“Mens et manus” in Guatemala
ASPIRE program brings MIT-style research, innovation, and entrepreneurship to Central America, sparking sustainable development by and for the people.
D-Lab
Aspiring to sustainable development
In parallel, MIT and Universidad del Valle de Guatemala students seek to advance local innovation by and for Guatemalan communities.
Translating MIT research into real-world results
MIT’s innovation and entrepreneurship system helps launch water, food, and ag startups with social and economic benefits.
D-Lab off-grid brooder saves chicks and money using locally manufactured thermal batteries
The innovation, which employs beeswax to maintain consistent heating, is the result of three years of co-design with Cameroonian poultry farmers.
Empowering future innovators through a social impact lens
The IDEAS Social Innovation Challenge helps students hone their entrepreneurship skills to create viable ventures for public good.
Sophia Chen: It’s our duty to make the world better through empathy, patience, and respect
Honing her values and career path through her D-Lab classes, the MIT senior sets her sights on leveling inequalities in global health.
Designing solutions to ensure equity in health care
MIT senior Daisy Wang interweaves biological engineering and women’s and gender studies as a way to address social problems.
Culturally informed design: Unearthing ingenuity where it always was
Pedro Reynolds-Cuéllar, a doctoral candidate in media arts and sciences and a MAD Design Fellow, researches how technology and tradition intersect in rural spaces, particularly in Colombia.
MIT D-Lab works to empower artisanal women miners in Colombia
Through a project launched in 2020, MIT D-Lab is working with women to help them build a labor movement focused on reducing gender-based violence and environmental degradation.
Putting public service into practice
Through the PKG Public Service Center’s social impact internships, MIT students leverage their analytical, technical, and creative problem-solving skills for public good.
Addressing food insecurity in arid regions with an open-source evaporative cooling chamber design
Less expensive than refrigerated cold rooms, this cooling chamber offers accessible cold storage for smallholder farmers.
Q&A: How studying Portuguese helps to look at life through a different lens
Aeronautics and astronautics major Theo St. Francis describes his studies of Portuguese and travels to Brazil.
Bringing safe surgery to patients everywhere
The MIT D-Lab-supported startup SurgiBox has developed a portable kit that doctors can use to create sterile operating environments where they’re needed most.
MIT D-Lab students collaborate with adaptive design center in Mexico
Project helps make learning more accessible for children with multiple disabilities.
Giving refugees design education — and newfound hope
MIT D-Lab workshops equip refugees in Greece and elsewhere with the skills and confidence to solve problems in their communities.