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.”
ABC News reporter Layne Winn spotlights MIT alumna Payal Kadakia’s company ClassPass, which streamlines the process of finding and booking fitness classes. Kadakia, a lifelong dancer, was inspired to start the platform when searching for a new ballet class. Kadakia says she, “fought for a way to keep dance in my life and with ClassPass I believe I'm fighting for everyone else to keep their passion in their life.”
MIT spin-off Gingko Bioworks was named to the CNBC Disruptor 50 List for using “genetic engineering to design and print new DNA for a variety of organisms…that can then be used for anything from killing antibiotic-resistant germs to producing artificial sweetener and cheaper perfume,” reports Tom Huddleston Jr. for CNBC.
Fast Company reporter Katharine Schwab writes that MIT startup Ministry of Supply worked with researchers at the MIT Self-Assembly Lab to develop a new sweater that can be adjusted for an individual’s specific size using heat. “The fabric shrinks when exposed to heat, thanks to both the structure of the knit and the combination of materials used,” explains Schwab.