Materials science and engineering

Associate Professor A. John Hart (right), doctoral student Adam Stevens SM ’15, and their colleagues have designed a 3-D printer that can deposit material 10 times faster than today’s desktop models can. The team has also developed a novel process for 3-D printing using cellulose, a widely available natural polymer.

Accelerating 3-D printing

Researchers have designed a novel printhead that works with unprecedented speed and pioneered ways to melt and extrude renewable materials.

November 29, 2018

This scanning electron micrograph shows the crater left by the impact of a 10-micrometer particle traveling at more than 1 kilometer per second. Impacts at that speed produce some melting and erosion of the surface, as revealed by this research.

What happens when materials take tiny hits

High-speed camera shows incoming particles cause damage by briefly melting surfaces as they strike.

November 29, 2018

BP Amoco Chemical Company Senior Research Chemist Matthew Kulzick outlines advances in imaging technology during the MIT MRL Materials Day Symposium on Oct. 10.

Solving a multi-million dollar problem

In MIT visit, BP chemist details new X-ray and sample chamber technologies, yielding insights into fighting metal corrosion, improving catalytic reactions, and more.

November 13, 2018

Illustration shows how hydrogen ions (red dots), controlled by an electric voltage, migrate through an intermediate material to change the magnetic properties of an adjacent magnetic layer(shown in green).

Study opens route to ultra-low-power microchips

Innovative approach to controlling magnetism could lead to next-generation memory and logic devices.

November 12, 2018

“The college is our way of building a powerful framework and environment for research and collaborations that involve computing and that are occurring across disciplines," says School of Engineering Dean Anantha P. Chandrakasan, the Vannevar Bush Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Bridge to the future of engineering

The School of Engineering’s faculty leadership weigh in on what the MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing will mean for their students and faculty.

November 11, 2018

Silvija Gradečak, MIT professor in materials science and engineering, addresses the promise and the problems of perovskite solar cells. She spoke during the MIT Materials Research Laboratory Materials Day Symposium on Oct. 10.

Improving materials from the nanoscale up

At the Materials Day Symposium, researchers focus on tools that probe atomic structures in action to yield better designs for metals, solar cells, and polymers.

November 8, 2018

Researchers demonstrating the ability of aluminum to repel oil underwater.

Extending the life of low-cost, compact, lightweight batteries

New design could greatly extend the shelf life of single-use metal-air batteries for electric vehicles, off-grid storage, and other applications.

November 8, 2018

MIT researchers have developed a coating for windows that rejects up to 70 percent of incoming solar heat.

See-through film rejects 70 percent of incoming solar heat

Material could be used to coat windows, save on air-conditioning costs.

November 8, 2018

Cadenza Innovation Founder and CEO Christina Lampe-Onnerud at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions

A novel way to advance a better battery design

Led by “Queen of Batteries” Christina Lampe-Onnerud, Cadenza Innovation is licensing its lithium ion battery cell architecture to manufacturers around the world.

November 7, 2018