The Innovation Studio

From the bustling McDonough Makerspace to the high-tech classrooms to the welcoming café, WPI’s distinctive project-based approach comes to life in The Innovation Studio. Here, students, faculty, staff, and industry and community partners gather to delve into the whispers of “what if… .” Atop The Innovation Studio, Messenger Residence Hall promotes integrated living and learning.

No matter your discipline, department, degree, or role, you’ll come to this place and find a community of like-minded people and the freedom to make discoveries that will change the world.

Hours of Operation

Summer Hours

Monday – Saturday, 8a – 6p

Sunday, Closed


Normal Academic Term Hours

Monday – Thursday, 7:30a – 12:00a

Friday, 7:30a – 1:00a

Saturday, 8a – 1:00a

Sunday, 7a – 12:00a

Questions?

If you have any questions you may contact our general email: innovationstudio@wpi.edu.

For questions about the Rapid Prototyping Lab, contact Mitra Anand, Makerspace Advanced Technology and Prototyping Specialist by email: mvanand@wpi.edu.

For questions about the Makerspace, contact Adam Sears, Director of The Innovation Studio Operations by email: asears@wpi.edu.

Preview

Submitting Content Ideas for Digital Screens

We welcome input regarding the content featured on the large feature wall and the vestibule display screen in The Innovation Studio. If you are interested in sharing new content ideas for the digital screens, please complete this input form to submit ideas. Visit The Innovation Studio digital screen governance for more details on content, publishing and use of these screens.

Open Spaces. Open Minds. Open Possibilities.

Planned to encourage open minds through open spaces and the right tools to realize a vision, the distinct areas arranged within The Innovation Studio’s 78,000 sq. ft. area will spark ingenuity. Check out the information display at the Quad entrance for a stream of weather, news, social feeds, activities, stories about donors, and WPI announcements.

McDonough Makerspace and Fitzgerald Prototype Lab

Super glue, Teflon, microwave ovens—accidental discoveries all. With the invitation to create, model, and test new ideas and state-of-the-art equipment (like rapid prototype 3-D printers), we can only imagine what’s going to come out of the makerspace. Inspiring unstructured creation, this is where the smallest connection can start the biggest change.

Aberdale Active Learning Classroom

What makes active learning classrooms different? Lots! This classroom uses space and furnishings with intention—to help students gather in groups or so faculty members may teach while moving around the room. The focus for this space: WPI’s Great Problems Seminar.

Noiles Teaching Laboratory

All robots, all the time. This teaching lab might look like a futuristic playhouse, but the work done here will change the way surgeries are performed, caretaking happens, manufacturing is produced, and music is played. It’s all about the robots—and it’s a blast.

Class of 1964 Connections Gallery

At the two-story video feature wall, take in the compelling and inspirational visual representations of the WPI Plan ideals. See the places we send our students around the world, stories and activities of students and alumni, and the complexities of our science and technology scholarship.

Oliver Active Learning Classrooms

Additional space for active learning classrooms welcomes larger groups and more opportunity for students to engage with the curriculum and each other.

Global Lab with Scherer Video Recording Suite

A global education is a WPI hallmark, and the Global Lab brings together project-based learning, digital storytelling, and engagement with our partners around the world. Here, we explore how audio/visual tools and emergent media technologies can deepen collaboration, expand the impacts of global partnerships, and provide new opportunities for reflecting, learning, and sharing.

Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center

This space aligns entrepreneurial activities across campus and across disciplines and connects WPI innovators to commercial and venture capital opportunities. Whether seeking advice, bouncing ideas around, learning from failures, or celebrating successes, the expertise, camaraderie, and resources here will stimulate innovation throughout the WPI community.

Flight Simulator Soars in The Innovation Studio

Thank You to Our Donors

Like Alumni Gym that stood in this place, this building—and the opportunities it holds—is made possible by the generosity and vision of alumni donors and other friends of WPI. Our donor wall located at the main entrance off the Quad acknowledges the people and organizations who have helped make the Innovation Studio a reality. We are grateful to them all.