ENGINEERING IN ACTION
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Sustainable solutions at home and abroad
Arnav Patel is a self-described sustainability enthusiast. Working on solutions related to climate change has been a central thread woven throughout his time at MIT. As a first-year student, he was initially drawn to mechanical engineering because he wanted to keep his options open. -
Healing with hydrogels
In November, mechanical engineering PhD candidate Hyunwoo Yuk earned the top prize at the Collegiate Inventors Competition hosted by the National Inventor’s Hall of Fame. Yuk was named the graduate winner for his invention SanaHeal, a bioadhesive tape that can easily bind to tissues or organs. The tape could one day be used in place of […] -
A hands-on class responds to Covid
When Professor Stefanie Mueller needed to adapt her laboratory class to the Covid-19 pandemic, she was initially overwhelmed by the amount of work that would need to be done. That’s because Mueller’s hands-on building and fabrication class, 6.810 (Engineering Interactive Technologies), is entirely about the ways that humans interact with technology in the physical world. As […] -
Faster tracking of treatment responses
When MIT announced plans to welcome back some undergraduates, ramp up research operations, and increase the number of staff on campus this past fall, its administration was faced with the challenge of doing so in a way that minimized the risk of an outbreak on campus. In typical MIT fashion, several teams of engineers and […] -
Deploying no-contact vitals-sensing kiosks across campus
When MIT announced plans to welcome back some undergraduates, ramp up research operations, and increase the number of staff on campus this past fall, its administration was faced with the challenge of doing so in a way that minimized the risk of an outbreak on campus. In typical MIT fashion, several teams of engineers and […]
IN THE NEWS
Seeking the cellular mechanisms of disease, with help from machine learning
Caroline Uhler blends machine learning, statistics, and biology to understand how our bodies respond to illness. go
Navigating uncertainty through song
Senior Alberto Naveira has found himself and his community as a member of the a cappella group the Chorallaries. goASK AN ENGINEER
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How do I get into MIT?
It should be less about getting in and more about getting it right — cultivate the interests and work on the projects you love anyway…
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Why is mercury liquid at room temperature?
All metals turn liquid at some temperature. This one happens to be useful…
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Can we use artificial intelligence to generate new ideas?
Computers only do what we tell them to do — but the results can be surprising…
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How does a battery work?
Your watch, laptop, and laser-pointer are all powered by the same thing: chemistry…
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Can my Internet connection be “tapped” like a phone line?
In a word, yes…
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How do birds sit on high-voltage power lines without getting electrocuted?
You’ve probably never seen a bird straddle two wires at once, and there’s a good reason for that…