Paper-thin solar cells + Winterfest + educating future naval leaders

The annual campus event provided ample reason to feel holiday cheer — and included a surprise honor for outgoing President L. Rafael Reif.

In class 2.702 (Systems Engineering and Naval Ship Design), naval officers and other graduate students get hands-on experience in project management skills that will be central to their future careers.

Professor Koroush Shirvan, who was recently honored by the American Nuclear Society, pursues avenues to lower the costs of nuclear energy.

Two research advances by teams of MIT researchers have been named to the Physics World list of the Top 10 Breakthroughs of the Year for 2022. Professor Gang Chen and his colleagues were selected for their work “showing that cubic boron arsenide is one of the best semiconductors known to science.” Associate Professor Asegun Henry, graduate student Alina LaPotin, and their colleagues were nominated for “constructing a thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cell with an efficiency of more than 40%.”

Professor Simon Johnson and his colleagues make the case that a cap on Russian crude oil could prevent Russia from disrupting global oil markets while protecting the world economy. “This is an important step toward reducing Russa’s capacity to continue the war in Ukraine,” they write.