A Publication for West Coast Alumni and Friends
Vol. 2, No. 1 / December 2002

Mark Your Calendar: WPI's Heading West Again

January: Three Alumni Receptions

As it has done for the past two years, WPI will hold a series of mid-winter events for alumni in California in early 2003. With more than 1,200, California contains the third-largest population of WPI alumni in the United States (after Massachusetts and Connecticut).

Alumni can expect an update on the state of affairs at their alma mater and a look behind the scenes at the exciting research and technology transfer activities under way at the university's new Bioengineering Institute (BEI). Under its director, Timothy Gerrity, the institute will serve as a bridge between academic research and the development and manufacture of biomedical devices.

Here are the dates for the upcoming events. Each will begin and end with opportunities to network with other California alumni. Watch your mail for invitations. This information will also be posted at www.wpi.edu/+Alumni.

Jan. 27 Silicon Valley Reception
Hayes Mansion Conference Center
San Jose, 6:30-8:30pm

Jan. 29 Orange County Reception
Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort
Huntington Beach, 7-9pm

Jan. 30 Los Angeles Area Reception
Loew's Hotel, Santa Monica, 6-8pm

March: Silicon Valley Project Presentations

Since it opened in January 2000, WPI's Silicon Valley Project Center (SVPC) has been engaging students in the excitement and leading-edge advances of the nation's premier center for high technology. The center was made possible by the vision, support and active involvement of many of the university's West Coast alumni.

Students and faculty will journey to the Valley in early January as they begin the fourth year of project work. This year, students will complete two projects for SRI International in Menlo Park (one team of computer science majors and one team of electrical and computer engineering majors), three projects for eBay in San Jose (all CS majors), one project for SiPix Inc. in Milpitas (ECE majors) and one for Microbar Inc. in Sunnyvale (ECE majors).

Alumni and prospective project sponsors are invited to attend a special presentation on the results of these projects on March 5. The event will feature presentations by the student projects teams in the late afternoon and early evening, and will include dinner. Hosted by Curt Carlson '67, the event will be held on the campus of SRI International. During the evening, alumni interested in sponsoring projects will be provided opportunities to talk with current project liaisons from sponsoring corporations, with current students completing the projects, with Professor David Finkel, director of the project center, and with staff from campus prepared to answer both content and logistic queries about project sponsorship.

This will be the second such event involving Silicon Valley projects. Last March, student teams spelled out the purpose, approach and outcome of their projects at SRI International, SiPix and Atmel Corporation. Other corporations that have previously sponsored student project teams at the SVPC are Kana Communications Inc., New Focus Inc., Microbar, Sparks.com and Teradyne Inc.

The Silicon Valley Project Center is one of more than 20 project sites on five continents that comprise WPI's Global Perspective Program. Since 1974, the program has provided more than 3,600 students opportunities to apply their laboratory and classroom learning to solve important problems for sponsors in the United States and abroad.