DMSE

For tropical growing regions in Brazil and some countries in Africa, differing soil and rock compositions make for a poor match for the fertilizers that are currently on the market. J-WAFS-funded MIT researchers seek to meet this challenge with a new type of fertilizer, and call for more interdisciplinary research to help close yield gaps.

Local rocks can yield more crops

J-WAFS-funded MIT research team shows a new method of fertilizer production can better suit the needs of farms in Africa and around the globe.

February 12, 2019

Six MIT researchers are among the 86 new members and 18 foreign associates elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

Six MIT researchers elected to the National Academy of Engineering for 2019

Members have made advances in molecular processes, rheology, computer networking, nanocrystalline metals, affective computing, and semiconductor tech.

February 11, 2019

Introducing a small amount of strain into crystalline materials, such as diamond or silicon, can produce significant changes in their properties, researchers have found. The mechanical strain is represented here as a deformation in the diamond's shape.

Using artificial intelligence to engineer materials’ properties

New system of “strain engineering” can change a material’s optical, electrical, and thermal properties.

February 11, 2019

Eugene Fitzgerald appointed CEO and director of the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology

Professor of materials science and engineering to lead MIT’s research enterprise in Singapore.

February 6, 2019

This illustration depicts the main elements of the system the team used: The multicolored slab at center is the metal layer being studied, the pale blue region at left is the electrolyte solution used as a source of hydrogen, the small blue dots are the hydrogen atoms, and the green laser beams at right are probing the process. The large cylinder at right is a probe used to indent the metal to tes...

Observing hydrogen’s effects in metal

Microscopy technique could help researchers design safer reactor vessels or hydrogen storage tanks.

February 4, 2019

This illustration shows the 12 different forms that six-atom vacancy defects in graphene can have, as determined by the researchers. The pie chart shows the relative abundances that are predicted for each of these different forms.

Researchers catalog defects that give 2-D materials amazing properties

Theoretical analysis distinguishes observed “holes” from the huge list of hypothetically possible ones.

January 14, 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

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.