineers. A three-time NEFC All-Academic Team honoree, he was a research assistant for Dr. Pai-Ling Yin at the Sloan School of Management. Mickle analyzed open market sales trends for Nintendo Wii and Playstation 3 rival game consoles using eBay auctions. He collaborated with Yin and an economist from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to analyze corporate pricing strategies. Mickle was a review board member of MIT’s Intra-fraternity Council Judicial Committee and a volunteer for the Undergraduate Association Athletics Committee. In addition, he has served as the Delta Kappa Epsilon house manager the past four years.

Rose anchored an offensive line that ranked fifth in the NEFC in rush offense and also produced the nation’s second-highest rusher. A three-time NEFC All-Academic Team pick, he will graduate with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. As a research aide in the Laboratory for Electromagnetic and Electronic Systems, Rose developed 3-D modeled concepts for a water heater powered partially by household waste heat. He also designed and constructed a rig to model a U.S. naval destroyer’s jet engine. In an internship at the NASA Glenn Research Center, Rose designed, analyzed, and fabricated parts and systems for two different cryogenically cooled electric motors facilitating faster development. He is currently the Vice-Chairman of the Undergraduate Association Committee on Athletics.