Oscar Williams of The Huffington Post writes that MIT researchers have designed a coating that allows liquids to slid out of containers, which could cut down on food waste. “In packages there are about 40 billion packs with material stuck in packages so the technology has the potential to significantly reduce waste,” says MIT alumnus and LiquiGlide co-founder David Smith.
MIT is launching a center for autism research at the McGovern Institute with $20 million in funding from MIT alumnus Hock Tan and Lisa Yang, writes Barb Darrow for Fortune. Darrow writes that Yang told Fortune she was "greatly impressed by both the collegiality and focus of the institute's researchers.”
Writing for The Huffington Post, Audrey Henkels spotlights MDaaS (Medical Devices as a Service), which was co-founded by MIT alumnus Oluwasoga Oni. MDaas supplies and services affordable medical equipment for hospitals in Nigeria, which allows them to provide “critical lifesaving tools they need to improve the health outcomes,” Henkels explains.
MIT Sloan Senior Lecturer Anjali Sastry and alumna Kara Penn examine the process that creates innovative ideas and movements for The Huffington Post. “To accomplish your goals, you’ll need to keep working with others, borrowing from your own experience and others’, and relentlessly test and iterate upon every idea,” Sastry and Penn explain.
Boston Globe reporter J.M. Lawrence writes about the legacy of D. Reid Weedon Jr., an MIT alumnus and life member emeritus of the MIT Corporation, who died at age 96. Lawrence notes that Weedon was a “key fund-raiser for MIT for 60 years,” and “worked with nine MIT presidents while mentoring many young fund-raisers.”
Forbes reporter Christina Wallace speaks with MIT alumna Kathleen Stetson about Trill, the app she developed to provide arts recommendations, and why she felt having an MBA would help further her career promoting the arts. Stetson notes that “At MIT, I not only found massive support and encouragement for Trill, but I also co-founded Hacking Arts."
In this KQED segment, reporter John Sepulvado remembers MIT alumnus Nicholas Walrath, who died in the warehouse fire in Oakland, California. Walrath’s friends describe him as “a hyper-intelligent, humble, athletic man in constant search of understanding why the world — and people — existed.”
Boston Globe reporter Janelle Nanos writes about Spoiler Alert, a platform developed by two MIT graduates that is aimed at connecting food distributors with food-rescue organizations. Nanos writes that the platform has been “adopted by 200 businesses and nonprofits in New England to cut down on waste and encourage donations by making them easier to track.”
Bryan Marquard writes for The Boston Globe about the legacy of Prof. Emeritus Jay Forrester, a computing pioneer who died at age 98. Marquard writes that Forrester was a “trailblazer in computers in the years after World War II,” then “pivoted from computers into another new field and founded the discipline of system dynamics modeling.”
Prof. Emeritus Jay Forrester, whose research on computing and organizations led to the field of computer modeling, died at age 98, reports Katie Hafner for The New York Times. Prof. John Sterman explained that thanks to Forrester’s work, “simulations of dynamic systems are now indispensable throughout the physical and social sciences.”
The Guardian’s DG McCullough highlights MIT’s Open Style Lab, which merges design, engineering and occupational therapy to create clothes for people with disabilities, and the International Design Center, which creates clothes with “fewer sensory triggers such as fraying, rough zippers and scratchy tags children and adults with autism because of their sensitivity to certain textures and colors.”
Writing for The Huffington Post, Peyton Fleming spotlights MIT alumna Kate Cincotta’s efforts to improve drinking water in northern Ghana. Fleming writes that through her startup Saha Global, Cincotta aims to empower “local women in extremely poor villages like Yepala to treat the contaminated water - and make a little money in doing so.”
MIT alumna Margaret Guo was named the 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year during a ceremony in Indianapolis, reports Emily McCarthy for The Boston Globe. Guo says the award “reflects the amount of support I’ve had and the people around me who have pushed me to become better than I could have been by myself.”
Guardian reporter Amy Fleming spotlights Prof. Robert Langer’s work revolutionizing medicine. Fleming notes that “Langer’s trailblazing research in nanotechnology, which ranges from haircare to cancer treatments, has already improved the lives of at least 2 billion people.”
CNN reporter Katie Pisa spotlights alumnus Obinna Ukwuani’s dedication to opening a STEM school in Nigeria. Ukwuani says he was inspired by his time in Nigeria after years of studying in the U.S. "In the U.S., if you work hard, you'll be fine in this life. So I had that moment where I knew I wanted to improve things in Nigeria."