East Asia Hub | Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Banner image with multiple photos of cities in China

WPI East Asia Hub, established in July 2013, seeks to be one of the hallmarks of WPI's future competitiveness in global engagement and partnership, working closely with The Global School.

Mission

The East Asia Hub mission is to develop and implement a centralized strategy at WPI to:

Advance on-campus and off-campus knowledge of East Asia through WPI’s project based learning curriculum as well as through programmatic offerings
Support various on-campus extracurricular activities that will expand and enhance the experience, knowledge, skillsets, and capabilities of students, faculty, staff and the business community with respect to East Asia
Collaborate and lead education and research programs between WPI and East Asian partners, looking at common goals, processes, and technologies by sharing resources and expertise
Facilitate innovation and entrepreneurship by supporting new research collaboration ventures between WPI faculty/staff/students and peers in East Asia

WPI’s East Asia Hub links students and faculty to opportunities for project sites, research collaboration, and intellectual and cultural exchange, with Hub activities taking place on campus and in various East Asian countries.

A Strong Foundation

Our engagements with China are built from strong foundations that encompass longstanding relationships and well-established initiatives at home and abroad.

Over 350 WPI students traveling to six major cities in China, immersed in the culture and working alongside numerous Chinese academic, government and corporate partners to tackle and solve challenges facing local communities;
A growing Chinese population of nearly 700 WPI students, and increasing educational offerings in Chinese study at home and through innovative exchange programs abroad;
Extensive faculty research and collaborations with Chinese colleagues that address diverse issues of local and international importance;
Interactions with the Massachusetts business community to increase our understanding of how to work with and engage Chinese markets.

New Opportunities for Engagement

The great successes our students and faculty have already achieved in China have created a momentum for intensifying our impact through increased collaborations with Chinese partners. We will continue to strategically hone our engagements with China to target urgent challenges in a more robust, multifaceted manner as we create a dynamic hub of connections that reach across physical boundaries.