October 2020
October 21 - November 4, 2020

Advances in materials science and engineering are key components of the innovation process. In this series we highlight areas of materials research driving breakthroughs in technology.




Each 2-hour webinar will feature two faculty speakers who will provide complementary perspectives on technology challenges and opportunities and provide an overview of related research activities at MIT. Ten students will also give short presentations on their recent research results, followed by parallel break-out sessions for detailed discussions.
ABSTRACT

The design, testing, and processing of metals is becoming increasingly driven by computation and automation—for instance, gaps in physical models are addressed by machine learning, and additive manufacturing is crossing from prototyping to production. These developments foreshadow a digital transformation in the manufacturing of metal components and structures, optimizing performance across scales, from atoms to meters.
In Other News
Pablo Jarillo-Herrero wins 2020 Spanish Royal Physics Society Medal
"It's an incredible and humbling honor to receive this recognition," says Pablo Jarillo-Herrero of his RSEF medal.

Photo courtesy of the Department of Physics.
Pablo Jarillo-Herrero, the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics, was honored with the highest scientific recognition of the Spanish Royal Physics Society (RSEF) for his pioneering experimental work on “twistronics,” a promising technique for adjusting the electronic properties of graphene by rotating adjacent layers of the material. 

Turning diamond into metal
Researchers have discovered a way to transform the electronic properties of nanoscale needles of diamond.

Image: MIT News
Long known as the hardest of all natural materials, diamonds are also exceptional thermal conductors and electrical insulators. Now, researchers have discovered a way to tweak tiny needles of diamond in a controlled way to transform their electronic properties, dialing them from insulating, through semiconducting, all the way to highly conductive, or metallic.
Solar-powered system extracts drinkable
water from “dry” air
A prototype of the new two-stage water harvesting system (center right), was tested on an MIT rooftop.

Image: Alina LaPotin
MIT engineers have made their initial design more practical, efficient, and scalable.
Researchers at MIT and elsewhere have significantly boosted the output from a system that can extract drinkable water directly from the air even in dry regions, using heat from the sun or another source.e.
MIT.nano receives LEED Platinum certification
For a leading-edge research center like MIT.nano — which consumes significantly more energy per square foot than a typical office building or traditional laboratory — earning the council’s highest designation of platinum is a remarkable achievement.
MIT.nano, the Institute’s central, shared-access research facility for nanoscience and nanotechnology, has received the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Platinum certification for sustainable practices in new construction.

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) designation is a performance-based rating system of a building’s environmental attributes associated with its design, construction, operations, and management.
Events Calendar

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Mark Beals
Associate Director, MRL
617-253-2129
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139
617-253-5179