Materials science and engineering

This image shows the fabrication steps from raw circular filament to a fully functional bending artificial muscle. The bottom filament is a raw circular filament. Researchers press the filament using a rolling mill (the second sample from the bottom). Next, they add a mask in the middle of the surface (the third sample from the bottom). Then, they add the conductive ink (the second sample from the...

Nylon fibers made to flex like muscles

MIT engineers find a simple and inexpensive new approach to creating bending artificial muscle fibers.

November 23, 2016

Materials scientist Jeffrey Grossman lectures to a full house of first-year students in his popular version of a core course, 3.091 (Introduction to Solid State Chemistry). Earlier this year, he was honored with a MacVicar Award for exceptional undergraduate teaching.

Solid-state learning

First-year students get a spirited introduction to materials science and chemistry from Professor Jeffrey Grossman.

November 18, 2016

Glen Merfeld, product science leader at GE Global Research, points to almost 40,000 wind turbines installed globally during the 2016 Materials Day Symposium at MIT.

Battery challenges: cost and performance

Industry speakers and MIT faculty offer solutions to problems ranging from small portable devices to large fixed installations.

November 2, 2016

Three MIT mentors were among this year's student participants, mentors, and judges at the final International Young Physicists’ Tournament at the San Joaquin campus of Pontifical Catholic University.

MIT-Chile collaboration stresses hands-on projects and teamwork in STEM education

MIT alumni and the MIT-Chile Program are bringing unique learning opportunities to Chilean high school students in a partnership with two major Santiago universities.

November 1, 2016

A precast concrete section is lifted into place for a net-zero home built in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Taking the life-cycle perspective: Report addresses critical issues in building practices

October 28, 2016

First row (left to right): Matteo Bucci, Tal Cohen, and Ali Jadbabaie. Second row (left to right): Zachary P. Smith, Stefanie Mueller, Adam Belay, David Sontag, and Virginia Vassilevska Williams. Third row (left to right): Max Shulaker, Jennifer Rupp, Ryan Williams, Carmen Guerra-Garcia, and Zachary Hartwig

New engineering faculty for 2016-2017

The School of Engineering welcomes 13 new professors.

October 27, 2016

MIT graduate student Changmin Lee stands by an experimental setup that uses light pulses to map the magnetic direction and strength of a buried interface between two exotic materials, bismuth selenide and europium sulfide.

Mapping buried magnetism

MIT researchers use an optical technique to probe magnetism at a hidden interface between two exotic thin films.

October 25, 2016

While most solid materials expand with heat, this 3-D-printed structure, designed by MIT engineers, is designed to shrink, based on the stretching and pulling of its internal beams and trusses.

3-D-printed structures shrink when heated

Counterintuitive “metamaterial” may enable heat-resistant circuit boards.

October 25, 2016

T cells — immune cells that are targeted to find and destroy a particular antigen — are key to the adaptive immune response. In this image, the top row shows few T cells in untreated mice, while the bottom rows show many T cells produced after immunotherapy treatment.

Fighting cancer with the power of immunity

New treatment elicits two-pronged immune response that destroys tumors in mice.

October 24, 2016

MIT researchers have developed a stretchy optical fiber in which they have injected multiple organic dyes (yellow, blue, and green regions). In addition to lighting up, the dyes act as a strain sensor, enabling researchers to quantify where and by how much a fiber has been stretched.

Stretchy optical fibers for implanting in the body

Biocompatible fibers could use light to stimulate cells or sense signs of disease.

October 17, 2016

Robert Macfarlane, the AMAX Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT, holds vials of gold nanoparticles. Macfarlane designs nanoscale crystal structures whose assembly is activated by mutually attractive “sticky ends.”

Faculty highlight: Robert Macfarlane

MIT chemist constructs nanoparticle-based crystals by programming interactions of synthetic polymers and biopolymers at the molecular level.

October 14, 2016

PolyClean, a team formed by PhD students Karim Gadelrab (left) and Mukarram Tahir, took home the $10,000 grand prize at yesterday’s MADMEC competition for developing a transparent, water-shedding coating for car windshields.

Materials-science innovation on display at MADMEC

Water-shedding coating for car windshields wins $10K grand prize at annual prototyping contest.

October 12, 2016

MIT researchers have found that interactions between electrons and heat-carrying particles called phonons can play a significant role in preventing heat dissipation in microelectronic devices.

Electron-phonon interactions affect heat dissipation in computer chips

Study shows particle collisions may explain overheated circuits, improve thermoelectric devices.

October 12, 2016

To demonstrate Foundry, MIT researchers designed and fabricated skis with retro-reflective surfaces, a ping-pong paddle, a helmet, and even a bone that may someday be used for surgical planning.

Designing for 3-D printing

“Foundry” tool from the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab lets you design a wide range of multi-material 3-D-printed objects.

October 11, 2016

To demonstrate the supercapacitor's ability to store power, the researchers modified an off-the-shelf hand-crank flashlight (the red parts at each side) by cutting it in half and installing a small supercapacitor in the center, in a conventional button battery case, seen at top. When the crank is turned to provide power to the flashlight, the light continues to glow long after the cranking stops, ...

New kind of supercapacitor made without carbon

Energy storage device could deliver more power than current versions of this technology.

October 10, 2016

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