Design

Animals have evolved all manner of adaptations to get the nutrients they need. For nectar-feeding bats, long snouts and tongues let them dip in and out of flowers while hovering in mid-air. To help the cause, their tongues are covered in tiny hairs that serve as miniature spoons to scoop and drag up the tasty sap.

Hairy tongues help bats drink up

New model predicts how hairs on a bat’s tongue draw up nectar.

February 7, 2018

MIT Media Lab spinout Ori is developing smart robotic furniture that transforms into a bedroom, working or storage area, or large closet — or slides back against the wall — to optimize space in small apartments.

Robotic interiors

Smart furniture transforms spaces in tiny apartments into bedrooms, work spaces, or closets.

January 31, 2018

MIT researchers have developed a new platform for microfluidics, using LEGO bricks. Shown here, fluid flows through tiny channels milled into the side walls of LEGO bricks.

Microfluidics from Lego bricks

MIT engineers make microfluidics modular using the popular interlocking blocks.

January 30, 2018

MIT professor Stefanie Mueller led the development of the new ColorMod system.

Changing the color of 3-D printed objects

CSAIL system uses custom ink and ultraviolet light to repeatedly change an object's color.

January 29, 2018

“The idea of SurgiBox is to take the operating room and shrink it down to just the patient’s size. Keeping an entire room clean and surgery-ready requires a lot of resources that many hospitals and surgeons across the globe don’t have.” — MIT graduate student Sally Miller

Turning any room into an operating room

With a product called SurgiBox, grad student Sally Miller hopes to make safe, clean surgery possible anywhere.

January 8, 2018

Brent D. Ryan, an associate professor of urban design and public policy in MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning, has detailed his perspective on urban design in a new book, “The Largest Art: A Measured Manifesto for a Plural Urbanism,” recently published by the MIT Press.

A manifesto for designing cities

MIT professor’s new book calls for a more pluralistic, democratic vision of the city.

January 4, 2018

Physician Chris Zahner at the University of Texas Medical Branch designing sensor systems in the MakerHealth Space.

How to turn clinicians into makers

Providing training and resources, MakerHealth helps nurses and doctors hack medical equipment to improve patient care.

December 19, 2017

Using ancient knowledge to create contemporary architecture

Ghost stories and digital technologies meet in the work of Rome Prize winner Brandon Clifford.

December 12, 2017

MIT course 22.033 (Nuclear Systems Design) is taught this year by Zach Hartwig, assistant professor in the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering and the inaugural holder of the John C. Hardwick Career Development Chair.

Bringing design thinking into nuclear science and engineering

Nuclear Systems Design class immerses students in the design and communications skills needed to produce innovations.

November 15, 2017

First row (l-r): Erica James, Christoph Reinhart, Ana Miljački, Janelle Knox-Hayes, Hugh Herr. Second row (l-r): Mariana Ibañez, Judith Barry, Danielle Wood, Neri Oxman, Lauren Jacobi. Third row (l-r): Jinhua Zhao, Miho Mazereeuw, Sarah Williams, William (Liam) O’Brien, Jason Jackson.

Faculty additions and promotions at the School of Architecture and Planning

Five join the SA+P faculty, while 10 are recognized for work in art, architecture, urbanism, and design.

November 7, 2017

An MIT team won first place for urban design with the Redwood Forest, a series of woodsy habitats enclosed in open, public domes that would reside on the Martian surface.

Mars city living: Designing for the Red Planet

A multidisciplinary team of MIT students and postdocs wins an international competition focused on building sustainably on Mars.

October 31, 2017

"Strange Weather," appearing at the 2018 Seoul Biennale, focuses on artificial distinctions between interior and exterior.

Innovative MIT projects at the Seoul Biennale

Projects by School of Architecture and Planning faculty, researchers, and alumni explore the exhibition's theme of “Imminent Commons.”

October 26, 2017

CityScope Andorra is a 3-D augmented-reality platform that visualizes complex urban data on a small-scale model of the country. Users can interactively test scenarios on the model, such as how many parks to include in a city, adjust heights of buildings, calculate the optimal mix of residential and commercial real estate, and whether to allow private vehicles or only car-share services. The impact...

Small European nation becomes a “living lab” for urban innovation researchers

Andorra funds MIT Media Lab technologies that, in turn, help improve the nation’s cities.

October 13, 2017

Amy Smith is the founding director of the MIT D-Lab.

Designing for a more equitable world

D-Lab founder Amy Smith teaches MIT students to tap into the heart of international development.

October 6, 2017

Gediminas Urbonas, director of the MIT Program in Art, Culture and Technology and associate professor in the Department of Architecture, is co-editor of a new book, "Public Space: Lost and Found?,” published by MIT Press.

“Art teaches us how to disrupt”

Why MIT’s Gediminas Urbonas helped produce a new book about art and public space.

October 5, 2017

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