Research & Labs | Worcester Polytechnic Institute

We Are Makers, Leaders, and Boundary Breakers

At the forefront of innovation and entrepreneurship, WPI’s Business School faculty brings research into the classroom, giving students an opportunity to learn by doing. From applications that help people manage diabetes and reduce stress, to eye- tracking technology that improves user experiences, to how businesses can learn from the arts, to projects that help make businesses more sustainable, our faculty research makes a real-world impact while inspiring a new generation of makers, leaders, and boundary breakers.

Lab director: Andrew Trapp; atrapp@wpi.edu

This lab conducts advanced research in prescriptive and predictive analytics, developing tools to benefit vulnerable populations and tackle complex challenges.

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Lab director: Michael Elmes; mbelmes@wpi.edu

This lab focuses on the role of businesses in addressing climate change efficiently and equitably, supporting research to foster sustainable, resilient practices for impactful action.

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Lab director: Bengisu Tulu; bengisu@wpi.eu

This lab works on person centered design development and implementation of digital health interventions, digital health therapeutics, and health information technologies since 2013.

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Lab director: Kwamie Dunbar; kdunbar@wpi.edu

This lab aims to create and manage knowledge in FinTech, serve as a hub for student projects, support start-up incubation, and contribute to the FinTech ecosystem in FLAME and WPI regions.

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Lab director: Ardian Preçi; apreci@wpi.edu

This lab fosters student innovation and entrepreneurship, offering resources for brainstorming, mentorship, product development, and startup launch support, including investor connections.

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Lab director: Soussan Djamasbi; djamasbi@wpi.edu

This lab creates value with user experience (UX): merging industry product innovation practices and academic UX research and development.

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Program director: contact sbdi@wpi.edu

This program offers free, expert-led digital transformation services, helping businesses shift from traditional operations to advanced digital platforms, ensuring seamless online customer engagement.

Visit the program's website here.

Center directors: Walter Towner; fabman@wpi.edu and Torbjorn Bergstrom; torbjorn@wpi.edu

This center provides consulting service and expertise to help small- to medium-size manufacturers grow their businesses through product development, prototyping, scaling up, cost reduction, and other assistance.

Visit the center website here.

Living and Breathing Innovation & Entrepreneurship at WPI

Innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E) is part of everything we do at WPI. I&E isn't only for those interested in start ups. Programs here include networking, workshops, and events as varied as pitch competitions, prototyping seed funding, mentorship, or even the freedom to tinker in our Makerspace.

Find out about Innovation and Entrepreneurship at WPI

Learn about some of our research projects

Research to Disrupt Wildlife Tracking

Wildlife trafficking is illegal and has a broad and devastating impact on thousands of species. Two faculty members at WPI are researching how to use technology stop this trade that generates billions of dollars in annual revenue worldwide.

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Healthcare in the Right Hands

As part of their overall research interest in how technology can improve the delivery of healthcare, Diane Strong and Bengisu Tulu, faculty researchers in The Business School, apply funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health to create apps that give patients more control over their own well-being, reduce the need for doctor visits and other interventions, and to improve the quality of care that physicians and other healthcare providers can deliver.