Mechanical engineering

From left: Postdoc Alexis Grimaud, mechanical engineering graduate student David Kwabi and materials science and engineering graduate student Kelsey Stoerzinger work in the laboratory of Associate Professor Yang Shao-Horn, the Electrochemical Energy Lab.

Department snapshot: Mechanical Engineering

More MechE students choose to design their own education.

October 17, 2012

Diagram shows the 'probability flux' of electrons, a representation of the paths of electrons as they pass through an 'invisible' nanoparticle. While the paths are bent as they enter the particle, they are subsequently bent back so that they re-emerge from the other side on the same trajectory they started with — just as if the particle wasn't there.

‘Invisibility’ could be a key to better electronics

MIT team applies technology developed for visual ‘cloaking’ to enable more efficient transfer of electrons.

October 12, 2012

A solid-state lithium-air battery (highlighted in orange) is positioned inside a test chamber at the Advanced Light Source (ALS) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in preparation for its testing using X-ray photoelectron microscopy.

New technique reveals lithium in action

Fundamental reactions behind advanced battery technology, revealed in detail by advanced imaging method, could lead to improved materials.

October 8, 2012

The mathematics of leaf decay

A mathematical model reveals commonality within the diversity of leaf decay.

October 4, 2012

From left to right, Ronald Ballinger, Thomas McKrell, Bilge Yildiz, Dennis Whyte, Michael Short, Sidney Yip, Linn Hobbs and Ju Li.

Understanding and predicting materials behavior

Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering takes an interdisciplinary approach

September 26, 2012

Maurice Fallon, a research scientist in MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, demonstrates how a user would wear the sensor.

Automatic building mapping could help emergency responders

A prototype sensor array that can be worn on the chest automatically maps the wearer’s environment, recognizing movement between floors.

September 24, 2012

Greg Tao '10, SM '12 (left), delivers an autoclave prototype to a rural Nepali health clinic in January 2012.

Alumni bring autoclaves to the developing world

OttoClave aims to deliver world-class sterilization technology to rural health clinics.

September 20, 2012

Rebecca Saxe PhD '03, an associate professor in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, discusses her study of the human mind.

Inauguration festivities off to a stimulating start

Innovation symposium touches on a dizzying array of topics, with themes of interdisciplinary collaboration, energy and innovation for the developing world.

September 19, 2012

Ultrasound waves of two different frequencies generate tiny bubbles of water on the skin’s surface. When these bubbles pop, the skin’s surface is lightly worn away, allowing drugs to pass through the skin more easily.

Getting (drugs) under your skin

Using ultrasound waves, researchers boost skin’s permeability to drugs.

September 14, 2012

Researchers engineer light-activated skeletal muscle

Technique may enable robotic animals that move with the strength and flexibility of their living counterparts.

August 30, 2012

Stephen C. Graves, the Abraham J. Siegel Professor of Management Science and a professor of engineering systems and mechanical engineering, has been named interim director of the MIT Engineering Systems Division.

Graves named Engineering Systems Division interim director

Sloan, ESD and mechanical engineering professor succeeds Sussman.

August 28, 2012

Soft autonomous robot inches along like an earthworm

Flexible design enables body-morphing capability.

August 10, 2012

Matthew Orosz and Amy Mueller work with locals in Lesotho to implement their solar ORC system.

Bringing power to the people — and heat as well

Sun-powered system developed by MIT students could provide electricity, heat and cooling to rural schools and clinics.

August 6, 2012

Olympics symbol with five rings. A light blue outline around rings and various angles intersect in ring centers.

3 Questions: Anette Hosoi on engineering and the Olympics

Got Olympic fever? Dive into the mechanics of a fast pool

August 1, 2012

Images taken with a 3-D microscope show wrinkled surfaces produced using a method developed by the MIT team. The size, spacing and angles of the wrinkles vary depending on how much the original underlying surface was stretched, and how the stretching was released.

Wrinkled surfaces could have widespread applications

MIT team discovers way of making perfectly ordered and repeatable surfaces with patterns of microscale wrinkles.