News

21 celebrated as “Graduate Students of Excellence”

March 3, 2026

From peer mentorship to activism and service, graduate students play a critical role in shaping the culture of MIT. The Graduate Students of Excellence (GSE) program honors individuals who improve the graduate student experience with support and advocacy for one another. These students exemplify values of collaboration, care, and shared responsibility in graduate life at […]

Les Perelman, expert in writing assessment and champion of writing education, dies at 77

March 2, 2026

Leslie “Les” Perelman, an influential figure in college writing assessment; a champion of writing instruction across all subject matters for over three decades at MIT; and a former MIT associate dean for undergraduate education, died on Nov. 12, 2025, at home in Lexington, Massachusetts. He was 77. A Los Angeles native, Perelman attended the University […]

W.M. Keck Foundation to support research on healthy aging at MIT

March 2, 2026

A prestigious grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation to Alison E. Ringel, an MIT assistant professor of biology, will support groundbreaking healthy aging research at the Institute. Ringel, who is also a core member of the Ragon Institute of Mass General Brigham, MIT, and Harvard, will draw on her background in cancer immunology to create […]

Turning curiosity about engineering into careers

February 27, 2026

It’s not every day that aspiring teenage engineers can see firsthand how planes are built. But a collaboration between nonprofit Engineering Tomorrow, aerospace firm Boeing, and alumni of the MIT Leaders for Global Operations (LGO) program working at Boeing is aiming to turn curiosity about aerospace engineering into possible careers for young students. Boeing is […]

Mixing generative AI with physics to create personal items that work in the real world

February 25, 2026

Have you ever had an idea for something that looked cool, but wouldn’t work well in practice? When it comes to designing things like decor and personal accessories, generative artificial intelligence (genAI) models can relate. They can produce creative and elaborate 3D designs, but when you try to fabricate such blueprints into real-world objects, they […]

“MIT Open Learning has opened doors I never imagined possible”

February 19, 2026

Through the MITx MicroMasters Program in Data, Economics, and Design of Policy, Munip Utama strengthened the skills he was already applying in his work with Baitul Enza, a nonprofit helping students in need via policy-shaping research and hands-on assistance.  Utama’s commitment to advancing education for underprivileged students stems from his own background. His father is […]

Taking the heat out of industrial chemical separations

February 19, 2026

The modern world runs on chemicals and fuels that require a huge amount of energy to produce: Industrial chemical separation accounts for 10 to 15 percent of the world’s total energy consumption. That’s because most separations today rely on heat to boil off unwanted materials and isolate compounds. The MIT spinout Osmoses is making industrial […]

The philosophical puzzle of rational artificial intelligence

February 19, 2026

To what extent can an artificial system be rational? A new MIT course, 6.S044/24.S00 (AI and Rationality), doesn’t seek to answer this question. Instead, it challenges students to explore this and other philosophical problems through the lens of AI research. For the next generation of scholars, concepts of rationality and agency could prove integral in […]

Your future home might be framed with printed plastic

February 19, 2026

The plastic bottle you just tossed in the recycling bin could provide structural support for your future house. MIT engineers are using recycled plastic to 3D print construction-grade beams, trusses, and other structural elements that could one day offer lighter, modular, and more sustainable alternatives to traditional wood-based framing. In a paper published in the […]

Brian Hedden named co-associate dean of Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Computing

February 19, 2026

Brian Hedden PhD ’12 has been appointed co-associate dean of the Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Computing (SERC) at MIT, a cross-cutting initiative in the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing, effective Jan. 16. Hedden is a professor in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, holding an MIT Schwarzman College of Computing shared position with the […]