Materials science and engineering

As a mix of cancer cells and white blood cells flows through the microfluidic channel, sound waves from the transducers located on both sides of the channel guide them into separate channels, allowing the rare cancer cells to be isolated.

Using sound waves to detect rare cancer cells

Acoustic device can rapidly isolate circulating tumor cells from patient blood samples.

April 6, 2015

New materials to protect the brain

MIT graduate student Bo Qing studies synthetic gels that could be used in better equipment to protect against traumatic injuries.

March 24, 2015

Mechanically stimulating stem cells

MIT biological engineering graduate student Frances Liu is studying ways to alter mechanical properties of cell environments to produce desired chemical outputs.

March 20, 2015

Faculty highlight: Krystyn Van Vliet

MIT associate professor brings a materials scientist's understanding to biochemical behavior in stem cells and organ tissue.

March 18, 2015

Images show calcium ion influx into neurons as a result of magnetothermal excitation with alternating magnetic fields in the presence of magnetic nanoparticles.

Magnetic brain stimulation

New technique could lead to long-lasting localized stimulation of brain tissue without external connections.

March 12, 2015

U.S. News ranks graduate programs in engineering, business highly

MIT is home to No. 1 graduate engineering program; Sloan is No. 5 business school.

March 10, 2015

Two different forms of calcium carbonate have identical chemical composition, but look different and have different properties such as solubility. The flat, clear crystal is calcite, the pinkish multifaceted one is aragonite.

Mystery solved: Why seashells’ mineral forms differently in seawater

Century-old riddle about aragonite formation is unraveled by scientists’ atomistic simulation.

March 2, 2015

Simulations show the effects of dislocations in cerium dioxide on the redistribution of differently sized dopant atoms, replacing a cerium atom in the crystal lattice. The results reveal different amounts of segregation around the dislocation caused by the differently sized elements. The sizes of the other atoms are compared to a cesium atom (left, in black). The white dashed line shows the plane ...

New analysis shows ion slowdown in fuel cell material

Dislocations in oxides seen as promising electrolytes create a “traffic jam” for charged ions.

March 2, 2015

Lemelson gift honors former President Charles Vest, encourages MIT student invention

February 23, 2015

Fibers made by transforming materials

New approach could enable low-cost silicon devices in fibers that could be made into fabrics.

February 20, 2015

Shruti Sharma wins Gates Cambridge Scholarship

Award allows MIT senior to pursue a PhD in materials and manufacturing engineering at the University of Cambridge.

February 13, 2015

How to prevent metal embrittlement

Analysis shows certain crystal boundaries can enhance, or reduce, hydrogen’s damaging effects.

February 5, 2015

New faculty in engineering

Twelve new faces join six academic departments in the School of Engineering.

February 2, 2015

As red blood cells from sickle cell patients flow through the new MIT microfluidic device, many of them become sickled following exposure to a low-oxygen environment (left). At right, when oxygen levels are restored, the cells resume their normal shape.

New way to model sickle cell behavior

Microfluidic device allows researchers to predict behavior of patients’ blood cells.

January 19, 2015

Christina Tringides, a senior at MIT and member of the research team, holds a sample of the multifunction fiber produced using the group’s new methodology.

New fibers can deliver many simultaneous stimuli

Implanted into the brain or spinal column, they can transmit drugs, light, and electrical signals.