In the News

The Telegram & Gazette noted WPI in its College Town section (scroll down to third item). “After having to postpone in-person graduations last year due to the pandemic, Worcester Polytechnic Institute will celebrate its class of 2020 at a commencement ceremony this weekend,” the article stated.

The Boston Globe quoted President Leshin in the front-page article. “The Delta variant is the wild card all of higher ed is watching now,” Leshin, who leads the Massachusetts Higher Education Working Group, told The Globe. “University COVID response teams across the state are actively tracking and planning for a variety of scenarios.”

WBUR reported on (scroll down to 13th item at 20:04:50 mark)  Andrew Clark, assistant professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering, using the five-year, $500,000 CAREER Award to build algorithms and use machine learning that can identify and filter out erroneous information created when a hacker breaches a system’s typical first-line security measures, like firewalls, firmware protections, and automatic bug fixes.

The Telegram & Gazette noted work by Reeta Rao, professor in the Department of Biology and Biotechnology, in their article. Rao is working with researchers from the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, on a one-year project to screen analogs of a plant-derived compound as a potential prophylactic or therapeutic against Candida auris (C. auris) and soil-transmitted parasites such as hookworms, whipworms, and ascarids.

Provost Wolo Soboyejo was interviewed for the article which appeared in The Business Journals chain of newspapers across the country, including in Washington, Denver, Albany, and Memphis. “I think this is a conversation that our peers should be having across the country,” Soboyejo said. “I think it's an important dialogue that could really help shape the future of higher ed. How do we give security and academic freedom to faculty so that they can engage our students in environments that are truly transformative?”

President Leshin was featured in the Pasadena Now article. The award noted Leshin (MS ‘89, PhD ‘95) “‘for her barrier-breaking leadership at universities such as Worcester Polytechnic Institute, which has been recognized for both teaching and research excellence and essential strides in diversity, equity, and inclusion under her guidance as the first woman to serve as president; and for her accomplishments as a distinguished geochemist and space scientist.’”

The Worcester Business Journal reported on Assistant Professor of Biology and Biotechnology Amity Manning’s grant from the American Cancer Society to support research that could possibly lead to future cancer therapies.

CBS affiliate WAGM (Maine) highlighted WPI’s Interactive Media and Game Development (IMGD) program, noting it is one of the earliest gaming programs in the nation, as part of a segment on a local teenager who was accepted at WPI, his self-proclaimed dream school (5:39:42 mark)! The report also noted high marks the Princeton Review has given WPI’s IMGD in past rankings. Meanwhile, WPI was the only school Daniel Brower applied to. “I was freaking out all day because acceptance letters were coming out at 5 p.m. online,” Brower said. “I opened it. I was like, ‘yes!’”  In fact, he said he is following in the footsteps of his great-grandfather, who was also accepted at WPI but never attended due to his serving in the military during World War II.  

Singapore News Tribe, Malaysian Tribune, and LAO PDR News Gazette printed an article that included comments from Lauren Mathews, associate professor, Biology and Biotechnology, about a study finding that antidepressants in waterways can affect crayfish behavior and the food chain.

New England Cable News (NECN), (7:25:21 mark), featured civil and environmental engineering associate professor Nima Rahbar’s research into a new self-healing concrete.

(6:54:52 mark) highlights civil and environmental engineering associate professor Nima Rahbar’s research into a new self-healing concrete.

Physics World detailed a paper authored by David Medich, associate professor, Physics, in the article, “Novel Brachytherapy Device Treats Eye Cancer with Intensity-Modulated Radiation.” “David Medich, an associate professor of physics at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, was explaining why internal radiation, or brachytherapy, may be preferable for treating ocular melanomas over external-beam radiation therapy: using brachytherapy to deliver radiation to an ocular tumour also protects healthy tissues and critical structures, like the optic nerve and retina, from radiation-induced damage,” the article stated.

WPI was noted in The Wall Street Journal as one of two universities whose graduates were among new hires at Moderna in the article, “Moderna Plans to Expand Production to Make Covid-19 Vaccine Boosters, Supply More Countries.” A company official described the hires as “a mix of people with experience in biotech manufacturing as well as fresh college graduates with engineering and chemistry degrees from nearby universities including Northeastern University and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.”

Michael Horan, WPI’s newly announced chief financial officer and executive vice president, was featured in the Worcester Business Journal article. He’ll replace Jeffrey Solomon, who is retiring, the article noted.

NASA Tech Briefs included the WPI YouTube video, “Advancing Medical Robots at WPI” and noted, separately, how in 2015, Greg Fischer, professor of robotics engineering and mechanical engineering, along with fellow researchers built a robot that finds its way through a patient to potentially dangerous tissue, using real-time images from an MRI as a navigational guide.

Provost Wole Soboyejo was quoted about The Global School in the Worcester Business Journal article, Hiring WPI's Global Dean Marks Milestone in International Projects Program. He told the WBJ that the school’s arrival–coinciding with a pandemic–brought a sense of deeper meaning: “It really addressed its greater sense of purpose,” Soboyejo said. “It helped identify the global great challenges, such as, ‘How do we bring teams together on matters like this, matters such as global public safety?’ It has shown that the school is more important than ever.” The article added, “The brainchild of WPI President Laurie Leshin, the school is an umbrella to existing units such as the Department of Integrative and Global Studies and the Global Experience office–which helps students ready for off-campus travel–as well as the Global Lab.

Space Weekly, Wonderful Engineering,  Phys.org, and Mashable (on Twitter) reported on WPI researchers using an enzyme found in red blood cells to create self-healing concrete that is four times more durable than traditional concrete, extending the life of concrete-based structures and eliminating the need for expensive repairs or replacements.

Civil and environmental engineering associate professor Nima Rahbar’s research into a new self-healing concrete was featured in Fast Company.

NBC10 interviewed Sarah Strauss, professor, integrative and global studies, for its report on WPI’s new master of science program in Community Climate Adaptation. “We wanted to use the existing infrastructure and extend it to the master’s level to create an interdisciplinary with the specific goal of helping communities adapt to the impacts of climate change,” Strauss said

International Firefighter included WPI in the article, “Measuring What We Value: to Unlock a Budget for Emergency Services, We Need to be Able to Point to Success Around the World.” “All sides agreed that measuring public support and satisfaction was simultaneously one of the most important metrics to decision makers and rarely studied – a subject that GESA (Global Emergency Services Action) is beginning to tackle, working with Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s Global Center for Public Safety. We need to build the tools to help practitioners track the success metrics that are important to them and the communities they serve – but we can’t do it alone,” the article stated.