The folks over at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have a reputation for being a bunch of hyper-intelligent brainiacs. Their legendary intellectual prowess can be intimidating to the rest of us mere mortals with nominal noggins. This month’s hero, however, proves that just because someone has the smarts to attend MIT, it doesn’t necessarily mean that she’s the brightest bulb on the circuit board.

Hawaiian native Star Simpson demonstrated this on September 21 at Boston’s LoganInternationalAirport by wearing a black, hooded sweatshirt that had a circuit board affixed to the front, with green LED lights and wires running to a 9-volt battery. The phrase “Socket to Me Course VI” was written on the back, apparently with a gold marker.

According to Major Scott Pare of the Massachusetts State Police, the 19-year-old approached an airport employee at a public information kiosk to inquire about an incoming flight from Oakland, while holding a lump of what appeared to be putty in her hand. When the employee questioned her about the get-up, Simpson simply walked away without a word.

Apparently, the wunderkind never got the memo that the TwinTowers in New York were both hit by planes that took off from Logan. Maybe that would explain why, after exiting the terminal, Simpson was surrounded by police armed with machine guns. Unlike the “fake bomb” on her shirt, their automatic weapons were quite real.

“She was immediately told to stop, to raise her hands, and not make any movement so we could observe all her movements to see if she was trying to trip any type of device,” Pare said at a press conference. At least Simpson was smart enough to comply with their orders. Otherwise, she may have suffered more bodily harm than that other famous super genius, Wile E. Coyote.

After Simpson’s arrest, it was quickly determined the device was harmless and the putty in her hand was simply modeling clay, not a wad of plastic explosive. Simpson tried to reassure security officials that her creation was just an art project designed to entertain visitors at Career Day. If there’s a company looking to hire people to unwittingly scare the bejeezus out of airport employees, she’s a shoo-in.

Simpson was charged with, and later pleaded not guilty to, disorderly conduct and carrying a hoax device. She was eventually released on $750 bail. That’ll put a dent in her Acme mail-order budget.

According to her personal website, Simpson is studying computers and enjoys tinkering in a student-run machine shop. “In a sentence, I’m an inventor, artist, engineer, and student. I love to build things and I love crazy ideas,” the website says. Looks like the Road Runner may have finally met his match.

Of course, countless fellow geeks have come to Simpson’s defense by saying that no self-respecting terrorist would ever wear such an obvious device outside his or her clothing. These brothers- and sisters-in-circuitry insist that, had security officials exercised common sense, there would have been no need for such drastic action that morning. What they fail to realize is that the only people more devoid of common sense than Star Simpson are TSA airport screeners.