Artificial intelligence optimization offers a host of benefits for mechanical engineers, including faster and more accurate designs and simulations, improved efficiency, reduced development costs through process automation, and enhanced predictive maintenance and quality control. “When people think about mechanical engineering, they’re thinking about basic mechanical tools like hammers and … hardware like cars, robots, cranes, but mechanical…
3D printing has come a long way since its invention in 1983 by Chuck Hull, who pioneered stereolithography, a technique that solidifies liquid resin into solid objects using ultraviolet lasers. Over the decades, 3D printers have evolved from experimental curiosities into tools capable of producing everything from custom prosthetics to complex food designs, architectural models,…
Many attempts have been made to harness the power of new artificial intelligence and large language models (LLMs) to try to predict the outcomes of new chemical reactions. These have had limited success, in part because until now they have not been grounded in an understanding of fundamental physical principles, such as the laws of…
Synthetic data are artificially generated by algorithms to mimic the statistical properties of actual data, without containing any information from real-world sources. While concrete numbers are hard to pin down, some estimates suggest that more than 60 percent of data used for AI applications in 2024 was synthetic, and this figure is expected to grow…
Caroline Uhler is an Andrew (1956) and Erna Viterbi Professor of Engineering at MIT; a professor of electrical engineering and computer science in the Institute for Data, Science, and Society (IDSS); and director of the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Center at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, where she is also a core institute and scientific…
Every year, global health experts are faced with a high-stakes decision: Which influenza strains should go into the next seasonal vaccine? The choice must be made months in advance, long before flu season even begins, and it can often feel like a race against the clock. If the selected strains match those that circulate, the…
Environmental scientists are increasingly using enormous artificial intelligence models to make predictions about changes in weather and climate, but a new study by MIT researchers shows that bigger models are not always better. The team demonstrates that, in certain climate scenarios, much simpler, physics-based models can generate more accurate predictions than state-of-the-art deep-learning models. Their…
Back in the 17th century, German astronomer Johannes Kepler figured out the laws of motion that made it possible to accurately predict where our solar system’s planets would appear in the sky as they orbit the sun. But it wasn’t until decades later, when Isaac Newton formulated the universal laws of gravitation, that the underlying…
Cognitive readiness denotes a person’s ability to respond and adapt to the changes around them. This includes functions like keeping balance after tripping, or making the right decision in a challenging situation based on knowledge and past experiences. For military service members, cognitive readiness is crucial for their health and safety, as well as mission…
Using machine learning, MIT chemical engineers have created a computational model that can predict how well any given molecule will dissolve in an organic solvent — a key step in the synthesis of nearly any pharmaceutical. This type of prediction could make it much easier to develop new ways to produce drugs and other useful…