Innovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E)

In a piece for WBUR about digital health startups, Rachel Zimmerman spotlights Cake, a company co-founded by MIT alumna Suelin Chen. Zimmerman explains that Cake is a web platform aimed at helping “make decisions about death feel easier.”

Boston Globe reporter Robert Weisman writes about how a new startup is using technology developed in part by Prof. Robert Langer to try to reverse hearing loss. The company is applying Langer’s research to “regenerate sensory hair cells in the inner ear to treat the noise-induced hearing loss that affects an estimated 48 million Americans and millions more worldwide.”

Guardian reporter Eliot Stein writes about Media Lab spinoff Graviky Labs, which has developed an exhaust filter that turns diesel exhaust into ink and paint. “If each of the 20,000 black cabs in London had our product,” says founder Anirudh Sarma, “we could clean 30 trillion litres of air a year.”

In an article for The Wall Street Journal about how business schools are increasingly developing programs to help entrepreneurs, Kelsey Gee highlights the MIT Sloan School of Management. For alumna Rena Pacheco-Theard, “becoming a real entrepreneur became a distinct reality for the first time at Sloan.”

A report released by MIT startup Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT) shows that one in four drivers were using a smartphone just before an accident occurred, reports The Boston Globe’s Matt Rocheleau. Prof. Samuel Madden, founder and chief scientist at CMT, explains that the study shows “people are using their phones a lot, and that’s playing a role in the accidents.” 

In an article for CBS News, Tracy Staedter spotlights a panel discussion focused on the challenges of exploring and potentially colonizing Mars, which was held during the New Space Age Conference at MIT. 

In this interview with Domus, Prof. Carlo Ratti discusses architecture and the digital revolution. Speaking about innovations that will influence the future, Ratti explains that “thanks to digital technology, we can finally build an interior that is not only able to feel, but also to respond, adapting itself in real time to our needs.”

Boston Globe reporter Janelle Nanos writes about Ministry of Supply, an MIT startup, that is incorporating 3-D printing in the production of their clothes. “We’re not going to have a clearance rack of sizes and colors that didn’t sell, because we’re going to be able to produce exactly what consumers want,” says co-founder Gihan Amarasiriwardena.

Reporting for the PBS NewsHour, Nsikan Akpan highlights a new study co-authored by MIT researchers that examines how many NIH grants lead to new patents and medications. Prof. Pierre Azoulay explains that the study, “provides evidence that the research done in the public sector is useful — it’s relevant for the research done by private-sector firms.”

Newsweek reporter Jessica Wapner writes about a new study by MIT researchers that provides evidence that NIH funding contributes to a large number of patents in the field of biomedicine. The findings indicate that NIH-funded research “is not being done in an ivory tower,” explains Prof. Pierre Azoulay. “Companies use it as input in their own discovery efforts.”   

The March 2017 issue of Italian design magazine Domus includes a special section that explores the fringes of architectural innovation in four aspects: design, materials, production, and interaction. Curated by Prof. Carlo Ratti, director of the MIT Senseable City Lab, the section’s articles feature an array of MIT architects, designers, and innovators.

Nature reporter Elie Dolgin writes about Prof. Pierre Azoulay’s new research that shows NIH funding has a significant impact on innovation in the field of biomedicine. Azoulay explains that from an economic standpoint the U.S. is “under-investing overall” in biomedical research.

Los Angeles Times reporter Melissa Healy writes that a new study by Prof. Pierre Azoulay examining the impact of NIH-funded research shows that NIH funding, “fuels the kinds of innovations that drive the U.S. economy.” Azoulay explains, “NIH public funding expenditures have large effects on the patenting output of the private sector.”  

A study by Prof. Pierre Azoulay demonstrates the significant impact of NIH funding on biomedical patents, reports Carolyn Johnson for The Washington Post. Azoulay explains, “if your view was that the research done by academics...[has] no ramifications for the real world and the development of new medicines — well, that view is not correct.” 

Bruce Gellerman of WBUR spotlights Ambri, an MIT startup co-founded by Prof. Donald Sadoway and alumnus David Bradwell that creates liquid metal batteries. Ambri’s “molten metal technology is at the cutting edge of the emerging energy storage industry,” writes Gellerman.