In a large, open space on the first floor of 750 Main Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a carbon-capture company is heating up molten salts to 600 degrees Celsius right next to a quantum computing company’s device for supercooling qubits. The difference is about 900 degrees across 15 feet. It doesn’t take long in the tour of The Engine Accelerator to realize this isn’t your typical co-working space. Companies here are working at the extremes to develop new technologies with world-changing impact — what The Engine Accelerator’s leaders call “tough tech.” Comprising four floors and 150,000 squ ..read more

In an era defined by unprecedented challenges and opportunities, MIT remains at the forefront of pioneering research and innovation. The Institute's relentless pursuit of knowledge has once again been recognized, with MIT securing 343 utility patents issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office in 2023. This marks the 10th consecutive year that the National Academy of Inventors has both ranked worldwide colleges for number of U.S. patents issued and recognized MIT as the top single-campus university for patents granted. (The University of California system, which comprises 10 campus ..read more

This is part 1 of a two-part MIT News feature examining new job creation in the U.S. since 1940, based on new research from Ford Professor of Economics David Autor. Part 2 is available here. In 1900, Orville and Wilbur Wright listed their occupations as “Merchant, bicycle” on the U.S. census form. Three years later, they made their famous first airplane flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. So, on the next U.S. census, in 1910, the brothers each called themselves “Inventor, aeroplane.” There weren’t too many of those around at the time, however, and it wasn’t until 1950 that “Airplane designer ..read more

This is part 2 of a two-part MIT News feature examining new job creation in the U.S. since 1940, based on new research from Ford Professor of Economics David Autor. Part 1 is available here. Ever since the Luddites were destroying machine looms, it has been obvious that new technologies can wipe out jobs. But technical innovations also create new jobs: Consider a computer programmer, or someone installing solar panels on a roof. Overall, does technology replace more jobs than it creates? What is the net balance between these two things? Until now, that has not been measured. But a new research ..read more

More than 20 million Americans undergo colonoscopy screenings every year, and in many of those cases, doctors end up removing polyps that are 2 cm or larger and require additional care. This procedure has greatly reduced the overall incidence of colon cancer, but not without complications, as patients may experience gastrointestinal bleeding both during and after the procedure. In hopes of preventing those complications from occurring, researchers at MIT have developed a new gel, GastroShield, that can be sprayed onto the surgical sites through an endoscope. This gel forms a tough but flexible ..read more

Until recently, bespoke tailoring — clothing made to a customer’s individual specifications — was the only way to have garments that provided the perfect fit for your physique. For most people, the cost of custom tailoring is prohibitive. But the invention of active fibers and innovative knitting processes is changing the textile industry. “We all wear clothes and shoes,” says Sasha MicKinlay MArch ’23, a recent graduate of the MIT Department of Architecture. “It’s a human need. But there’s also the human need to express oneself. I like the idea of customizing clothes in a sustainable way. Thi ..read more

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) designated three historical MIT Lincoln Laboratory technologies as IEEE Milestones. The technologies are the Mode S air traffic control (ATC) radar beacon system, 193-nanometer (nm) photolithography, and the semiconductor laser. The latter recognition is shared by Lincoln Laboratory, General Electric, and IBM. As the world's largest technical professional organization, the IEEE's mission is to "advance technology for the benefit of humanity." The Milestone program commemorates innovations developed at least 25 years ago that have don ..read more

The Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) has selected MIT Lincoln Laboratory’s Timely Address Space Randomization (TASR) as one of the recipients of their 2024 Excellence in Technology Transfer Award. This cybersecurity technology was transferred in 2019 and 2021 to two companies that develop cloud-based services. TASR has the potential to help harden many cloud-based servers and user applications against rampant information-leakage attacks. These attacks have been involved in several recent high-profile breaches in which cyber criminals used sensitive information to commit fraud or identity th ..read more

Two MIT undergrads recently took the top spot — and $2,000 in prize money to share — in the annual ASM Materials Education Foundation’s 2023 Undergraduate Design Competition. Louise Anderfaas and Darsh Grewal, students in Professor Gregory Olson’s class 3.041 (Computational Materials Design), worked with MIT postdoc mentor Margianna Tzini on the complex project.   “This is probably the highest level of complexity that an undergraduate team has undertaken,” says Olson, who came to MIT from Northwestern University in 2020. He has supervised teams in the contest at both schools. La ..read more

Noubar Afeyan PhD ’87, an inventor and parallel entrepreneur with a penchant for bold ideas, will deliver the address at the OneMIT Commencement Ceremony on Thursday, May 30. Afeyan is the founder and CEO of the venture creation company Flagship Pioneering, which founds companies that build biotechnology platforms to transform human health and sustainability. Since its founding in 2000, the company has built more than 100 science-based companies; Flagship-founded companies currently have more than 60 drugs in clinical development. One of Afeyan’s most well-known successes is Moderna, which inv ..read more