Prof. Yet-Ming Chiang gave the keynote address to the class of 2012. MIT President Susan Hockfield said she invited Chiang to deliver the keynote address because he personifies several MIT ideals: a passion for pursuing the outer limits of knowledge, a commitment to tackling the most pressing challenges of the day, and an entrepreneurial spirit. See the MIT News Office for more about the address.

Professors Angela Belcher, Yet-Ming Chiang, and Paula Hammond (ChemE) have developed a way to at once create and install such microbatteries — which could one day power a range of miniature devices, from labs-on-a-chip to implantable medical sensors — by stamping them onto a variety of surfaces. Their research is published in PNAS. See the MIT News Office for the full story.

Tweezers hold the device used to test MIT’s new components for microbatteries (batteries themselves are invisible in this image). Photo courtesy Belcher lab.

We welcome three new faculty members for fall 2008. Please welcome Alfredo Alexander-Katz, Toyota career development assistant professor of materials science and engineering, Geoffrey Beach, AMAX career development assistant professor of materials science and engineering, and Michael J. Demkowicz, John C. Chipman career development assistant professor of materials science and engineering.