Electrical engineering and electronics

5 from MIT win NIH awardsThe grants are designed to promote risky, innovative research with the potential to transform a field of study.

15 MIT students awarded DOE-funded Science Graduate FellowshipsAmong 150 students nationwide awarded fellowships in program's first year

RNA offers a safer way to reprogram cellsNew technique holds promise to revert cells to an immature state that can develop into any cell type.

3 Questions: Nicholas Roy on deploying drones in U.S. skiesMIT robotics expert discusses the logistical hurdles of regulating unmanned aircraft for civilian use.

A plane that lands like a birdAn innovative control system allows a foam glider to touch down on a perch or a wire like a pet parakeet.

Fibers that can hear and singMIT researchers pass a milestone on the path to sophisticated fibers that interact with their surroundings in new ways.

An Internet 100 times as fastA new network design that avoids the need to convert optical signals into electrical ones could boost capacity while reducing power consumption.

More is lessComplex computer models can involve thousands of variables. But paradoxically, adding more variables can sometimes make them easier to work with.

Gesture-based computing on the cheapWith a single piece of inexpensive hardware — a multicolored glove — MIT researchers are making Minority Report-style interfaces more accessible.

Exposing collagen's double lifeDiscovery that the rigid structural protein can switch to a floppy shape could lead to new treatments for heart disease.

When good enough is betterBy exploiting a simple but counterintuitive trick, a new system finds sections of computer programs where accuracy can be traded for speed.

Seeing the forest for the treesObject recognition systems that break images into ever smaller parts should be much more efficient and may shed light on how the brain works.

EECS Masterworks 2010: A sweet serving of wits, work and wonder

Sheila Widnall named to Toyota North American Quality Advisory PanelInstitute Professor will advise Japanese carmaker as it seeks to address quality and safety issues.

Six from MIT elected to AAAS

Toward more efficient wireless power deliveryLatest research shows that efficiency improves when multiple devices are charged at once.

In Profile: Missy CummingsFormer U.S. Naval fighter pilot aims to improve how humans and computers interact.

A system that’s worth its saltNew approach to water desalination could lead to small, portable units that could be sent to disaster sites or remote locations.

Web sites that can take a punchBy preventing web applications from deviating from their normal behavior, a new MIT system can keep them online even during a cyberattack.

Revolutionizing medicine, one chip at a timeLow-power computer chips allow engineers to design wearable and implantable devices to monitor patients.

Explained: Linear and nonlinear systemsMuch scientific research across a range of disciplines tries to find linear approximations of nonlinear behaviors. But what does that mean?

Cell-inspired electronicsBy mimicking cells, MIT researcher designs electronic circuits for ultra-low-power and biomedical applications.

A new way to build membranes for fuel cellsLayer-by-layer assembly system could lead to improved fuel cells, batteries and solar panels

Power from motion and vibrationsForget about batteries. The ability to harness electricity from tiny vibrations could power a new generation of electronic devices.

Self-powered sensorsHarvesting electricity from small temperature differences could enable a new generation of electronic devices that don’t need batteries

Nonlinear thinkerWith techniques for translating complicated equations into ‘sums of squares,’ Pablo Parrilo helps make sense of previously insoluble problems.

Picture-driven computingNew research could enable computer programming based on screen shots, not just code

Three professors win top national early-career honorsPresidential awards to Buehler, Dawson and Sheffield were presented this week at a White House ceremony