NBC News reports that MIT Prof. Sangeeta Bhatia has been awarded the Lemelson-MIT prize for her work designing miniaturized biomedical tools. "As innovations emerge, we're constantly asking whether they can be repurposed for one of the two diseases we concentrate on: liver disease and cancer,” says Bhatia.
Bill Aulet writes for The Wall Street Journal about how new startups are valued. “Historically the science has been pretty simple: Find comparable companies and do a multiple of earnings or revenue. However, three drivers of startup valuation have emerged that are changing the game,” Aulet writes.
Wired reporter Katie Collins writes about how MIT student Ben Harvatine designed a sensor to help detect potential concussions in athletes. The ‘Jolt’ device can be clipped to head-worn athletic equipment and vibrates to warn the athlete when a dangerous impact is detected.
Laura Baverman of USA Today writes about the MIT Media Lab’s record as a launch pad for innovators and entrepreneurs. “More than 100 companies have sprung from the lab since its founding in 1985,” writes Baverman.
Bloomberg Businessweek reporter Danielle Muoio writes about the FingerReader, a ring developed by researchers from the MIT Media Lab to help people with visual impairment read. “The ring’s webcam takes pictures of a group of words and then funnels the images into a companion app on a computer, which then reads the text out loud,” Muoio reports.
Jane Porter writes for Fortune about WiTricity, an MIT spinout focused on the development of wireless power-transfer technology. By using vibrational frequencies, electricity can be transferred over distances of up to four feet.
Colleen DeBaise writes for The Huffington Post about a week-long summer program hosted by the MIT Enterprise Forum that introduces high school girls to tech entrepreneurship. "I love promoting women entrepreneurs,” says Lori Hoberman, the chair of the Enterprise Forum’s New York chapter. “We don't have enough of them.”
In a piece published on Slate, Aaron Taube reports on MIT startup ULTRA Testing, which was created by MIT graduates, “with the specific intention of hiring people on the autism spectrum.”
“I think this kind of technology could have a major effect and revolutionize various aspects of medicine, including birth control,” Professor Bob Langer says in an interview with Mallika Marshall of WBZ about technology from the biotech firm MicroCHIPS that could allow for implantable, remote-controlled, birth control.
“A new diode laser that can cut metal may soon find its way onto the market, thanks to a few former MIT scientists looking to commercialize their research,” writes Brooke Hays for UPI about Lincoln Laboratory spinout TeraDiode’s multi-kilowatt diode laser system.
Liat Clark reports on Jibo, the family friendly robot developed by Professor Cynthia Breazeal, in a piece for Wired. "Jibo is a very different concept of a personal robot where the focus is on human engagement and bringing content, apps, services 'to life' beyond flat screens," Breazeal explains.
“The robot, which is a stack of three components allowing the display to swivel freely in any direction, is intended to be a family companion performing a variety of interactive tasks,” writes John Markoff for The New York Times about Jibo, a robot created by MIT Media Lab Professor, Cynthia Breazeal.
“Labor economist Paul Osterman at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found in a recent study he conducted that manufacturers' spending on training has essentially been flat for the last five years,” writes Lauren Weber for The Wall Street Journal.
Martin LaMonica writes for The Guardian about Grove Labs, a company founded by MIT graduates looking to develop a new way to help people grow fresh food at home. Grove Labs aims to, “help people grow food productively at home using sensor-controlled gardens and smart phone apps.”
Klint Finley reports for Wired on Inbox, a software creation designed by MIT alumni Christine Spang and Michael Grinich to make it easier for developers to create email-centric applications. The technology aims to overcome the challenge of working with email technology that is old and limited.