Innovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E)

Prof. Asegun Henry founded Fourth Power, a startup using new technology to cut the cost of storing renewable energy, reports Adele Peters for Fast Company.  The technology is designed “to tap into excess renewable energy,” explains Peters. “That energy heats up liquid tin, which flows down carbon pipes to heat up the blocks. When the grid needs electricity again, the system generates it using special solar panels that run on the white-hot light from the pipes rather than sunshine. Because the system was designed for durability, the team expects it to last for three decades—far longer than lithium-ion batteries, which quickly degrade.”

An analysis by The Atlantic’s Ronald Brownstein notes despite Republican resistance to electric vehicles, many new production facilities are located in GOP-represented states. MIT Innovation Fellow Brian Deese explains EV companies are simply seeking space and nearby manufacturing and construction capacity, but said “it’s pretty hard to think of a technology where there was a cheaper, better technology to solve a consumer need and consumers prioritized a cultural or political patina over lower costs and higher quality.”

Prof. Kripa Varanasi and Vishnu Jayaprakash SM '19, PhD '21 co-founded AgZen, an MIT spinoff that is developing new technologies to improve the performance and effectiveness of pesticide treatments, reports The Economist. The new technologies “could reduce the total amount of fungicides and insecticides sprayed over complete crops by some 90%, as well as cutting the amount of adjuvants required,” writes The Economist.

Axios reporter Alex Fitzpatrick spotlights MightyFly, an aviation startup founded by Manal Habib ’11 that is developing a large, autonomous electric vehicle takeoff and landing cargo drone that has been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration for a flight corridor. "The use case is B2B expedited logistics," says Habib. "Think of deliveries from a manufacturer to suppliers. Think of deliveries from a lab to a hospital, or from a warehouse or pharmacy, as well as to improve deliveries to an oil rig or to a farm or a mining site, as well as for DOD use cases."

GiveDirectly, a nonprofit co-founded by MIT and Harvard alumni, works with “economists to identify the most efficient ways to reduce poverty,” reports Katharine Houreld for The Washington Post. “Lump sums are the most efficient way to give cash, according to a study of GiveDirectly programs released in December that compared the impact of three methods,” explains Houreld. “Two years in, recipients of the lump sum have spent more money on health care, and more of their children have scored better on school exams, according to the study by MIT economics professor Abhijit Banerjee and others." 

Axios reporter Steph Solis spotlights Kura, an MIT startup that is “developing a platform to help immigrants safely deliver money to loved ones back home.” Solis explains that: “Families worldwide rely on wire services like Western Union and Moneygram, but in some countries picking up money means waiting in long lines and exposing oneself to thieves.” Clifford Nau MBA ’22 and Stephanie Joseph, a Harvard alum, “wanted to build a safer alternative that would be available 24/7.”

Doug Ricket '01, MEng '02 co-founded PayJoy, a startup that aims to “provide a fair and responsible entry point for individuals in emerging markets to enter the modern financial system, build credit, achieve economic freedom, and access digital connectivity,” reports Mary Ann Azevedo for TechCrunch. “PayJoy is applying a buy now, pay-as-you-go model to the estimated 3 billion adults globally who don’t have credit by allowing them to purchase smartphones and pay weekly for a 3- to 12-month period. The phones themselves are used as collateral for the loan,” explains Azevedo.

TechCrunch reporter Ron Miller highlights MIT’s role as a driving force behind the Greater Boston area’s success as a hub for startups. Emily Knight, president of The Engine Accelerator, notes that universities are breeding grounds for new ideas. “There is a lot of research and a lot of infant innovation being translated into companies coming out of these [Greater Boston area] universities,” Knight explains.  

Prof. Kripa Varanasi co-founded Alsym Energy, a startup “developing rechargeable batteries that won’t be based on lithium or cobalt,” reports Hiawatha Bray for The Boston Globe. “The founders said they expect to build batteries that match the performance of today’s lithium-ion cells but at about half the cost,” writes Bray.

Fast Company reporter Shalene Gupta spotlights new research by Prof. David Autor that finds “about 60% of jobs in 2018 did not exist 1940. Since 1940, the bulk of new jobs has shifted from middle-class production and clerical jobs to high-paid professional jobs and low-paid service jobs.” Additionally, the researchers uncovered evidence that “automation eroded twice as many jobs from 1980 to 2018 as it had from 1940 to 1980. While augmentation did add some jobs to the economy, it was not as many as the ones lost by automation.”

Milena Pagán '11 speaks with Boston.com reporter Linda Laban about re-opening her bagel shop, Rebelle Bagels, in Kendall Square. Pagán, who earned a degree in chemical engineering before diving into the culinary world, explains that she felt it was a natural transition from engineering to food. “It’s not a traditional path, but they do have a lot in common,” Pagán explains. “Making bagels feels a lot like engineering.”

Alumnus Benjamin Rapoport co-founded Precision Neuroscience, a brain-computer interface company, that is developing technology that will allow “paralyzed patients the ability to operate a computer with their thoughts,” reports Jo Craven McGinty for The Wall Street Journal. “In order to be a citizen of the world in 2024, to communicate with loved ones, to make a living, the ability to work with a digital system is indispensable,” says Rapoport. “To operate a word processor is totally transformative.”

Using microwave plasma technology developed at MIT, 6K inc., is turning metals “including scrap, into high-performance materials for various applications,” reports Alex Pasternack for Fast Company. “The process produces no salt or liquid waste, uses just 10% of the water and half of the energy of conventional processes, and reduces costs by half,” writes Pasternack. “Its technique can also precisely control the composition and structure of materials at the atomic level.”

Radia, an energy startup founded by Mark Lundstrom '91, SM '93, MBA '93, has developed the “Windrunner,” an airplane designed to deliver 300-foot-blades directly to wind farms, reports Maureen O’Hare for CNN. The plane will “help the world meet its decarbonization targets, it’ll use sustainable aviation fuel and need only a simple packed-dirt or gravel runway to land on,” writes O’Hare.

Bloomer Tech, a health tech startup founded by Alicia Chong Rodriguez SM ‘17, SM ’18, is working to “address the gender gap in health care, which has led to less clinical trial representation and fewer resources to diagnose and treat women with various diseases,” reports Steph Solis for Axios. The startup is prepared “to launch a clinical trial for bras that could help detect heart irregularities and other conditions that can lead to heart disease,” writes Solis.