Chemical engineering

MIT spinout Manus Bio has created a low-cost process for engineering microbes with complex metabolic pathways borrowed from plants, which can produce an array of rare and expensive ingredients used to manufacture noncaloric beverages, perfumes, toothpastes, detergents, pesticides, and even therapeutics, among other products.

Microbial manufacturing

Engineered bacteria produce rare and commercially useful compounds in large quantities.

February 3, 2017

“The ultimate objective,” atmospheric scientist Jesse Kroll says, “is to understand what policies could help, and what changes policymakers could make to minimize the negative health and climate effects of particulate pollution.”

Zeroing in on the chemistry of the air

Jesse Kroll examines how pollutants change chemically as they waft around the globe.

February 1, 2017

MIT chemical engineers have developed arrays of carbon nanotube sensors that can detect single protein molecules as they are secreted from cells.

New sensors can detect single protein molecules

Modified carbon nanotubes could be used to track protein production by individual cells.

January 23, 2017

MIT engineers have shown that they can use short bursts of ultrasound to efficiently deliver RNA into cells.

RNA hitches a ride on ultrasound waves

Technique enables rapid delivery of RNA to treat colon inflammation.

January 20, 2017

“Diesel is the preferred fuel because of its high energy density and the high efficiency of the engines that run on diesel,” professor Gregory Stephanopoulos says. “The problem with diesel is that so far it is entirely made from fossil fuels.”

A step toward renewable diesel

Chemical engineers program yeast to convert plant sugars into oils.

January 16, 2017

MIT chemists have now developed a 3-D printing technique that allows them to print objects and then go back and add new polymers that alter the materials’ chemical composition and mechanical properties. These new polymers can be reactivated by light.

Technique enables adaptable 3-D printing

Once fabricated, objects can be altered by adding new polymers.

January 13, 2017

Through the RAPID Manufacturing Institute, MITEI and partner organizations like the U.S. Department of Energy support researchers’ studies of modular chemical process intensification. Process intensification involves combining many of the steps of traditional manufacturing — mixing, reacting, and separation — into a single process. This could dramatically reduce the size and scale of equipme...

U.S. Department of Energy announces MIT Energy Initiative will join new Manufacturing USA Institute

MITEI faculty affiliates to contribute clean energy expertise to national coalition that will address manufacturing challenges in energy-intensive processing industries.

January 11, 2017

MIT chemical engineers discovered that they could force antibodies and other proteins to form layers by attaching each protein to a polymer tail. The proteins and polymers repel each other, so the molecules arrange themselves in a structure that minimizes the interactions between the protein and polymer segments.

3-D antibody arrays offer better sensing

New tool could help diagnose malaria and other diseases.

January 4, 2017

Green Labs contest: A certified success

A contest spurred several MIT labs to reduce waste and hazardous materials and conserve energy and water.

December 19, 2016

MIT postdoc Carl Schoellhammer (center) takes home gold at the Collegiate Inventor’s Competition for his SuonoCalm system.

Carl Schoellhammer wins gold medal at 2016 National Collegiate Inventors Competition

MIT postdoc honored for his work developing a technique to quickly deliver medicine to the gastrointestinal tract.

December 15, 2016

MIT Energy Initiative report provides guidance for evolving electric power sector

Experts call for regulatory, policy, and market transformation to realize potential of distributed energy technologies.

December 15, 2016

MIT faculty members Michael Cima (left) and Edward W. Merrill ScD ’47 (right) are among the 2016 Fellows of the National Academy of Inventors.

Two MIT faculty named 2016 fellows of the National Academy of Inventors

Cima and Merrill recognized for contributions resulting in a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development, and the welfare of society.

December 13, 2016

MIT researchers have fabricated a stamp made from forests of carbon nanotubes that is able to print electronic inks onto rigid and flexible surfaces.

Printable electronics

New stamping technique creates functional features at nanoscale dimensions.

December 7, 2016

A team at MIT has found an unexpected discovery about water: Inside the tiniest of spaces — in carbon nanotubes whose inner dimensions are not much bigger than a few water molecules — water can freeze solid even at high temperatures that would normally set it boiling. The finding might lead to new applications such as ice-filled wires.

Inside tiny tubes, water turns solid when it should be boiling

MIT researchers discover astonishing behavior of water confined in carbon nanotubes.

November 28, 2016

Members of the MITili and pK-12 Action Group convene to discuss learning and research directions.

Enhancing education from pre-K to MIT and beyond

Two new initiatives take an in-depth look at learning.

November 23, 2016

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