A focus on applications and scale

Hart attended the University of Michigan as an undergraduate and majored in mechanical engineering. Since Henry Ford’s time, the Detroit area has been one of the nation’s leading manufacturing centers.He worked as an intern at General Motors during the summers, and when he first started the master’s program in mechanical engineering at MIT, he thought he would eventually return to the auto industry.

However, when he arrived at Cambridge, he discovered new perspectives.I just liked the environment, the sense of challenge, learning, and being open-minded when I came to MIT, he says.

Hart’s work with Alexander Slocum, a professor of mechanical engineering, sparked his interest in the production of nanomaterials.He made the decision to pursue a PhD in order to discover novel methods for fabricating carbon nanotubes, which are long molecules that are more conductive than copper and stronger than steel.