More than 100 people filled the MIT Chapel on Sept 24 to pay tribute to Thomas Rose, the MIT archaeometallurgist who died earlier in the month. They remembered him as a brilliant researcher and generous colleague with an extraordinary breadth of expertise. buff.ly/8lJIYlw

Join tomorrow's MSE Seminar with @UTAustin’s Xiuling Li to discover how controlling defects, strain, surfaces, and dimensionality can enable new semiconductor technologies. buff.ly/QwgvdQS

MIT engineer and birder Lorna Gibson, author of Birds Up Close, joins the panel discussion “The Wondrous World of Birds” at the Boston Book Festival. Saturday, October 17 | 10:30–11:30 a.m. Old South Church Learn more: buff.ly/c1Mayn7

Jianguo Mei of @ZJU_China visited @MIT on Oct. 6 to highlight technologies rooted in the control of light, color, ions, & electrons: electrochromic technology, for applications in EVs and consumer electronics, and living electronics—electronics that live in neural tissue.

FResearch scientist Julian Klein and Professor Frances Ross spoke with Physics about an electron microscopy technique they developed to move atoms within a material, opening new possibilities for materials design. buff.ly/6YSWcYy

The automated platform ELLIE, developed by MIT researchers, makes and tests different electrolyte formulations to help researchers identify promising battery electrolytes. Watch the robot prepare an electrolyte and dispense it into a testing cell for impedance measurements.

The fall edition of DMSE Digest: Frontiers is here! MIT has a new NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, while new DMSE research explores AI-designed stable materials and a low-carbon approach to ammonia production. Read the latest: buff.ly/xduLTgB

Join the next MSE Seminar with Jianguo Mei, who will discuss advances in electrochromic technologies and manufacturing—and explore whether electronics can become part of living systems. buff.ly/STX2cgk

MIT’s engineering program continues to lead the U.S. News rankings of undergraduate engineering programs at doctoral institutions. The Institute placed first in five disciplines, including materials engineering. Read more: buff.ly/6glzyZU

Robots are still far less efficient and adaptable than living organisms. At an MSE Seminar on Sept. 22, @NorthwesternU’s Ryan Truby discussed how his group is developing new materials that could help robots move, sense, and adapt more like animals.

Researchers @MIT developed an automated system called the Electrolyte Laboratory for Integrated Experimentation (ELLIE) that can quickly make and test different electrolytes, the liquids that help batteries move electrical charge. More in @ACSEnergyLett: buff.ly/vJrxLEY

Iwnetim Abate of @MIT will receive the @Materials_MRS Nelson “Buck” Robinson Science and Technology Award for Renewable Energy. He is recognized for innovative research into sustainable approaches to energy storage and chemical production. buff.ly/UqGEqlY

Faculty awards @MITEngineering for spring 2026: Yet-Ming Chiang, Yoel Fink, and Aristide Gumyusenge are among the faculty members and researchers recognized for their scholarship, service, and overall excellence. buff.ly/4HTqn6f

The University of Chicago’s Shuolong Yang spoke @MIT on Sept. 15 about his group’s work using ultrafast light to create and control new phases of quantum materials.

U.S. News & World Report has named @MIT the No. 1 university in its annual rankings of the nation’s best universities—the first time the Institute has achieved the top spot. buff.ly/6glzyZU

Researchers @WashU, @MIT, and other institutions developed an approach that could make it easier to build photonic chips with a wider range of functions. Read more in @nature. Read more in @nature. buff.ly/qff8uOZ

Join the next MSE Seminar with Northwestern University’s Ryan Truby, who will explore a “body-up” approach to robotics — one in which actuation, perception, and learning are materialized in the bodies of robots themselves. buff.ly/42HdMZm

Key to electrochemical ammonia production is a metallic catalyst. “If we can somehow find a catalyst that reduces the energy needed and is more selective for ammonia production,” says Constantine Athanitis, “then we could essentially hit the jackpot.” buff.ly/X9yb5o6

An @MIT team earned second place in the ASM Materials Education Foundation’s 2026 Undergraduate Design Competition for using computer modeling to design a promising new high-strength, crack-resistant steel for naval ships. @ASM_MEF

In a special seminar September 10 @MIT, Stefano Martiniani of @nyuniversity explored how AI and the study of disordered materials could help accelerate the discovery of new materials.