Water

The winning team, named A Salt Solution, won $10,000 for a prototype of a simple, low-cost hydrogel that can be incorporated into water desalination plants or placed directly into bodies of water to collect uranium. The team members are: (left to right) Jasmine Harris, Cynthia Lo, and William “Robin” Lindemann.

Hydrogel that extracts uranium from water wins MADMEC

Teams developing materials solutions for ships and buildings split second and third prizes.

October 13, 2017

Texas Army National Guardsmen help Houston residents affected by flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey board a military vehicle. "With an event like this," says MIT associate professor of urban planning Brent Ryan, "it becomes viscerally evident which residential areas are absolutely not safe from even moderate flooding."

3 Questions: Brent Ryan on Hurricane Harvey’s implications for U.S. cities

Stranded in Houston by hurricane floodwaters, an MIT associate professor sees firsthand how design and policy decisions affected the storm’s impact.

September 1, 2017

Researchers have found there is often a strong case for building relatively modest, incremental additions to water infrastructure in advanced countries, rather than expensive larger-scale projects that may be needed only rarely.

Case study suggests new approach to urban water supply

One drought remedy: Keep infrastructure fast, cheap, and under control.

August 14, 2017

Left to right: Infinite Cooling researchers graduate student Karim Khalil, associate professor of mechanical engineering Kripa Varanasi, and graduate student Maher Damak.

Infinite Cooling wins Cleantech University Prize competition

Startup is meeting global environmental needs by changing the way power plants use water.

August 8, 2017

After piloting its smart microgardening system in Boston homes and restaurants, and following a successful Kickstarter campaign last fall, SproutsIO is ramping up production and hitting the shelves in a few months.

SproutsIO aims to power a “Personal Produce” movement

Smart, soil-free microgarden lets users optimize growing conditions while cutting water and resource use.

July 26, 2017

Researchers have developed a fast, inexpensive robotic device that can find even tiny leaks in pipes with pinpoint precision, no matter what the pipes are made of.

Finding leaks while they’re easy to fix

Robot can inspect water or gas pipes from the inside to find leaks long before they become catastrophic.

July 17, 2017

The winning team Lightmatter pose with organizers and friends.

MIT $100K winner’s optical chips perform AI computations at light speed

A flushless toilet that shrinks waste and a device that detects leaky pipes also won top prizes.

May 18, 2017

Researchers have developed a new method for removing even extremely low levels of unwanted compounds from water. The new method relies on an electrochemical process to selectively remove organic contaminants such as pesticides, chemical waste products, and pharmaceuticals.

MIT researchers develop new way to clear pollutants from water

Electrochemical method can remove even tiny amounts of contamination.

May 10, 2017

Assistant Professor Gabriela Schlau-Cohen (left) and Associate Professor Mircea Dincă explored how their research at the microscopic level can help address big challenges.

Microscopic answers to humanity’s looming questions about food, water, and energy

Chemistry alumni and friends enjoy an evening of food, drink, and talks by Associate Professor Mircea Dincă and Assistant Professor Gabriela Schlau-Cohen.

May 4, 2017

At the second annual Rabobank-MIT Food and Agribusiness Innovation Prize competition, seven finalist startups and teams from MIT and other universities pitched their business ideas to a panel of judges, for a chance to win prizes totaling $25,000. The pitches addressed some of today’s most pressing issues in the food and agriculture industries.

Funding solutions for pressing food and agriculture issues

Teams tackling crop spoilage, pesticide pollution, and farming efficiency win annual competition.

May 3, 2017

On the left, an atomic-force microscopy image shows a nanoporous graphene membrane after a burst test at 100 bars. The image shows that failed micromembranes (the dark black areas) are aligned with wrinkles in the graphene. On the right, two zoomed-in scanning electron microscopy images of graphene membranes show the before (top) and after of a burst test at pressure difference of 30 bars. The i...

Graphene holds up under high pressure

Used in filtration membranes, ultrathin material could help make desalination more productive.

April 24, 2017

Engineers at MIT have found a way to cut the cost of solar-powered drip systems by half, by optimizing the drippers. Furthermore, these new drippers can halve the pumping power required to irrigate, lowering energy bills for farmers. Pictured is an example of a current drip system.

Watering the world

New design cuts costs, energy needs for drip irrigation, bringing the systems within reach for more farmers.

April 19, 2017

A joint team of American, Israeli, and Jordanian students worked together to study possible integrated pumped hydro reverse osmosis (IPHRO) system site locations around the world.

Combined energy and water system could provide for millions

Analysis shows system could economically bring fresh water and renewable energy storage to drought-stricken coastal regions worldwide.

April 18, 2017

This proof-of-concept device, built at MIT, demonstrates a new system for extracting drinking water from the air. The sequence of images at right shows how droplets of water accumulate over time as the inside temperature increases while exposed to the sun.

Water, water everywhere … even in the air

Scientists discover a way to harvest fresh water from air, including in arid regions.

April 14, 2017

Ellen Swallow Richards (back row, far left) stands in 1888 with students from the MIT Women’s Laboratory, which she founded in the previous year.

Scene at MIT: Ellen Swallow Richards leads the Woman's Laboratory

A trailblazing industrial and environmental chemist, Ellen Swallow Richards was MIT’s first female graduate and first female instructor.

March 21, 2017

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