Michael Bono

Michael Bono is a scientist and engineer dedicated to developing sustainable and equitable solutions for a better world, and he is delighted to join MIT D-Lab as a co-instructor for Design for Scale.  After completing his undergraduate studies at Union College and his PhD at Cornell with a dissertation on dielectric measurement of algal lipid content for biodiesel production, he initially came to MIT as a postdoctoral researcher with the Tata Center for Technology and Design. During his postdoc, he met with community members and other key stakeholders in rural India in order to determine use cases and design priorities for improved water quality monitoring technology. He also developed a solid-phase-extraction-based method for improved arsenic monitoring with support from the Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS) and mentored students working on water, soil, and global health challenges through the Tata Center graduate seminar on Technology, Design, and Entrepreneurship: Operating in Emerging Communities (15.779/15.781). 

After conducting research at Boston University and Tufts University, Michael returned to MIT as part of the K. Lisa Yang Global Engineering and Research (GEAR) Center, where he led a team in the design, fabrication, and demonstration of a compact electrodialysis prototype for more water-efficient desalination. He is the founder of Michael Bono Solutions, LLC, a scientific consultancy focused on problem definition, feasibility assessments, technoeconomic analysis, and community and stakeholder engagement for environmental, energy, and health challenges.