At WPI, learning has always been about combining theory and practice. WPI graduates emerge ready to take on critical challenges in science and technology, knowing how their work can impact society and improve the quality of life. WPI's academic departments offer undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science, engineering, technology, business and management, the social sciences, and the humanities and arts, leading to the BA, BS, MS, ME, MBA and Ph.D. Our world-class faculty is both renowned and accomplished--and they are accessible, priding themselves on the quality time they invest in their students.
While our foundation has held firm, we pride ourselves on continuing to modernize the curriculum and our teaching practices. The prestigious 2016 Bernard M. Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Education is a nod both to our history and to our future, recognizing WPI's project-based curriculum developing leadership, innovative problem-solving, interdisciplinary collaboration, and global competencies. Arguably every student who attends WPI learns to think like an engineer these days. There is just as much attention to assuring our students to think like entrepreneurs. Choosing a college is an important decision. We know you have many excellent options from which to choose. That is why it is essential to see how a WPI education will return a lifetime of dividends. It is also essential to know that we're here to help make your dream of a WPI education a reality.
Through WPI's distinctive plan, you'll learn how to learn by applying your classroom experiences in research and projects that challenge you from a proficiency, social, and global perspective.
Innovative thinkers, makers, and problem-solvers tend to flourish in an environment that supports and rewards rigorous, cross-disciplinary work at the cutting edge of discovery.Building on the university's current and historical strengths and seizing emerging opportunities in some of the most currently important multidisciplinary areas, WPI has developed five cross-cutting research areas as part of its new university-wide strategic plan.
WPI's research in health and biotechnology crosses multiple disciplines. It embraces a wide range of focus areas—all with the goals of expanding our understanding of the living world and improving lives. Researchers are exploring ways to apply knowledge from the life sciences to advance medical practice and improve healthcare outcomes from leading-edge work in tissue regeneration to building smartphone apps that help patients better manage their health.
WPI researchers are advancing the technology of robotics and cyber-physical systems and exploring applications for these technologies in a broad range of areas, from healthcare (MRI-compatible robots) to transportation (autonomous and connected vehicles). Having launched the nation's first undergraduate program in robotics engineering in 2007, the university continues to pioneer advances and breakthroughs in the field.
WPI's multidisciplinary research program in materials science and engineering is motivated by the recognition that the nation's future economic vitality will depend on the development of novel materials inspired by nature and more durable and sustainable materials for our nation's infrastructure. Researchers are finding new technologies that can recover and reuse materials and drive advanced manufacturing in a variety of industries to fuel economic development and job creation. Traditionally a leader in all of these fields, WPI hosts several internationally known materials and manufacturing centers.
WPI is engaged in cybersecurity research that is addressing a host of security threats and critical policy issues. Researchers in data science are spearheading initiatives that use advanced tools, from data mining to machine learning, to bring insights to a broad range of fields. In fire protection engineering, faculty members and students apply advanced experimental and computational techniques to address a wide range of fire safety issues in state-of-the-art facilities. All the efforts in this area are working toward a common theme—to keep us safer in a complicated world.
WPI researchers in learning sciences are pioneering new technologies, and gaining new insights into how students learn, work that has the power to revolutionize the nation's education system. With expertise in such areas as intelligent tutors, wearable learning technologies, gamification, and educational data mining, and with substantial funding from an array of federal agencies, research teams are looking for powerful new ways to make learning and teaching more productive impactful.
WPI is host to a diverse portfolio of research institutes and centers, from leading international centers on materials, metals, and recycling, to healthcare delivery technologies, and fire safety innovations for first responders. These facilities serve as critical points of convergence for the experience of WPI's faculty and students.
At WPI, we know that the best way for students to understand and appreciate societal issues is to experience them firsthand. Through our Global Projects Program, WPI science, engineering, and business students immerse themselves in new cultures and tackle unstructured problems in ways that are meaningful to local sponsors in real communities. Our diverse project centers—strategically positioned in locations ranging from large international cities to small mountainside villages—are host to interdisciplinary and major capstone projects, and humanities, and art projects. As well, students can participate in language immersion and exchange programs.
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