Global Lab

WPI’s Global Lab in the Innovation Studio helps engage partners and strengthen the worldwide knowledge and practice ecosystem among our community. A media makerspace in the Global Lab allows for transmedia storytelling, creative scholarship, and communication with local and global partners.

Through The Global School, the university's growing network of domestic and international project centers is expanding the reach and impact of its project-based education. As the number of locations grows, the complexity of student projects is also increasing, and the opportunity to share this work and connect it with stakeholder communities is compelling. The Global Lab, as part of The Global School, fosters this expansion in project impacts.

The Global Lab is a collaboratory space for students, faculty, staff, visiting scholars, postdocs, non-governmental organizations (NGOs)-in-residence, artists-in-residence, and organizational leaders to interact, imagine, and bring ideas to life using creative collaboration and state-of-the-art media studios available.

The Global Lab deepens global partnerships by integrating partners through video, audio, and multi-platform media. Even when partners can’t travel to Worcester, the voices of partners around the world are present.

Work in the Global Lab will happen in four key areas:

Faculty micro-labs allow faculty Fellows-in-Residence to pursue innovative scholarship and creative projects that deepen global impact and engagement.
Engagement and programming activities bring the community in to participate in demos, workshops, and trainings or to view the wider work of the Lab.
Research and analysis efforts will support student teams and faculty researchers examining themes across global project center sites. The Lab’s research also addresses project pedagogy and impacts analysis.
Media makerspace offers access to two media studios. The audio/visual studio lets users create multi-platform media. In the mixed reality room, users engage in storyboarding, production, and editing, and utilize immersive media such as augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR).