Note: Some media outlets require users to log-in. The Gordon Library offers the WPI community free access to a number of newspapers. Visit newspaper database for details.
Cyberattacks on critical US infrastructure keep happening. How worried should we be?
Professor Craig Shue, head of the computer science department, provided analysis for this USA Today article on the impact and frequency of cyberattacks that probe critical networks.
Central Mass Town Square reports on a well known Worcester artist who is bringing WPI’s newest mural to life. The painting “Diversity in STEM” is the Class of 2021’s gift to the university and has a very visible and important message.
The director of WPI’s Venice Project Center, Fabio Carrera, was interviewed for the Conde Nast Traveler article. Carrera argues that developing tech and other entrepreneurial industries independent of tourism will create a more livable Venice—and a more attractive home base for new residents.
The Telegram & Gazette highlighted Justin Amevor, a second-year graduate student majoring in computer science who launched DoughBoyz Breakfast this summer. DoughBoyz is a social justice and sustainability foundation serving food to insecure college students and underserved communities.
The reporter writes “it looks a little like magic” when referring to Professor Nima Rahbar’s research into self-healing concrete. However the Fast Company article takes a much deeper look at the problem of degrading concrete and the solution the WPI team is developing.
Spectrum News 1 aired a story about the new and first ever exterior mural at WPI. The mural was a gift from the class of 2021 and reflects the diversity, equity and inclusion on campus.
Farnoush Reshadi, assistant professor in The Business School, was featured in an "Ask the Experts" piece in WalletHub, a personal finance website. The article focused on advice for people trying to find a personal loan and characteristics of good personal loans.
The Telegram & Gazette noted WPI in its College Town section (scroll down to third item). “After having to postpone in-person graduations last year due to the pandemic, Worcester Polytechnic Institute will celebrate its class of 2020 at a commencement ceremony this weekend,” the article stated.
The Boston Globe quoted President Leshin in the front-page article. “The Delta variant is the wild card all of higher ed is watching now,” Leshin, who leads the Massachusetts Higher Education Working Group, told The Globe. “University COVID response teams across the state are actively tracking and planning for a variety of scenarios.”
WBUR reported on (scroll down to 13th item at 20:04:50 mark) Andrew Clark, assistant professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering, using the five-year, $500,000 CAREER Award to build algorithms and use machine learning that can identify and filter out erroneous information created when a hacker breaches a system’s typical first-line security measures, like firewalls, firmware protections, and automatic bug fixes.
Provost Wolo Soboyejo was interviewed for the article which appeared in The Business Journals chain of newspapers across the country, including in Washington, Denver, Albany, and Memphis. “I think this is a conversation that our peers should be having across the country,” Soboyejo said. “I think it's an important dialogue that could really help shape the future of higher ed. How do we give security and academic freedom to faculty so that they can engage our students in environments that are truly transformative?”
President Leshin was featured in the Pasadena Now article. The award noted Leshin (MS ‘89, PhD ‘95) “‘for her barrier-breaking leadership at universities such as Worcester Polytechnic Institute, which has been recognized for both teaching and research excellence and essential strides in diversity, equity, and inclusion under her guidance as the first woman to serve as president; and for her accomplishments as a distinguished geochemist and space scientist.’”
The Telegram & Gazette noted work by Reeta Rao, professor in the Department of Biology and Biotechnology, in their article. Rao is working with researchers from the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, on a one-year project to screen analogs of a plant-derived compound as a potential prophylactic or therapeutic against Candida auris(C. auris) and soil-transmitted parasites such as hookworms, whipworms, and ascarids.
The Worcester Business Journal reported on Assistant Professor of Biology and Biotechnology Amity Manning’s grant from the American Cancer Society to support research that could possibly lead to future cancer therapies.
CBS affiliate WAGM (Maine) highlighted WPI’s Interactive Media and Game Development (IMGD) program, noting it is one of the earliest gaming programs in the nation, as part of a segment on a local teenager who was accepted at WPI, his self-proclaimed dream school (5:39:42 mark)! The report also noted high marks the Princeton Review has given WPI’s IMGD in past rankings. Meanwhile, WPI was the only school Daniel Brower applied to. “I was freaking out all day because acceptance letters were coming out at 5 p.m. online,” Brower said. “I opened it. I was like, ‘yes!’” In fact, he said he is following in the footsteps of his great-grandfather, who was also accepted at WPI but never attended due to his serving in the military during World War II.
Singapore News Tribe, Malaysian Tribune, and LAO PDR News Gazette printed an article that included comments from Lauren Mathews, associate professor, Biology and Biotechnology, about a study finding that antidepressants in waterways can affect crayfish behavior and the food chain.
New England Cable News (NECN), (7:25:21 mark), featured civil and environmental engineering associate professor Nima Rahbar’s research into a new self-healing concrete.
Physics World detailed a paper authored by David Medich, associate professor, Physics, in the article, “Novel Brachytherapy Device Treats Eye Cancer with Intensity-Modulated Radiation.” “David Medich, an associate professor of physics at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, was explaining why internal radiation, or brachytherapy, may be preferable for treating ocular melanomas over external-beam radiation therapy: using brachytherapy to deliver radiation to an ocular tumour also protects healthy tissues and critical structures, like the optic nerve and retina, from radiation-induced damage,” the article stated.
WPI was noted in The Wall Street Journal as one of two universities whose graduates were among new hires at Moderna in the article, “Moderna Plans to Expand Production to Make Covid-19 Vaccine Boosters, Supply More Countries.” A company official described the hires as “a mix of people with experience in biotech manufacturing as well as fresh college graduates with engineering and chemistry degrees from nearby universities including Northeastern University and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.”
