At MIT, innovation doesn’t only happen in the lab. It also happens in the people who never stop learning. After nearly a decade in the Netherlands modeling data for aerospace and semiconductor companies, Ignacio Vazquez wanted his work to reach beyond code and computation. “I was solving technical problems, but they didn’t connect to the people […]
Perrin Davidson is a scientist, a bluegrass banjo player, and — at his core — a builder. He spent his youth roaming around his family’s farm just outside of Freeport, Maine, a small coastal community near Portland. Although the town is close enough to the city to feel connected, he recalls a childhood filled with […]
In 2022, global production of construction materials accounted for more than 7 percent of total carbon emissions. But how many of those materials were truly necessary to build houses, buildings, and bridges? A technique called topology optimization can design structures that reduce the amount of material used, in some cases by as much as 90 […]
In the small coastal town of Prince Rupert, British Columbia, the port is the backbone of the community. Growing up there, with a father who works as a longshoreman, Chelsea Mitchell witnessed the port’s importance firsthand. From an early age, she understood that the port was essential to the transportation of goods in and out […]
MIT has again been named the world’s top university by the QS World University Rankings, which were announced today. This is the 15th year in a row MIT has received this distinction. The full 2027 edition of the rankings — published by Quacquarelli Symonds, an organization specializing in education and study abroad — can be […]
The Hertz Foundation announced that it awarded 2026 fellowships to three current MIT students as well as an incoming graduate student. They are: Annika Marschner, Alvin Q. Meng, Zachary S. Siegel, and Matthew Wanta. The prestigious science and technology award provides each recipient with five years of financial support — a stipend and full tuition equivalent — which gives […]
In the STEM fields, excellence is often measured in scientific breakthroughs and discoveries. This April, members of the Institute’s graduate community gathered to focus on something just as critical: the human connection driving those successes. The inaugural Leading with Care reception, hosted by Vice Chancellor David Darmofal, brought students, faculty, and staff from across the […]
As an undergraduate at Florida International University, Giselle Valdes tackled rigorous studies in the school’s Honors College while simultaneously caring for family members with medical needs. “I think that the choice to pursue any field in the space of biology and medical research was entirely shaped by having to be there for my family,” says […]
Cheered on by the greater MIT community, members of the Class of 2026 were honored this week for the hard work that earned them their newly minted MIT degrees. The 2026 Commencement celebrations spanned three days filled with degree ceremonies, receptions, and reunions, at locations spread across campus. The weather ranged widely, but spirits remained high […]
What distinguishes the MIT School of Architecture and Planning’s Class of 2026? According to faculty and staff across the school, it’s their hearts. “They’re big-hearted in the way they deal with each other, with their work, and with the world,” said Hashim Sarkis, dean of SA+P, in his opening remarks at the school’s 2026 Advanced […]
