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By Technology Review

February 2004

Grad Rat Proves Popular

The graduate-ring committee made a stir this past November with the introduction of a new graduate ring that lives up to the reputation of the older and more renowned brass rat. Dubbed the "grad rat," the new ring captures all the charm of the brass rat and arrives courtesy of MIT's famous skill in problem solving.

"The statistics on graduate ring purchases weren't very impressive," said Justin Werfel, a Course VI graduate student who served on the grad-rat committee. "Something like 85 percent of MIT undergraduates purchased a class ring, while only 30 percent of graduate students bought rings."

Poor sales among the graduate community had a number of causes. "Undergraduates relate to their rings through their class year," says Alvar Saenz-Otero, chair of the grad-rat committee. "Grad students may enter the Institute during the same year, but we often graduate in different years. We identify with our degree program more than our class year." Since MIT offers 30 different degree programs, creating a ring that appealed to the entire graduate student population was a little daunting.

"Previously, grad students didn't emotionally connect with their ring," said Werfel. "It was a challenge we had to overcome to be successful."

The grad-rat committee resolved that dilemma by creating and offering 30 different course designations, applied to the ring's shank using a pantograph process.

"Pantographing," said Saenz-Otero, "involved making a hard mold of the ring's major features, while allowing different course icons and class years to be deeply engraved on a flat area of the department' shank. Customizing the ring was critical to the committee because we want this ring to appeal to the entire graduate community. Anyone who received a graduate degree from a current degree program should find this ring appealing."

Like the brass rat, the grad rat gets its charm from the many design elements "hidden" in the ring. As the grad rat brochure states, "the bezel features our endearing mascot holding a well-earned scroll [and] a slice of the free food so central to the graduate existence." Other symbols of the graduate experience include a handless clock, a crane, a smattering of tents, and a pile of refuse that bears "an uncanny resemblance to a certain prominent new building." The bezel scene is set at night, "as both beavers and grad students are, by necessity, nocturnal creatures."

"The committee had some fun with the design," says Werfel, "but most of all we focused on creating something that would have broad appeal to the graduate community. I hope we succeeded."

Early reviews have been good, as the grad rat has been deemed a worthy complement to its older sibling, the brass rat.

Graduate students, both past and present, can obtain grad rats. To find out more, go online to mit.edu/gsc. Or order directly from the manufacturer, Balfour, at 1-800-225-3687.