News & Stories

Collaborating for irrigation access solutions: Where policy and engineering meet

As food demand rises due to growing populations with changing consumption patterns in Africa and around the globe, increased agricultural output is crucial. Since most agriculture across the African continent is currently rain-fed, increased availability of irrigation — especially water- and energy-efficient systems like drip irrigation — can help. Two research teams at MIT have […]

Coated seeds may enable agriculture on marginal lands

Providing seeds with a protective coating that also supplies essential nutrients to the germinating plant could make it possible to grow crops in otherwise unproductive soils, according to new research at MIT. A team of engineers has coated seeds with silk that has been treated with a kind of bacteria that naturally produce a nitrogen […]

Lamborghini and MIT pave the way for the electric supercar of the future

“He was here to dream, and I said ‘OK, let’s dream together,’” recalls Professor Mircea Dincă of his first encounter with Automobili Lamborghini Head of Development Riccardo Parenti in February 2017. Two years later, the team is celebrating its first major collaborative victory by filing a joint patent. The new patented material was synthesized by […]

VP for Research Maria Zuber urges outward-facing collaborations at MIT Climate Night

MIT’s Plan for Action on Climate Change, released by President L. Rafael Reif in October 2015, has already begun to catalyze new research on climate issues at the Institute and a tighter focus on building a sustainable campus here in Kendall Square. But MIT will be passing up important opportunities to make an impact on […]

MIT receives $30 million to help address energy challenges in Egypt

MIT is the recipient of a $30 million award from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), announced this week at a two-day ceremony in Cairo. The award will support MIT over the next five years in developing a Center of Excellence in Energy at Ain Shams University, Mansoura University, and Aswan University, in Egypt. […]

INALUM collaborates with MIT Energy Initiative to advance low-carbon energy technologies

Indonesia’s state-owned holding company PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (Persero), also known as INALUM, is joining the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) as a member company to support research that advances development of low-carbon energy technologies and explore ways to reduce the company’s carbon footprint through MITEI’s Low-Carbon Energy Center for Materials in Energy and Extreme Environments. […]

China Venture Workshop announces first cohort

Ten MIT startups have been selected for the inaugural cohort of the China Venture Workshop, jointly sponsored by the MIT China Future City Lab’s (CFC) China Future City Innovation Connector (FCIC) and DesignX, the School of Architecture and Planning’s accelerator for innovation in the built environment. The startups, with goals ranging from clean energy to […]

New connector helps faculty, student startups launch in China

A new collaboration between MIT and Tsinghua University will help startup teams from both institutions launch ventures to solve urban challenges in China. The China Ventures Workshop will provide participants with training, mentoring, and access to partners and resources that could help deliver their innovations to the market in China. The workshop is a joint […]

Collaborating to cut emissions in the property sector

To enhance the sustainability of homes and property projects in Thailand, Bangkok-based property developer Magnolia Quality Development Corporation Limited (MQDC) has joined the MIT Energy Initiative, with a three-year membership agreement in MITEI’s Low-Carbon Energy Center for Electric Power Systems Research. MQDC is joining MITEI to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from property projects in Thailand, through both […]