MIT startup Vicarious Surgical is developing a minimally invasive surgical technique that combines virtual reality and miniature surgical robots, reports Jonathan Sieber for TechCrunch. The founders say they hope “to drive down both the cost of higher impact surgeries and access to the best surgeons through remote technologies.”
TechCrunch reporter Jonathan Sieber writes about biomanufacturing company Culture Biosciences, which was co-founded by MIT alumnus Will Patrick. Sieber writes that Patrick was inspired by his time at the Media Lab and by MIT startups like Gingko Bioworks, explaining that he noticed “that the problem and the bottleneck in the industry was moving from industrial design to scale-up.”
Forbes reporter Chuck Tannert spotlights alumnus R.J. Scaringe, founder and CEO of the electric vehicle company Rivian Automotive. Scaringe explains his motivation to build electric vehicles: “It was frustrating knowing the things I loved were simultaneously the things that were making the air dirtier and causing all sorts of issues, everything from geopolitical conflict to the smog to climate change.”
Writing for The New York Times about up-and-coming technology startups, Erin Griffith highlights MIT spinoff Benchling, which is developing software that allows lab scientists to store notes and records in the cloud. The software is aimed at enabling scientists to “more easily use the records to collaborate with one another,” Griffith explains.
Boston Globe reporter Janelle Nanos writes about Radian Jeans, an MIT startup developing women’s jeans with functional pockets. Nanos explains that the company was inspired by Wardah Inam’s experience as a graduate student at MIT when “she grew annoyed that she couldn’t easily transport her phone, wallet, keys, and ID between her lab and office.”
Fast Company reporter Adele Peters writes about Tarjimly, a non-profit MIT startup that connects refugees with a large network of volunteer language translators. The platform “has more than 8,000 translators who speak more than 90 languages, and can be used in nearly any situation where someone trying to help can’t communicate with someone in need,” Peters explains.
Axios reporter Joann Muller writes about MIT startup WaveSense, which has developed a ground-penetrating radar that creates maps to help vehicles through snow, fog and ice. WaveSense “essentially creates a fingerprint of the roadways by mapping and tracking unique geologic patterns underground,” Muller explains.
MIT alumna Leila Pirhaji has been named a 2019 TED Fellow for her work developing ReviveMed, a company that uses “AI to develop personal drug therapies to treat difficult diseases,” reports Eillie Anzilotti for Fast Company.
Wired reporter Matt Jancer writes about Embr Wave, a wearable device developed by several MIT alumni, which helps users regulate their body temperature. Jancer notes that a button on the Wave “turns it hotter or colder, and when it heats up or cools, your inner wrist you feel as if you turned on a personal thermostat only for you.”
Prof. Bill Aulet speaks with Financial Times reporter Seb Murray about how business schools can help prepare students to become entrepreneurs and highlights MIT’s delta v program, an educational accelerator that allows business school students to work with engineers, designers and scientists to create companies. “Entrepreneurship is about creation, leadership,” says Aulet. “We need programs that convene heterogeneous teams.”
Guardian reporter Ian Sample writes that MIT startup Synlogic are developing a “living” medicine” made from genetically modified bugs. “By engineering these bacteria, we are able to control how they operate in the human gastrointestinal tract,” says Caroline Kurtz of Synlogic. “It allows us to think about many other diseases where you may need to produce something beneficial, or remove something that is toxic for the patient.”
Financial Times reporter Andrew Jack spotlights MIT alumnus Socrates Rosenfeld, who founded a cannabis distribution startup that has become the subject of a new case study taught at MIT. “We try to create live cases where the answer is not known in advance,” explains Prof. Scott Stern. “They were looking at an industry with a good degree of uncertainty.”
Forbes contributor Angelica Krystle Donati highlights a recent presentation by Prof. Robert Langer, in which he shared his experience founding more than 40 startups.
Katie Rae, CEO and managing partner of The Engine, speaks with Fortune reporter Renae Reints about The Engine’s commitment to nurturing startups that require more time and patient capital. Rae explains that The Engine “has an investing horizon of up to 18 years, which allows us to think about bigger, longer-term bets—and these could be world-changing.”
Boston Globe reporter Andy Rosen highlights how MIT startup Cambrian Innovations is working with Tree House Brewing to clean the waste water produced by the facility. Rosen explains that Cambrian Innovations “plans to treat Tree House’s waste water on site, using a microbial system that promises to clean up the outflows while generating gas to heat the brewery.”