International development

Kevin Patrick Simon (left) sets solar panels in place with villagers at a pilot site in Jharkhand, India. Simon, an MIT PhD candidate in mechanical engineering, is studying solar irrigation.

How engineering students are seeking to solve major food and water security problems

Students with a common passion for food and water security share their research at the MIT Water and Food Security Symposium.

January 9, 2017

MAX, a fledgling Nigerian startup, is trying to solve the problem of so-called “last-mile delivery” in cities where many people don’t have an address. Company co-founder Adetayo Bamiduro MBA ’15 will tell MAX’s story to a London audience at an upcoming MIT conference on entrepreneurship and finance in the developing world.

In London, extending MIT’s entrepreneurial ecosystem

Five events build connections between industry, startups, governments, faculty members, and financiers.

December 5, 2016

The TechCon conference, hosted by MIT and USAID's Higher Education Solutions Network from Nov. 10 - 12, convened researchers and innovators to collaborate on solving global issues.

At TechCon, science-based solutions for world issues

Innovators and researchers tackle global issues through actionable research and collaboration.

November 15, 2016

Zixiao Yin is a 2016-2017 Samuel Tak Lee Graduate Fellow and student in urban studies and planning.

Tackling Chinese urban development

Samuel Tak Lee Graduate Fellow Zixiao Yin plans to serve communities back home in Inner Mongolia.

November 4, 2016

Women and children in rural Uganda look on as a service provider from a nearby health center provides malaria tests for communities on the lake's edge.

MIT-USAID program releases supply chain evaluation of malaria diagnostics

Study of malaria rapid diagnostic tests in Uganda assesses scalability, identifies supply chain challenges.

October 13, 2016

A new study of rural India shows that modest levels of medical training can improve the quality of health care furnished by informal health care providers. The study was co-authored by Abhijit Banerjee, the Ford International Professor of Economics at MIT and a co-author of the study, pictured here on the right during a visit to India.

Provider, improve thyself

Study shows unlicensed health care practitioners in India improve with modest training.

October 6, 2016

Partho Sengupta (center) was one of more than 30 invited guests at the Tata Center Symposium.

Tata Center Symposium seeks collaboration for a better world

October 4, 2016

Community members from a rural village outside of Ahmedabad, India, gather to watch videos designed to increase literacy.

Making smarter decisions about classroom technologies

MIT researchers develop a decision-making tool for global classrooms looking to deploy educational technologies.

September 29, 2016

STL Lab and MIT Game Lab project participants work together to develop and test a socially responsible real estate game.

A novel approach to teaching socially responsible real estate: games

MIT’s Samuel Tak Lee MIT Real Estate Entrepreneurship Lab uses gaming to advance its mission in China.

September 2, 2016

Field test participant Asma Patham uses a water test kit in the Khodiyarnagar neighborhood of Ahmedabad.

MIT-USAID program releases technology evaluation of water test kits

Study of water test kits used in Gujarat, India, assesses suitability, scalability, and sustainability.

August 23, 2016

MIT D-Lab has named Bob Nanes, a veteran of international development, to the newly created position of executive director.

D-Lab appoints Bob Nanes to new position of executive director

Nanes brings to D-Lab 30 years of experience on four continents in technology, innovation, supply chains, and microfinance.

August 18, 2016

2016 MIT D-Lab Scale-Ups fellow Heather Beem (second from right) co-founded the Practical Education Network (PEN) while pursuing her PhD in mechanical engineering at MIT. PEN is currently based in Ghana.

D-Lab Scale-Ups awards four fellowships totaling $80,000 to social entrepreneurs

Fellows work on low-cost microgrids, prosthetics made from cane, hands-on STEM education in Ghana, and a rechargeable headlamp for rural Indian farmers.

July 25, 2016

“Beijing Studio” celebrates 30 years

MIT–Tsinghua collaboration grapples with urban issues in China.

July 14, 2016

Jamal Abdul Nasser Traffic Circle in Amman, Jordan

Improving pavement management in Jordan

Concrete Sustainability Hub researcher Omar Swei is working to help Jordanian planners optimize maintenance on state-owned highways.

July 11, 2016

Xian Village in Guangzhou, China, is a project under redevelopment.

DUSP, CRE, and STL Lab award $1.1 million in second round of faculty research funding

Nine grants awarded to MIT faculty and researchers.