Materials science and engineering

Krystyn Van Vliet named associate provost

Engineer brings active interest in innovation to new role.

August 16, 2017

This series of photographs shows the chemical reaction that occurs during the charging of a lithium oxygen battery using lithium iodide as an additive.

Researchers clarify mystery about proposed battery material

Study explains conflicting results from other experiments, may lead to batteries with more energy per pound.

August 15, 2017

Summer Scholar Alejandro Aponte works on a prototype for a pump that can deliver drugs to the brain. Aponte, a University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez mechanical engineering major, is working to make the pump small enough to be easily implantable.

Prototyping a pump for brain treatment

Summer Scholar Alejandro Aponte troubleshoots the design for an implantable pump that can deliver drugs to the brain.

August 4, 2017

A three-day hackathon on campus brought together students and researchers from MIT and around Boston who developed functional fabric concepts to solve major issues facing soldiers in combat or training, first responders, victims and workers in refugee camps, and many others.

Hacking functional fabrics to aid emergency response

MIT and other innovators design novel solutions for the battlefield, disaster sites, and other dangerous environments.

August 1, 2017

A new flexible graphene solar cell developed at MIT is seen in the transparent region at the center of this sample. Around its edges are metal contacts on which probes can be attached during tests of device performance.

Transparent, flexible solar cells

Researchers develop a novel technique using graphene to create solar cells they can mount on surfaces ranging from glass to plastic to paper and tape.

July 28, 2017

MIT engineers have designed a gel-like material that can be coated onto standard plastic or rubber devices, providing a softer, more slippery exterior that can significantly ease a patient’s discomfort during surgery.

New gel coatings may lead to better catheters and condoms

Bonded layers of rubber and hydrogel yield tough, slippery, and impermeable coatings.

July 18, 2017

New research suggests that achieving smoother surfaces on a solid electrolyte could eliminate or greatly reduce the problem of dendrite formation.

Study suggests route to improving rechargeable lithium batteries

Smooth surfaces may prevent harmful deposits from working their way into a solid electrolyte.

July 12, 2017

Angela Belcher (left) and Kristala Prather

3 Questions: Angela Belcher and Kristala Prather on the promise of energy bioscience

Engineers and co-directors of MITEI's Energy Bioscience Low-Carbon Energy Center discuss their vision for transforming the energy system.

July 10, 2017

The Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine’s faculty is made up of Koch Institute members who are committed to fighting cancer with nanomedicine through research, education, and collaboration. Top row (l-r) Sangeeta Bhatia, director; Daniel Anderson; and Angela Belcher. Bottom row: Paula Hammond; Darrell Irvine; and Robert Langer.

Converging on cancer at the nanoscale

Marking its first anniversary, the Koch Institute’s Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine goes full steam ahead.

July 7, 2017

Chemical engineering postdoc Antoni Forner-Cuenca (far right) explains work in the Brushett Lab on advanced flow batteries for grid-level energy storage to 2017 MPC-CMSE Summer Scholars (l-r) Kaila Holloway, Gaetana Michelet, Alexandra Oliveira, Saleem Iqbal, and Alejandro Aponte-Lugo. Forner-Cuenca is holding carbon paper where battery reactions take place.

Summer interns' lab work underway

Summer Scholars in materials science and engineering are tackling projects ranging from magnetic thin films to catalysts for energy.

July 3, 2017

MIT postdoc Sulata Sahu (left) and graduate student Brian Chmielowiec hold a sample of nearly pure copper deposited on an iron electrode.

A new way of extracting copper

Researchers develop an electrically-driven process to separate commercially important metals from sulfide minerals in one step without harmful byproducts.

June 28, 2017

1) Graphene, grown on copper foil, is pressed against a supporting sheet of polycarbonate. 2) The polycarbonate acts to peel the graphene from the copper. 3) Using interfacial polymerization, researchers seal large tears and defects in graphene. 4) Next, they use oxygen plasma to etch pores of specific sizes in graphene.

Scientists produce dialysis membrane made from graphene

Material can filter nanometer-sized molecules at 10 to 100 times the rate of commercial membranes.

June 28, 2017

Left to right: School of Engineering Dean Ian A. Waitz, graduate student Mary Elizabeth Wagner, and Alan Oppenheim '59, ScD '64, who is a sponsor of the School of Engineering Graduate Student Award for Extraordinary Teaching and Mentoring.

School of Engineering awards for 2017

Awards given to outstanding faculty, undergraduates, and graduate students.

June 21, 2017

Aerospace engineers from MIT have developed a laser sensing technique that can decipher not only where but what kind of space junk may be passing overhead.

Space junk: The cluttered frontier

New laser technique identifies the makeup of space debris, from painted shards to Teflon.

June 19, 2017

Marty Ellis, of Inman Mills in South Carolina, checks a machine manufacturing fabric developed through AFFOA.

AFFOA launches state-of-the-art facility for prototyping advanced fabrics

New center for development of high-tech fibers and fabrics opens headquarters, unveils two products ready for commercialization.