Manufacturing

MIT researchers have designed a system that can 3-D print the basic structure of an entire building. The system consists of a tracked vehicle that carries a large industrial robotic arm, which has a smaller, precision-motion robotic arm at its end.

3-D printing offers new approach to making buildings

Technology developed at MIT could enable faster, cheaper, more adaptable building construction.

April 26, 2017

Researchers may have determined why fairly brittle electrode materials in batteries don’t crack under the strain of expansion and contraction cycles when they are used and recharged.

How some battery materials expand without cracking

Brittle electrodes handle expansion by going glassy, study shows.

April 12, 2017

Toward printable, sensor-laden “skin” for robots

New 3-D-printed device mimics the goldbug beetle, which changes color when prodded.

March 23, 2017

"This initiative is something that is right at the heart of what MIT stands for," said Professor Thomas Kochan, moderator for the launch event of a new project known as Mens et Manus America. "We believe in solving important problems, contributing collectively wherever we can."

Mens et Manus America initiative launches with documentary event

Over 200 students and faculty attend kickoff as SHASS and Sloan begin an exploration of current U.S. social, political, economic challenges.

March 3, 2017

This image from a scanning electron microscope shows a cross section of an object printed using cellulose. The inset shows the surface of the object.

3-D printing with cellulose

World’s most abundant polymer could rival petroleum-based plastics as source of printing feedstock.

March 3, 2017

MIT researchers have designed a machine that can rapidly produce large quantities of customized peptides.

New technology offers fast peptide synthesis

Automated manufacturing could make it easier to develop and test new peptide drugs.

February 27, 2017

MIT professors Richard Braatz, J. Christopher Love, and Kripa Varanasi (pictured l-r) will collaborate with partners from University College London, and the University of Kansas to develop a next-generation manufacturing platform to produce certain vaccines for less than 15 cents a dose.

MIT undertakes Grand Challenge for innovation in global vaccine manufacturing

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awards MIT, University College London, and University of Kansas $17.6M for development and production of low-cost vaccines.

February 22, 2017

"We now have the ability to have a second-order nonlinearity in silicon, and this is the first real demonstration of that, says Michael Watts, an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science at MIT.

New resource for optical chips

Study: Silicon can reproduce physical phenomena exploited by high-end telecommunications devices.

February 20, 2017

MIT chemists have now developed a 3-D printing technique that allows them to print objects and then go back and add new polymers that alter the materials’ chemical composition and mechanical properties. These new polymers can be reactivated by light.

Technique enables adaptable 3-D printing

Once fabricated, objects can be altered by adding new polymers.

January 13, 2017

Through the RAPID Manufacturing Institute, MITEI and partner organizations like the U.S. Department of Energy support researchers’ studies of modular chemical process intensification. Process intensification involves combining many of the steps of traditional manufacturing — mixing, reacting, and separation — into a single process. This could dramatically reduce the size and scale of equipme...

U.S. Department of Energy announces MIT Energy Initiative will join new Manufacturing USA Institute

MITEI faculty affiliates to contribute clean energy expertise to national coalition that will address manufacturing challenges in energy-intensive processing industries.

January 11, 2017