MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE)

DMSE congratulates Mishael Quraishi, the winner of the Breakerspace Image Contest’s Best Electron Microscope Image category. She captured the flower Alstroemeria and its pollen-bearing structure, the anther. Explore all winning images: https://buff.ly/ZWyalbR

“Only 3% of patents succeed, and one of the biggest challenges is we are not training our PhDs, our undergrads, our faculty, to commercialize technologies,” said University of Pennsylvania’s Professor Vanessa Chan at the spring 2025 Wulff Lecture on March 10. Read more and watch the full lecture:

“If this project somehow conveys that we are all wondering about this marvelous universe together in all of our languages, I would consider that a victory,” says Professor Craig Carter, computational designer of the 2-inch silicon wafer, now on the moon.

DMSE congratulates Nelushi Vithanachchi, the winner of the Breakerspace Image Contest’s Most Challenging Image category. The micro MIT shows a tiny replica of the Great Dome sculpted into silicon carbide using focused ion beam. Explore all winning images: https://buff.ly/ImvdMWA

Sodium-ion batteries show promise as a cost-effective alternative to lithium-ion, but performance and cost challenges remain. A new DMSE-led study by Elsa Olivetti and team uses advanced data analysis tools to identify likely scalable, cost-effective strategies for improving key battery materials—paving the way for broader adoption. Read more in Joule: https://buff.ly/LwLD5Wy

DMSE congratulates Amelia How, the winner of the Breakerspace Image Contest’s Most Instructive Image category. This fractograph of a titanium alloy shows a partially brittle, partially ductile fracture caused by electrochemical hydrogen embrittlement. Explore all winning images: https://lnkd.in/e7wYjA75

“With the advent of AI, I see three main issues concerning visual representation: the difference between illustration and documentation, the ethics around digital manipulation, and a continuing need for researchers to be trained in visual communication,” says MIT science photographer Felice Frankel. https://lnkd.in/eC2tF5Yj

Tomorrow’s MSE Seminar Series Talk will be given by Professor Iain McCulloch of Princeton University, and will explore the molecular design features that optimize charge transport in organic semiconducting polymers. Come to the Chipman Room, 6-104, at 2 pm tomorrow, Tuesday, March 18. https://lnkd.in/eaP6DzCh

From the steels in skyscrapers to the microchips in your devices, materials scientists and engineers shape the world we live in—and the one we’re building for tomorrow. Join our friends and alumni in supporting DMSE during the 24-Hour Challenge and help fuel the discoveries that define our future: https://lnkd.in/en3J77yy

Researchers including DMSE’s Professor Yoel Fink and grad student Nikhil Gupta developed an autonomous programmable computer in the form of an elastic fiber that can monitor health conditions and physical activity, alerting the wearer to potential health risks in real-time. Read more in Nature: https://lnkd.in/dH9krqh9