Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Held on campus in the few days before C-Term begins, WinterSession is a 3-day series of workshops and events that give students, alumni, faculty, and staff the chance to explore new topics, develop (or perfect) their skills, and foster new connections in a variety of environments. The 30+ workshops range from How to Give a TED Talk and Personal Finance, to Drone Racing and a robotics competition, to Glass Blowing and Self Defense 101.

StartupTree is WPI's hub for all things I&E! Discover upcoming events, applications and competitions; connect with cofounders and form your team; find mentors, investors, and internships/jobs at startups; and collaborate with entrepreneurial students/alumni across the globe.

Tinkerbox provides seed funding for student-initiated innovation and entrepreneurial ideas, mentoring, and workshops that provide customized “just-in-time” skills to inspire students to bring their high impact ideas to life.

Goat Tank is an 8-week program of hands-on workshops and mentorship starting Weds, Oct 23rd to inspire diverse teams (at least 50% women) to innovate with projects that create societal or WPI community impact.  Participants develop confidence, skills, and mindset, while creating value propositions for their projects.  It culminates in a “Goat Tank challenge with teams pitching their value proposition and negotiating an “ask” with judges for money, resources, mentorship, etc. (be creative).

Embark on an exciting journey moving your startup, non-profit, or product ideas to the next level.

Embark is a 3-day journey moving your startup, non-profit or product idea to the next level to make a difference in society.  Students, faculty and staff engage in fun workshops and mentoring with faculty, alumni experts, and industry specialists.  

Summer Experience Grants

The Career Development Center Grants assist undergraduate students in financing unpaid/underpaid summer experiences that are related to their career interests. Grants are given for all types of summer experiences that are career focused, ranging from the corporate world to non-profit; in the U.S. and abroad.

NSF I-Corp at WPI

WPI I-Corp is a several week-long incubator-like program that educates on and provides financial support to teams to complete intensive customer discovery. This aids ventures to define their customer and their needs early in the development process, reducing future pivots which will save the team much time and money.

One of the cornerstones of the innovation ecosystem at WPI is the Tech Advisors Network (TAN), essentially a virtual incubator that launched in 2012. The Tech Advisors Network provides advising and networking services to support innovators and entrepreneurs. Advisees: Who are we incubating? Innovators and entrepreneurs who are members of the extended WPI community: alumni, faculty, staff, and students.

The GEIR program is for entrepreneurs and international students who have completed an undergraduate education and qualify for an H1-B Visa*, sponsored by WPI for up to two years. The GEIRs will work for 8 hours per week at the Foisie Innovation Studio while receiving support to grow their ventures through programs like WPI’s Technical Advisors Network (TAN). The expectation is that during the course of the GEIR program, participants will work to ensure they are well positioned to obtain a longer term-visa outside of WPI.