One is so proficient with robotics that he was called upon to assemble a team to fix the Miami police bomb squad’s robot when the city had no funds for the work.
Members of the Class of 2018 participate in a rally in Harrington Auditorium as part of New Student Orientation.
Another is a national table tennis champ of Vietnam.
One has medaled at a prestigious sporting event; one has participated in Revolutionary War reenactments—one can tick off 1,000 digits of Pi.
“It’s always interesting to hear how students are getting involved and making themselves known outside the classroom,” says Dean of Admissions Ed Connor ’92.
WPI students past and present have long been known for their ingenuity, creativity, and entrepreneurial spirit – and the incoming class is no exception. Selected from a record 10,233 applicants, the roughly 1,050 incoming students – who began classes on August 28 – not only represent the top echelon of their high school classes, but have achieved a panoply of eclectic personal accomplishments.
As for their academic interests at WPI? Mechanical engineering is by far the most popular major, Connor says, and biomedical engineering numbers are growing. He also noted a rebound in computer science majors, which had been dropping off—he credits that to the fact that the discipline affords numerous possibilities in any number of fields, such as robotics engineering and interactive media and game development. Plus, there are the major draws of the salary potential and job opportunities.