Innovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E)

MIT researchers have published a study examining which types of businesses should be open or closed during the Covid-19 crisis. Vital forms of commerce that are relatively uncrowded and produce fewer health risks fare the best in the study; less significant types of businesses that generate crowds perform worse.

Which businesses should be open?

In light of Covid-19, an MIT study looks at tradeoffs between economic value and public health, across different types of retail.

June 11, 2020

The Massachusetts Emergency Response Team (M-ERT) has been aided by a large group of MIT faculty, students, staff, and alumni as it has helped local manufacturers begin producing personal protective equipment. This photo, from April 13, 2020, shows Gov. Charlie Baker, left, and Brenna Schneider, CEO of 99Degrees, who holds one of the hundreds of thousands of medical isolation gowns her company has...

MIT plays key role in statewide effort to produce PPE

Massachusetts Emergency Response Team helps manufacturers produce personal protective equipment and other medical devices for health care workers.

June 9, 2020

An edible silk-based coating developed by MIT Assistant Professor Benedetto Marelli can preserve food longer and prevent food waste. Marelli has teamed up with other Boston-based scientists to form Cambridge Crops, a spinout company using silk technologies to extend the shelf life of all sorts of perishable foods.

MIT startup wraps food in silk for better shelf life

Cambridge Crops develops an edible, imperceptible coating that might replace plastic packaging to preserve meats and produce.

June 5, 2020

"The World Wide Web is famously said to have been inspired by Arthur C. Clarke's short story 'Dial F For Frankenstein," says Professor Alexandre. "Whatever the truth is, I'm not surprised that a writer's process of meticulously crafting creative ways of communicating with readers would lead to imaginary inventions that foresee entirely new forms of communication. Literature, its readers, and the i...

3 Questions: Sandy Alexandre on the literary roots of technological innovations

“Our speculative fiction writers are the unsung prophets among us.”

June 1, 2020

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma performed and spoke at Virtual Solve at MIT.

Solve at MIT builds partnerships to tackle complex challenges during Covid-19 crisis

Event convened attendees from around the world to discuss impacts of the pandemic and advance solutions to pressing global problems.

May 27, 2020

Vaccines find more success in development than any other kind of drug, but have been relatively neglected in recent decades, according to research from MIT professor Andrew Lo, shown speaking at the 2018 launch of the MIT Quest for Intelligence.

How often do vaccine trials hit paydirt?

Study: Vaccines find more success in development than any other kind of drug, but have been relatively neglected in recent decades.

May 27, 2020

The startup Fireflies.ai is helping people get the most out of their meetings with a note-taking, information-organizing virtual assistant named Fred.

Fireflies helps companies get more out of meetings

Startup makes meeting data searchable and shareable, and automates data entry into workplace apps.

May 21, 2020

“My goal is to address climate change as an innovator and creator, whether by pushing the boundaries of science” through research or pursuing a zero-carbon future as an entrepreneur, says MIT PhD candidate Pablo Ducru.

A scientist turns to entrepreneurship

After delivering novel computational methods for nuclear problems, nuclear science and engineering PhD candidate Pablo Ducru plunges into startup life.

May 20, 2020

MIT News recently spoke with three leaders of MIT’s Task Force on the Work of the Future. Left to right: co-chair David A. Mindell, professor of aeronautics and astronautics, the Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing at MIT; executive director Elisabeth Beck Reynolds PhD ‘10, who is also executive director of the MIT Industrial Performance Center; and co-chair David ...

The changing world of work

MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future responds to rapid changes brought by the pandemic.

May 18, 2020

Francesca O’Hanlon of Blue Tap delivered a pitch at the Water Innovation Prize on April 22. Her team won first place with a novel water chlorinating system that makes clean water affordable and accessible for users without existing access to healthy water supplies.

MIT student leaders go virtual with global startup competitions

In the face of Covid-19, the MIT Water Club and the MIT Food and Agriculture Club take their signature innovation prizes online.

May 15, 2020

"This was definitely one of the highlights of my MBA," said Benjamin Boutboul, grad student in MIT Sloan and a leader of the 40-participant Africa Takes On Covid-19 virtual hackathon. "I am so proud of us and what we all accomplished together."

MIT builds community for the Africa Takes On Covid-19 challenge

Some 40 students pull off a global virtual hackathon in less than two weeks.

May 14, 2020

Participants collaborate online to propose innovative solutions to tackle the Covid-19 outbreak at MIT HealthHACK.

Virtual hackathon unites international community to tackle Covid-19

University students and professionals connect online to find practical solutions to problems linked with the current pandemic.

May 13, 2020

“There aren’t many ways to escape the apparent choice between protecting public health and protecting the economy,” says MIT economist Pierre Azoulay. “There is only one, and that’s innovation.”

An innovation plan to beat Covid-19

MIT economist Pierre Azoulay outlines a roadmap for scientific success against the virus.

May 8, 2020

In this photograph of fabric, you can see the green light of functional fibers. “No human-made objects are more ubiquitous or exposed to more vital data than the clothes we all wear,” says doctoral student Gabriel Locke. “Wouldn’t it be great if we could somehow teach our fabrics to sense, store, analyze, extract and communicate this potentially useful information?”

3 Questions: The rapidly unfolding future of smart fabrics

Soon, your clothes may be able to monitor your vital signs, analyze the results, and warn you of health risks.

May 8, 2020

Anne McCants, MIT professor of history, describes how we can derive hope about climate change by learning from human societies that thrived in difficult conditions of the preindustrial past.

3 Questions: Anne McCants on climate change in history

How, in the nadir of the Little Ice Age, did the Dutch generate a golden age?

May 6, 2020

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