Launching a project center, like the new Montreal Project Center in Canada, might seem like a quick task. In fact, it takes the Global Projects Program team years of building connections and networks in a new location before the logistics and details for housing, transportation, project sponsors, and advisors come into focus.
“The Montreal Project Center has been at least five years in the making,” says Laura Roberts, assistant teaching professor in The Global School. Roberts, who is co-directing the Montreal Project Center with Grant Burrier, associate professor of teaching in The Global School, says a pilot group of nearly two dozen students is excited to head to a northern city this C-Term.
Roberts, whose birth during the infamous Blizzard of ’78 might have foretold her devotion to the coldest season, is excited to experience Montreal’s thriving approach to wintertime and share that delight with students. The city celebrates, rather than bemoans, winter’s icy grip, notes Roberts, while also showcasing a culture and dependable infrastructure that adapts to the fluctuating temperatures.
While considering project center options for their Interactive Qualifying Project (IQP) or Major Qualifying Project (MQP), many students, says Roberts, opt to remain closer to Worcester. A little more than a five-hour drive from WPI, French-speaking Montreal offers the cultural environment of Europe—one markedly different than that of campus—without a plane ride.
That’s one of the reasons Mishalena Raduazo ’28 headed north for C-Term. She says the city presented an excellent opportunity for her education and offered a setting that supports her budding foreign-language skills. “I chose Montreal as my IQP location because I’m currently learning French and really wanted the chance to be in a bilingual city where I could practice it in everyday life,” she says, noting that Montreal’s reputation for innovation piqued her interest, as it signaled unique project work.
Nearly 275 students will be completing projects at more than a dozen of WPI’s global project centers in C-Term.
IQP
Bangkok, Thailand, with advisors Doug Creed (Department of Integrative and Global Studies) and Liz Ryder (DIGS)
Cuenca, Ecuador, with advisors Kris Wobbe (DIGS) and Ted Clancy (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
Ghana Development Design Lab, with advisors Kris Billiar (Biomedical Engineering) and Kwabena Kyei-Aboagye Jr. (DIGS)
Hong Kong, China, with advisors Stephan Sturm (Mathematical Sciences) and Katherine Foo (DIGS)
Honolulu, Hawaii, with advisors Rick Vaz (DIGS) and Chrys Demetry (DIGS)
London, England, with advisors Lauren Mathews (Biology and Biotechnology) and Suzanne LePage (Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering)
Monteverde, Costa Rica, with advisors Lisa Stoddard (DIGS) and Anne Ogilvie (staff)
Montreal, Canada, with advisors Laura Roberts (DIGS) and Grant Burrier (DIGS)
San Jose, Costa Rica, with advisors Lina Munoz-Marquez (Humanities and Arts) and Alejandro Manga (DIGS)
San Juan, Puerto Rico, with advisors John-Michael Davis (DIGS) and Jessica Santos-Lopez (DIGS)
Wellington, New Zealand, with advisors Holly Ault (DIGS) and Esther Boucher-Yip (HUA)
Worcester, Mass., with advisor Courtney Kurlanska (DIGS)
MQP
Gallo-Modesto, Calif., with center directors Elizabeth Stewart (Chemical Engineering) and Eric Young (CHE)
Honolulu, Hawaii, with center director Lauren Mathews (BBT)
Nancy, France, with center director Steve Kmiotek (CHE)
Basel, Switzerland, with center directors Nancy Burnham (Physics) and Stephan Sturm (MS)
People
