A nationwide housing shortage is straining finances and communities across the United States. in Massachusetts, at least 222,000 houses will need to be built within the next 10 years to meet the needs of the population. At the same time, customary construction involves many challenges. There is a shortage of qualified construction workers. Most projects involve multiple contractors and subcontractors, which increases complexity and delays. The construction process, as well as the buildings themselves, can be a major source of emissions contributing to climate change.
Reframe Systems, co-founded by Vikas Enti SM ’20, uses robotics, software and high-performance materials to solve these problems. Founded in 2022, the company is implementing micro-factories that bring home manufacturing and production closer to the regions where homes are needed. The first homes designed and manufactured at Reframe’s first microfactory were entirely built in Arlington and Somerville, Massachusetts.
Enti’s experience in MIT systems design and management (SDM) has shaped the company since its inception. “Learning how to navigate the system and find optimal value for each stakeholder was a key part of business strategy,” he says, “and it is rooted in what I learned in SDM.”
Better troubleshooting tools at the system level
Enti applied for a master’s degree in engineering and management at SDM while he was working at Kiva Systems, overseeing its acquisition by Amazon and its transformation into Amazon Robotics. He discovered that the SDM program basics of systems engineering, system architecture and project management gave him the tools he needed to solve system-level problems in his work.
While at MIT, Enti also served as co-director of the $100,000 Entrepreneurship Competition. MIT dollars, which provides students and researchers with mentoring, feedback and potential funding for their startup ideas. He realized that “there is no single formula for starting a business or how long it takes to set it up,” he says, which helped shape his plans to start his own company.
Enti took a leave of absence from MIT to oversee the expansion of Amazon Robotics in Europe. He returned and graduated in 2020 with a thesis on developing technology that could mitigate the effects of falls in older people. The instinct to employ his education for good returned when his daughters were born. He wanted his future business to solve real problems and have a social impact, while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Growing housing construction, decreasing emissions
Enti concluded that housing, with its direct impact on the real world and a significant contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, was the right problem to work on. He contacted his colleagues Aaron Diminutive and Felipe Polido of Amazon Robotics to share his idea for advanced, low-cost factories that could be deployed quickly and close to where they are needed. They both joined him as co-founders.
Currently, a microfactory in Andover, Massachusetts, produces structural panels, with robots framing the walls and ceilings and humans doing the rest, including wiring and plumbing. Ultimately, Reframe hopes to further automate the construction process through further employ of robotics. The modular construction process allows for less waste and disruption on the final construction site. The finished homes are designed to be energy productive and ready to install solar panels. The company is expected to begin work soon on a group of homes in Devens, Massachusetts.
In addition to its Andover location, Reframe is operating in Southern California to assist rebuild homes destroyed during the January 2025 wildfires in that region. The company’s software-assisted design process and microfactory customization capabilities enable it to meet local zoning and building codes and adapt to local architectural aesthetics. This means that in Somerville, completed Reframe buildings look like retrofitted versions of adjacent three-story buildings, known locally as “triplexes.” On the other side of the country, Reframe’s design portfolio includes Spanish-style and Craftsman homes.
“Housing is a complex systemic problem,” says Enti, explaining the impact SDM has had on his work at Reframe. The methods and tools taught in the integrated core class EM.412 (Fundamentals of Systems Design and Management) assist him address systems-level problems and address the needs of multiple stakeholders. The Reframe team used a technology roadmap to develop its overall business plan, inspired by the work of Olivier de Weck, associate chair of MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Lectures on project management given by Bryan Moser, academic director of SDM, are still relevant.
“Accepting the fact that this is a systemic problem and learning how to navigate the system and stakeholders to ensure we find optimal value has been a key part of the business strategy,” says Enti.
Reframe Systems intends to continue learning through iteration as it plans to expand its network of microfactories. The company remains committed to its core vision of sustainably meeting the country’s need for more housing. “I’m grateful we can do this,” Enti says. “When you remove all the robotics, advanced algorithms and factories, you end up with healthy, high-quality homes where families can live and grow.”