Writing for The Huffington Post, Audrey Henkels spotlights MDaaS (Medical Devices as a Service), which was co-founded by MIT alumnus Oluwasoga Oni. MDaas supplies and services affordable medical equipment for hospitals in Nigeria, which allows them to provide “critical lifesaving tools they need to improve the health outcomes,” Henkels explains.
Rick Shaffer highlights WiTricity, an MIT spinout, in a Boston Herald article about affordable, easily accessible alternative energy. The company is developing wireless charging pads for electric and hybrid vehicles, which will prevent people from “forgetting to plug a charging cord into their vehicle when they return home.”
Forbes contributor David Worrell speaks with Nick Majer, a participant in a Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship startup incubator. Majer explains that at MIT, “innovation is contagious and inescapable, and with innovation being a major part of entrepreneurship, it makes sense that MIT students become effective entrepreneurs.”
Writing for the Financial Times, John Thornhill highlights President L. Rafael Reif’s comments on empowering innovators and The Engine, MIT’s venture aimed at supporting startups focused on “tough” tech. Thornhill writes that “MIT should be applauded for its ambition. Innovation needs to become more innovative.”
In an article for The New York Times, Constance Gustke speaks with Joseph Coughlin, head of the AgeLab, about the need for new technologies for seniors that, as he explains, “help us learn and expand our horizons.” Gustke also spotlights the work of Rendever, an MIT spinout that uses virtual reality as a means to enhance the lives of seniors.
Boston Globe reporter Tim Logan writes that MIT has signed an agreement to redevelop the Volpe Center site. “What we have in mind is a big vision,” says Israel Ruiz, MIT’s executive vice president and treasurer. “We want to do more in Kendall Square. This enables us to do it at a level of scale.”
President L. Rafael Reif speaks with Dominic O’Connell of BBC Radio 4’s Today program about innovation, climate change and the importance of scientific research. On how MIT researchers bring innovations to the marketplace, Reif explains what is needed is “a desire to impact society in a positive way.”
The City of Haverhill will test a solar-powered bench designed by Soofa, a Media Lab spinoff, reports Brenda J. Buote for The Boston Globe. The city will “track how often the bench is used as a way to measure positive community development.”
Writing for The Wall Street Journal, Visiting Lecturer Irving Wladawsky-Berger praises MIT’s Inclusive Innovation Competition, a contest that honors companies aimed at improving economic opportunities for all workers. Wladawsky-Berger writes that it’s heartening that MIT is “searching for breakthrough innovations to help improve [the] economic prospects” of workers impacted by advanced technologies.
Forbes reporter Christina Wallace speaks with MIT alumna Kathleen Stetson about Trill, the app she developed to provide arts recommendations, and why she felt having an MBA would help further her career promoting the arts. Stetson notes that “At MIT, I not only found massive support and encouragement for Trill, but I also co-founded Hacking Arts."
Boston Globe reporter Janelle Nanos writes about Spoiler Alert, a platform developed by two MIT graduates that is aimed at connecting food distributors with food-rescue organizations. Nanos writes that the platform has been “adopted by 200 businesses and nonprofits in New England to cut down on waste and encourage donations by making them easier to track.”
Wall Street Journal reporter Tim Higgins writes that nuTonomy, an MIT startup, will begin testing driverless cars in Boston by the end of the year. The tests in Boston will help the company “sharpen its software’s ability to recognize signage and road markings and gain experience with the complexities of urban driving,” Higgins explains.
In an article about food allergies for WBUR’s Bostonomix site, Rachel Zimmerman spotlights the Nima gluten tester, a portable device developed by two MIT graduates that can detect gluten in foods within minutes. The device “can detect gluten in concentrations as low as 20 parts per million,” Zimmerman explains.
Xconomy reporter Jeff Engel writes about The Engine, a new venture MIT launched to provide “resources to startups whose technologies typically take lots of time and capital to develop—think biotech, robotics, advanced manufacturing, medical devices, and energy.”
BostInno reporter Olivia Vanni writes that MIT is launching a new venture to support startups working on scientific and technological innovations that require time and patient capital. Vanni writes that tech industry leaders see the new effort “as a prime opportunity to retain our local tech talent."