Engineers have devised a simplified process to convert a skin cell directly into a neuron for cell therapy. The highly efficient method could make it easier to develop treatments for spinal cord injuries or diseases that impair mobility, like ALS.

Air Force engineer and PhD student Randall Pietersen is developing a drone-based system to detect pavement damage and unexploded munitions after an airfield is attacked. “We’re still only prepared to do this on foot, and that’s where my research comes in,” he says.

MIT spinout Boston Metal completed its first run of an industrial reactor that uses electricity to make steel, producing over a ton of metal. While there are still a lot of hurdles left, the latest run shows that the company can scale up its process.

Charge Robotics has created a portable system that automatically assembles and installs completed sections of large solar farms. “We think of this as the Henry Ford moment for solar,” says Banks Hunter ’15.

Climate change is reducing the atmosphere’s ability to burn up old space junk, decreasing the number of satellites that can safely orbit in space, engineers report. “If the atmosphere is changing, then the debris environment will change too,” William Parker says.

If your arm doesn’t hurt after pounding nails, thank Kurt Schroder ’90, whose design improved the majority of hammers sold in the U.S. This is just one of his many groundbreaking inventions. “An inventor always sees a future in which everything is better,” he says.