School of Engineering

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

Simulations written in Simit, a new programming language, were dozens or even hundreds of times as fast as those written in existing simulation languages. But they required only one-tenth as much code as meticulously hand-optimized simulations that could achieve similar execution speeds.

User-friendly language for programming efficient simulations

New language can speed up computer simulations 200-fold or reduce the code they require by 90 percent.

August 10, 2016

Students from MIT and Hong Kong attended the MIT Kickstart Showcase.

Building out a global classroom

Students from MIT and Hong Kong collaborate to bring their entrepreneurial ideas to fruition during MIT Kickstart.

August 9, 2016

Researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and Indiana University at Bloomington describe a new system that permits database queries for genome-wide association studies but reduces the chances of privacy compromises to almost zero.

Protecting privacy in genomic databases

System helps ensure databases used in medical research will not leak patients’ personal information.

August 9, 2016

In an invited report and presentation at the White House ahead of the Paris climate negotiations, Jessika Trancik of the MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society described an analysis that she and her colleagues at MIT and Tsinghua University performed, including results that demonstrate a mutually reinforcing cycle between emissions-reduction policies and technology development.

Reducing emissions, improving technology: A mutually reinforcing cycle

An MIT study on the connection between technology development and emissions-reduction policies informs Paris climate negotiations.

August 8, 2016

Toward practical quantum computers

Built-in optics could enable chips that use trapped ions as quantum bits.

August 8, 2016

Captain Dean Horn was the director of MIT Sea Grant from 1976 to 1982.

Dean Alden Horn, former director of MIT Sea Grant College Program, dies at 95

Retired U.S. Navy captain made many contributions to Arctic research and undergraduate marine education.

August 5, 2016

Dipa Shah of the MIT Teaching and Learning Lab leads a digital education workshop for civil and environmental engineering postdocs.

Using educational technology to enhance student learning

August 5, 2016

A new course from MIT Professional Education aims to help professionals translate immense amounts of raw data into actionable insights.

New online course addresses data science challenges

“Data Science: Data to Insights” from IDSS and MIT Professional Education begins Oct. 4.

August 4, 2016

The ability to ferment low-cost feedstocks under nonsterile conditions may enable new classes of biochemicals and biofuels, such as microbial oil produced by the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica (shown here, oil in lipid bodies is stained green and cells walls stained blue).

Microbial engineering technique could reduce contamination in biofermentation plants

Approach could lower cost and eliminate need for antibiotics during biofuel production.

August 4, 2016

Martin Schmidt named Ray and Maria Stata Professor

MIT provost and leader in microscale and nanoscale fabrication appointed to the Ray and Maria Stata Professorship in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

August 3, 2016

A new microfluidic device that replicates the neuromuscular junction — the vital connection where nerve meets muscle — contains a small cluster of neurons (green) and a single muscle fiber (red). A fluorescence image, bottom, shows the motor neurons sending out axons toward a muscle strip over a distance of about 1 millimeter.

Replicating the connection between muscles and nerves

New chip could help test drugs for ALS, other neuromuscular disorders.

August 3, 2016

MIT aerospace engineers have found a way to bond composite layers, producing a material that is substantially stronger and more resistant to damage than other advanced composites. The improvement may lead to stronger, lighter airplane parts.

Carbon nanotube “stitches” strengthen composites

Method to reinforce these materials could help make airplane frames lighter, more damage-resistant.

August 2, 2016

To simulate objects, MIT CSAIL researchers analyzed video clips to find “vibration modes” at different frequencies that each represent distinct ways that an object can move.

Reach in and touch objects in videos with “Interactive Dynamic Video”

Technique from Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab could improve augmented reality and reduce the need for CGI green-screens.