Researchers from Atlantic Quantum, an MIT startup building quantum computers, have published new research showing “the architecture of the circuits underlying its quantum computer produces far fewer errors than the industry standard,” reports Rashi Shrivastava for Forbes.
Dan Stack PhD ’20 speaks with TechCrunch reporter Tim De Chant about his startup Electrified Thermal Solutions, which is developing electrified firebricks to help decarbonize building materials.
Maria Telleria ’08, SM’10, PhD ’13 speaks with Forbes contributor Stuart Anderson about her experience immigrating to the U.S. as a teenager, earning her PhD at MIT, and co-founding a company. “I don’t think I would have had these opportunities if I could not have come to the United States,” said Telleria. “I think it helped me grow by being exposed to two cultures. When you have had to think in two different ways, I think it makes you better understand other people and why they’re different. Coming to America has been an amazing opportunity.”
Wall Street Journal reporter Scott Patterson spotlights Form Energy, an MIT startup that will produce long-duration batteries using an electrochemical reaction that turns iron into rust and back again. Patterson notes that the goal at Form Energy was to “develop batteries that were cheap, didn’t catch fire, didn’t need scarce and costly metals like cobalt and lithium, and could produce electricity for a long time.”
Olivier Faber MArch ’23, Tim Cousin MArch ’23 and Eytan Levi MArch/MSRED ’21 co-founded Roofscapes Studio – an MIT startup that is transforming rooftops into green roofs to provide outdoor spaces in cities and combat the effects of climate change, reports Julia Chatterley for CNN.
Venti Technologies, which was co-founded by MIT researchers and alumni, is working to build autonomous vehicles for industrial and global supply chain hubs, reports Bruce Rogers for Forbes. “Working with the world's leading port operator provides Venti the opportunity to bring the economics of autonomous vehicles to over 60 ports globally,” writes Rogers. “These ports operate 24/7 requiring 2-3 shifts of human drivers.”
Boston Globe reporter Hiawatha Bray spotlights WiTricity, an MIT spinoff that designs wireless charging systems. “WiTricity uses magnetic fields rather than cables to give batteries a boost,” explains Bray.
Fortune has named Katie Rae, CEO of The Engine, as one of the top 13 seed stage, climate tech VCs to watch, reports Lucy Brewster for Fortune. “Rae tops venture firm The Engine, which beyond being a fund, is an investing arm that spun out of MIT,” explains Brewster. “Yet Rae invests in an array of companies and sources founders from beyond just university walls.”
Ali Khademhosseini PhD ’05 founded Omeat, a cell-cultivated meat startup, which aims to provide sustainable meat without sacrificing an animal, reports Larissa Zimberoff for Fast Company. “Omeat takes cell biopsies from their cows and uses that to grow muscle cells in the lab, in steel-tank bioreactors that allow the cells to proliferate,” explains Zimberoff.
Researchers from MIT and BU have developed the Cleana toilet seat, a set of non-electric automatic lifting and lowering toilet seats that aim to make bathrooms more sanitary, reports Rob Way for WHDH.
Vaikkunth Mugunthan MS ’19 PhD ‘22 and Christian Lau MS ’20, PhD ’22 co-founded DynamoFL – a software company that “offers software to bring large language models (LLMs) to enterprise and fine-tune those models on sensitive data,” reports Kyle Wiggers for TechCrunch. “Generative AI has brought to the fore new risks, including the ability for LLMs to ‘memorize’ sensitive training data and leak this data to malicious actors,” says Mugunthan. “Enterprises have been ill-equipped to address these risks, as properly addressing these LLM vulnerabilities would require recruiting teams of highly specialized privacy machine learning researchers to create a streamlined infrastructure for continuously testing their LLMs against emerging data security vulnerabilities.”
Sean Hunt MS ’13 PhD ’16 co-founded Solugen, a startup working to develop industrial chemicals with environmentally friendly ingredients, reports David H. Freedman for Newsweek. “The company's goals over the next seven years are to reduce the carbon emissions released by industry into the environment by an amount equivalent to eliminating 2 million cars, and to make enough bioplastic to get rid of 5 billion non-degradable plastic bottles,” writes Freedman.
Boston Globe reporter Aaron Pressman speaks with alumnus Jeremy Wertheimer, co-founder of ITA Software, about the state of AI innovation in the Greater Boston area, reports Aaron Pressman for The Boston Globe. “Back in the day, we called it good old-fashioned AI,” says Wertheimer. “But the future is to forget all that clever coding. You want to have an incredibly simple program with enough data and enough computing power.”
A number of MIT alumni including Elaheh Ahmadi, Alexander Amini, and Jose Amich have been named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Local Boston list.
Jeff Heglie ’85 co-founded For Bitter For Worse, a zero-proof spirits company focused on bringing non-alcoholic cocktails to market, reports Ann Trieger Kurland for The Boston Globe. “They have won medals for their drinks, which are crafted like spirits,” writes Kurland. “Herbs and botanicals are first macerated in alcohol to extract their flavors, then they use a still to remove the alcohol in a process Heglie, an MIT graduate, calls ‘reverse bootlegging.’ Natural ingredients — organic roots and juices, fruit peels, spices, and more — are blended into the robust base to add layers of flavor.”