Materials science and engineering

Left to right: Gabriela Schlau-Cohen, Rafael Jaramillo, David Hsu, Nuno Loureiro

New faculty strengthen, broaden MIT’s energy expertise

MIT's newest faculty bring a wide array of energy interests and developments to the Institute.

February 7, 2017

MIT professor of physics Senthil Todadri seeks to understand unusual metals that defy the textbook description. “We’ve been making slow but steady progress, not just I, myself, but the community as a whole, but I would really like that progress to accelerate,” he says.

Faculty highlight: Senthil Todadri

A quest to understand superconductivity leads MIT theoretical physicist Senthil Todadri to discoveries about new magnetic materials called quantum spin liquids.

February 6, 2017

Canan Dagdeviren has been appointed to direct the Media Lab’s new research group, Conformable Decoders.

Canan Dagdeviren joins the Media Lab

Assistant professor leads new Conformable Decoders research group, with a mission to convert patterns of nature and the human body into beneficial signals and energy.

February 3, 2017

Using specialized equipment, the MIT team did tests in which they used a pyramidal-tipped probe to indent the surface of a piece of the sulfide-based material. Surrounding the resulting indentation (seen at center), cracks were seen forming in the material (indicated by arrows), revealing details of its mechanical properties.

Toward all-solid lithium batteries

Researchers investigate mechanics of lithium sulfides, which show promise as solid electrolytes.

February 2, 2017

“Hydrogels are soft, wet, biocompatible, and can form more friendly interfaces with human organs,” says Xuanhe Zhao, associate professor of mechanical engineering and civil and environmental engineering at MIT.

Transparent, gel-based robots can catch and release live fish

Made from hydrogel, robots may one day assist in surgical operations, evade underwater detection.

February 1, 2017

J. Cressica Brazier, a graduate student in the MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning, displays a tool she’s developing to provide users with feedback on their personal energy consumption and carbon emissions.

Research assistants at energy’s cutting edge

MIT graduate students in energy fields gain skills and advance knowledge while helping to move toward a low-carbon future.

January 31, 2017

Caitlin Mueller, a professor in the MIT departments of Architecture and Civil and Environmental Engineering (left), and architecture grad student Nathan Brown have performed analyses showing how a computer simulation can help architects optimize energy consumption when they’re defining the shape of a building early in the design process.

Energy-efficient design

MIT researchers are helping architects optimize both design and energy efficiency.

January 23, 2017

New research shows that when metal oxide (flat array of atoms at bottom) is used as a catalyst for splitting water molecules, some of the oxygen produced comes out of the metal oxide itself, not just from the surrounding water. This was proved by first using water with a heavier isotope of oxygen (oxygen 18, shown in white), and later switching to ordinary water (made with oxygen 16, shown in red)...

Study: Some catalysts contribute their own oxygen for reactions

Finding may help researchers fine-tune metal-oxide catalysts to enhance energy storage technology.

January 9, 2017

3-D-printed gyroid models such as this one were used to test the strength and mechanical properties of a new lightweight material.

Researchers design one of the strongest, lightest materials known

Porous, 3-D forms of graphene developed at MIT can be 10 times as strong as steel but much lighter.

January 6, 2017

Debris and damage from Hurricane Ivan in Pensacola, Florida, Sept. 17, 2004

New approach calculates benefits of building hazard-resistant structures

Calculation developed by MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub shows that when building in areas prone to natural disasters, it pays to make informed decisions.

December 21, 2016