News: Alumni/ae

MIT alumnus and GM engineer returns to campus to inspire student innovation

September 9, 2018

Will Dickson ’14 has parked General Motors’ first self-driving vehicle, the Cruise AV, on campus and invited MIT students to think flexibly about its design opportunities. “You are future engineers and thought leaders in the area of new machines,” he says. “How do you design future vehicles like…  

Two Alums selected for MIT Tech Review's 35 Under 35

July 6, 2018

William Woodford, who is a DMSE alumnus, was featured as one of the MIT Technology Review's 35 Innovators Under 35 in the category of Entrepreneurs for working to find the next generation of grid-scale batteries.  …  

Aluminum production could get much better for the environment

May 11, 2018

You probably don’t think about aluminum very much. But you should. The ubiquitous metal is in airplanes, iPhones, and engine blocks made by General Motors, to name just a few uses. A 12-inch MacBook, for example, consists of over half a pound of aluminum. And since the late 19th century, the…  

From DMSE to Japan: Mina Blume's transition

May 4, 2018

Mina Blume, a recent MIT graduate of MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE), translates her MIT International Science & Technology Initiatives (MISTI) introduction of Japan into a space-program research project. …  

Investing in Tech That’s Worth the Wait

February 23, 2018

Innovations in fields like energy and transportation often take time—and extra support—to develop. The Engine at MIT is helping them make the leap from the lab to the marketplace. Liquid separation wouldn’t top most people’s lists of world-changing technologies. But consider this: every…  

2018 Forbes 30 Under 30

November 15, 2017

DMSE adds a few familiar faces to Forbes 30 Under 30. Brent Keller, who is part of Jeff Grossman's group, was listed as one of Forbes 30 Under 30 for Manufacturing and Industry for co-founding Via Separations. …  

A good negotiator can be exactly who you are

November 7, 2017

Marol Escajeda ’17 is trained in materials science and engineering, yet she finds that success on the job pivots on her leadership and negotiation abilities. “Your skills have to extend beyond your technical field,” says Escajeda, a materials and processes engineer at the aerospace and defense…  

Why researchers should step out of the lab

October 5, 2017

Shreya Dave, Jeff Grossman, and their co-researchers Brent Keller PhD ’16 and Karen Golmer, innovator in residence at MIT’s Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation, have published an account of their experience with learning by stepping out of their labs, using their work on membranes as a…  

“Personal thermostat” startup heats up for commercialization

September 27, 2017

Sitting in a stifling subway car or walking Boston’s cold winter streets may soon become more bearable, thanks to a “personal thermostat” wristband being released by MIT spinout Embr Labs. For MADMEC 2013, four MIT engineering students created a smart wristband, called Wristify, that…  

"Materials Engineer" added to Occupations list in MIT Infinite Connection

September 17, 2017

What do people do with a degree in materials science and engineering? Overall, this is the most common question at DMSE events during Family Weekend, Campus Preview Weekend, and Choose a Major Fair. As you all know, the inverse is really the question: what don’t our graduates do? DMSE alums are…  

After MIT, new officers will serve their country

June 20, 2017

"For Shifflet, who majored in nuclear science and engineering, the assignment marks the first major separation from her twin sister, Monica Shifflet ’17, who studied materials science and engineering. Monica has been assigned to flight school in Pensacola, Florida. "Just growing up we’ve done…  

Jimmy Jia to speak at MIT regarding his new book

October 17, 2016

DMSE alumnus Jimmy Jia will be giving a talk at MIT on October 19 at 5pm in room 3-133 as part of the MIT Energy Club speaker series. Jimmy wrote a book titled "Driven by Demand: How Energy Gets its Power" which is selling now in both paperback and hardback forms. …  

Water vapor sets some oxides aflutter

October 3, 2016

A research paper written by Professor Yang Shao-Horn and DMSE Alumnus Binghong Han describing new-found interactions between perovskites, water vapor, and streams of electrons, was recently published by Nature Materials. "When one type of an oxide structure called perovskite is…  

Doubling battery power of consumer electronics

August 17, 2016

One of Prof. Sadoway's postdocs, Qichao Hu, is preparing to commercialize a new lithium battery with double the capacity of modern models. "The battery essentially swaps out a common battery anode material, graphite, for very thin, high-energy lithium-metal foil, which can hold more ions…  

DMSE alum to be featured in GSAB panel

July 21, 2016

Ayse Asatekin, a 2009 graduate of DMSE's Mayes and Rubner labs, will be featured in the next Course X Professional Development Panel presented by the Graduate Student Advisory Board (GSAB) along with 3 other MIT alums. Event Details
Location: 66-110
Date/Time…  

Building a Foundation for Tech Startups

July 15, 2016

"In 2008, Krishna Gupta ’09 launched Romulus Capital, a venture capital seed firm, out of his MIT dorm room, scraping together $850,000 to invest in tech startups launched by his classmates. "Today, Romulus controls $150 million in funds and other assets, having just raised a new fund of…  

MassChallenge Boston 2016

July 13, 2016

Two startups that came out of DMSE are finalists in MassChallenge 2016! CoolComposites, Inc. is developing a new inorganic phase change materials (PCM) to improve energy efficiency through superior insulation. Embr Labs is producing Wristify, a bracelet that can either cool or warm you at the…  

New collaboration to accelerate innovations in fibers and fabrics

April 1, 2016

An independent nonprofit founded by MIT has been selected to run a new, $317 million public-private partnership announced today by Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter. The partnership, named the Advanced Functional Fibers of America (AFFOA) Institute, has won a national competition for…