After analyzing New York’s sidewalks, crosswalks, and footpaths, MIT researchers have created the first complete model of pedestrian activity in a U.S. city. “We now have a first view of foot traffic all over New York City and can check planning decisions against it,” Andres Sevtsuk says.
Today, MIT plays a key role in maintaining U.S. competitiveness, technological leadership, and national defense — and much of the Institute’s work to support the nation’s standing in these areas can be traced back to 1953.
To design the torch for the 2026 Olympics and Paralympics, Carlo Ratti followed the advice he gives his students: “It is about what the object or the design is to convey,” he says. “How it can touch people, how it can relate to people, how it can transmit emotions.”
AI has generated enormous libraries of theoretical materials, but determining how to synthesize those materials is a time-intensive process of trial and error. By suggesting effective synthesis routes, a new model could remove a huge bottleneck in materials discovery.
Pappalardo Apprentices assist their peers with machining, hand-tool use, brainstorming, and more, while furthering their own fabrication skills. “I did not just learn how to make things,” Wilhem Hector says. “I got empowered … to make anything.”
In a world without MIT, radar wouldn’t have been available to help win World War II. We might not have email, CT scans, time-release drugs, photolithography, or GPS. And we’d lose over 30,000 companies, employing millions of people. Can you imagine?
Since its founding, MIT has been key to helping American science and innovation lead the world. Discoveries that begin here generate jobs and power the economy — and what we create today builds a better tomorrow for all of us.