WPI provides an environment that values both teaching and research, which is ideal for me. I enjoy teaching at WPI because students are interested in learning and willing to work hard. My teaching focuses on how business, healthcare, and nonprofit organizations can best use computing technologies, such as database systems, electronic health records systems, and mobile apps. Students in my classes learn to design computing applications that meet the needs of organizations. Students understand the value of learning these topics, and as a result, they work hard to learn the principles and how to apply them to real organizational problems.
I also enjoy working closely with student teams on their MQP and IQP projects, which I help them set up in sponsoring organizations. For example, one of my IQP teams developed a multilingual website for the Family Health Center of Worcester. One of my MQP teams developed a prototype dashboard for executives at The Hanover Group to help them monitor progress of computer application development projects. Another MQP team did a data analytics project for a healthcare organization that examined its physician-patient communication patterns on the patient portal. These projects involve students in finding solutions to current problems in organizations, and they keep me up-to-date with the computing concerns of organizations.
My research program supports my teaching interests. I work with organizations to help them determine how best to use computing technologies. With funding from the National Science Foundation, I and an interdisciplinary team of researchers studied of how healthcare providers can use electronic health records systems to improve the quality of, and access to healthcare, while also reducing costs. Another NSF funded project is developing a diabetes support app. The executives I meet through my research often come to WPI to talk in student classes. My students have the most recent information about how computing technologies are being used in organizations because I integrate the knowledge gained from my research into my teaching.
Research Interests
News
Media Coverage
The Worcester Business Journal reported on work funded by a $1.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a new smartphone app to monitor chronic wounds. The work is led by Emmanuel Agu, associate professor of computer science and coordinator of WPI’s Mobile Graphics Research Group, with co-principal investigators professor Diane Strong and associate professor Bengisu Tulu, both of the Foisie Business School, and Peder Pedersen, a retired professor of electrical and computer engineering.