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MIT releases financials and endowment figures for 2026
Research Institutions

MIT releases financials and endowment figures for 2026

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Investment Management Company (MITIMCo) announced today that MIT’s unitized pool of endowment and other MIT funds generated an investment return of 10.3 percent during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026, as measured using valuations received within one month of fiscal year end. At the end of the fiscal year, MIT’s endowment funds totaled $29.2 billion, excluding pledges. Over the 10 years ending June 30, 2026, MIT generated an annualized return of 11.7 percent.The endowment is the bedrock of MIT’s finances, made possible by gifts from alumni and friends for more than a century. The use of the endowment is governed by a state law that requires MIT t...

📅 2026-10-02 20:00:00    •    MIT News
Met Warehouse dedication ceremony launches new era
Research Institutions

Met Warehouse dedication ceremony launches new era

MIT formally dedicated its newly transformed Met Warehouse (Building W41) on Wednesday, in an energetic evening ceremony heralding the start of a new era for the practice of design on campus. The ceremony highlighted “the essential vision of the Met: connecting people, disciplines, and ideas, and inviting everyone to see where those connections might be,” said Mark Gorenberg ’76, chair of the MIT Corporation, during introductory remarks.MIT President Sally Kornbluth called the new building “a testament to the transformative power of design, which has been central to MIT from the very beginning.” She also heralded the building as a cornerstone of MIT’s “magnetic new West Campus district for a...

📅 2026-10-02 20:00:00    •    MIT News
Computational tools for society’s most complex challenges
Research Institutions

Computational tools for society’s most complex challenges

As far back as she can remember, Cathy Wu ’12, MNG ’13 wanted to find ways to solve problems to improve people’s lives. Her parents were Taiwanese immigrants, and her father had a long commute to his job, which took him away from the family. On a tight budget, the rest of the family often stayed home on a street that was too busy for playing outdoors. Wu and her siblings ended up playing a lot of computer games. Wu says her desire to make the world a better place, her dad’s daily battle against traffic, and the games she played, like “SimCity,” were the seeds of her motivation to design safe, efficient transportation systems. Wu is an associate professor in the MIT Department of Civil and En...

📅 2026-10-02 19:30:00    •    MIT News
Documenting the tech worker movement
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Documenting the tech worker movement

Despite the “dot-com crash” in 2000, the tech industry remained an attractive career destination for many who believed technology represented the future. The digital age — defined by global connectivity and computers — had firmly taken hold, and over time, the tech industry emerged as a dominant force in the labor market. High-paying jobs for engineers, designers, and professionals across a wide range of fields became increasingly common. MIT PhD student JS Tan SM ’22 was among those who, upon graduating from Brown University and Rhode Island School of Design in 2015, joined the tech industry. “A lot of us had this idea that technology, and in particular the technologies related to the inter...

📅 2026-10-02 17:00:00    •    MIT News
The next generation’s guide to the new space economy
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The next generation’s guide to the new space economy

On the first day of class 16.445J/STS.468J (Entrepreneurship in Aerospace and Mobility Systems), David Mindell, MIT professor of aeronautics and astronautics (AeroAstro) and the Frances and David Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing, asked his students to take a look at an image of a textbook. The cover featured a bright and inspiring collage of rockets, planets, and all manner of futuristic air- and spacecraft. The title: “Entrepreneurship in Aerospace: A Guide for Founders and Investors.”“This is the most up-to-date guide on the topic,” Mindell said, describing the book’s treatment of the concepts and procedures involved in innovating in aerospace, an industry e...

📅 2026-10-02 14:50:00    •    MIT News
MIT class project turns into an FDA-cleared treatment for tremors
Research Institutions

MIT class project turns into an FDA-cleared treatment for tremors

In 2017, a man named Michael walked onto stage in front of a packed Kresge Auditorium at MIT and attempted to draw a spiral, a common test doctors use to diagnose Parkinson’s disease. His tremors, caused by the disease, made the exercise difficult. Then, Michael put on a wristband device made by a team of MIT students as part of 2.009 (Product Engineering Processes), who were presenting their prototype that evening.Michael pressed a button and the device produced a subtle vibration. The vibration sent signals up his wrist and into his brain. His tremors dramatically decreased, and within seconds he was able to draw the spiral with much more precision, to a roaring ovation from the audience.“...

📅 2026-10-02 04:00:00    •    MIT News
3 Questions: A new resource to empower young entrepreneurs
Research Institutions

3 Questions: A new resource to empower young entrepreneurs

The book “Disciplined Entrepreneurship” by Bill Aulet, managing director of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship and the Ethernet Inventors Professor of the Practice at the MIT Sloan School of Management, walks readers through the 24 steps of starting a venture. With more than half a million copies sold, the approach has proven remarkably effective: MIT students who use the framework in the delta v startup accelerator program have a 61 percent survival/acquisition rate and have collectively raised over $3 billion dollars.But while the framework is taught at hundreds of colleges around the world, it is not designed for younger students who want to learn about entrepreneurship. To ...

📅 2026-10-02 04:00:00    •    MIT News
New tool lets users repair AI-generated 3D models, then fabricate them just the way they want
Research Institutions

New tool lets users repair AI-generated 3D models, then fabricate them just the way they want

“What you see is what you get” is a guiding principle for many software engineers — create programs where the content you’re editing looks the same as the final product. But when you’re using generative artificial intelligence systems to 3D print, say, a mug, you’ll likely get a cup that can’t hold your coffee. Why is that?The issue is that AI models understand how an object should look, but not how it works, leading to impractical designs that undermine an item’s intended use. Even if you want to fix these errors, the models are typically hard to edit, especially for users new to 3D design.A new approach called “InstructMesh” makes it much easier to design and print household items, accesso...

📅 2026-10-01 22:00:00    •    MIT News
Digital life doesn’t have to be this way
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Digital life doesn’t have to be this way

Niles Singer/Harvard Staff Photographer Science & Tech Digital life doesn’t have to be this way Writer, activist Cory Doctorow wants you to be mad about tech monopoly — but not blindly terrified of AI Max Larkin Harvard Staff Writer October 1, 2026 5 min read Cory Doctorow wants you to know it doesn’t have to be this way. At a discussion Wednesday night moderated by Elizabeth Mynatt, dean of Northeastern’s Khoury College of Computer Sciences, the Canadian-British writer and activist addressed a friendly room at the Berkman Klein Center. Doctorow has been a longtime comrade in the fight for an open, safe, and humanistic internet for which the center was founded 30 years ago.But he also belong...

📅 2026-10-01 21:18:34    •    Harvard Gazette
Governor Healey and President Kornbluth launch MIT Future Fest
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Governor Healey and President Kornbluth launch MIT Future Fest

MIT Future Fest launched on Wednesday afternoon, featuring a visit from Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey before an opening panel at Kresge Auditorium.Both Healey and MIT President Sally Kornbluth emphasized the power of curiosity and innovation during introductory remarks, while formally kicking off MIT Future Fest as a new kind of event that opens MIT’s doors to the world.Spanning five days and featuring talks from leading MIT scholars, panel discussions, open labs, exhibitions, performances, screenings, and much more, MIT Future Fest adds up to a demonstration of campus research, teaching, thinking, and discovery.“MIT and Massachusetts are known around the world as leaders in innovation...

📅 2026-10-01 18:30:00    •    MIT News
Board approves seven new faculty appointments
Research Institutions

Board approves seven new faculty appointments

The Princeton University Board of Trustees has approved the appointment of seven faculty members, including one full professor, two associate professors and four assistant professors.

📅 2026-10-01 18:21:28    •    Princeton University News
What role should ‘diversity,’ ‘pluralism’ play in higher education?
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What role should ‘diversity,’ ‘pluralism’ play in higher education?

Moderator Laura Meckler (from left), Kevin Roberts, and Cornell William Brooks.Niles Singer/Harvard Staff Photographer Nation & World What role should ‘diversity,’ ‘pluralism’ play in higher education? Cornell William Brooks, Kevin Roberts spar over whether race-conscious programs still needed Jacob Sweet Harvard Staff Writer October 1, 2026 3 min read The participants at a John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum debate last week on “diversity” and “pluralism” in higher education were clearly suitably matched. Kevin Roberts is president of the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank. His group published Project 2025, a 900-page policy document that has heavily influenced President Trump’s second-term ...

📅 2026-10-01 17:39:01    •    Harvard Gazette