Mechanosynthesis Group

The Mechanosynthesis Group, led by Prof. John Hart, aims to create new materials, machines, and design principles for advanced manufacturing. Much of our work seeks to discover and exploit micro- and nanoscale phenomena toward new and improved energy storage materials, electronic devices, composite structures, engineered surfaces, medical diagnostics, and consumer products.

The Group is based in the MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity (LMP). We are also proud to be affiliated with the Microsystems Technology Laboratories (MTL), the Materials Processing Center (MPC), the Center for Graphene Devices and Systems, and the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI). In July 2013, the Group moved to MIT from the University of Michigan, which was the home beginning in 2007.

Work is multidisciplinary, yet generally at a nexus of manufacturing, materials, and mechanical design. We seek four main strengths: mastering materials synthesis and processing; inventing and building creative machines and instruments, for both laboratory research and scalable manufacturing; developing analytical and computational models of process and property fundamentals; and having a keen vision of how new materials and manufacturing processes can enable disruptive and innovative technologies. We also appreciate the scientific, practical, and artistic interpretations of research, and strive to improve public understanding of science and technology through our education and outreach efforts.

Innovative manufacturing processes operating at small length scales can achieve unprecedented combinations of complexity and throughput in their output, potentially surpassing limits imposed by semiconductor lithography, high-speed printing, and bulk materials processing. The vision is that fundamental advances in synthesis and assembly of micro- and nanostructured materials will be instrumental to technological advances in areas including: high-performance composite structures; low-power electronics and sensors; engineered surfaces and interfaces for energy conversion and storage; high-throughput bio-manufacturing systems; and devices for low-cost medical diagnostics and resource-efficient treatment. Beyond specific applications, these technologies can increase energy and material efficiency in manufacturing and end use, can reduce capital investment for new production setups, and can accelerate R&D by integrating computational modeling with physical testing.