Professor Dina Katabi was among the attendees showcasing startup ideas at the White House’s Demo Day, writes Jessica Geller for BetaBoston. “Demo Day promotes diversity,” said Katabi. “Women and people of different backgrounds are something that I think would be great to add to the startup community.”
In an article for Fortune, Leena Rao writes about MIT startup Ginkgo Bioworks, which has developed a technique that uses yeast to create a multitude of different substances. “The technique opens the door to using new biochemical foundations for things like perfume, cosmetics and even sweeteners,” Rao writes.
New York Times reporter John Markoff writes about Alias, a new system aimed at augmenting human pilots on flights. The system is being developed by Auroa Flight Sciences, which grew out of an MIT project, and with the assistance of researchers from MIT and Duke University.
In an article for Fortune, Katie Fehrenbacher writes about how startups such as Transatomic Power, which was founded by MIT nuclear scientists Leslie Dewan and Mark Massie, could revive the field of nuclear technology. Fehrenbacher writes that companies like Transatomic “are passionate about how tech innovation can lift the industry out of its nuclear stalemate.”
MIT startup LiquiGlide has announced that they are partnering with the international food packaging company Orkla to use their non-stick coating inside mayonnaise bottles, reports Katie Palmer for Wired. Palmer explains that LiquiGlide has “created an algorithm to optimize the thermodynamic relationships between a textured solid on the inside of the bottle, its liquid 'lubricant,' and the product in question.”
Klint Finley writes for Wired about the Cybersecurity Factory, a startup accelerator founded by two MIT graduate students to help new cybersecurity companies get off the ground. Jean Yang, a PhD candidate at MIT and co-founder of the Cybersecurity Factory, explains that her goal “is simply to bring more security companies into existence.”
MIT spinout LiquiGlide has signed a deal with Orkla that will allow the company to use LiquiGlide’s non-stick coating in their mayonnaise bottles, reports Chris Foxx for the BBC. Foxx explains that a customized version of the LiquiGlide “coating is created for each product, resulting in a "permanently wet" surface inside containers that helps the product slip out.”
BetaBoston reporter Nidhi Subbaraman writes that MIT startup LiquiGlide has signed a deal with Orkla ASA to license LiquiGlide’s “slippery coatings for a brand of mayonnaise due to be launched in the next year in northern and central Europe.”
Kelsey D. Atherton writes for Popular Science about Explorer, a camera ball designed by MIT alumnus Francisco Aguilar that can be used by first responders to survey an area. “Rescue workers could drop Explorers into nooks and crannies that are otherwise inaccessible for larger tools."
Andrew Zaleski writes for CNBC about the thriving robotics industry in Massachusetts, highlighting the success of MIT startups like iRobot and Boston Dynamics. "There's a domain expertise in Massachusetts that's around how you make these robots useful, practical and affordable," explains Russ Campanello of iRobot.
Wall Street Journal reporter Timothy Hay writes about the MIT Hacking Medicine program, a new MIT spin out that aims to examine whether digital technologies have made people healthier. Hay explains that the institute will produce “white papers that offer guidelines on evaluating digital-health programs.”
Scott Kirsner writes for BetaBoston about 24M Technologies, a company co-founded by Professor Yet-Ming Chiang that has produced a safer, cheaper, and more durable lithium-ion battery. “We’re reinventing the lithium ion battery,” says Chiang. “The cost of the product is too high, and the manufacturing process is too complex.”
Scott Kirsner writes for BetaBoston about 24M Technologies, a company co-founded by Professor Yet-Ming Chiang that has produced a safer, cheaper, and more durable lithium-ion battery. “We’re reinventing the lithium ion battery,” says Chiang. “The cost of the product is too high, and the manufacturing process is too complex.”
Janelle Nanos reports for BetaBoston about MIT startup Changing Environments and their solar-powered Soofa public benches that can be used to charge phones or other personal electronics. The Soofa team is launching “an early adopter program for cities and municipalities interested in their smart seating,” Nanos explains.
Nico Pitney writes for The Huffington Post about GiveDirectly, a charity founded by MIT graduate students that has found success combating poverty by providing direct cash transfers to low-income households in the developing world: “Supporters believe that cash transfers should now be the standard against which the usefulness of other programs are measured,” Pitney explains.