As part of its 150th anniversary celebration, MIT recently compiled hundreds of data points in an initiative called the MIT Index. These are combined (much like infographics) in a way that tells a story about the importance of innovation in solving our world’s greatest challenges — and MIT’s role in that. We extracted twenty facts that blew our mind below, and compiled them in our own way to paint a picture of the importance of MIT in driving global innovation. We encourage you to visit each of the 8 MIT Index pages for even more mind blowing facts: Water, Public Service, Energy, Cancer, Globalization, Brain, Invention, and Students.

Importance of Innovation

1/2

Portion of U.S. economic growth after 1945 attributed to technological innovation

MIT’s Entrepreneurs

25,800

Number of active companies started or co-founded by living MIT alumni

3.3 million

The number of people employed by companies started or co-founded by living MIT alumni

$2 trillion , 10th

Gross domestic product of a “nation” formed by businesses started by MIT graduates, and the world rank of this GDP (roughly equivalent to that of Brazil)

World Changing MIT Innovations

1940 , 2000

Year that MIT perfected radar technology to save lives during WWII, and the year MIT used radar technology to save the lives of cancer patients

1942

Year an MIT invention for processing petroleum products, including most gasoline, was introduced

1945 , 1989

Year that former MIT Vice President Vannevar Bush predicted that the Internet would connect the world and the year MIT Professor Tim Berners-Lee invented it

1979 , 1998

Year the first human cancer gene was identified at MIT, and the year that the cancer drug Herceptin, based on an MIT discovery, was approved

2006

Year MIT researchers introduced self-assembling peptides to heal brain injuries

2008

Year MIT researchers invented a way to duplicate photosynthesis in order to store solar energy

2009

Year the MIT-affiliated Whitehead Institute found a link between genetics and environment for Parkinson’s Disease

15 liters

Fresh water creation out of sea water possible per hour using a novel, low-cost desalination method developed at MIT

12

Countries served by H2O 1B, an MIT effort to provide safe drinking water for 1 billion people

40 , 4

Factor by which MIT researchers increased the performance of solar cells using a solar concentrator and the factor by which these results are better than any other attempt

$30,000 ? $100

Cost of a ventilator used in a modern hospital, and the cost of a portable ventilator invented by MIT students for hospitals in the developing world

Making It Possible

52% ? 73%

Percentage of MIT undergraduates receiving scholarships and grants in 2008 and what that increased to in 2010

$31,900

Average amount of an MIT scholarship in 2010

27% , $0

Percentage of MIT families earning < $75,000 annually and tuition obligation for these students

$15,228

Average student loan debt at graduation for MIT undergraduates who borrowed

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Amount by which the median debt for MIT graduates fell between 1998 and 2007