Materials Science and Engineering

ACCESS aims to increase the number of underrepresented minorities in graduate programs at MIT and other research institutions.

ACCESS shows grad school's rigors and rewards

Undergraduates from across the country learn the benefits of continuing their education in chemistry, chemical engineering, and materials science.

January 9, 2019

First row, left to right: Suvrit Sra, Frances Ross, Pulkit Agrawal, Kevin O’Brien, Richard Linares, and Cathy Wu. Second row, left to right: Negar Reiskarimian, Jacob Andreas, Giovanni Traverso, Manya Ghobadi, and Ashwin Gopinath.

School of Engineering welcomes new faculty

Eleven new professors join the MIT community.

January 9, 2019

Professor Amy Glasmeier (left) and MIT sophomore Taimor Williams discuss his research project on cascading failures in critical infrastructure systems. Everything from grid design to energy policy to human factors and design influences these types of system failures, and the data surrounding them are immense and complex.

“You don’t learn this in class”

Students in the MIT Energy Initiative Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program build professional skills.

January 4, 2019

Work by researchers in the group of MIT materials science and engineering Professor Geoffrey Beach and colleagues in California, Germany, Switzerland and Korea, was featured on the covers of <i>Nature Nanotechnology</i> and <i>Advanced Materials.</i>

Controllable fast, tiny magnetic bits

MIT researchers show how to make and drive nanoscale magnetic quasi-particles known as skyrmions for spintronic memory devices.

January 3, 2019

Researchers from MIT and elsewhere have recorded the “temporal coherence” of a graphene qubit — how long it maintains a special state that lets it represent two logical states simultaneously — marking a critical step forward for practical quantum computing.

Physicists record “lifetime” of graphene qubits

First measurement of its kind could provide stepping stone to practical quantum computing.

December 31, 2018

Left to right: Graduate student Cédric Viry, Professor Jeffrey Grossman, and postdoc Grace Han, along with their collaborators, are using specially designed “photoswitching” molecules to control the release of heat from materials used to store thermal energy in devices ranging from solar concentrators and solar cookers to heated seats in vehicles.

Saving heat until you need it

A new concept for thermal energy storage involves a material that absorbs heat as it melts and releases it as it resolidifies — but only when triggered by light.

December 19, 2018

Yoel Fink, CEO of AFFOA, holds up a fabric with optical communications capabilities during a presentation on what he calls “fabrics as a service” at the annual MIT Industrial Liaison Program (ILP) Research and Development Conference on Nov. 15.

Opportunities for materials innovation abound

Faculty researchers share insights into new capabilities at the annual Industrial Liaison Program Research and Development Conference.

December 14, 2018

MIT researchers have 3-D printed a novel microfluidic device that simulates cancer treatments on biopsied tumor tissue — and keeps the tissue alive for days — so clinicians can better examine how individual patients will respond to different therapeutics.

To guide cancer therapy, device quickly tests drugs on tumor tissue

Inexpensive 3-D-printed microfluidics device could be used to personalize cancer treatment.

December 12, 2018

High resolution E-SEM image of the milk protein network in the casein gel (yogurt) that the researchers were able to characterized using the new OWCh technique during the entire gelation process.

Technique inspired by dolphin chirps could improve tests of soft materials

Method can be used to quickly characterize any soft, rapidly changing substance, such as clotting blood or drying cement.

December 6, 2018

This scanning electron micrograph shows the crater left by the impact of a 10-micrometer particle traveling at more than 1 kilometer per second. Impacts at that speed produce some melting and erosion of the surface, as revealed by this research.

What happens when materials take tiny hits

High-speed camera shows incoming particles cause damage by briefly melting surfaces as they strike.

November 29, 2018

BP Amoco Chemical Company Senior Research Chemist Matthew Kulzick outlines advances in imaging technology during the MIT MRL Materials Day Symposium on Oct. 10.

Solving a multi-million dollar problem

In MIT visit, BP chemist details new X-ray and sample chamber technologies, yielding insights into fighting metal corrosion, improving catalytic reactions, and more.

November 13, 2018

Illustration shows how hydrogen ions (red dots), controlled by an electric voltage, migrate through an intermediate material to change the magnetic properties of an adjacent magnetic layer(shown in green).

Study opens route to ultra-low-power microchips

Innovative approach to controlling magnetism could lead to next-generation memory and logic devices.

November 12, 2018

“The college is our way of building a powerful framework and environment for research and collaborations that involve computing and that are occurring across disciplines," says School of Engineering Dean Anantha P. Chandrakasan, the Vannevar Bush Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Bridge to the future of engineering

The School of Engineering’s faculty leadership weigh in on what the MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing will mean for their students and faculty.

November 11, 2018

Silvija Gradečak, MIT professor in materials science and engineering, addresses the promise and the problems of perovskite solar cells. She spoke during the MIT Materials Research Laboratory Materials Day Symposium on Oct. 10.

Improving materials from the nanoscale up

At the Materials Day Symposium, researchers focus on tools that probe atomic structures in action to yield better designs for metals, solar cells, and polymers.

November 8, 2018

Researchers demonstrating the ability of aluminum to repel oil underwater.

Extending the life of low-cost, compact, lightweight batteries

New design could greatly extend the shelf life of single-use metal-air batteries for electric vehicles, off-grid storage, and other applications.