Inspiration from a porcupine’s quills
Understanding the mechanisms behind quill penetration and extraction could help engineers design better medical devices.
Department
Materials Science and Engineering
Building a better world
From fuel cells to bamboo, and from Tanzania to Brazil, MIT senior Arfa Aijazi crosses borders and disciplines to make an impact.
The robotic equivalent of a Swiss army knife
Reconfigurable robot a step toward something that can become almost anything.
Funneling the sun’s energy
MIT engineers propose a new way of harnessing photons for electricity, with the potential for capturing a wider spectrum of solar energy.
Stronger than a speeding bullet
New tests of nanostructured material could lead to better armor against everything from gunfire to micrometeorites.
How to communicate science visually
In a new book, MIT’s Felice Frankel aims to help scientists and engineers improve the way they portray their research through photos, diagrams and graphs.
The mysteries in materials
MIT senior Shannon Taylor researches 500-year-old artifacts and art to understand and restore materials.
Profile: Ju Li explores new nanomaterials
Working from the scale of atoms on up, he designs materials for future energy applications.
New technique reveals lithium in action
Fundamental reactions behind advanced battery technology, revealed in detail by advanced imaging method, could lead to improved materials.
Probing the mysteries of cracks and stresses
Analysis of molecular-level fracture and stress mechanisms could have broad implications for understanding materials’ behavior.
Understanding and predicting materials behavior
Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering takes an interdisciplinary approach
Oscillating microscopic beads could be key to biolab on a chip
MIT team finds way to manipulate and measure magnetic particles without contact, potentially enabling multiple medical tests on a tiny device.