News

John Kelly PhD ’80 passed away at the age of 70 on October 3, 2024. His groundbreaking career spanned over forty years. His tenure at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque NM, where he focused on safety and severe accident analysis was followed by service as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Nuclear Reactor Technologies at the U.S. Department of Energy. Kelly played a critical role in shaping nuclear policy and guiding the world through significant events, including the Fukushima Daiichi disaster in Japan. His leadership and expertise were vital to shaping a safer, more advanced nuclear future for the global community.

On February 1, 2003, the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated as it returned to Earth, killing all seven astronauts on board. The tragic incident compelled NASA to amp up their risk safety assessments and protocols. They knew whom to call: Curtis Smith, the...

Prof Jack Hare received the 2024 Ruth and Joel Spira Award for Excellence in Teaching and Prof Mike Short received the Capers (1976) and Marion McDonald Award for Excellence in Mentoring and Advising.

Research by NSE’s Ju Li, Yimeng Huang, and collaborators describes a new family of integrated rock salt-polyanion cathodes opens door to low-cost, high-energy storage.

NSE rising senior and Army ROTC cadet Alexander Edwards discusses a new UROP fellowship with the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies.

In the race to achieve carbon-free commercial fusion energy, one stumbling block has been that key structural metals inside proposed fusion reactors can fail in just a few months. MIT engineers have demonstrated that adding nanoparticles of certain ceramics to the metals can protect them from damage and significantly extend their lifetime. Above: Professor Ju Li (right) and postdoc So Yeon Kim examine samples of the composite they have fabricated for their demonstrations. Credit: Gretchen Ertl

An MIT-led group shows how to achieve precise control over the properties of Weyl semimetals and other exotic substances Quantum materials – those with electronic properties that are governed by the principles of quantum mechanics such as correlation and entanglement – can...

Analysis and materials identified by NSE’s Bilge Yildiz and other MIT engineers could lead to more energy-efficient fuel cells, electrolyzers, batteries, or computing devices.