MIT researchers have developed a USB-powered stethoscope, reports Vijee Venkatraman for BetaBoston. Venkatraman explains that the stethoscope's companion app, "transforms the device into a low-cost diagnostic tool" that can be used to diagnose lung disease.
Graduate student Tristan Swedish has devised a concept for a device that allows patients to photograph their retinas, according to The Economist. Swedish hopes the device could allow, “people to monitor themselves and, if there are any warning signs, to be advised to see a doctor.”
Janelle Nanos reports for BetaBoston about MIT startup Changing Environments and their solar-powered Soofa public benches that can be used to charge phones or other personal electronics. The Soofa team is launching “an early adopter program for cities and municipalities interested in their smart seating,” Nanos explains.
Nico Pitney writes for The Huffington Post about GiveDirectly, a charity founded by MIT graduate students that has found success combating poverty by providing direct cash transfers to low-income households in the developing world: “Supporters believe that cash transfers should now be the standard against which the usefulness of other programs are measured,” Pitney explains.
Cybersecurity Factory, an accelerator founded by two MIT graduate students and Highland Capital, recently announced the winning teams who have been accepted into the pilot program, reports Janelle Nanos for BetaBoston. Nanos explains that the goal of Cybersecurity Factory is to “help founders overcome the myriad challenges they often face as they try to get cybersecurity companies off the ground.”
BetaBoston reporter Dan Adams speaks with Yoel Fink, director of RLE, about the Translational Fellows Program, an initiative that provides postdocs an opportunity to commercialize technologies they developed at MIT. Fink explains that the goal of the program is to empower postdocs, “not just to find a job in an industry, but to create an industry.”
In an article for The Washington Post, MIT President L. Rafael Reif writes that the U.S. needs to develop a more effective way of bringing new innovations from the lab to the marketplace. “The United States needs a more systematic way to help its bottled-up new-science innovators deliver their ideas to the world,” Reif explains.
A group of MIT graduates has launched a new startup dedicated to making it easier for people to donate to charity, reports Lauren Landry for Boston Magazine. “We’re making it easier to donate to charity,” says alumnus Charles Huang. “You shouldn’t have to think about how to do it, just why.”
Philips is moving its North American research headquarters to Kendall Square and has announced a $25 million research alliance with MIT, reports Boston Globe correspondent Karen Weintraub. MIT and Philips have a “resonance on specific technical issues, but also on the approach to innovation,” says Associate Provost Karen Gleason.
Gus Iverson writes for DOTmed about the new alliance between MIT and Philips aimed at spurring innovation in health care and lighting solutions technology. Philips will also be relocating its research hub to Kendall Square, which Henk van Houten, executive vice president and general manager of Philips Research, called "a thriving innovation ecosystem."
MedTech Boston reporter Jenni Whalen writes that Philips has formed an alliance with MIT and plans to move its North American research headquarters to Cambridge. “By moving to Cambridge and collaborating with MIT, its staff and its partners, Philips can work with some of the best minds in the world,” explains Henk van Houten, executive vice president and general manager of Philips Research.
Elisabeth Reynolds, Executive Director of MIT’s Industrial Performance Center (IPC), speaks with Bob Seay of WGBH about a new IPC report that recommends greater interconnectedness in Massachusetts’ manufacturing innovation ecosystem. “What we know is that there is a very vital link between our manufacturing and innovation capabilities,” says Reynolds.
Team Raptor Maps received the top prize in MIT’s annual $100K Entrepreneurship Competition, reports Nidhi Subbaraman for BetaBoston. Founded by three MIT students, Raptor Maps “proposes to use camera-carrying drones to survey farmland and pinpoint damage before pests and diseases can decimate crops.”
OptiBit, a startup that aims to make data centers more energy efficient, won this year’s MIT Clean Energy Prize, reports Vijee Venkatraman for BetaBoston. The OptiBit team explains that their technology offers “10 times more throughput, two times lower latency, and 95 percent less energy use” compared to copper-based chips.
BetaBoston reporter Nidhi Subbaraman writes about the history of the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition, which marks its 25th anniversary this year. Subbaraman writes that the competition “pioneered the college pitch contest, a style that now dominates the startup landscape.”