What to know about MIT professor Nuno Loureiro, who was shot at home near Boston
Authorities are looking for the suspect in the murder Nuno FG LoureiroA leading physics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was shot to death at his home near Boston. The 47-year-old professor from Portugal was shot Monday night and died at a local hospital on Tuesday.
Authorities did not provide any details about a possible motive for the murder or any other details. The Norfolk District Attorney’s Office said no suspects were in custody as of Wednesday morning.
The shooting in Brookline, Massachusetts, came just days after a deadly shooting at another prestigious school in the area. Brown UniversityPolice are searching for the gunman who killed two students and injured nine others. The FBI said it found no connection between the crimes.
Finding solutions to the world’s problems
Loureiro joined MIT in 2016 and was selected last year to lead the school’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center; where he aimed to advance clean energy technology and other research. When he took over the management, more than 250 people were working in seven buildings at the center, which is one of the largest laboratories of the school.
According to MIT, Loureiro, who is married, grew up in Viseu in central Portugal and studied in Lisbon before receiving his doctorate in London. It was stated that before joining MIT, he worked as a researcher at a nuclear fusion institute in Lisbon. He studied the behavior of plasma and worked to uncover the physics behind astronomical events such as solar flares. According to his obituary in MIT News, his work “included the design of fusion devices that could harness the energy of the fusion of plasmas, bringing the dream of clean, nearly unlimited fusion power closer to reality.”
“It is not an exaggeration to say that MIT is the place to find solutions to humanity’s greatest problems,” Loureiro said when he was appointed. leading the plasma science laboratory last year. “Fusion energy will change the course of human history.”
Sadness and shock over Loureiro’s death
“He shone a bright light as a mentor, friend, teacher, colleague and leader, and was universally admired for his outspoken, compassionate demeanor,” engineering professor Dennis Whyte, who formerly directed MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, told a campus publication.
Deepto Chakrabarty, William A.M. Burden professor of astrophysics and chair of the Department of Physics, described him as “a champion of plasma physics in the Department of Physics, a wonderful and engaging colleague, and an inspiring and compassionate mentor to graduate students working in plasma science.”
“The shocking loss for our community comes at a time of disturbing violence in many other places,” said MIT President Sally Kornbluth.
The office of Portugal’s president also issued a statement of condolence on Tuesday, saying his death was “an irreparable loss for science and all those with whom he worked and lived.”
The murder took place while the suspect who shot Brown was being searched for.
The investigation into the MIT professor’s killing comes as Brown University, just 50 miles (80 kilometers) away in Providence, Rhode Island, is reeling from Saturday’s deadly shooting. with search Brown University shooter On Wednesday, for the fifth day, authorities were asking the public to review any security or phone footage from the week before the attack in the hope that it could help investigators identify the suspect, as they believe he may have already searched the scene.
