Mechanical engineering

2019 Change-Maker honorees and Chancellor Cynthia Barnhart: (left to right) Lisa Volpatti, graduate student in chemical engineering; Paula Hammond, chemical engineering department head; graduate student Sarah Goodman; graduate student Jay Dev; CAPD staff member Amanda Pickett; senior Madiha Shafquat; senior Gabby Ballard; Chancellor Barnhart.

2019 Change-Makers honored for fighting sexual misconduct

Violence Prevention and Response and Title IX and Bias Response Office celebrate individuals and departments for standing up to sexual harassment and assault.

April 22, 2019

Janus emulsion droplets are captured in the process of changing form in response to the presence of contamination by a food pathogen in a lab setting. The emulsions can be viewed by the naked eye and, with the aid of a handheld sensor currently in development, can quantify the presence and amount of bacterial contamination in food.

MIT spinout seeks to transform food safety testing

An affordable, easy-to-use handheld sensor, soon to enter the market, can indicate the presence of bacterial contaminants in food in seconds.

April 9, 2019

“What makes The Deep unique is that the students have a lot of ownership, and the students help run the space,” says Professor Marty Culpepper, who is known as the Institute's “Maker Czar.”

Welcome to The Deep

A new creative space opens as maker culture continues to thrive at MIT.

April 8, 2019

Visitors wear virtual reality headsets in the MIT.nano Immersion Lab.

The power of play

Video game developer NCSOFT joins with MIT.nano to apply the language of gaming to technology research and education.

April 3, 2019

Professor Emeritus T. Francis Ogilvie, former ocean engineering department head, dies at 89

An expert in naval architecture and ocean engineering, Ogilvie served as department head for MIT’s former Department of Ocean Engineering for 12 years.

April 3, 2019

The visual and thermal properties of polyethylene can be tweaked to produce colorful films with a wide range of heat-radiating capabilities.

Researchers tune material’s color and thermal properties separately

Polymers could be designed to reflect or trap heat, regardless of hue.

April 2, 2019

Designing vehicles that drive, fly — and swim

Senior and Marshall Scholar Crystal Winston pursues her vision of a world where cars aren’t limited to roads.

March 31, 2019

A $30 million award from USAID will support MIT over the next five years in developing a Center of Excellence in Energy at Ain Shams University, Mansoura University, and Aswan University, in Egypt. The center will serve to connect researchers at the Egyptian universities with experts at MIT, to seek innovative solutions to the country’s energy challenges.

MIT receives $30 million to help address energy challenges in Egypt

Award from USAID will support research collaborations through new Center of Excellence in Energy at Ain Shams University in Cairo.

March 27, 2019

Associate Professor Ken Kamrin has dedicated his research to predicting the behavior of sand and other granular material, with models that are as accurate as possible without being overly time-consuming to run.

Ken Kamrin seeks fundamental behaviors in sand

Mechanical engineering professor’s models of granular flow shed light on agriculture, soils, and geology.

March 27, 2019

ATHack participants Borja Apaolaza and Naroa Coretti consult with co-designer Ellen.

Developing tech for, and with, people with disabilities

Sixth annual Assistive Technologies Hackathon paired students with client co-designers to create innovative solutions to the everyday problems they face.

March 22, 2019