Researchers captured the early moments in a butterfly’s metamorphosis, as its wing scales develop signature ridges. “We hope to understand and emulate these processes, with the aim of sustainably designing and fabricating new functional materials,” Mathias Kolle says.

The startup VEIR aims to transform the power grid with its superconducting transmission lines. "We can deploy the same high power but with a footprint and visual impact that is far less intrusive” than other options, says Tim Heidel ’05, SM ’06, SM ’09, PhD ’10.

Polina Anikeeva followed up her ultrathin brain probes with tools to study the gut-brain connection — and now leads an MIT research center investigating neural pathways throughout the body. “I wanted to work on something that didn’t exist,” she says.

In MAS.S66/4.154/16.89 (Space Architectures), students designed, prototyped, and tested structures to support human habitation in space. “We need to be designing habitats for human experiences that people will want to live in for a long time,” Skylar Tibbits says.

Formerly an architect and mentor to young women in Tehran, MSRED student Peggy Ghasemlou aims to promote sustainability and green investing in real estate development. “When I see successful women in this industry, I feel inspired and proud of them,” she says.

“If we could stand at the edge of one of Titan’s seas, we might see waves of liquid methane and ethane lapping on the shore and crashing on the coasts during storms,” Taylor Perron says. These waves likely shaped Titan’s coastlines, Perron and his colleagues now report.