Mechanical engineering

“I try to guide my research by ... asking myself the question, ‘What can we do today that will have a lasting impact and be conducive to a sustainable human civilization?’” says Rohit Karnik, an associate professor in MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Rohit Karnik seeks sustainable solutions through nanotechnology

Engineer’s designs may help purify water, diagnose disease in remote regions of world.

September 1, 2016

A team of researchers, including graduate student Maher Damak (left) and associate professor of mechanical engineering Kripa K. Varanasi, have found a way to drastically cut down on the amount of pesticide liquid that bounces off plants.

Reducing runoff pollution by making spray droplets less bouncy

MIT researchers find a way to make pesticides stick to leaves instead of bouncing off.

August 30, 2016

The photograph shows a square-shaped “intruder” plunging through various material, including coarse, salt-like grains (white) and fine sand (blueish green), as well as more viscous (green) and pasty (blue) materials.

Pushing through sand

Simple equation predicts force needed to push objects through granular and pasty materials.

August 29, 2016

In this series, a 3-D printed multimaterial shape-memory minigripper, consisting of shape-memory hinges and adaptive touching tips, grasps a cap screw.

3-D printed structures “remember” their shapes

Heat-responsive materials may aid in controlled drug delivery and solar panel tracking.

August 26, 2016

MIT graduate student George Ni holds a bubble-wrapped, sponge-like device that soaks up natural sunlight and heats water to boiling temperatures, generating steam through its pores.

Sponge creates steam using ambient sunlight

Bubble-wrapped structure requires no mirrors or lenses to focus the sun’s heat.

August 22, 2016

New MIT heads of house for fall 2016: (clockwise from top left) Nuria Jane and Alberto Rodriguez; Pablo Jarillo-Herrero (who will co-lead with Empar Rollano-Hijarrubia, not pictured); Laurie Lynn and Jared Berezin (with Shakedown); and Kristen Covino.

New heads of house join undergraduate and graduate communities to start the fall semester

Areas of expertise include robotics, writing, physics, jewelry-making, and breakfast cereal.

August 18, 2016

Nighttime image of New York City, with the red showing a large population density. “The adoption potential of electric vehicles is remarkably similar across cities, from dense urban areas like New York, to sprawling cities like Houston. This goes against the view that electric vehicles — at least affordable ones, which have limited range — only really work in dense urban centers,” says Jes...

Can today’s EVs make a dent in climate change?

Electric vehicles can meet drivers’ needs enough to replace nearly 90 percent of vehicles now on the road.

August 15, 2016

Membrane structures in plant xylem from different species are being investigated for use in water filtration.

J-WAFS Solutions program awards $750,000 in commercialization grants

Four new projects and one renewal receive $150,000 in funding for 2016-2017.

August 12, 2016

Researchers designed and tested several types of optical sensors that could be placed at the tip of an epidural needle and determined that the best is one that relies on Raman spectroscopy. This technique, which uses light to measure energy shifts in molecular vibrations, offers detailed information about the chemical composition of tissue.

Needles that hit the right mark

New sensor could help anesthesiologists place needles for epidurals and other medical procedures.

August 11, 2016

The Jolt Sensor, a wearable sensor for athletes, detects and gathers data on head impacts in real time.

When to get your head out of the game

Wearable sensor for athletes detects potential head injuries, gathers data on hard hits.

August 11, 2016

Pison Technology team members (left to right) Bobby Forster, Dexter Ang, David Cipoletta, and Wenxin Feng are developing assistive technology for people with ALS.

Fighting ALS with mind, hand, and heart

With support from the MIT Sandbox Innovation Fund Program, an MIT spinoff is creating assistive technology for people with ALS.

July 29, 2016

In 2012, a team of students in MIT’s well-known product-design class, Course 2.009, invented a hand truck with fold-out treads and a braking system that made hauling kegs downstairs safer and easier. Now that hand truck, called the Glyde, is being used by hundreds of people worldwide.

Gliding from classroom to market

Treaded hand truck created as class project is now making downstairs deliveries safer.

July 28, 2016

Professor Dan Frey of the Department of Mechanical Engineering is the new faculty director of D-Lab.

Dan Frey named D-Lab faculty director

Professor of mechanical engineering brings a long association with D-Lab and a commitment to design for the developing world.

July 27, 2016

A woman and her son, who live in Chellur, India, walk home with the reverse-osmosis-treated water she bought at Chellur’s community desalination plant.

The quest for clean water

MIT researchers design a solar-powered desalination device for rural India.

July 18, 2016

A volunteer from Lincoln Laboratory helps students program Instagram-style filters.

Girls Who Build Cameras workshop sparks future engineers

High school girls learn to construct cameras and program image filters at Lincoln Laboratory event.

July 12, 2016

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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