Materials science and engineering

The team’s test device, which has been deployed on the roof of an MIT building for several months, was used to prove the principle behind their new energy-harvesting concept. The test device is the black box at right, behind a weather-monitoring system (white) and a set of test equipment to monitor the device’s performance (larger black case at left).

System draws power from daily temperature swings

Technology developed at MIT can harness temperature fluctuations of many kinds to produce electricity.

February 15, 2018

A recolored optical image obtained by MIT researchers shows a heart-shaped carbon nanotube cell. A version of the image is featured on the cover of the Feb. 14 print edition of Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics.

Getting to the heart of carbon nanotube clusters

MIT researchers create predictable patterns from unpredictable carbon nanotubes.

February 14, 2018

Jennifer Rupp's current ceramics research applications range from battery-based storage for renewable energy, to energy-harvesting systems, to devices used to store data during computation.

Jennifer Rupp: Engineering practical ceramics

Assistant professor in EECS is developing materials with novel structures and useful applications, including renewable energy and information storage.

February 9, 2018

Animals have evolved all manner of adaptations to get the nutrients they need. For nectar-feeding bats, long snouts and tongues let them dip in and out of flowers while hovering in mid-air. To help the cause, their tongues are covered in tiny hairs that serve as miniature spoons to scoop and drag up the tasty sap.

Hairy tongues help bats drink up

New model predicts how hairs on a bat’s tongue draw up nectar.

February 7, 2018

MIT engineers working with scientists in Kuwait have found that volcanic rocks, when pulverized into a fine ash, can be used as a sustainable additive in concrete structures.

Cities of the future may be built with locally available volcanic ash

Study finds adding volcanic ash reduces the overall energy required to manufacture concrete.

February 6, 2018

New software identified five different families of microstructures, each defined by a shared “skeleton” (blue), that optimally traded off three mechanical properties.

Automating materials design

With new approach, researchers specify desired properties of a material, and a computer system generates a structure accordingly.

February 2, 2018

International participants in J-WEL’s October 2017 inaugural J-WEL Week learn about educational innovations at MIT during the Learning Everywhere Project Showcase.

J-WEL grant award announcement and call for proposals in education innovation

Funding is available to MIT faculty to support educational innovations in pre-K-12, Higher Education, and Workplace Learning.

February 1, 2018

MIT researchers have developed a new platform for microfluidics, using LEGO bricks. Shown here, fluid flows through tiny channels milled into the side walls of LEGO bricks.

Microfluidics from Lego bricks

MIT engineers make microfluidics modular using the popular interlocking blocks.

January 30, 2018

AIM Photonics Winter Academy drew more than 60 people together at MIT Jan. 16-18 for lectures and design labs on integrated photonics.

Integrating the promise of photonics

AIM Photonics Academy winter session draws over 60 participants from industry and academia.

January 29, 2018

Dagdeviren (center) developed the device while working as a postdoc in the labs of Graybiel (left), Cima (right), and Langer (far left).

Ultrathin needle can deliver drugs directly to the brain

Miniaturized system could be used to treat neurological disorders that affect specific brain regions.

January 24, 2018

A type of battery first invented nearly five decades ago could catapult to the forefront of energy storage technologies, thanks to a new finding by researchers at MIT.

A new approach to rechargeable batteries

New metal-mesh membrane could solve longstanding problems and lead to inexpensive power storage.

January 22, 2018

Engineers design artificial synapse for “brain-on-a-chip” hardware

Design is major stepping stone toward portable artificial-intelligence devices.

January 22, 2018

MIT researchers, looking for ways to turn heat into electricity, find efficient possibilities in certain topological materials.

Turning heat into electricity

Study finds topological materials could boost the efficiency of thermoelectric devices.

January 16, 2018

Members of the MIT engineering faculty annually receive a myriad of honors and awards in recognition of their scholarship, service, and overall excellence.

School of Engineering fourth quarter 2017 awards

Faculty members were recognized for excellence via a diverse array of honors, grants, and prizes over the last quarter.

January 16, 2018

Evelyn Wang (left) and Heena Mutha have developed a nondestructive method of quantifying the detailed characteristics of carbon nanotube samples — a valuable tool for optimizing these materials for use as electrodes in a variety of practical devices.

Optimizing carbon nanotube electrodes

New model measures characteristics of carbon nanotube structures for energy storage and water desalination applications.

January 5, 2018

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