Great Problems Seminar Presentation Week | Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Welcome to the Great Problems Seminars Presentation Page

While we will miss our annual poster session, we are excited to see, and to have you see, the work of our first-year students in these courses. This year the students and faculty overcame the challenges of social distancing, group and class meetings via Zoom, the stresses and strains of the pandemic, elections, and social unrest while working on their ideas to ameliorate some of the world’s great global challenges. I could not be prouder of this group. Kris Wobbe, Director, Great Problems Seminar

Expand the classes below to view presentation times and Zoom links

People's Choice Award

Each class has a Padlet with postings of supporting materials to accompany their live presentation. Under each post there is a "heart." To submit a presentation as your vote for People's Choice, please click on the heart for the presentation of your choice. Please only vote for one presentation.

Thursday, March 11, 2021, 11am - 12:50pm

Padlet Link

Zoom Link

1	Small Scale Carbon Capture Utilization and Implementation
2	Rigged for Oil Rigs
3	Destigmatizing Nuclear Energy to Decarbonize the Worlds' Power Supply
4	Climate Change Impacts on Native Hawaiian Population

Wednesday, March 17, 2021, 3:15pm - 4:50pm

Padlet Link

Zoom Link

5	The Jerusalem Water Relief Project
6	Agricultural Sustainability through the Use of Recaptured Water
7	Thinking Outside the Well: Addressing Water Scarcity in Rural Morocco

Thursday, March 11, 2021, 1pm - 1:50pm

Zoom Link

Padlet Link

8	The Social Engagement of College Students during Covid
9	Mentoring to Increase Sixth Graders' Technological Literacy

Thursday, March 18, 2021, 10am - 11:50am

Padlet Link

Zoom Link

10	Mechanical Energy Storage
11	Pumped Hydropower
12	Biofuels in Public Transportaion
13	WPI Nuclear Sustainability

COVID Presents a Learning Opportunity for Great Problems Seminar Course

In A- and B-Terms, the Heal the World course, taught by professors Lisa Stoddard and Reeta Rao, had 50 students working in teams of three or four, examining case communities from around the world, looking at global health issues and the biological and social causes and implications of each. In B-term, the students are taking what they have learned through their activities in A-Term and using it to solve a health-related problem of their choosing.