Chemical engineering

MIT Vice President for Research Maria Zuber takes part in a panel on post-Paris Agreement climate and energy strategies at CERAWeek 2017 in Houston, Texas.

Setting the pace for change in the energy sector

MIT energy and climate thought leaders play integral part in discussions at CERAWeek 2017.

March 24, 2017

Ellen Swallow Richards (back row, far left) stands in 1888 with students from the MIT Women’s Laboratory, which she founded in the previous year.

Scene at MIT: Ellen Swallow Richards leads the Woman's Laboratory

A trailblazing industrial and environmental chemist, Ellen Swallow Richards was MIT’s first female graduate and first female instructor.

March 21, 2017

The immune system often builds up a wall of dense scar tissue around implanted medical devices, a process known as fibrosis. The cell shown in blue represents a macrophage that has been blocked from initiating fibrosis.

Study points a way to better implants

Selectively blocking immune cells can prevent formation of scar tissue around medical devices.

March 20, 2017

By tethering hundreds of tiny particles to the surfaces of tumor cells in the presence of a mechanical force, an MIT team made the cells much more vulnerable to attack by a drug that triggers cancer cells to commit suicide.

Tethered nanoparticles make tumor cells more vulnerable

New strategy could improve performance of some immune-based drugs.

March 20, 2017

Researchers at MIT have devised tiny “microlenses” from complex liquid droplets, such as these pictured here, that are comparable in size to the width of a human hair.

Scientists make microscopes from droplets

With chemistry and light, researchers can tune the focus of tiny beads of liquid.

March 10, 2017

MIT rates No. 1 in 12 subjects in 2017 QS World University Rankings

MIT ranked within the top 5 for 19 of 46 subject areas.

March 8, 2017

MIT researchers have designed a machine that can rapidly produce large quantities of customized peptides.

New technology offers fast peptide synthesis

Automated manufacturing could make it easier to develop and test new peptide drugs.

February 27, 2017

MIT professors Richard Braatz, J. Christopher Love, and Kripa Varanasi (pictured l-r) will collaborate with partners from University College London, and the University of Kansas to develop a next-generation manufacturing platform to produce certain vaccines for less than 15 cents a dose.

MIT undertakes Grand Challenge for innovation in global vaccine manufacturing

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awards MIT, University College London, and University of Kansas $17.6M for development and production of low-cost vaccines.

February 22, 2017

This image shows large clonal colonies of cochlear progenitor cells formed from single cells and converted into high-purity colonies of hair cells (cyan) with intricate hair bundles (red).

Drug treatment could combat hearing loss

Researchers discover a drug combination that can regenerate hair cells in the inner ear.

February 21, 2017

“The challenge is to engineer a system where we get enough growth to have a productive microbial ‘ chemical factory’ but not so much that we can’ t channel enough of the sugars into a pathway to make large quantities of our target molecules,”says Kristala Prather, an associate professor of chemical engineering at MIT.

Chemical engineers boost bacteria’s productivity

New technique improves yield of useful chemicals.

February 13, 2017

MIT researchers have developed a portable technology, known as Seq-Well, that can rapidly prepare the RNA of many cells for sequencing simultaneously.

Making single-cell RNA sequencing widely available

Portable tool could help scientists learn more about cells’ roles in many diseases.

February 13, 2017

“This is a great class of new NAE members who are affiliated with MIT,” says Ian A. Waitz, dean of the School of Engineering and the Jerome C. Hunsaker Professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Eight MIT faculty elected to the National Academy of Engineering

New members have made advances in artificial skin, wireless communications, nanotechnology, hydrology, and cancer treatment.

February 10, 2017

A team of researchers from MIT, Georgia Tech, and the University of Florida has devised a way to rapidly test different nanoparticles to see where they go in the body.

Nanoparticle screen could speed up drug development

New test helps identify particles for gene delivery or RNA interference.

February 7, 2017

MIT chemical engineers have developed an extremely sensitive detector that can track single cells’ secretion of dopamine. These video stills show a single cell releasing dopamine.

Sensor traces dopamine released by single cells

New technology could help neuroscientists understand how dopamine influences brain activity.

February 6, 2017

Researchers at MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have designed and demonstrated a small, ingestible voltaic cell that is sustained by the acidic fluids in the stomach.

Engineers harness stomach acid to power tiny sensors

Ingestible electronic devices could monitor physiological conditions or deliver drugs.