Traditions are what draw us in and pull us back. They are cherished and revered. They give us chills and create wonderful memories of times spent on campus. Upon them, many great things can be built. They create the tie that binds the entire WPI community—the students, faculty, staff, and alumni.
As a WPI alum, you can be proud to count yourself among this illustrious group of innovative problem solvers who are always breaking new ground, seeking better solutions, and creating positive change in the world.
You are part of a worldwide network of more than 38,000 alumni who live in more than 100 countries and are working in diverse fields and professions.
Everyone has a favorite organ, says Jenna Balestrini ’09, PhD BME. Her mother, a nurse practitioner who treated burn patients, had a special interest in the skin. Her WPI mentor, Professor Kristen Billiar, is partial to the heart.
“I am definitely a lung person,” Balestrini declares. Despite her preference, she doesn’t play favorites in her work at Draper, where she heads the Cell Bioprocessing program, working on tools to create an amazing array of cures for all parts of the body.
Growing up in Detroit, Floyd Wyczalek ’46 was practically fated to work in the automobile industry. “In the 1930s, US automotive technology was equivalent to Silicon Valley,” he says. “And Detroit was the automobile capital of the world. Automobile technology was inescapable—you were immersed in it.” As a General Motors engineer in 1964, he was tapped to develop a space-age technology spun off from the Apollo moon landing: hydrogen fuel cells.
WPI's latest book, The Presiding Genius of the Place, explores the life of the late Bill Grogran '46, dean emeritus of undergraduate studies, whose influence and leadership forever changed WPI.
The Alumni Relations team is located in Higgins House.
Phone 508-831-5600 Fax 508-831-5791 alumni-office@wpi.edu
