Mechanical engineering

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.

August 1, 2012

The researchers' unmanned aerial vehicle.

New aircraft capable of fast, accurate and repeatable flight

CSAIL's Robot Locomotion Group unveils new computer-controlled aircraft that can perform knife-edge turns.

July 26, 2012

Algorithms developed by MIT researchers enable an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to swim around and reconstruct a ship's propeller.

Autonomous robot scans ship hulls for mines

Algorithms enable robot to navigate and view propellers and other complex structures.

July 17, 2012

A utility vehicle equipped with a laser range finder drives through a field, avoiding obstacles without human intervention.

Mechanical engineers develop an ‘intelligent co-pilot’ for cars

Semiautonomous system takes the wheel to keep drivers safe.

July 13, 2012

Scanning electron micrographs (SEMs) of the silicon microstructured surfaces for the boiling experiments. The dimensions of the micropillars are well-defined to allow systematic studies of surface roughness effects on critical heat flux (CHF).

Better surfaces could help dissipate heat

Heat transfer in everything from computer chips to powerplants could be improved through new analysis of surface textures.

June 26, 2012

Sharper ultrasound images could improve diagnostics

New system developed at MIT allows precise measurements and tracking of disease progression.

June 18, 2012

Seen from above, a sheet of silicon has been textured with an array of tiny inverted-pyramid shapes, so small that they correspond to the wavelengths of light and can efficiently trap light waves.

Textured surface may boost power output of thin silicon solar cells

MIT team finds new approach to trapping light efficiently in thin-film silicon solar cells.

June 13, 2012

This electron microscope image shows two layers of nanowires produced through the MIT team's self-assembly process, showing how deviations in the pattern and connections between the layers can be included in the design.

Teaching self-assembling structures a new trick

MIT researchers produce 3-D configurations that could lead to new microchips and other devices.

June 7, 2012