Pilita Clark of the Financial Times writes about the battery developed by Dr. Qichao Hu and Professor Donald Sadoway that can extend the driving range and lower the cost of an electric car. The new battery can store “twice as much energy as conventional [battery] cells,” Clark reports.
Professors Thomas Allen and Rory O’Shea write for Bloomberg Businessweek about the ways in which other institutions can imitate MIT’s success in spurring innovation. At MIT “[s]tudents learn to experiment, take risks, tolerate failure, and strive to overcome obstacles,” they write.
Nidhi Subbaraman of BetaBoston writes that eyeMITRA, a new system developed by Professor Ramesh Raskar’s Camera Culture group, is a finalist in the Nokia Sensing XChallenge. The system monitors a wide range of health conditions by taking pictures of the retina. “Your eyes are a window into your health,” says Raskar.
Hannah Kulcher writes for The Financial Times about Jibo, a family robot created by Professor Cynthia Breazeal. “We call it the world’s first family robot as it is really about engagement with people; more like a helpful partner, rather than being a tool,” says Breazeal.
In an article about new technologies that read people’s desires, Colin Barras of BBC News highlights MIT startup Affectiva, which uses computer programs to judge people’s reactions.
Sacha Pfeiffer and Lynn Jolicoeur of WBUR report on Cambridge Mobile Telematics, a company founded by MIT Professor Hari Balakrishnan to help improve driver safety. The company developed an app that “automatically detects when you’re in the car and driving, it detects when you’ve stopped driving, and then it provides feedback to you,” Pfeiffer and Jolicoeur report.
Founded by MIT alumnus Sidhant Pai and winner of the MIT IDEAS Global Challenge, Indian startup Protoprint compensates waste pickers in the Indian city of Pune for collecting the raw materials used for 3D-printing filament, writes Dhanya Ann Thoppil for The Wall Street Journal. “The point is to create employment and value add opportunities for the waste pickers,” says Pai.
Bill Aulet writes for The Wall Street Journal about how new startups are valued. “Historically the science has been pretty simple: Find comparable companies and do a multiple of earnings or revenue. However, three drivers of startup valuation have emerged that are changing the game,” Aulet writes.
Laura Baverman of USA Today writes about the MIT Media Lab’s record as a launch pad for innovators and entrepreneurs. “More than 100 companies have sprung from the lab since its founding in 1985,” writes Baverman.
Jane Porter writes for Fortune about WiTricity, an MIT spinout focused on the development of wireless power-transfer technology. By using vibrational frequencies, electricity can be transferred over distances of up to four feet.
In a piece published on Slate, Aaron Taube reports on MIT startup ULTRA Testing, which was created by MIT graduates, “with the specific intention of hiring people on the autism spectrum.”
“I think this kind of technology could have a major effect and revolutionize various aspects of medicine, including birth control,” Professor Bob Langer says in an interview with Mallika Marshall of WBZ about technology from the biotech firm MicroCHIPS that could allow for implantable, remote-controlled, birth control.
“A new diode laser that can cut metal may soon find its way onto the market, thanks to a few former MIT scientists looking to commercialize their research,” writes Brooke Hays for UPI about Lincoln Laboratory spinout TeraDiode’s multi-kilowatt diode laser system.
Liat Clark reports on Jibo, the family friendly robot developed by Professor Cynthia Breazeal, in a piece for Wired. "Jibo is a very different concept of a personal robot where the focus is on human engagement and bringing content, apps, services 'to life' beyond flat screens," Breazeal explains.
Steve Annear of Boston Magazine writes about ‘Sesame Rings’ first developed by a group including MIT undergraduates. The ring acts as a stored-value MBTA pass for using public transportation in and around Boston.