Global Opportunities Fair to Highlight More than 30 WPI Project Centers on Five Continents

As many as 700 students expected to attend fair, where they will learn about new project centers in Russia, India, New Zealand, Albania and Maine
August 31, 2012

What: Global Opportunities Fair

Who: WPI’s Interdisciplinary and Global Studies Division (IGSD) will host the event.

When: Tuesday, Sept. 4, from 4-6 p.m.

Where: Campus Center Odeum, WPI

More Information: Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s (WPI) Global Opportunities Fair gives students firsthand insight into one of the most distinctive aspects of WPI’s unique interdisciplinary project-based curriculum, which has been the core of the university’s undergraduate program for more than four decades. WPI’s curriculum enable students to apply the knowledge they gain in the classroom and lab as they seek solutions to real-world challenges ranging from historic preservation to environmental responsibility.

The fair is designed to allow students to learn more about WPI’s varied global projects and to speak with project center directors. Representatives from more than 30 project centers will be at the fair, and up to 700 students are expected to attend. Students can gain information on the project sites, participation costs, and financial aid availability.

WPI has recently added five new project center locations: The Bar Harbor site debuted this summer, the New Zealand project site will be offered in the spring of 2013, and the university is about to recruit the first teams of students who will venture to Russia, India and Albania during the 2013-14 academic year.

Bar Harbor projects involve research into the preservation, improvement, appreciation, and sustainability of the natural environment. Projects in New Zealand will involve collaboration with government organizations and non-government organizations on issues related to environment, technology and society.

Moscow projects will focus on the marketing and commercialization of small appliances, industrial safety, and preservation of cultural heritage and nature sites. Students at the India site will collaborate with Indian Institute of Technology on social and environmental issues such as land use and water quality. Albania projects will focus on environmental issues, education, tourism and business.

In the coming weeks, students will have the opportunity to apply to these and other, ongoing project centers at sites such as Boston, Washington, D.C., and Santa Fe, N.M., in the United States and London, England; Venice, Italy; and Cape Town, South Africa, overseas.