WPI Announcements RSS Feed

Giving Day Challenges and Matches

jlewis2 — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Thank you for your interest in offering a challenge or match gift this Giving Day!

A member of WPI University Advancement will be reaching out in the days ahead to learn about your interest and to share opportunities.

You're a fundamental part of the equation this Giving Day.

Giving Day Pie-in-the-Face Challenge

jlewis2 — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Thank you for your interest in the Pie-in-the-Face Challenge this Giving Day!

A member of WPI University Advancement will be reaching out in the days ahead with additional details and to learn more about your interest.

You're a fundamental part of the equation this Giving Day!

Professor Kevin Leahy Awarded Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award for $707K

klola — Thu, 28 Aug 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Professor Kevin Leahy from the Department of Robotics Engineering has earned the Office of Naval Research (ONR) 2025 Young Investigator Program (YIP) Award for $707,951 over the next three years. His project, 鈥淕raph Learning for Distributed Situational Awareness with Limited Communication and Localization,鈥?supports the Cooperative Autonomous Swarm Technology (CAST) initiative under ONR鈥檚 Sea Warfare and Weapons portfolio (Code 33), under the guidance of Program Officer Christine Buzzell.

Professor Leahy鈥檚 work combines graph neural networks (GNNs) with marine robotics to solve a critical challenge: coordinating teams of autonomous underwater (UUV) and surface vehicles (USV) in environments where communication and localization are deeply constrained. His team aims to determine the minimum information exchange necessary, when it鈥檚 essential, and how it affects coordinated behavior.

鈥淯nderwater environments demand a rethink of traditional swarm robotics,鈥?explains Professor Leahy. 鈥淐ameras and GPS are unreliable submerged鈥攁coustic sensing dominates, and communication bandwidth is extremely limited.鈥?His approach equips robots with the ability to infer missing information, enabling effective collaboration even with sparse communication.

This year鈥檚 award is especially significant, as it marks Professor Leahy鈥檚 final year of eligibility for ONR鈥檚 early-career funding. After earning his Ph.D. in 2017, he became ineligible for many other DoD programs鈥攜et recognized this opportunity to secure essential support for hardware-driven research.

The CAST program seeks to advance cooperative autonomy in marine environments, where conventional swarm technologies struggle. Professor Leahy鈥檚 research bridges the gap by adapting strategies from land and aerial robotic systems to underwater applications鈥攃losing a vital technological divide.

Under this award, Professor Leahy鈥檚 lab鈥?two full-time Ph.D. students and multiple summer research assistants鈥攁re deploying multiple UUVs and USVs. These pilot trials focus on real-world sensing, communication, and decentralized control, laying essential groundwork for deeper theory development during colder months.

This summer鈥檚 field deployments will establish the robots鈥?sensing and control capabilities. Over the fall and winter, attention will shift to mathematically grounding emerging theories. The lab plans to return to field tests next summer鈥攏ow backed by rigorous insights and validated infrastructure.

The potential applications extend beyond defense. Professor Leahy emphasizes the work鈥檚 significance for Bayesian search, a strategy used in the recovery of Air France flight 447, and for underwater infrastructure monitoring and marine ecological studies. His tools promise robust, scalable autonomy even when communication is unreliable.

When reflecting on how vital the ONR award has been, Professor Leahy notes that the work could not have been done without the award. Deploying a multi-robot testbed鈥攅specially underwater鈥攊s costly and complex. 鈥淐reating our testbed wouldn鈥檛 have been possible without this award,鈥?he says.

Professor Leahy offers this advice to early-career researchers: Talk to multiple program officers. 鈥淏y talking to many of them, I could target the program that was the best fit for my interests.鈥?His outreach efforts were key to aligning his work with CAST鈥檚 mission.

Gompei Appearance Request

jlewis2 — Thu, 28 Aug 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Gompei Appearance Request Form

The Student Alumni Society (SAS) is the keeper of Gompei! To request that Gompei makes an appearance at your event, please fill out the form linked above at least 2 weeks in advance of your event.

If you have any questions, you can reach the SAS Herd Chair at ahbuier@wpi.edu.

Boston-Area Meet Up Confirmation

jlewis2 — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Thank you for your RSVP! I'm looking forward to meeting you!

For any questions or if your plans change, you can reach me at 508-831-4921 or jcdevries@wpi.edu.

Johanna DeVries

Student and Young Alumni Engagement Coordinator

WPI Lifetime Engagement Office

Microsoft 365 Storage Events (September 2025)

srobsky — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Come attend one of our Microsoft 365 events for tips on how to better manage your OneDrive and Outlook storage. The drop in sessions will be your chance to ask questions or get assistance with your OneDrive and Outlook accounts. All events are in Eastern Daylight Time.

Virtual (Zoom)

September 4 - 2:30pm - 4:30pm - Drop-in session
September 11 - 3:00pm - 4:00pm - Outlook Clean Up! (webinar)
September 16 - 4:00pm - 6:00pm - Drop-in session
September 23 - 3:00pm - 4:00pm - OneDrive Clean Up! (webinar)
September 29 - 9:00am - 11:00am - Drop-in session

In-Person

September 10 - 11:00am - 1:00pm - Drop-in session - IT Service Desk in the Gordon Library
September 24 - 11:00am - 1:00pm - Drop-in session - Campus Center tables near bookstore

If you're unable to attend these sessions, then please fill out the Data Storage Management form to request assistance.

Microsoft 365 Storage Resources:

These resources will help you get started on managing your Outlook and OneDrive storage.

Storage Management FAQs
Exploring Outlook
The Inbox Cleanup Journey of an Email Hoarder by Mike Hamilton
Exploring OneDrive
OneDrive Cleanup Companion by Mike Hamilton

How Professor Kevin Leahy Brought ERAS 2025 to Life

klola — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 12:00:00 +0000

When Professor Kevin鈥疞eahy stepped into the role of General Chair for Engaging Reliable Autonomous Systems (ERAS鈥? 2025, it was not part of a long鈥憄lanned roadmap鈥攊t happened almost by chance. As Associate Co鈥慍hair of IEEE RAS鈥檚 Technical Committee (TC) on Verification of Autonomous Systems, he had successfully organized workshops and local conferences in Boston before. After gaining confidence from that experience, he offered to lead ERAS with WPI鈥檚 administrative and logistical support making WPI an ideal host for this event.

ERAS 2025 was created through a collaborative effort among three TCs in the IEEE Robotics & Automation Society (RAS) 鈥擵erification of Autonomous Systems TC, Software Engineering TC, and Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking TC. The founders wanted to foster an interdisciplinary space where diverse approaches to autonomous system reliability could meet and inspire each other, rather than each community staying within its own silo.

Under Professor Leahy鈥檚 guidance, the conference highlighted cutting-edge topics. A major focus was on the verification of AI in autonomous systems鈥攏ow a central challenge for the field. Still, another standout area was reliability in human鈥憆obot interaction: how to adapt formal methods and verification tools for everyday end users. This included approaches like user studies and eliciting formal specifications from non鈥慹xperts.

Getting ERAS off the ground was not without its hurdles. As a brand-new conference, ERAS had no inherent audience. The organizing team leaned on established IEEE RAS communities and promoted the event broadly. Confidence in attendance grew only after submissions began coming in.

One of the most significant strategic choices鈥攐ne that Professor Leahy calls a major win鈥攚as the keynote lineup. Invited were:

Ben Axelrod from the Robotics and AI Institute (formerly of iRobot), representing industry,
Craig Lennon from the U.S. Army, offering a government perspective, and
Sayan Mitra from UIUC, bringing an academic lens.

This trio of speakers reflected the spectrum of reliability concerns, from global domestic deployment to military exigencies.

The results of ERAS 2025 exceeded expectations. The inaugural conference held May 29鈥?0 at WPI culminated in a new commitment: ERAS 2026. Which will take place at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (FER), University of Zagreb, Croatia.

Looking forward, Professor Leahy envisions ERAS evolving into a vibrant, internationally inclusive community. One that aims to unite stakeholders from academia, industry, and government across various regions, dedicating an entire event to the pressing challenge of building safer, more reliable autonomous systems. In contrast to larger robotics or AI conferences where the topic might merit only a session or two, ERAS offers full immersion into this crucial field.

Leadership Transitions in Student Affairs and Enrollment Management

dfiorentino — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Dear WPI Community,

Our university has been fortunate to attract leaders whose commitment to WPI is profound and long lasting, and I am writing to let you know that two such leaders have announced their intention to retire from service鈥攁nd to share with you the leadership transition plan.

Philip Clay, senior vice president for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, will step down at the end of this academic year. Philip joined WPI in 1993 and is the living embodiment of our values and culture. Widely respected for his unwavering integrity, empathetic leadership, keen insight, and kindness, Philip has been a principled advocate for the student experience and for the university as a whole. His exceptional leadership鈥?from residential life and student affairs to enrollment management and emergency management鈥攈as been remarkably valuable to WPI. Philip proudly served on construction project teams for at least five major academic buildings and residence halls, contributing his understanding of student needs to enhance our built environment. He has provided steady guidance through transitions in campus leadership and operations鈥攁nd through the pandemic鈥攏ever compromising on doing what is right for our students and our university.

Charlie Morse, dean of Student Wellness, will retire at the end of September after a distinguished 33-year career at WPI. Charlie has played a leading role in supporting student mental health and holistic wellbeing. His deep understanding of students鈥攁nd of the rapid evolution we have seen in young peoples鈥?mental health needs鈥攈as greatly enhanced WPI's culture of care, wellness, and belonging. I am grateful for his devotion to the people of this great institution.

We will have the opportunity to celebrate each of these leaders more in the weeks and months to come.

As we prepare for these departures, we are fortunate to have exciting new leaders to step up and continue the momentum.

That is why I am proud to announce that, effective immediately, Emily Perlow, assistant vice president and dean of students, will be named vice president for Student Affairs and dean of students. Emily joined WPI in 2005 and has established herself as champion for students, dedicated to helping them make the most of their WPI experience, and an empowering mentor for her team. Her empathetic and principled leadership will continue to be valuable assets for WPI.

Emily will oversee all areas within student affairs, including career development, housing and dining, physical education, athletics, recreation, student activities and engagement, support for WPI鈥檚 diverse student populations, health and well-being, student conduct, the campus center, and the bookstore.

Emily will report to Philip until the end of 2025 to ensure a collaborative and smooth transition. Starting in January, Emily will report to me directly.

You may recall that in 2023 we consolidated enrollment management under Philip鈥檚 purview鈥攇iving him ownership of the student journey from first contact through graduation day.

Given the rapidly shifting enrollment landscape across the country and around the world, the time is right to have a dedicated leadership position, focusing on enrollment management and serving as a focal point of partnership with academic affairs, student affairs, marketing, international house, student success, pre-collegiate activities, and career development.

In this context, we will launch a national search for a chief enrollment officer, and I am confident that WPI鈥檚 institutional strength and collaborative culture will attract a highly capable pool of candidates. The chief enrollment officer will report to Senior Vice President and Provost Andrew Sears and will serve on the president鈥檚 cabinet.

Additional details will follow in time. Please join me in congratulating Emily on her well-deserved promotion. I am sure you will continue to support and collaborate with Emily and her team.

Again, I am deeply grateful for what Philip and Charlie have done for WPI. I ask that you carry their legacies forward by always showing kindness, empathy, and care for our students鈥攁nd each other鈥攁s they have demonstrated throughout their careers.

Warmly,

Grace

Wellness Day event request deadline approaching!

gheinsohn — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 12:00:00 +0000

The deadline to submit Wellness Day events is coming up! Events submitted after September 5th won't be in printed materials. Events submitted after September 11th will not be approved.

See the Wellness Days webpage for more info and FAQs.

Submit a request via this form.

Spots still open for A-term employee Student Support Network (SSN)

gheinsohn — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 12:00:00 +0000

SSN is a 6-week training course that is held for faculty and staff during A-Term each year (the other terms are when students participate), and hones participants' skills for supporting others who are experiencing distress, primarily focused on students but applicable to supporting others in your life as well. Participants will discuss mental and emotional health, how to identify the warning signs of a person who鈥檚 struggling, resources to connect them to, and more. A side benefit of participating is a chance to enrich your network of colleagues at WPI.

Meets in-person Tuesdays 12-1pm from September 2nd 鈥?October 7th (Bring your own lunch)

Register here!
Registration closes soon!

Dean of Students - Code of Conduct Release and Updates

crsharry — Mon, 25 Aug 2025 12:00:00 +0000

On August 8, the Dean of Students shared the Code of Conduct for all students. To learn more about the Code of Conduct, and what it is, check out this great resource video!

For returning students, it is important to understand the differences from one year to the next. The top changes to the code for the 2025-2026 Academic Year are summarized below.

Highlights:

After feedback from students, faculty, and staff, one of the philosophical standards was altered to more clearly articulate that WPI expects students to positively represent WPI values in all interactions.
In May 2025, the faculty approved an updated Academic Integrity Policy. You can find the updated policy in the code as well as here. If you want to learn more about Academic Integrity, you can check out this new video.
The Bias Motivated Conduct policy was removed because it duplicated the Notice of Non Discrimination, which remains in the code and is the policy which applies to both students and employees. All the identities protected under Bias Motivated Conduct are protected under the Notice of Non-Discrimination and the actions WPI would take should WPI community members report concerns are identical under both policies and remain the same. Having one policy allows for greater alignment of expectations for our community.
Clarity was provided to unauthorized access or use of facilities in alignment with campus event policies.

If you have any questions about the Code of Conduct, please contact the Dean of Students Office via email at deanofstudents@wpi.edu or stop by the 2nd Floor of the Rubin Campus Center and a staff member would be happy to assist.

2025 Presidents IQP award entry survey is now open

rmckeogh — Mon, 25 Aug 2025 12:00:00 +0000

President's IQP awards entry deadline will be Thursday September 18 at 4:00pm

Please review the entry rules and guidelines before submitting your entry.

Entry Rules and Guidelines

A project may be submitted after its completion. Completion is defined as follows: If the Registrar has recorded the Completion of Degree Requirement form (CDR), the project is completed for those students named on the forms.
A project may be submitted only once.
To enter the competition, the project author(s) must:

Submit entries via online survey (see below)
Submit an Executive Summary (file size 16MB max) of no more than five single-spaced pages in 12pt font. Note: You may revise the executive summary submitted with your final project report for this purpose. This summary should accurately represent the report and call attention to those features of the project which are felt to be outstanding and worthy of consideration by the Awards Committee. This summary is a major factor in the preliminary appraisal stage. Projects are unlikely to get beyond the preliminaries if the summary is poorly written. We urge you to discuss your Executive Summary with your advisor.
Project report. Normally, electronic copies of the project are available in the Gordon Library's database. A link to the report should be provided on the entry form. if the report is not available through the library please consult with Ruth McKeogh(rmckeogh@wpi.edu) regarding access to the report.
Notify your IQP advisor(s) that you will be entering your project in the competition.
Project advisors will be asked to comment, in writing, on the project for the Awards Committee. A positive recommendation from the advisor(s) is required before a project will move beyond the preliminary stage to the finalist stage.
Accuracy of information in this survey is important as the survey has triggers-correct spelling of names and emails

The competition winners will be announced by the judges at a reception following the oral presentations.
The competition presentation this year will be on Friday, January 30th 2026 in the Rubin Campus Center Odeum.

Submit your entry - 2025 Presidents IQP award

For any questions- contact Ruth McKeogh rmckeogh@wpi.edu The Global School

Tuition Remission & Tuition Exchange Informational Session

crudzinski1 — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 12:00:00 +0000

If you were unable to join the WPI Benefits Team and Financial Aid for the 8/19/2025 session on tuition remission and tuition exchange please visit the links below. They will provide information on eligibility, benefits, and how to navigate the tuition exchange portal.

Access the recording from this page (see highlighted button below)
View the slides

For questions, please email benefits@wpi.edu or finaid@wpi.edu.

BS/MS Month Events!

sturecek — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 12:00:00 +0000

September marks the kick-off of our BS/MS month! All month long, there will be various events geared towards students interested in learning more about how they can make the most of their time at WPI with our dual degree programs. Whether you鈥檙e just starting to explore the idea or are ready to take the next step, our various sessions will give you the insights to make an informed decision.

Take a look at our upcoming event schedule!

Ask Us Anything/Double Degree, Double the Impact

Every Tuesday in September

11am-2pm

Campus Center

Bechtel Industry Info Session (with pizza)

Wednesday, September 10

5pm-7pm

Fuller Lower Labs

*RSVP required

Fall 2025 Career Fair Tabling

Thursday, September 11

12pm-4pm

Sports & Rec Center

BS/MS Info Session (w/ popcorn and sweet treats)

Wednesday, September 17

3pm-4pm

Unity Hall 500

*RSVP required

BS/MS Question Corner: Ask Us Anything

Monday, September 22

9am-2pm

Career Corner - Unity Hall

For more information on our BS/MS programs, students can visit: /academics/undergraduate/bachelors-masters-degree?_gl=1*1of3i26*_gcl_au*NTc5MDgyMDEyLjE3NTI0OTczNzA.*_ga*NzgxNzQwNTY3LjE3NTM5Njc2NDc.*_ga_RE35PKQB7J*czE3NTU4MDIyODEkbzE0JGcxJHQxNzU1ODAyOTU3JGo2MCRsMCRoMA..

A-term Wellness Day Button Design Contest!

gheinsohn — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Help us design the A-term Wellness Day collectable button! Designs are due by Monday, September 1. See the Wellness Day page for more info.

OpenSciEd at WPI: Launching High School Science Forward

ablessington — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 12:00:00 +0000

The STEM Education Center received funding from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), to host an OpenSciEd High School Launch Training for Massachusetts educators.

During the first week of August, 35 high school science teachers, coaches, and administrators gathered at WPI to explore pedagogical shifts in science teaching and learning. Participants experienced first-hand the routines and pedagogies that make OpenSciEd unique, engaged with colleagues to review subject-specific units, and planned for successful classroom and district-level implementation.

The training also featured a dedicated administrator track, which offered insights into classroom observations, teacher support, Professional Learning Communities (PLC), and the systems and structures needed for scheduling, pacing, assessments, and grading.

We are proud to support schools and districts as they implement high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) that empower students to 鈥渇igure out鈥?and explain science phenomena as well as design solutions for real-world problems.

We are grateful for the support of members from the Events, Catering, Facilities and ATC groups for their assistance in making this event a great success!

LabTEK: Research Equipment Repository at WPI

amduffy — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 12:00:00 +0000

As WPI's research activities continue to expand, there is an increasing need for software tools that support effective communication and inform faculty, students, and staff. Recognizing this, the Research Division and Information Technology Services (ITS) have partnered to create LabTEK, a new resource designed for WPI researchers and their external collaborators.

LabTEK Lab Asset Database

LabTEK introduces a comprehensive asset database and equipment ticketing system, offering the following benefits:

Provides a more complete resource for shared capital research instrumentation.
Inform researchers about existing capabilities across the campus.
Enables efficient tracking and management of capital lab instrumentation.
Supports replacement decisions through integrated reporting tools and synchronization with Workday.
Replaces the former labequipment.wpi.edu site with more detailed information and a simplified presentation.

Initial Release

The Team has completed the initial rollout of LabTEK focusing on a subset of service centers across the WPI campus. Please visit the LabTEK website utilizing the LabTEK icon at www.help.wpi.edu

Additional communication will be forthcoming as the Team adds 鈥淧hase II鈥?of assets from the overall WPI Fixed Assets.

Feedback on the system is welcomed by emailing VPRI-shared-facilities@wpi.edu.

Professor Zheyang Wu Receives a 3-Year Grant to Develop New Statistical Tools For Large Genetic Data

skale1 — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Discovering disease-associated genes from whole genome sequencing datasets is challenging and current methods operate with low precision. Prof. Zheyang Wu, Associate Professor of Mathematical Sciences and affiliated with the Bioinformatics & Computational Biology Program and the Data Science Program, was recently awarded a 3-year project from the National Science Foundation to develop new statistical tools to enhance the power and precision of discovering disease-associated genes. By integrating diverse sources of genomic information and improving how prior knowledge and statistical evidence are combined, the project aims to uncover subtle genetic signals that might otherwise be missed. It focuses on two core challenges: (1) designing more effective weighting strategies for incorporating prior information when combining statistical significances, and (2) developing new methods to integrate discrete statistics within a general hypothesis testing framework. The project will implement and apply these approaches to whole genome sequencing data analysis.

Nature-Inspired Robotics at WPI: Meet Professor Connor McCann and the PRiSM Lab

klola — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 12:00:00 +0000

The Robotics Engineering Department is pleased to welcome Assistant Professor Connor鈥疢cCann to Worcester Polytechnic Institute as the newest addition to the department. As the founding head of the Principled Rigid-Soft Mechanisms (PRiSM) Lab, Professor McCann specializes in hybrid-stiffness robotics, combining the strength of rigid structures with the adaptability of soft materials to create mechanically intelligent robotic systems.

Amid today鈥檚 fascination with artificial intelligence, Professor McCann shifts our attention to the importance of a robot鈥檚 physical design for embodied intelligence. His research explores the subtle interaction between rigid and soft components鈥攗sing first-principles modeling, hands-on prototyping, and nature-inspired design strategies to bring robots to life.

Professor McCann鈥檚 academic journey took a turning point as an undergraduate student when an encouraging postdoctoral mentor urged him to pursue a research career. He recalls, 鈥淚 convinced my advisor to let me lead an independent project developing a dexterous robotic hand inspired by parallel mechanisms. It was really this experience that made me fall in love with research.鈥?This blend of autonomy and hands-on creativity shifted his path from industry toward academia, driven by curiosity rather than predetermined objectives.

Long before that, an earlier experience imbued his work with deep purpose. In high school, he helped engineer a makeshift walker for a two-year-old child with cerebral palsy. Professor McCann reflects, "While the technical aspects of this project were exciting, what really got me hooked on working with assistive technology was the experience of watching this little boy walk across the room for the first time鈥?it鈥檚 very rewarding when you can see the way your work is changing someone鈥檚 life right before your eyes." That profound experience shaped Professor McCann鈥檚 future in assistive robotics.

Nature rarely uses exclusively rigid or soft materials鈥攁nimals, humans included, combine both to achieve nuanced movement and control. Professor McCann鈥檚 lab mirrors that insight, using first-principles modeling and prototypes that blend soft and rigid elements to build robots capable of adaptive physical behavior.

A signature project from Professor McCann鈥檚 prior work is a wearable, inflatable robotic shoulder assistant designed to reduce fatigue during overhead tasks. The challenge? Textile materials exhibit hysteresis, where stiffness depends on how they were previously deformed鈥攎aking consistent robot control tricky. Professor McCann鈥檚 solution applies a Preisach model, a mathematical framework borrowed from magnetic hysteresis, to predict and compensate for varying response patterns after just 90 seconds of personalized calibration. This innovation brings reliability and individuality to assistive wearable robotics.

Professor McCann鈥檚 classroom reflects his research principles鈥?lt;/span>learning by building. He weaves together rigorous theory, practical projects, and commercial tools, ensuring students learn through immersive, hands-on experience. Professor McCann describes himself as 鈥渋n the trenches鈥?with students鈥攆rom undergraduate MQPs up to doctoral research鈥攖ailoring his mentorship to individual growth.

Looking ahead, Professor McCann dives into the aquatic world for inspiration. He studies the biomechanics of stingrays, whose fins combine rigid cartilage structures with soft tissues to swim with graceful efficiency. He鈥檚 assembling a research team spanning marine biology, material mechanics, soft robotics, and composites to translate that biological elegance into robotic systems, like remotely operated underwater vehicles with unprecedented agility.

In a time when headlines are dominated by artificial intelligence, Professor McCann champions a complementary yet vital concept: embodied physical intelligence鈥攖he notion that a robot鈥檚 physical design is as crucial as its computational brain. Drawing from a journey that began with crafting assistive devices in high school and now leads to groundbreaking hybrid-stiffness robotics research, Professor McCann鈥檚 path illuminates how empathy, mentorship, and interdisciplinary innovation can redefine robotics. His philosophy emphasizes that a robot's body should be as thoughtfully engineered as its code. With this vision in mind, he hopes to 鈥渨ork towards a comprehensive design theory for this new hybrid-stiffness regime, developing the modeling and design principles to bridge the gap between rigid and soft robotics.鈥?lt;/span>

Your Video Message from SAS

jlewis2 — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 12:00:00 +0000

This Homecoming, we're thrilled to put a new twist on an old tradition: Alumni Bridge Crossing!

The Student Alumni Society (SAS) can鈥檛 wait to bring the energy and school spirit in welcoming you home to the Hill!

Want a sneak peek? SAS recorded this video especially for you!

This special Bridge Crossing will kick off the return of our Homecoming Parade!

See you there?

Register for Homecoming today!

Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering Faculty Member and PhD Candidate Recognized for Service and Scholarship

jcain — Tue, 19 Aug 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Two members of the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, Assistant Professor Shichao Liu and PhD candidate Rachel Hurley, received recognition for their service and research from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) this spring. ASHRAE is an international professional society dedicated to advancing human well-being through sustainable technology for the built environment. The organization鈥檚 mission focuses on advancing the arts and sciences of heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration, and related fields. It seeks to achieve this mission in part by setting standards that help ensure people can live, work, and thrive in indoor spaces.

Shichao Liu has been recognized with a Distinguished Service Award, which is given to members of ASHRAE who have served the society faithfully and with distinction on committees or otherwise given freely of their time and talent.

Rachel Hurley is one of only 19 students worldwide selected by ASHRAE to receive the prestigious Graduate Student Grant-in-Aid for 2025鈥?6. The award provides up to $10,000 to full-time graduate students pursuing education related to heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration technologies. Hurley is one of just two of this year鈥檚 recipients also named to the Life Members Club, an honor reserved for the top-rated applicants. The award considers academic performance and GPA, quality of thesis and relevance to ASHRAE, the advisors鈥?recommendation, and an overall assessment of the likelihood for future involvement within ASHRAE. The award is supported by a financial contribution from the ASHRAE Life Members Club. Hurley will use the grant for research she is conducting during the 2025鈥?6 academic year that focuses on how building material characteristics influence volatile organic compounds from wildfire smoke when they enter an indoor environment.

The next stage of Hurley鈥檚 research will focus on the impacts of prescribed burning on indoor wildfire pollution persistence in Oregon. 鈥淵ou find yourself constantly asking different research questions during your PhD that may slightly fall outside of the scope of current projects, and awards such as the Grant-in-Aid enable me to pursue questions that I may not be able to otherwise,鈥?said Hurley. 鈥淎lthough my primary research focuses on indoor environments in wildfire-prone areas, such as the western U.S., I am very curious about the extent of indoor wildfire smoke persistence in areas impacted by long-range smoke transport, such as here in Massachusetts. For instance, how might wildfire smoke that travels to the Northeast from fires thousands of miles away threaten our indoor air quality long term? Is this a problem we should think about? These are questions that nobody knows the answers to quite yet and I鈥檓 excited to explore.鈥?lt;/span>

Lighting the Way Begins Today!

akgold — Tue, 19 Aug 2025 12:00:00 +0000

The light-painting over the entrance of the Gordon Library welcomes students and visitors to the "definition of possible" - a world of new ideas, new friendships, new creations.

Step through our front doors and you'll see friendly staff, comfortable seating and windows that look out on Worcester's trees and hills. But students have asked for more modern library lighting, and we are delighted to report that this summer we made huge progress on a goal that we've shared for years!

Gordon Library鈥檚 distinctive overhead lighting system was a cutting-edge design when the library opened its doors in 1968. But as each decade passed, the need for a modern lighting system became more compelling. Replacing the library鈥檚 legacy lights with sustainable lighting has been a much-desired goal of WPI Facilities鈥?energy savings plans.

This summer we made rapid progress toward this goal, replacing all lighting on the library鈥檚 popular upper (3rd) floor. New lighting includes sustainable recessed lights and features hanging light fixtures as well as new track lighting for gallery walls.

Please stop by, step up the stairs and enjoy the beautiful new light!

A-Term Academic Technology Support

lftapper — Mon, 18 Aug 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Ready to refresh your teaching toolkit for A-Term? Our Academic Technology team is here to support you with consultations, training, and technical assistance.

Schedule a consultation with us: atc-ttl@wpi.edu

Quick access forms

Use the forms below to request administrative tasks each term for Canvas, Lecture Capture, and borrowing wireless microphones:

Canvas Request Form - Merge sites, add users, copy content, new courses
Echo360 Lecture Capture Form - Set up automatic recording (must opt-in each term)
Classroom Microphone Request - Wireless lavalier microphones

*We are continuing to improve our form automation to better support you. If you have any issues using the forms, please email us at atc-ttl@wpi.edu.

Welcome to our newest team member!

This past May, we welcomed Kristin Marengo to the TTL Team! You might know Kristin as the Instructional Technologist for Graduate Studies. We鈥檙e very excited to have her join us here at the ATC.

We also said goodbye (and congratulations) to Mike Hamilton as he took on a new role as a Project Manager within ITS. Fortunately, he鈥檒l still be working with us here at WPI!

If you have any questions about software or projects that Mike helped you with, please email us at atc-ttl@wpi.edu and we can help!

What's new this term?

Canvas: AI & Emerging Technologies Group

Want to explore the latest Canvas features, including AI tools? TTL has set up a dedicated group where you can test new features and provide feedback. Use this form to opt-in鈥攜ou can choose to add a current course or a 鈥渢esting鈥?course.

Join AI & Emerging Technologies Experiential Canvas Group

Canvas updates

Take a look at Canvas鈥?updates to existing tools and new features that arrived this Summer.

Changes to Adobe Licensing

Be on the lookout for an email regarding changes to our Adobe Licensing structure that will improve student access to the Adobe Creative Suite for those who require it for academic coursework.

Walk-in hours at the TTL Office

Canvas Clinic

Does your Canvas course site need a check up? Come drop by ATC鈥檚 Canvas Clinic open office hours to get help beginning August 26th and then offered every Tuesday through September. Drop by the TTL Office in Gordon Library 225, Tuesdays 2:00 PM 鈥?3:00PM.

We鈥檒l have staff on-call for your Canvas design questions, tech support, or just reassurance or feedback. Want to learn different ways to take attendance? Learn to create a custom landing page? No appointments necessary, walk-ins welcome. Whether you just want a place to work without interruption, or need a total site overhaul, we鈥檙e here to help.

Upcoming workshops

The TTL Team has a number of workshops scheduled for A-Term. View the Schedule

Need help with a specific tool?

Canvas LMS: Course websites, assessments, grades 鈫?Complete Canvas Guide | canvashelp@wpi.edu
Zoom & Echo360: Web conferencing and lecture capture 鈫?jcotnoir@wpi.edu | echocapture@wpi.edu
Video Storage: Dedicated servers for large media files 鈫?Storage Solutions Guide | atc-ttl@wpi.edu
Interactive Tools: Increase student engagement 鈫?Poll Everywhere | atc-ttl@wpi.edu
STEM Assessment: Gradescope 鈫?| atc-ttl@wpi.edu
Content Creation: Adobe AI, Camtasia 鈫?Media Creation Resources | jmonaco@wpi.edu

Learn at your own pace

The TTL team offers many asynchronous training opportunities:

Training Library - 45-minute recorded sessions
Micro-Trainings 鈥?Learn something new in 10-minutes or less
TTL Blog - Latest resources and tech updates

Questions? Email atc-ttl@wpi.edu | Monday-Friday, 8am-4:30pm

Update to Affinity Lounges

dfiorentino — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Dear WPI Community,

We are writing to share an important update about the Lotus Lounge, Center for Black Excellence, and Lavender Lounge in the Rubin Campus Center. In the coming weeks, these spaces will be transformed into a unified, multipurpose suite known as The Collective. This reimagined space will feature dedicated rooms for socializing, collaboration, and independent study.

Formation of The Collective is grounded in community feedback from our spring focus groups. We learned from students, particularly those with intersecting identities, that the current structure of lounges does not always reflect the complexity of their lived experience. Second, these spaces do not meet students鈥?growing demand for flexible, multiuse spaces; students have told us they want dedicated spaces to study, collaborate, recharge, and socialize.

We made this decision carefully and with student input, as we understand the personal and cultural significance these rooms hold. We affirm and recognize the identities, experiences, and needs of WPI students. Everyone is free to be exactly who they are in every room on our campus, especially at The Collective. Our goal is to respect, honor, celebrate, and learn from one another in this inclusive environment.

At the same time, we also must ensure that our practices remain aligned with the original intent for these spaces: to foster inclusion and meet the practical needs of our student body. The Collective is our response to this moment, acknowledging the breadth of our student body while introducing new spaces for practical use.

We understand that this transition may raise questions or concerns, and we are committed to transparency and continued collaboration. Over the coming weeks you鈥檒l see the space fully transformed and we hope to see you at the open house we鈥檒l host. In the coming days, we will share additional details, including opportunities for continued student input and involvement in shaping The Collective.

Thank you for your partnership as we continue our work of building an innovative, inclusive, and respectful WPI.

Emily Perlow

Assistant Vice President and Dean of Students

Brittany Frederick

Director, Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Multicultural Education

Impressive Passwords - SECURE IT August 2025

srobsky — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 12:00:00 +0000

What type of password takes over 12 billion years to crack? The answer is in this month's SECURE IT newsletter!

In this issue:

From WPI's CISTO: What Did AI Capture from Your Meeting?
Time it Takes to Brute Force a Password in 2025
Password Cracking Techniques & AI
Make a Strong Password
Learning with Laughter
Password Managers
Password Habits Statistics
Meet Jim MacDonald!
Featured Videos & By the Numbers
Passwords in the News
Expired Password Phishing Scams
Diversity in Cybersecurity
Coming Next Month...