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Abdul Latif Jameel World Water and Food Security Laboratory (J-WAFS)

prototype of water harvesting system

Solar-powered system extracts drinkable water from “dry” air

MIT engineers have made their initial design more practical, efficient, and scalable.

October 14, 2020

Six people pose in front of structure made of a shipping container

Designing off-grid refrigeration technologies for crop storage in Kenya

A team of MIT researchers is using the thermodynamic properties of water evaporation to bring off-grid cold storage of produce to remote, arid regions.

October 16, 2020

IdeaStream 2020 featured presentations from 19 research projects across MIT, as well as Q&A sessions with speakers via Zoom.

IdeaStream 2020 goes virtual

From machine learning to devices to Covid-19 testing, Deshpande Center projects aim to make a positive impact on the world.

June 24, 2020

Francesca O’Hanlon of Blue Tap delivered a pitch at the Water Innovation Prize on April 22. Her team won first place with a novel water chlorinating system that makes clean water affordable and accessible for users without existing access to healthy water supplies.

MIT student leaders go virtual with global startup competitions

In the face of Covid-19, the MIT Water Club and the MIT Food and Agriculture Club take their signature innovation prizes online.

May 15, 2020

In a step toward small-scale production of ammonia fertilizer, MIT chemical engineers have devised a way to combine hydrogen and nitrogen using an electric current that generates a lithium catalyst.

Technique could enable cheaper fertilizer production

Chemical engineers take a step toward generating ammonia with small-scale, electrochemical reactors.

May 4, 2020

If the world is to be free of hunger and malnutrition in accordance with the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals, actions to strengthen the resilience and adaptive capacity of food systems must be rapidly implemented in order to adapt to climate change. Research launched by J-WAFS seeks to map out the most strategic ways that research can be used to ensure a global transition toward food-system ...

J-WAFS zeroes in on food security as agricultural impacts of the climate crisis become more apparent

The Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab presents a new report on climate, agriculture, water, and food security — with plans for more research.

October 30, 2019

Left: A water sample undergoing testing using the J-WAFS-funded water quality test kit soon to be deployed throughout Nepal. Right: Citrus trees infected with citrus greening disease are highly contagious and can wipe out whole orange groves. A J-WAFS-funded sensor could help farmers detect the disease much earlier.

J-WAFS announces 2019 Solutions Grants supporting agriculture and clean water

Projects address access to clean water in Nepal via wearable E. coli test kits, improving the resilience of commercial citrus groves, and more.

September 17, 2019

PhD candidates Sahil Shah (left) and Peter Godart, both of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, have each received fellowships from MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab for 2019-20. Their research explores possible solutions to global and local water supply challenges through new approaches to desalination.

PhD students awarded J-WAFS fellowships for water solutions

J-WAFS announces graduate fellowships for Sahil Shah and Peter Godart, both of the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

June 17, 2019

A new agreement will help initiate research collaborations between scholars at MIT and IIT-Ropar that respond to water- and food-sector challenges in India. IIT Ropar is located in Punjab, a primarily agriculture-based region of India, and has interdisciplinary centers focusing on water and agriculture.

New seed fund to address food, water, and agriculture in India

MIT-India, J-WAFS, and the Indian Institute of Technology Ropar launch fund to facilitate collaborations between faculty and scientists from MIT and ITT Ropar.

May 9, 2019

Judges and sponsors of the Rabobank-MIT Food and Agribusiness Innovation Prize pose with members of the winning team, Gramhal. Team members pictured include advisor Russell DeLucia (third from left); head of operations Simeen Kaleem (fourth from left); CEO and founder Vikas Birhma (fourth from right). Not pictured is Gramhal chief program officer Pankaj Mahalle.

Mobile solution for farmers and plan for global shrimp marketplace win agribusiness prize

Seven finalist teams pitched their business ideas at the Rabobank-MIT Food and Agribusiness Innovation Prize competition.

May 3, 2019

Seaside desalination plants like this typically discharge large volumes of concentrated brine back into the sea. MIT researchers have shown that instead, much of this waste could be turned into useful chemicals.

Turning desalination waste into a useful resource

Process developed at MIT could turn concentrated brine into useful chemicals, making desalination more efficient.

February 13, 2019

“If you have a problem, and you look into the problem in nature and see how animals or plants deal with these kinds of problems and extract those design principles, you can try to replicate [them] using engineering approaches,” saysZijay Tang, a PhD candidate in MIT’s Department of Biological Engineering.

Inspired by nature, reaching across disciplines

PhD student Zijay Tang is developing a living material that can sense and filter water contaminants.

September 17, 2018

This wearable water quality test kit (early prototype pictured at left) provides a simple, accessible way to test the presence of E. coli in drinking water. A J-WAFS Solutions grant will enable an MIT research team to develop a regionally-appropriate commercialization strategy to ensure that these test kits can be accessible to rural and urban communities in Nepal as well as the other areas in Sou...

J-WAFS awards grants for commercialization of food and water technologies

Solutions grants will aid commercialization of novel MIT technologies to test water safety and improve agricultural productivity.

September 11, 2018

Krithika Ramchander (left), a PhD candidate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Andrea Karin Beck, a PhD candidate in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning, have each received fellowships from MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel World Water and Food Security Lab (J-WAFS) for 2018-2019. Their research explores solutions to global and local water supply challenges using engineering and q...

Krithika Ramchander and Andrea Beck awarded J-WAFS fellowships for water solutions

Graduate students receive J-WAFS fellowships to support research focused on improving water access for rural as well as urban communities.

August 9, 2018

A rendering of Los Angeles depicts green space and wetlands as envisioned by the MIT team.

A solution for urban storm flooding

Engineered green spaces can capture and purify stormwater while delivering ecosystem and recreational benefits, MIT researchers report.

July 12, 2018