The Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) has awarded MIT Lincoln Laboratory a 2025 FLC Excellence in Technology Transfer Award. The award recognizes the laboratory's exceptional efforts in commercializing microwave sounders hosted on small satellites called CubeSats. The laboratory first developed the technology for NASA, demonstrating that such satellites could work in tandem to collect hurricane data more frequently than previously possible and significantly improve hurricane forecasts. The technology is now licensed to the company Tomorrow.io, which will launch a large constellation of the sounder-equipped satellites to enhance hurricane prediction and expand global weather coverage. "This FLC award recognizes a technology with significant impact, one that could enhance hourly weather forecasting for aviation, logistics, agriculture, and emergency management, and highlights the laboratory's important role in bringing federally funded innovation to the commercial sector," says Asha Rajagopal, Lincoln Laboratory's chief technology transfer officer....

C. Cem Tasan has been appointed director of MIT's Materials Research Laboratory (MRL), effective March 15. The POSCO Associate Professor of Metallurgy in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE), Tasan succeeds Lionel 'Kim' Kimerling, who has held the post of interim director since Carl Thompson stepped down in August 2023. 'MRL is a strategic asset for MIT, and Cem has a clear vision to build upon the lab's engagement with materials researchers across the breadth of the Institute as well as with external collaborators and sponsors,' wrote Vice President for Research Ian Waitz, in a letter announcing the appointment. The MRL is a leading interdisciplinary center dedicated to materials science and engineering. As a hub for innovation, the MRL unites researchers across disciplines, fosters industry and government partnerships, and drives advancements that shape the future of technology. Through groundbreaking research, the MRL supports MIT's mission to advance science and technology for the benefit of society, enabling discoveries that have a lasting impact across industries and everyday life....

In 1969, Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon's surface ' a momentous engineering and science feat marked by his iconic words, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." Three years later, Apollo 17 became NASA's final Apollo mission to land humans on the brightest and largest object in our night sky. Since then, no humans have visited the moon or traveled past low Earth orbit (LEO), largely because of shifting politics, funding, and priorities. But that is about to change. Through NASA's Artemis II mission, scheduled to launch no earlier than September 2025, four astronauts will be the first humans to travel to the moon in more than 50 years. In 2022, the uncrewed Artemis I mission proved the ability of NASA's new spacecraft Orion ' launched on the new heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System ' to travel farther into space than ever before and return safely to Earth. Building on that success, the 10-day Artemis II mission will pave the way for Artemis III, which aims to land astronauts on the lunar surface, with the goal of establishing a future lasting human presence on the moon and preparing for human missions to Mars....

MIT Lincoln Laboratory and the National Strategic Research Institute (NSRI) at the University of Nebraska (NU), a university-affiliated research center designated by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), have established a joint student research program. The goal is to bring together the scientific expertise, cutting-edge capabilities, and student capacity of NU and MIT for critical issues within global health and agricultural security, aiming to foster solutions to detect and neutralize emerging biological threats. "We are excited to combine forces with NSRI to develop critical biotechnologies that will enhance national security," says Catherine Cabrera, who leads Lincoln Laboratory's Biological and Chemical Technologies Group. "This partnership underscores our shared commitment to safeguarding America through scientific leadership." "In an era of rapidly evolving dangers, we must stay ahead of the curve through continuous innovation," says David Roberts, the NSRI research director for special programs. "This partnership harnesses a unique combination of strengths from two leading academic institutions and two research institutes to create new paradigms in biological defense."...