Mechanical engineering

Alex Padilla ’94 has been selected to replace Vice President-elect Kamala Harris in the Senate, and will be the first Latino from California to join the Senate, reports Domenico Montanaro for NPR. “From those struggling to make ends meet to the small businesses fighting to keep their doors open to the health care workers looking for relief, please know that I am going to the Senate to fight for you,” said Padilla. “We will get through this pandemic together and rebuild our economy in a way that doesn't leave working families behind."

Alex Padilla ’94 has been appointed to fill the Senate seat held by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, reports Shawn Hubler for The New York Times. Padilla, who will be the first Latino senator from California, said of his appointment: “I love public service and I’ve been doing it for more than 20 years, and I’d like to continue as long as I’m effective and they’ll continue to have me.”

Prof. Giovanni Traverso has been highlighted by Wired as one of 32 innovators who are changing the world, writes Sanjana Varghese for Wired. Prof. Robert Langer notes that Traverso is “transforming how we interact with medications, for example through the development of pills that remain in the body for multiple weeks or months to address medication non-adherence, or the creation of small, swallowable devices enabling the delivery of biologics like insulin.”

Research scientist Brian Subirana speaks with The Economist’s Babbage podcast about his work developing a new AI system that could be used to help diagnose people asymptomatic Covid-19.

MIT researchers have developed a new system that uses solar power to sterilize medical tools, according to The Economist. The system “should cost just a tenth as much to make commercially as a conventional autoclave of equivalent potency.”

New Scientist reporter Donna Lu writes that MIT researchers have developed a new portable, solar-powered device that could be used to sterilize medical instruments in resource-limited areas. “The new tool works even in hazy or cloudy conditions,” writes Lu. “It consists of a solar component that heats water to generate steam, which is then connected to a pressure chamber.”

Fast Company reporter Adele Peters writes that a new mask developed by Prof. Giovanni Traverso is embedded with sensors that change colors when it is properly positioned. “When you put on the mask, if the edge is in contact with the skin, you will have that temperature change indicating that you have contact,” says Traverso. “If not, then there won’t be that color change, and you can tell immediately.”

Fast Company reporter Yasmin Gagne spotlights MIT startup Spyce, which has developed a robotic restaurant kitchen. “With a global pandemic ongoing, a meal cooked with a robotic system might be just enough of a differentiator to help Spyce thrive in an era that has decimated the restaurant industry,” writes Gagne.

AP reporter Mark Pratt writes that Gov. Charlie Baker has nominated Dalila Argaez Wendlandt SM ’93 to fill an open seat on the state’s highest court. Pratt writes that Baker noted, “Wendlandt’s background in science and the law gives her a unique perspective.” 

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker has nominated Dalila Argaez Wendlandt SM ’93 to the Supreme Judicial Court, reports Katie Lannan for WBUR. "Engineering requires you to look at the data and follow it where it goes, and to roll up your sleeves when there's a problem that looks like it's unsolvable," says Wendlandt. "For me the law is very similar especially when you do high-end legal work. Often, the answer is not clear, but if you're confident in your skills, you roll up your sleeves, you bring out the big guns and you just do your job."

A new algorithm developed by MIT researchers could be used to help detect people with Covid-19 by listening to the sound of their coughs, reports Zoe Kleinman for BBC News. “In tests, it achieved a 98.5% success rate among people who had received an official positive coronavirus test result, rising to 100% in those who had no other symptoms,” writes Kleinman.

Mashable reporter Rachel Kraus writes that a new system developed by MIT researchers could be used to help identify patients with Covid-19. Kraus writes that the algorithm can “differentiate the forced coughs of asymptomatic people who have Covid from those of healthy people.”

A new took developed by MIT researchers uses neural networks to help identify Covid-19, reports Alyse Stanley for Gizmodo. The model “can detect the subtle changes in a person’s cough that indicate whether they’re infected, even if they don’t have any other symptoms,” Stanley explains.

TechCrunch reporter Devin Coldewey writes that MIT researchers have built a new AI model that can help detect Covid-19 by listening to the sound of a person’s cough. “The tool is detecting features that allow it to discriminate the subjects that have COVID from the ones that don’t,” explains Brian Subirana, a research scientist in MIT’s Auto-ID Laboratory.

MIT researchers have developed a new AI model that could help identify people with asymptomatic Covid-19 based on the sound of their cough, reports CBS Boston. The researchers hope that in the future the model could be used to help create an app that serves as a “noninvasive prescreening tool to figure out who is likely to have the coronavirus.”