Writing for The Wall Street Journal, Prof. Yossi Sheffi outlines how companies should prepare for possible changes in the U.S. trade and regulatory landscape. Sheffi notes that “companies should be deliberate in making significant changes to supply chains based on chatter rather than real regulatory or legislative action.”
CSAIL researchers have developed software that allows users to design and virtually test drones, writes Alex Davies for Wired. Graduate student Tao Du explains that the software can help users “explore and try different shapes and different controllers.”
A new paper co-authored by Prof. Daron Acemoglu examines the impact of automation on the U.S. job market, according to The Economist. The researchers found that “between 1990 and 2007, each industrial robot added per thousand workers reduced employment in America by nearly six workers.”
In this interview with Domus, Prof. Carlo Ratti discusses architecture and the digital revolution. Speaking about innovations that will influence the future, Ratti explains that “thanks to digital technology, we can finally build an interior that is not only able to feel, but also to respond, adapting itself in real time to our needs.”
Boston Globe reporter Janelle Nanos writes about Ministry of Supply, an MIT startup, that is incorporating 3-D printing in the production of their clothes. “We’re not going to have a clearance rack of sizes and colors that didn’t sell, because we’re going to be able to produce exactly what consumers want,” says co-founder Gihan Amarasiriwardena.
Prof. Sertac Karaman and postdoc Lex Fridman speak with Boston Globe columnist Scott Kirsner about why companies developing self-driving cars should share data. Kirsner writes that Fridman explains it would be “‘extremely useful’ to create some kind of database where manufacturers could deposit — or withdraw — models and strategies that would make their vehicles safer.”
Reporting for the PBS NewsHour, Nsikan Akpan highlights a new study co-authored by MIT researchers that examines how many NIH grants lead to new patents and medications. Prof. Pierre Azoulay explains that the study, “provides evidence that the research done in the public sector is useful — it’s relevant for the research done by private-sector firms.”
Newsweek reporter Jessica Wapner writes about a new study by MIT researchers that provides evidence that NIH funding contributes to a large number of patents in the field of biomedicine. The findings indicate that NIH-funded research “is not being done in an ivory tower,” explains Prof. Pierre Azoulay. “Companies use it as input in their own discovery efforts.”
Prof. Krystyn Van Vliet speaks with Samantha Boh of The Straits Times. Van Vliet explains that "My work gives me added motivation because at the end of the day you are not just engineering a new toy or learning something for yourself, but engineering a whole process where the outcome has the potential to restore health."
Prof. Vipin Narang speaks with New York Times reporter Max Fisher about a potential shift in India’s nuclear weapons doctrine to allow for pre-emptive nuclear strikes. “There is increasing evidence that India will not allow Pakistan to go first,” Narang told a gathering of international government officials and policy experts in Washington D.C.
The March 2017 issue of Italian design magazine Domus includes a special section that explores the fringes of architectural innovation in four aspects: design, materials, production, and interaction. Curated by Prof. Carlo Ratti, director of the MIT Senseable City Lab, the section’s articles feature an array of MIT architects, designers, and innovators.
MIT researchers have developed a system called Splinter that provides users more anonymity online, writes Kristin Toussaint for Boston Metro. Toussaint explains that the system, “allows websites to encrypt a user’s internet searches so they're never saved. The data is still out there, but is split among multiple database centers.”
Nature reporter Elie Dolgin writes about Prof. Pierre Azoulay’s new research that shows NIH funding has a significant impact on innovation in the field of biomedicine. Azoulay explains that from an economic standpoint the U.S. is “under-investing overall” in biomedical research.
Los Angeles Times reporter Melissa Healy writes that a new study by Prof. Pierre Azoulay examining the impact of NIH-funded research shows that NIH funding, “fuels the kinds of innovations that drive the U.S. economy.” Azoulay explains, “NIH public funding expenditures have large effects on the patenting output of the private sector.”
A study by Prof. Pierre Azoulay demonstrates the significant impact of NIH funding on biomedical patents, reports Carolyn Johnson for The Washington Post. Azoulay explains, “if your view was that the research done by academics...[has] no ramifications for the real world and the development of new medicines — well, that view is not correct.”