Study: More eyes on the skies will help planes reduce climate-warming contrails
Images from geostationary satellites alone aren’t enough to help planes avoid contrail-prone regions, MIT researchers report.
Department
Aeronautics and Astronautics
MADMEC winners develop spray-on coating to protect power lines from ice
Placing first in the MADMEC innovation contest, the MITten team aims to curb costly power outages during winter storms.
MIT engineers design an aerial microrobot that can fly as fast as a bumblebee
With insect-like speed and agility, the tiny robot could someday aid in search-and-rescue missions.
Four from MIT named 2026 Rhodes Scholars
Vivian Chinoda ’25, Alice Hall, Sofia Lara, and Sophia Wang ’24 will begin postgraduate studies at Oxford University next fall.
Teaching robots to map large environments
A new approach developed at MIT could help a search-and-rescue robot navigate an unpredictable environment by rapidly generating an accurate map of its surroundings.
Lightning-prediction tool could help protect the planes of the future
The new approach maps aircraft sections most vulnerable to lightning, including on planes with experimental designs.
School of Engineering welcomes new faculty in 2024-25
The newest MIT engineering faculty are conducting research across a diverse range of subject areas.
MIT Schwarzman College of Computing welcomes 11 new faculty for 2025
The faculty members occupy core computing and shared positions, bringing varied backgrounds and expertise to the MIT community.
New prediction model could improve the reliability of fusion power plants
The approach combines physics and machine learning to avoid damaging disruptions when powering down tokamak fusion machines.
3 Questions: How a new mission to Uranus could be just around the corner
PhD student Chloe Gentgen discusses why the ice giant is such a high-priority solar system target, and how the Starship launch vehicle may hasten our explorations there.
Teamwork in motion
Friendly competition and a love of spreadsheets helped get Aero and Astro running teams over the finish line at Ragnar Reach the Beach.
NASA selects Adam Fuhrmann ’11 for astronaut training
The AeroAstro alumnus, who participated in Air Force ROTC and the Gordon Engineering Leadership Program at MIT, is a test pilot and one of 10 new astronaut candidates selected from around the nation.
A new community for computational science and engineering
The stand-alone PhD program is building connections and preparing students to make a difference.
DOE selects MIT to establish a Center for the Exascale Simulation of Coupled High-Enthalpy Fluid–Solid Interactions
The research center, sponsored by the DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration, will advance the simulation of extreme environments, such as those in hypersonic flight and atmospheric reentry.
AI and machine learning for engineering design
Popular mechanical engineering course applies machine learning and AI theory to real-world engineering design.