School of Engineering

The official signing ceremony for the new research collaboration between CSAIL and QCRI. From left to right: Abdellatif Saoudi, managing director, QCRI; Daniela Rus, director, CSAIL; Philip Khoury, Associate Provost, MIT; Faisal Al Suwaidi, president of research and development, Qatar Foundation; Ahmed Elmagarmid, executive director QCRI.

CSAIL and QCRI announce new research collaboration

October 23, 2012

A high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscope image taken at Oak Ridge National Laboratory showing a large hole in the graphene (black region in the center). The image is 32 nm by 32 nm, hence the hole is about 10 nm in diameter. The white on the surface of the graphene is contamination, which is a recurring problem for anyone imaging graphene using this technique.

Tiny pores in graphene could give rise to membranes

New membranes may filter water or separate biological samples.

October 23, 2012

Whitehead Institute Founding Member and MIT Professor of Biology Rudolf Jaenisch, left, and Subra Suresh, the Vannevar Bush Professor of Engineering.

Jaenisch, Suresh named Franklin Institute laureates

October 22, 2012

On a surface patterned with tiny pillars (white squares), and with a coating of a lubricant liquid that fills the spaces between the pillars, dome-shaped droplets of water condense but remain free to move quickly across the surface, unlike on conventional flat surfaces or ones with just the patterning, where they tend to stay stuck in place. The new surface treatment could provide a significant bo...

A better way to shed water

MIT researchers find that lubricated, nanotextured surfaces improved performance of condensers in power and desalination plants.

October 22, 2012

Judy Brewer, a principal research scientist at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory

3 Questions: A Web for everyone

Judy Brewer leads the Web Accessibility Initiative, which developed standards that help make the Web accessible to people with disabilities.

October 19, 2012

Planes await takeoff at London's Heathrow Airport.

Researchers examine health impacts of more U.K. runways

Study: An expanded Heathrow Airport would lead to 100 more pollution-related early deaths annually in the U.K. by 2030.

October 19, 2012

From left: Postdoc Alexis Grimaud, mechanical engineering graduate student David Kwabi and materials science and engineering graduate student Kelsey Stoerzinger work in the laboratory of Associate Professor Yang Shao-Horn, the Electrochemical Energy Lab.

Department snapshot: Mechanical Engineering

More MechE students choose to design their own education.

October 17, 2012

Using a device borrowed from fusion research, Paul P. Woskov of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center has vaporized rock for the first time, confirming the feasibility of his proposal to use energy beams rather than drill bits to access underground energy resources.

Reaching underground resources

Vaporize the rock — no drilling required

October 16, 2012

Diagram shows the 'probability flux' of electrons, a representation of the paths of electrons as they pass through an 'invisible' nanoparticle. While the paths are bent as they enter the particle, they are subsequently bent back so that they re-emerge from the other side on the same trajectory they started with — just as if the particle wasn't there.

‘Invisibility’ could be a key to better electronics

MIT team applies technology developed for visual ‘cloaking’ to enable more efficient transfer of electrons.

October 12, 2012

Team members, from left, Bobak Ferdowsi SM '03, Steve Sell and Allen Chen '00, SM '02 relive the landing of the Mars Curiosity rover.

MIT alums recount their Martian experiences

Several AeroAstro alumni return to campus to describe landing the Curiosity rover on Mars.

October 11, 2012

MIT's CSAIL launches new center to tackle the future of wireless and mobile technologies

Will address major technical challenges facing wireless field, bring together academia and industry

October 11, 2012

Paper authors (l-r) Yuran Wang, William Gunther and Yuriy Roman show a sample of the inorganic catalyst Sn-Beta zeolites with borate salts

A new way to create rare sugars

MIT team discovers an inorganic catalyst that could pave the way to a more robust synthesis of valuable rare sugars.

October 10, 2012

Ju Li, a professor in MIT’s departments of materials science and engineering and nuclear science and engineering.

Profile: Ju Li explores new nanomaterials

Working from the scale of atoms on up, he designs materials for future energy applications.

October 10, 2012

Joel Schindall of electrical engineering and computer science (left) and Riccardo Signorelli PhD ’09 of FastCAP Systems examine carbon-nanotube-coated samples that proved key to the development of the full-scale, high-performance ultracapacitors now being marketed by FastCAP.

A novel ultracapacitor

Energy when and where you need it.

October 9, 2012

A microscopic image of cancer cells adhering to a spot coated with molecules found in the extracellular matrix.

How cancer cells break free from tumors

New MIT study identifies adhesion molecules key to cancer’s spread through the body.