Manufacturing
“The challenge of advanced manufacturing aligns perfectly with MIT’s traditional strengths – our interdisciplinary, problem-based research; our technology- and science-centered education; our contributions to industrial innovation; our commitment to entrepreneurship; and our central mission of national service.” - Susan Hockfield
The cost of the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries used for phones, laptops, and cars has fallen dramatically over the last three decades, and has been a major driver of the rapid growth of those...
In considering materials that could become the fabrics of the future, scientists have largely dismissed one widely available option: polyethylene.
The stuff of plastic wrap and grocery...
Each semester, the machine shop in MIT’s Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity churns out hundreds of yo-yos. The yo-yos come in all shapes and sizes. They often have a theme – this past...
The new normal has set in motion a sustained urgency to re-imagine how we learn, how we engage in teamwork, and how to solve real-world problems collaboratively. For the Entrepreneurship and...
Elisabeth Beck Reynolds PhD ’10, executive director of MIT’s Industrial Performance Center (IPC), has accepted a senior post in the Biden administration’s National Economic Council (NEC), the...
Laser-cutting is an essential part of many industries, from car manufacturing to construction. However, the process isn’t always easy or efficient: Cutting huge sheets of metal requires time and...
From Star Trek’s replicators to Richie Rich’s wishing machine, popular culture has a long history of parading flashy machines that can instantly output any item to a user’s delight.
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A 3D-printed thruster that emits a stream of pure ions could be a low-cost, extremely efficient propulsion source for miniature satellites.
The nanosatellite thruster created by MIT...
At the end of October, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts announced it won a $3.2 million, two-year grant, in collaboration with MIT, community colleges, and state agencies, to prepare workers for...
Have you ever seen a fancy ergonomic chair that seems to magically mold to a person’s body? Such products got researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) thinking...
In recent decades China has built over 1,400 large industrial parks, a massive investment accounting for over 40 percent of the country’s manufacturing jobs. However, some of these projects are...
Shape, color, and gloss.
Those are an object’s three most salient visual features. Currently, 3D printers can reproduce shape and color reasonably well. Gloss, however, remains a...
“Pop culture does a great job of scaring us that AI will take over the world,” said Professor Daniela Rus, speaking at a virtual MIT event on Wednesday. But realistically, said Rus, who directs...
The American workforce is at a crossroads. Digitization and automation have replaced millions of middle-class jobs, while wages have stagnated for many who remain employed. A lot of labor has...
As president of Caterpillar’s Resource Industries Group, Denise Johnson SM '17 leads the mining and materials hauling business of the world’s largest heavy equipment maker.
Even in the...
Decades of technological change have polarized the earnings of the American workforce, helping highly educated white-collar workers thrive, while hollowing out the middle class. Yet present-day...
We’ve come a long way since the first 3D-printed item came to us by way of an eye wash cup, to now being able to rapidly fabricate things like...
Covid-19 has brought much of the world to a halt this year. However, it is just one of the many infectious diseases without a vaccine that affect millions of people around the world. The...
At the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis, the state of Massachusetts assembled a manufacturing emergency response team as part of its efforts to respond to the desperate need for personal...
Researchers from Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), MIT’s research enterprise in Singapore, have discovered a new way to manufacture...
George Konidaris still remembers his disheartening introduction to robotics.
“When you’re a young student and you want to program a robot, the first thing that hits you is this immense...
Many analysts have predicted an explosion in the number of industrial “internet of things” (IoT) devices that will come online over the next decade. Sensors play a big...
Many analysts have predicted an explosion in the number of industrial “internet of things” (IoT) devices that will come online over the next decade. Sensors play a big role in those forecasts....
The following is a joint release from the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative and the office of Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon.
The State of Wyoming supplies 40 percent of the...
The following is a joint release from the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative and the office of Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon.
The State of Wyoming supplies 40 percent of the...