Innovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E)

Laura Baverman writes about MaKey MaKey, a manufacturing kit for children developed by MIT researchers, in a piece for USA Today. The kit allows children to develop musical instruments and electronics.

In an article for CNN, Thom Patterson reports on how MIT startup Altaeros Energies has developed an airborne wind turbine that they hope can deliver power to the roughly 1 billion people in rural areas without electricity.

Martin LaMonica of The Boston Globe writes about two MIT startups that are aiming to solve long-standing problems with the production of nuclear power. Transatomic Power and UPower Technologies are looking for ways to make efficient use of radioactive waste and develop smaller, cheaper plants, respectively.

MIT alumnus James Lee’s company has invented an armrest with a double-decker design that allows it to be shared comfortably, WCVB reports.

NPR’s Chris Arnold reports on Quanttus, an MIT startup that is developing wearable devices aimed at quantifying human health.

CNN Money reporter Lauren Everitt interviews MIT graduate Amrita Siagal, who co-founded Saathi, a social enterprise startup that provides low-cost sanitary napkins and jobs to women in rural India. Saathi was recently selected as the winner of the Harvard New Venture Competition.

WBUR’s Andrea Shea visits the offices of MIT startup Echo Nest, which develops recommendation platforms for music streaming sites. The company was recently acquired by Spotify.

CNBC reporter Paul Einstein writes about MIT spinoff Terrafugia, which is working on developing a flying car.  “The four-seater would be capable of vertical takeoffs and landings,” writes Epstein.

“A series of three studies reveals that investors prefer pitches from male entrepreneurs over those from female entrepreneurs, even when the content of the pitches is identical,” writes Carmen Nobel of Forbes on the findings of a new paper co-authored by Professor Fiona Murray.

In an op-ed for The National Interest magazine, MIT president emerita Susan Hockfield writes that "there is no better way to precipitate growth than investing in innovation."  

The Boston area is seeing a boom in startups that specialize in the use of artificial intelligence to more effectively market to consumers, writes Michael Fitzgerald for Boston Magazine. Fitzgerald writes about the startups, experts, and technologies from MIT that have helped to initiate this renaissance.

Caroline Pugh interviews Kevin Rustagi, MIT alumnus and entrepreneur, for The Huffington Post. Rustagi, two-years out of college, has already founded two companies and worked for Apple where he helped to design the speakers for the iPhone 5.

USA Today reporter Kelly Whiteside highlights Professor Hugh Herr’s work developing bionic prosthetic limbs that emulate the function of natural limbs. Herr developed a bionic leg that allowed Boston Marathon bombing survivor Adrianne Haslet-Davis to dance again.

Writing for Forbes, Leo King reports that an autonomous robotic submarine developed by MIT startup Bluefin Robotics is being deployed in the search for Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370.

Dennis Keohane of The Boston Globe writes about the recipients of this year’s Lemelson-MIT National Collegiate Student Prize Competition.