Chemical Engineering

A white-stained cluster of amyloid plaque proteins, a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease pathology, is evident in the mammillary body of a 2-month-old Alzheimer's model mouse. A new study finds that plaques begin in such deep regions and spread throughout the brain along specific circuits.

Alzheimer’s plaque emerges early and deep in the brain

Clumps of amyloid protein emerge early in deep regions, such as the mammillary body, and march outward in the brain along specific circuits.

October 8, 2019

X-ray images at top left show the drug-delivery capsule in the intestine, before and after the arms expand. At right, the arms are unfolded to reveal the microneedles.

New capsule can orally deliver drugs that usually have to be injected

Coated pill carries microneedles that deliver insulin and other drugs to the lining of the small intestine.

October 7, 2019

Left to right: MIT professors Gabriella Carolini, Paula Hammond, and David Trumper

Strong mentorship through great decision-making

Gabriella Carolini, Paula Hammond, and David Trumper honored as Committed to Caring graduate student mentors.

October 3, 2019

Graduate student Sidhant Pai repairs low-cost air quality sensors near Connaught Place in Central Delhi.

Tracing the origins of air pollutants in India

MIT researchers employ low-cost sensors to detect and track the origins of air pollutants in India.

September 30, 2019

MIT chemical engineers have developed a new series of lipid nanoparticles to deliver RNA vaccines.

Delivery system can make RNA vaccines more powerful

Vaccines packaged in novel nanoparticles could offer a new way to fight cancer and infectious diseases.

September 30, 2019

MIT researchers have designed low-cost, photovoltaic-powered sensors on RFID tags that work in sunlight and dimmer indoor lighting, and can transmit data for years before needing replacement.

Photovoltaic-powered sensors for the “internet of things”

RFID-based devices work in indoor and outdoor lighting conditions, and communicate at greater distances.

September 27, 2019

Chemical engineering graduate student Justin Swaney is applying machine learning to music production. “There’s a lot of manual searching to get the right musical result, which can be distracting and time-consuming,” says the co-creator of a new tool to help producers find just the perfect sound.

Machine learning you can dance to

MIT grad student startup Samply uses algorithms to help music producers find the perfect sound.

September 18, 2019

In BigSMILES, polymeric fragments are represented by a list of repeating units enclosed by curly brackets. The chemical structures of the repeating units are encoded using normal SMILES syntax, but with additional bonding descriptors that specify how different repeating units are connected to form polymers. This simple design of syntax would enable the encoding of macromolecules over a wide range ...

Notation system allows scientists to communicate polymers more easily

BigSMILES language allows computers and researchers to convey stochastic configurations more clearly.

September 18, 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

Solugen's proprietary process for producing hydrogen peroxide uses modified enzymes and inexpensive compounds like sugar. It is currently being used in two pilot facilities that create more than 10 tons of the chemical every day.

Cleaning up hydrogen peroxide production

Solugen’s engineered enzymes offer a biologically-inspired method for producing the chemical.

September 5, 2019

An $11.6 million artificial intelligence computing cluster donated by IBM to MIT will come online this fall at the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center (MGHPCC) in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

IBM gives artificial intelligence computing at MIT a lift

Nearly $12 million machine will let MIT researchers run more ambitious AI models.

August 26, 2019

David Koch during a visit to MIT on Oct. 4 2013 to dedicate the Koch Childcare Center on Vassar Street

David H. Koch, prominent supporter of cancer research at MIT, dies at 79

Alumnus supported pioneering biomedical center, among many Institute causes and activities.

August 23, 2019

Large anions with long tails (blue) in ionic liquids can make them self-assemble into sandwich-like bilayer structures on electrode surfaces. Ionic liquids with such structures have much improved energy storage capabilities.

New type of electrolyte could enhance supercapacitor performance

Novel class of “ionic liquids” may store more energy than conventional electrolytes — with less risk of catching fire.

August 12, 2019

Guided by artificial intelligence and powered by a robotic platform, a system developed by MIT researchers moves a step closer to automating the production of small molecules.

Guided by AI, robotic platform automates molecule manufacture

New system could free bench chemists from time-consuming tasks, may help inspire new molecules.

August 8, 2019

MIT researchers have developed a new model of gene control, in which the cellular machinery that transcribes DNA into RNA forms specialized droplets called condensates.

Study furthers radically new view of gene control

Along the genome, proteins form liquid-like droplets that appear to boost the expression of particular genes.