Christine Marcus MBA ’12 was an unlikely entrepreneur in 2011. That year, after spending her entire, 17-year career in government, most recently as the deputy chief financial officer for the U.S. Department of Energy, she entered the MIT Sloan School of Management Fellows MBA Program. Moreover, Marcus didn’t think of herself as an entrepreneur. “That […] More
In 2010, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began restoring the Broad Meadows salt marsh in Quincy, Massachusetts. The marsh, which had grown over with invasive reeds and needed to be dredged, abutted the Broad Meadows Middle School, and its three-year transformation fascinated one inquisitive student. “I was always super curious about what sorts of […] More
As food demand rises due to growing and changing populations around the world, increasing crop production has been a vital target for agriculture and food systems researchers who are working to ensure there is enough food to meet global need in the coming years. One MIT research group mobilizing around this challenge is the Voigt […] More
A molecular engineer, Julia Ortony performs a contemporary version of alchemy. “I take powder made up of disorganized, tiny molecules, and after mixing it up with water, the material in the solution zips itself up into threads 5 nanometers thick — about 100 times smaller than the wavelength of visible light,” says Ortony, the Finmeccanica Career Development […] More
When a hot plume of rock rises through the Earth’s mantle to puncture the overlying crust, it can create not only a volcanic ocean island, but also a swell in the ocean floor hundreds to thousands of kilometers long. Over time the island is carried away by the underlying tectonic plate, and the plume pops […] More
Now in their seventh year, the Professor Amar G. Bose Research Grants support visionary projects that represent intellectual curiosity and a pioneering spirit. Three MIT faculty members have each been awarded one of these prestigious awards for 2019 to pursue diverse questions in the humanities, biology, and engineering. At a ceremony hosted by MIT President […] More
It’s estimated that there are approximately 80,000 industrial chemicals currently in use, in products such as clothing, cleaning solutions, carpets, and furniture. For the vast majority of these chemicals, scientists have little or no information about their potential to cause cancer. The detection of DNA damage in cells can predict whether cancer will develop, but […] More
Elsa Olivetti’s interest in materials science began when she was an engineering science major at the University of Virginia. Initially unable to settle on any one form of engineering, she took an introduction to materials science class on a whim. She loved the way materials science let her examine everyday material, like a block of […] More
