Using robotics to supercharge health care
Since its founding in 1998, Vecna Technologies has developed a number of ways to help hospitals care for patients. The company has produced intake systems to respond to Covid-19 patient surges, prediction systems to manage health complications in maternity wards, and telepresence robots that have allowed sick people to stay connected with friends and loved ones.
Tomás Palacios named new Director of the Microsystems Technology Laboratories (MTL)
The Microsystems Technology Laboratories (MTL) will now be helmed by a new director. Maria Zuber, Vice President of Research and E.A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics and Anantha Chandrakasan, dean of the School of Engineering and the Vannevar Bush Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, recently announced that Tomás Palacios assumed the role of Director of MTL on December 1, 2022. Palacios has served as Director of the 6-A MEng Thesis Program; Industry Officer; and Professor of Electrical Engineering within the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS). He succeeds Advanced Television and Signal Processing (ATSP) Professor Hae-Seung (Harry) Lee, who has been the Director of MTL since 2019.
School of Engineering hosts Indian dignitary for visit
On Tuesday, October 4, the MIT School of Engineering hosted Indian Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu, to engage in exciting discussions about climate and sustainability, healthcare, education, and the future of technology. As part of his visit, the ambassador met with students and faculty, and toured lab facilities. His visit was part of a series to area universities in which the ambassador aimed to strengthen partnerships in education, business, and innovation.
From bridges to DNA: civil engineering across disciplines
How is DNA like a bridge? This question is not a riddle or logic game, it is a concern of Johannes Kalliauer’s doctoral thesis.
Helping cassava farmers by extending crop life
The root vegetable cassava is a major food staple in dozens of countries across the world. Drought-resistant, nutritious, and tasty, it has also become a major source of income for small-scale, rural farmers in places like West Africa and Southeast Asia.
Startup lets doctors classify skin conditions with the snap of a picture
At the age of 22, when Susan Conover wanted to get a strange-looking mole checked out, she was told it would take three months to see a dermatologist. When the mole was finally removed and biopsied, doctors determined it was cancerous. At the time, no one could be sure the cancer hadn’t spread to other parts of her body — the difference between stage 2 and stage 3 or 4 melanoma.
Dario Gil announced as inaugural MIT School of Engineering and Schwarzman College of Computing Advanced Degree Ceremony Speaker
Dario Gil, PhD ’03, is the Senior Vice President and Director of Research at IBM, where he leads the IBM technology roadmap and technical community, directing innovation strategies in areas including hybrid cloud, AI, semiconductors, quantum computing, and exploratory science.
Building communities, founding a startup with people in mind
MIT postdoc Francesco Benedetti admits he wasn’t always a star student. But the people he met along his educational journey inspired him to strive, which led him to conduct research at MIT, launch a startup, and even lead the team that won the 2021 MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition. Now he is determined to make sure his company, Osmoses, succeeds in boosting the energy efficiency of traditional and renewable natural gas processing, hydrogen production, and carbon capture — thus helping to address climate change.
Launchpad for healthcare entrepreneurs
When Computation and Systems Biology PhD student Elvira Kinzina was diagnosed with Lyme disease during her first year at MIT, she struggled to find a doctor specializing in the disease – even though Boston is renowned for its thriving healthcare community. She soon found out this was common for Lyme patients, with many specialists booked out months, years, or indefinitely. Now she is involved with a new Independent Activities Period (IAP) program focused on healthcare entrepreneurship, developing an app that would help Lyme patients find doctors and answers sooner.
Brave Behind Bars: Prison education program focuses on computing skills for women
A programming language textbook might not be the first thing you’d expect to see when walking into a correctional facility.