MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE)

09/03/2026

“The field of archaeometallurgy is unique,” explained Professor Polina Anikeeva, head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. She was speaking about Assistant Professor Thomas Rose, who died September 2 after sustaining injuries in a bicycle accident in Cambridge, Mass. “We had been looking for a faculty with the right skill set for at least 20 years. We needed someone who was world class in archaeology and materials science. We were looking for a unicorn, and we found him.” https://dmse.mit.edu/news/assistant-professor-thomas-rose-an-expert-in-archaeometallurgy-dies-at-37/

09/02/2026

It’s not too late to check out MIT News’ 2026 summer reading! Two DMSE faculty are featured: Lorna Gibson, author of “Birds Up Close,” explores the hidden microscopic structures and engineering principles that keep birds aloft and alive. And in “The Invisible Engine,” Eugene Fitzgerald explores what innovation really is and what drives value creation.

Check out the full selection of books by MIT faculty and staff.

A summer reading list featuring books by MIT faculty and staff that were published from July 2025 to June 2026.

09/01/2026

MIT spinout Form Energy has raised another $750 million in venture capital, bringing its total funding to more than $2 billion. The new funding will help scale up manufacturing and deployment of its iron-air battery systems. Form Energy was founded in 2017 by DMSE alum William Woodford PhD ’13 and Professor Yet-Ming Chiang. Read the MIT Energy Initiative story.

Form Energy, Inc., an MIT-spinout energy storage company, has raised another $750 million in venture capital, bringing its total funding to date to more than $2 billion, the company announced last week. The new funding will be used to accelerate Form’s manufacturing scale-up in West Virginia and a...

08/31/2026

DMSE’s Professor Eugene Fitzgerald argues that research investments fall into three categories—“altruistic science,” strategic research, and what he calls “fundamental innovation”—each with a different purpose and approach. In his new book, The Invisible Engine, he explains why understanding those differences matters for creating economic value. https://buff.ly/Dni1wID

08/28/2026

“If material-generating models are like DVDs, we are like the DVD player,” says MIT’s Mingda Li, who, with Ju Li, has developed an AI tool that helps generate materials with improved stability.

“You can plug this into any kind of model, not only existing diffusion models but also future models, where people can’t generate enough stable materials, and it can improve stability.”

The researchers’ CrysVCD framework could make AI-based material design far more efficient by guiding models toward chemically valid, stable materials before costly screening.

Home News AI helps design new materials that work in the real world Zach Winn | MIT News | August 28, 2026 AI helps design new materials that work in the real world The “CrysVCD” tool developed at MIT could cut the huge amounts of time and money spent on screening out chemically unstable designs...

08/27/2026

The new MIT Materials Research Science and Engineering Center will focus on two main research areas. One will advance X-ray detectors used in medical imaging, potentially leading to better cancer diagnosis, lower radiation exposure, and improved industrial and security imaging. The other will explore sulfur-based molten materials to transform how metals and semiconductors are made, opening a path to more efficient metal production, improved access to critical materials, and new thin-film semiconductor technologies.

Home News MIT selected to lead new NSF materials research center Jason Sparapani | August 12, 2026 MIT selected to lead new NSF materials research center The Materials Research Science and Engineering Center unites researchers across disciplines to develop technologies for medical imaging, sustainab...

08/27/2026

As computer chips become smaller and more powerful, managing heat has become one of the biggest challenges in electronics. MIT researchers have developed a new way to measure how heat moves through multilayered devices, helping reveal tiny defects that can dramatically reduce heat transfer. The approach could help engineers design cooler, more power-dense electronics for AI, wearables, and clean energy technologies.

Home News A new way to watch heat move through electronics Zach Winn | MIT News | August 6, 2026 A new way to watch heat move through electronics Jeehwan Kim and a team of MIT researchers can now precisely measure how heat moves through multilayered materials like computer chips. Categories: Researc...

08/25/2026

Work by former DMSE professor Jennifer Rupp, now at Technical University of Munich, DMSE’s Professor Harry Tuller, plus an international team of researchers could help make solid-state lithium-metal batteries more reliable, potentially enabling higher-energy batteries for electric vehicles and electronics. https://buff.ly/s0opCcy

08/21/2026

“If we’re trying to keep in line with society’s sustainability and energy targets and climate change targets, we really need to come up with another alternative,” says DMSE PhD student Constantine Athanitis, a co-author of a study exploring materials that could enable more sustainable ammonia production.

“We want to be able to find a way to produce the same amount of ammonia, or even more, but in a more energy-efficient way and also with lower CO2 emissions.”

Home News Paving the way for greener ammonia production David L. Chandler | August 20, 2026 Paving the way for greener ammonia production New MIT research could lead to better materials for a fossil-fuel-free process for making the chemical that's essential to fertilizer and other products. Categori...

08/19/2026

The craft of branding may be thousands of years old. Researchers studying Qurayyah Painted Ware from Arabia provide new insight into how ancient products became recognizable and helped build relationships between producers and consumers. Read more in the PLOS One paper.

Based on a rigorous analytical and interdisciplinary study, this article offers the first investigation of the dynamics leading to the genesis of a brand. Elaborating beyond recent contributions on the phenomenon of ancient branding in past societies, we measure different parameters to understand wh...