Two pumpkins sit side by side, one with a W and one with a pi symbol carved in them.

The Month in Photos: October 2020

November 12, 2020

Halloween costumes, new faculty members, pumpkins galore, and even a little snow—it was all at WPI, and all in October. Grab a handful of leftover Halloween candy and check out what else the WPI community was up to this month.

Offices and Departments

School of Arts & Sciences

Imagine. Innovate. Integrate. Impact.

The School of Arts & Sciences touches every aspect of work at WPI. Woven throughout our disciplines, the seamless interactions between and among the arts and sciences—as well as engineering and business—allows sparks of imagination to come to life through scientific, technological, artistic, and humanistic innovation. 

Natalie Farny
Natalie Farny
Associate Professor, Biology & Biotechnology
My lab works broadly in the emerging field of synthetic biology. Synthetic biology seeks to apply engineering design principles to the understanding and creation of biological systems. I use synthetic biology to design biosensors and bioremediation strategies for various environm [...]
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Arthur Heinricher
Arthur Heinricher
Professor, Mathematical Sciences
Arthur Heinricher is a professor in the Mathematical Sciences Department at WPI.  He returned to the classroom in 2025, after serving as Dean of Undergraduate Studies for 15 years followed  by two terms as Interim Provost. Joining WPI in 1992 as a faculty member in Mathematical S [...]
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Kathryn Moncrief
Kathryn Moncrief
Professor & Department Head,
Humanities and Arts - HUA
  Kathryn M. Moncrief is Paris Fletcher Distinguished Professor of Humanities and Head of Humanities and Arts at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Worcester, MA. She was previously Professor and Chair of English at Washington College, in Chestertown, MD where she taught co [...]
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Pumpkin painting, spin art, music, and more—students who stayed on campus during the term break had no shortage of things to do (when they weren’t sleeping in and recharging for B-Term, of course).

 

Dean of Undergraduate Studies Art Heinricher’s new office hours are a walk in the park ... or, well, in this case, on the campus.

 

Space pup Hudson: astronaut, goat herder, pumpkin judge, good boy.

 

Haunted Higgins House had a new look this year as students took part in a week-long murder-mystery event spread out around the entire campus.

 

Individual photos of new WPI faculty members

We welcomed 19 new faculty members to the WPI community this year, with expertise in everything from machine learning to jazz studies.

 

It’s been an unconventional year, but one thing we can always count on? Campus coming through with that stunning foliage.

 

The show must go on, and it did—Arts & Sciences Department Head Kate Moncrief and Emily Baker ‘22 directed WPI’s production of Every Brilliant Thing, starring Fiona Doyle ‘21, as part of this year’s Arts & Sciences Week.

 

WPI’s athletes participated in the NCAA’s Diversity & Inclusion Week with some notes of encouragement to their teammates and peers.

 

Socially distanced band practice? Socially distanced band practice.

 

We didn’t expect to have to break out the shovels and snowplows this early in the season, but that’s 2020 for you.

 

Back in 2018, assistant professor of biology and biotechnology Natalie Farny and seven current and former WPI undergraduates were part of a group of 244 labs around the world that demonstrated a new way to estimate the number of bacteria in a liquid sample. Their work was recently reported in Communications Biology.

 

Have a safe and fun Halloween we did.