WPI celebrates opening of new project center

Menlo Park, CA-It's the Hollywood of the computer world, where names like Oracle, Novell, and Sun line the streets. Technology is ever present here, surrounding and pressing upon you with the excitement of an amusement park. It's the place where it all started and continues to flourish-the once desolate landscape of a valley that now resembles one giant office park. And amidst this hustle and bustle of high-tech life, are what? WPI students, doing what they do best…projects!

On Tuesday, January 30th, WPI celebrated the opening and dedication of the Silicon Valley Project Center. The celebration dinner was held at the Stanford Park Hotel in Menlo Park, California-at the heart of The Valley. Approximately 30 to 40 WPI alumni and friends attended event, including the 17 students who are currently completing projects at the center.

The Center, known as SVPC and jokingly dubbed "Svip-see" by WPI President Edward Parrish, is in its second year of existence. Students reside at a corporate housing complex in Mountain View and travel daily to their "jobs" in the surrounding cities. This year's delegation consists of 17 ECE and CS students, completing six projects at SRI International located in Menlo Park, Microbar in Sunnyvale, Teradyne in San Jose, Atmel Corporation in both the San Jose and Berkley offices, and New Focus, Inc. in San Jose.

"We're out here doing work that people are genuinely interested in," commented Jason Hudson, one of the students, "Even if you complete a hundred-page document about 'what not to do,' you've done work that's useful to the company."

The program for the evening included some brief comments from six of the students and the Center Director, Dr. David Finkel. Each spoke about what it was like to be in Silicon Valley.

"In the classroom, problems are well defined and come with little tags that say 'this is an EE project' or 'this is a CS project' and 'everything you need to know for this project has been covered in class'," pointed out Finkel, "I don't have to tell you that in the real world, problems are ill-defined and quite messy."

Other key speakers for the evening included several prestigious WPI alumni who have been instrumental in their support for the Global Perspectives program and the Silicon Valley Project Center. They included: Curtis R. Carlson '67, President and CEO of SRI International; Michael R. Paige '68, Vice President and Director of Xerox PARC; and Ronald L. Zarella '71, President of General Motors North America and Chairman of the WPI Board of Trustees. Each speaker spoke highly of WPI student project work and helped to better describe for those in attendance how that work might play a role in Silicon Valley culture and entrepreneurial spirit.

The evening also served a secondary purpose. It was the second in a series of events for WPI alumni who now reside and work on the West Coast. WPI has more than 1,200 alumni in California alone, making it the third largest concentration of its kind in the country. In an effort to facilitate better contact with and between these alumni, WPI has created a publication called WPI West, and has hosted four alumni gatherings. The first was held on January 29th in San Francisco, the second was coupled with the project center dedication in Silicon Valley, the third was held on January 31st in the Los Angeles area, and the fourth was on February 1st in the San Diego area.

In his remarks, Professor Finkel noted that next year's projects might include opportunities in areas outside of CS and EE. This includes, may not be limited to projects in Civil Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and MIS. Students who are interested in taking part in the Silicon Valley Project Center should contact the IGSD, visit their website at: http://www.wpi.edu/+igsd or contact Professor Finkel directly by email.