Security studies and military

Investigating the dynamics of war and peace

Erik Sand brings a perspective shaped by eight years of service in the U.S. Navy to his doctoral studies.

August 7, 2017

New hybrid gas-to-electric drones from MIT spinout Top Flight Technologies offer an order-of-magnitude increase in range, payload size, and power over battery-powered counterparts. The drones may pave the way for package delivery and human flight.

Hybrid drones carry heavier payloads for greater distances

Startup’s gas-electric engines may pave way for package delivery and human flight.

August 4, 2017

A three-day hackathon on campus brought together students and researchers from MIT and around Boston who developed functional fabric concepts to solve major issues facing soldiers in combat or training, first responders, victims and workers in refugee camps, and many others.

Hacking functional fabrics to aid emergency response

MIT and other innovators design novel solutions for the battlefield, disaster sites, and other dangerous environments.

August 1, 2017

Jessica Myers MCP ’17 completed a graduate thesis in the form of a podcast series entitled “Here There Be Dragons.”

Jessica Myers: Liberté, Égalité, Sécurité

A novel thesis in the form of a podcast gives voice to issues of security and identity in New York and Paris.

July 10, 2017

“This is not the first time that we have seen anti-immigrant sentiments surge in the U.S.,” said MIT Assistant Professor Justin Steil at a recent MIT Starr Forum, The Fight Over Foreigners: Visas and Immigration in the Trump Era. “Despite the fact that most U.S. residents are descended from either voluntary or involuntary migrants, all the way back to Benjamin Franklin there has been skeptic...

3 Questions: Justin Steil on the Trump administration travel ban

Assistant professor of urban studies and planning argues immigration is good for the U.S. and that President Trump's executive order threatens national security.

July 7, 2017

“The Violent American Century: War and Terror Since World War II,” by John W Dower (Haymarket Books)

Is the Pax Americana truly peaceful?

MIT historian John Dower’s latest book decries the militarism of the postwar years.

June 27, 2017

Officers surround honorable guest Air Force General Darren W. McDew (at center) and MIT President Rafael L. Reif during the 2017 commissioning ceremony for the MIT’s Reserve Officers Training Corps. More than 12,000 officers have been commissioned from MIT since the program’s origin, and more than 150 have reached the rank of general or admiral.

After MIT, new officers will serve their country

Following their MIT studies, graduates in MIT’s Reserve Officer Training Corps set off on new challenges in the U.S. military.

June 16, 2017

Open Water Power’s battery that "drinks" in sea water to operate is safer and cheaper, and provides a tenfold increase in range, over traditional lithium-ion batteries used for unpiloted underwater vehicles. The power system consists of an alloyed aluminum anode, an alloyed cathode, and an alkaline electrolyte positioned between the electrodes. Components are only activated when flooded with wat...

Batteries that “drink” seawater could power long-range underwater vehicles

Startup’s novel aluminum batteries increase the range of UUVs tenfold.

June 15, 2017

“I thought MIT would be a better place than anywhere else to study nuclear science,” says Sean Lowder, a senior in the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering.

Sean Lowder: A path to naval nuclear engineering

Nuclear science and engineering senior Sean Lowder is taking his expertise to Washington and the U.S. Navy.

June 6, 2017

Associate professor of political science Vipin Narang specializes in nuclear security, proliferation, and deterrence.

Vipin Narang: On the brinkmanship beat

Department of Political Science assistant professor studies the strategic use of nuclear force as global tensions threaten to reach the boiling point.

May 24, 2017