Matt Gissel '01 of St. Albans, Vt., trumped three other state champs to take the top spot in the National Monopoly Game Championship in Las Vegas in October. Next year, Gissel will compete in the world championship in Toronto, where the winner will take home $15,140, the amount of money each player starts with in the game. The prize, of course, will be in real, not Monopoly money. more...

Community building
The sound of fireworks echoed across campus on Oct. 29, when trustees, alumni, students and staff gathered to witness the groundbreaking for the long-awaited campus center.

Classrooms and parking
Plans are taking shape for a new home for Humanities and Arts, Management, and Continuing Education on the hill beside Gordon Library. A bridge will link the six-story, gabled structure to a 525-car garage to be constructed adjacent to Boynton Street.

Net gains, super computing
The Goddard Internet2 connection will soon be online, giving WPI researchers access to the next generation of high-speed networks. Those researchers will also benefit from the University's first supercomputer, an IBM RS/6000 SP. With the new machine, computational modeling work is moving "full-speed ahead."

A breath of fresh air
A chemical engineering research team is breaking down barriers to the use of fuel-cell technology in automobiles. Success could one day double engine efficiency and dramatically reduce air pollution.

Cryptography workshop makes news
In 1917, Gilbert S. Vernam '10 pioneered the field of modern cryptography when he developed a system for automatically encoding and decoding information sent over telegraph wires. Eight-two years later, the leaders of the field he helped set in motion gathered at WPI to learn how far modern data security has come --and how full of surprises it can be...

Anony-mouse? Anonymity's a fact of life for scientists
Dave Adams knows that it takes a long time and a lot of money before the public sees the scientific breakthroughs that often begin in his laboratory--sometimes with a single mouse. Adams, an associate professor of biology and biotechnology, also knows that once the research moves on to the next step or the next team, his connection to the project may be forgotten...

WPI appoints its first global deans
Two longtime WPI faculty members recently assumed leadership of the Interdisciplinary and Global Studies Division (IGSD). Mathematical Sciences Professor Paul W. Davis was appointed dean of interdisciplinary and global studies and Richard F. Vaz, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, was named associate dean. Hossein Hakim, who served as IGSD co-chair and global studies program director for 12 years...