2024 End of Year Recap

As we close out 2024, we reflect on another wonderful year of collaboration and innovation, made possible by the dedication of our team and the support of our members.

This year, we were thrilled to welcome fresh perspectives into the consortium, including Caitlin Mueller, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Architecture, as Associate Director of the MCSC. Four new Impact Fellows also joined us, bringing expertise in sustainable finance, participatory design, chemical and environmental engineering, and engineering and public policy. Additionally, we welcomed one new member company, bringing our total to 14 and broadening our initiatives into new industries.

Our commitment to moving the needle on climate change remained steady, as seen in the incredible output of our team. Together, we produced an estimated 29 published outcomes, including whitepapers, datasets, blog posts, tools, journal articles, working papers, topic briefs, and conference papers. Our Impact Fellows and leadership also showcased MCSC work on more than 39 occasions through conferences, poster sessions, lightning talks, seminars, and lectures.

Educating the next generation of climate leaders remains essential to our mission. Through our Climate and Sustainability Scholars program, we engaged with 38 undergraduate students across MIT’s schools within our 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 cohorts. Additionally, our UROP program facilitated direct collaboration between students and Impact Fellows, supporting 70 student-led projects.

We are also proud to have awarded our second round of Seed Awards, distributing over $1 million to fund nine one-year projects led by principal investigators across MIT’s schools and the Schwarzman College of Computing. These projects represent emerging solutions with promise for rapid scalability in addressing climate and sustainability issues across a variety of sectors.

Bridging academia and industry remains central to our work. In November, we hosted our annual symposium, bringing together 139 attendees to share ideas, address challenges, and showcase innovations for climate and sustainability action. Throughout the year, we conducted 6 workshops with member company representatives and affiliated researchers and enjoyed 10 visits from our member companies, allowing us to further our collaborations and knowledge sharing.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to this continuous effort—together, we are advancing climate and sustainability action.

– The MCSC Team