Manufacturing

“Most manufacturing companies will keep about two weeks of inventory,” says David Simchi-Levi, who is a professor of engineering systems in the School of Engineering and in the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society within the MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing. "That means they were able to cover demand for the first two weeks of March. After that, [given] no more supplies, ther...

Supply chain outlook: The timing of the slowdown

MIT Professor David Simchi-Levi forecast the mid-March manufacturing pause. Now he looks ahead.

March 25, 2020

“People are worried about the food supply chain,” says MIT supply chain expert Yossi Sheffi, who is the Elisha Gray II Professor of Engineering Systems at MIT, a professor in MIT’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and director of the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics. “However, the U.S. food supply chain is very robust.”

Supply chain outlook: Why the situation varies by industry

MIT Professor Yossi Sheffi describes the supply chain landscape in the U.S., from food security to concerns about medical supplies.

March 25, 2020

A new embedded droplet printing method suspends 3D arrays of droplets in a uniquely isolated state that allows for precise processing and experimentation.

SMART announces new method for processing fluid droplets

Microfluidics enables researchers to create unique environment for developing medicine, paving the way for more potent, high-quality drugs.

March 16, 2020

CurveBoards are 3D breadboards — which are commonly used to prototype circuits — that can be designed by custom software, 3D printed, and directly integrated into the surface of physical objects, such as smart watches, bracelets, helmets, headphones, and even flexible electronics. CurveBoards can give designers an additional prototyping technique to better evaluate how circuits will look and f...

Integrating electronics onto physical prototypes

In place of flat “breadboards,” 3D-printed CurveBoards enable easier testing of circuit design on electronics products.

March 3, 2020

Assistant Professor Karthish Manthiram (center), postdoc Kyoungsuk Jin (right), graduate student Joseph Maalouf (left), and their colleagues are working to help decarbonize the chemical industry by finding ways to drive critical chemical reactions using electricity from renewable sources.

Decarbonizing the making of consumer products

Researchers are devising new methods of synthesizing chemicals used in goods from clothing, detergents, and antifreeze to pharmaceuticals and plastics.

February 5, 2020

Printing objects that can incorporate living organisms

A 3D printing system that controls the behavior of live bacteria could someday enable medical devices with therapeutic agents built in.

January 23, 2020

A new approach to making airplane parts, minus the massive infrastructure

Carbon nanotube film produces aerospace-grade composites with no need for huge ovens or autoclaves.

January 13, 2020

The 2019 Lam Research Tech Symposium brought together Lam’s global technical staff, academic collaborators, and industry leaders with MIT faculty, students, and researchers for a two-day event on smart systems for semiconductor manufacturing.

Smart systems for semiconductor manufacturing

Lam Research Tech Symposium, co-hosted by MIT.nano and Microsystems Technology Lab, explores challenges, opportunities for the future of the industry.

November 25, 2019

Daniela Rus (far right), director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), moderated a panel on dispelling the myths of AI technologies in the workplace. The AI and the Work of the Future Congress was co-organized by CSAIL, the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, and the MIT Work of the Future Task Force.

MIT conference focuses on preparing workers for the era of artificial intelligence

As automation rises in the workplace, speakers explore ways to train students and reskill workers.

November 22, 2019

Senior Danielle Gleason (right) speaks with Goretti Ariago (center) and Salume Awiyo (left), employees of Appropriate Energy Saving Technologies, in Soroti, Uganda. Gleason has made two trips to Uganda to help streamline the production of charcoal briquettes which offer a low-smoke alternative for home cooking fuel.

Scaling up a cleaner-burning alternative for cookstoves

Mechanical engineering students in MIT D-Lab are working with collaborators in Uganda on a solution for the health hazards associated with wood-burning stoves.

October 22, 2019