Barb Darrow writes for Fortune about MIT’s new Integrated Design and Management program. Darrow explains that the program is aimed at tackling the problem of how “the design and manufacture of a product and the subsequent sales strategy are too often separate processes when they should all be part of a holistic approach.”
Toyota has announced that it is funding new research centers at MIT and at Stanford dedicated to developing “intelligent” cars, reports John Markoff for The New York Times. “We see this as basic computer science, A.I. and robotics that will make a difference in transportation,” explains Prof. Daniela Rus.
Forbes contributor TJ McCue writes about how MIT researchers have developed a 3-D printer that can manufacture glass. McCue explains that the printer uses, “many of the same controllers and parts that existing Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) printers use.”
A new center at MIT, a collaborative effort with Toyota, will be focused on broadening artificial intelligence technologies for cars, writes Eric Adams for Popular Science. Prof. Daniela Rus explains that the MIT center will dedicated to “helping reduce traffic casualties, and potentially even helping us develop a vehicle incapable of getting into a collision.”
Toyota is partnering with MIT and Stanford to research autonomous-vehicle technology, reports Marco della Cava for USA Today. “Toyota will use its MIT and Stanford investment dollars to develop on-board systems that will improve an automobile's ability to make smart driving decisions in split seconds when the driver is either unaware or too slow.”
Laura Krantz of The Boston Globe reports on the launch of the MindHandHeart initiative. “We really view this as the next logical step for us in our continuing process to address mental health and well-being on our campus,” says Chancellor Cynthia Barnhart.
MIT researchers have developed a robot called Hermes that is controlled by the motions of an exoskeleton-wearing human, reports Nidhi Subbaraman for BetaBoston. “What’s unique about Hermes is that Ramos is able to sense the robot’s balance through the harness,” writes Subbaraman.
Nidhi Subbaraman of BetaBoston reports on how MIT researchers have developed a fleet of self-driving golf carts. “The group road-tested a fleet of self-driving golf carts at a park in Singapore over six days,” writes Subbaraman.
“A team of researchers from MIT has created sensitive metallic polymers that change color in response to chemical or physical variations in their surroundings,” writes Alexandra Ossola for Popular Science. “The gel could be used as a litmus test to detect if particular pollutants are present in an environment.”
Graduate student Sydney Do speaks with Huffington Post Live about the technological shortfalls that currently make the Mars One plan for colonizing the Red Planet unrealistic. “Our finding is the Mars One plan is inherently unsustainable and is hence infeasible,” explains Do. “The technology that’s required is just not there yet.”
An article in The Economist highlights how a number of researchers at MIT are developing new devices to regulate the delivery of drugs within the body. Prof Michael Cima is working on a drug-delivery technology that could be used to treat ovarian cancer.
Tech reporter Kath Xu writes about MIT’s new MindHandHeart initiative. “What we’re trying to do with the MindHandHeart Initiative is to help students manage stress, manage time, manage MIT,” explains Chancellor Cynthia Barnhart.
Don Willmott writes for The Huffington Post about a theoretical design for a compact fusion reactor created by MIT researchers. “The MIT reactor should ultimately be able to produce five to six times the energy it consumes, MIT's scientists say, about 190 megawatts,” explains Willmott.
New research by Prof. Andrew Lo shows that the criteria currently used to evaluate whether drugs are safe and effective is too strict, reports Carolyn Johnson for The Washington Post. The study suggests that, “for many devastating diseases, the current standards are too risk-averse, erring on the side of keeping drugs off the market.”
Kelsey Atherton reports for Popular Science that MIT researcher have developed and tested a self-driving golf cart in a public garden in Singapore. Atherton writes that one potential use for the self-driving golf carts is a shared vehicle system where the carts would “drive people to their destination, and then either return or seek new riders.”