Program Overview
The Data Science Program at WPI, Worcester, MA, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, offers a 10-week, all expenses paid Research Experience for undergraduate students starting Summer 2016. The students, working with WPI faculty and peer students, learn state-of-the-art data science techniques and technologies and apply them to research focused on societal challenges in 'smart and connected' communities. The research topics include healthcare, sustainability, security, and mobility; all interlinked concerns of critical national importance. Students present the results of their research at an Open Poster Session during the final week of the program, and, where appropriate, at scholarly venues and conferences.
with Data Science REU 2016 Cohort Students
Student Stipends, Travel, Housing, and Meals
- $5000.00 stipend over the 10 week program ($500/week)
- LEED Gold–certificated on-campus residence housing, paid for directly by the program
- Weekly meal allowance
- Up to $600.00 in travel expenses
Activities
The REU Program includes weekly group meetings, information exchange, training sessions, technical presentations about data science research, information sessions for professional development, and progress reports by participants. Social activities are organized and planned by the students to take in the history, culture and great places to visit in the greater New England area.
at the Revere Beach Sand Sculpting Festival 2016
Program Requirements
Accepted participants work a full 40 hour work week toward completing a research project. This research is then displayed at a Poster Presentation Symposium at the completion of the program with WPI faculty, and guests and fellow students in attendance.
Research Project Areas
Students participating in the program have the opportunity to work on a research project related to some of the areas listed below. During the application process, students indicate their preferred areas of interest. In the application, students may also describe their research interests in more detail, along with any prior experiences. Application areas relate to smart and connected communities including sustainability, health, security, mobility, economic prosperity, social good, and more. Technical areas include data analytics, data mining, machine learning, statistical learning, data bases, visualization, big data infrastructures, cloud computing, and mobile computing.
Eligibility and Requirements
NSF requires that all student participants are United States citizens or permanent residents; no exceptions. We prefer sophomores and juniors who have a strong interest in research. Courses taken in programming, computer science, linear algebra, and/or statistics are a plus. We especially encourage female and underrepresented students in STEM fields. We also encourage students with prior community college experience who have transferred to a 4-year institution.
Application Process
Students complete the Online Student Application, and attach their informal transcript. Students ask two references to submit their brief recommendations via the Submit Faculty Recommendation. These recommenders are preferably faculty members at the student's home institution or another university, who know the student well. All application materials, including letters, must be submitted by the application deadline.
During their REU site, students not only work on their projects, but also attend symposia in subjects related to job searches, applying to graduate school, writing a resume, dress for success and ever popular Interview skills. They also go on informative and enlightening field trips to industry partners who are heavily involved in data science; Google, MathWorks and others.
REU PYRAMID SCHEMES!
The REU students work hard and play hard, as can be seen by the pyramid scheme they configured in the lab with Ph.D. mentor Ermal Toto.
In jumbled order on the bottom row are a Ph.D. mentor, Luke Pelegrin, Cole Polychronis and Sean Tucci.
Next up is Christian Huacon with Tran Khang and Kate Finnerty.
Next to the top...we have Noori Apoorva and Jennifer Ha supporting our little Courtney Burns as the crown on the castle!
Sarah Brownell is our left spotter with Ph.D. mentor Ermal Toto spotting on the right.
Industry Visits
Each year the WPI Data Science REU students visit Industry partners to experience the world beyond academic walls. We sincerely appreciate MathWorks in Natick, MA and Google in Cambridge, MA, National Grid in Waltham, MA and many others, who open their doors to these bright young students.
This year to date, the students have visited MathWorks and Google. Both of these amazing corporate offices inspire the students to work toward further education so they too can experience working in such vibrant communities.
and who doesn't love GOOGLE!
