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American Innovation

At MIT, innovation is focused on real-world impact — advancing research that improves everyday life through better healthcare, smarter infrastructure, and transformative technologies. Federal support is essential to this work, helping MIT turn bold ideas into practical solutions while training the next generation of leaders and innovators who will shape a better future for all.

Research that Matters

Human Health

Technology originating at MIT leads to approved bladder cancer treatment

A system conceived in Professor Michael Cima’s lab was approved by the Food and Drug Administration after positive results in patients.

Novel approach to radiation therapy

Researchers have found that a specific protein may help cancer patients tolerate radiation therapy.

Smarter cancer therapies

A company founded by MIT researchers is pioneering an approach that could lead to more potent cancer treatments with fewer side effects.

Targeting tumors

Chemical engineers developed a way to mass manufacture nanoparticles that deliver cancer drugs directly to tumors.

Stopping the spread of tuberculosis

The findings of an MIT study provide new drug targets for stopping the infection’s spread.

Wearable device helps improve medical treatment

An innovative wearable device tracks individual blood cells to guide medical treatments.

Better radiologist reports

A new calibration method developed by MIT researchers can improve the accuracy of clinical reports written by radiologists.

Empowering hospitals

MIT is helping hospitals by providing free access to cutting-edge AI tools.

Better kidney transplant decisions

An MIT study could help policymakers analyze methods of matching donated kidneys and their recipients.

Read more about MIT’s research to improve human health.

National Security

Lincoln Laboratory technologies win seven R&D 100 Awards for 2025

Inventions that protect US service members, advance computing, and enhance communications are recognized among the year's most significant new products.

DOE selects MIT to establish a Center for the Exascale Simulation of Coupled High-Enthalpy Fluid–Solid Interactions

The research center, sponsored by the DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration, will advance the simulation of extreme environments, such as those in hypersonic flight and atmospheric reentry.

AI for military logistics

MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory is transitioning tools to the 618th Air Operations Center to streamline global transport logistics.

A workhorse for national security

The U.S. Air Force and MIT have renewed their contract for operating the federally funded MIT Lincoln Laboratory, a long-standing asset for defense innovation and prototyping.

Safer airfield assessments

A U.S. Air Force engineer and MIT PhD student is using AI and next-generation imaging technology to detect pavement damage and unexploded munitions.

Building strong naval leadership

Through two programs at MIT, active duty naval officers gain the technical skills they need to lead projects in the Navy.

Helping the Air Force harness AI

The DAF-MIT AI Accelerator is designed to make fundamental advances in artificial intelligence to improve Air Force operations.

Read more about MIT’s contributions to national defense

Agricultural Efficiency

Helping farmers address challenges

An MIT startup has built an automated system for growing plant-based feed and fertilizer using wastewater.

More efficient agriculture

With a new system developed at MIT, farmers could significantly cut their use of pesticides and fertilizers, saving money and reducing runoff.

Making agriculture more sustainable

A nitrogen product developed by an MIT professor is being used across millions of acres of American farmland.

Learn more about MIT’s research on agriculture.

Healthy Brains

Study explains how a rare gene variant contributes to Alzheimer’s disease

Lipid metabolism and cell membrane function can be disrupted in the neurons of people who carry rare variants of ABCA7.

Keeping aging brains healthy

MIT researchers are developing therapies to improve brain health and eradicate diseases like Alzheimer’s. 

Safer football helmets

A former MIT linebacker led the development of a lightweight football helmet that’s been rated the safest ever tested.

Potential new Alzheimer’s treatment

A new peptide blocks a hyperactive brain enzyme that contributes to the neurodegeneration seen in Alzheimer’s.

Read more about MIT’s research on brain and cognitive sciences

Disaster Response

Robots for emergency response

SPROUT, developed by researchers at MIT Lincoln Laboratory and elsewhere, is a vine robot capable of navigating under collapsed structures.

Streamlined emergency response

First responders worldwide have adopted MIT Lincoln Laboratory's Next-Generation Incident Command System for enhanced situational awareness and coordination during emergencies.

Hurricane-tracking satellites

MIT Lincoln Laboratory has been recognized for excellence in commercializing small microwave sounders expected to improve weather forecasts.

Read more about MIT’s contributions to disaster response technologies.

Energy Resilience

Lidar helps gas industry find methane leaks and avoid costly losses

Lincoln Laboratory transitioned its optical-amplifier technology to Bridger Photonics for commercialization, enhancing US energy security and efficiency.

Boosting power grid resilience

MIT engineers have proposed a new “local electricity market” where rooftop panels, EV chargers, and smart thermostats could chip in to boost power grid resilience.

More efficient solar projects

Charge Robotics, founded by MIT alumni, has created a system that automatically assembles and installs completed sections of large solar farms.

Grid-scale energy storage

New research has found that liquid air energy storage could be the lowest-cost option for ensuring a continuous power supply on a future grid.

Read more about MIT’s research on energy.

Future of Work

Human-AI cooperation

Researchers at the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence found that the combination of AI and humans working together holds the most promise.

Training aerospace engineers

In an MIT class, students design, build, and test an electric turbopump for a rocket engine, facing challenges they will experience as practicing engineers.

Streamlining logistics

With machine learning, researchers developed a faster way to streamline processes like scheduling trains, routing delivery drivers, or assigning airline crews.

Read more about MIT’s research on the future of work.

Manufacturing and Entrepreneurship

Addressing global waste

Alumni entrepreneurs are applying MIT know-how to keep goods out of landfills, reduce energy costs in recycling, and provide safe sanitation.

Bringing manufacturing back

A collaborative network of makerspaces has spread from MIT across the country, helping communities make their own products.

Collaboration on essential chips for AI

An MIT research collaboration aims to deliver power efficiencies for data centers and ultra-low power consumption for intelligent devices at the edge.

Read more about MIT’s contributions to manufacturing, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Bottom Line

MIT drives American innovation through visionary research, technological breakthroughs, and its powerful impact on the economy.