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President Grace J. Wang was named to the annual list which was featured in The Boston Globe Magazine as part of its Women & Power issue. The list was created by The Women’s Edge, a nonprofit that supports female business leaders, and celebrates the state’s leading companies and nonprofit organizations led by women. The group examined 2023 revenue or operating budget as well as other variables and ranked organizations according to its own formula.
In the Telegram & Gazette editorial, President Leshin joined regional private college presidents requesting a role in the state’s new focus on private college accountability spurred by recent college closings in Mass. “We wish to share our collective wisdom and collaborate on the development of this new financial assessment tool that will enable colleges and universities to address short and long-term challenges and, of paramount importance, protect our students,” the editorial stated.
NBC 10 (Boston)and sister stationNew England Cable Newsfeatured research by WPI Fire Protection Engineering in this report. Fire Protection Engineering Associate Professor Kathy Ann Notarianni told the station that while the protective gear the firefighters wear has improved, the hoses are virtually the same as those used a half-century ago.
Worcester News Tonight covered WPI's celebration and presentation of the 50th anniversary of NASA sending men to the moon, which included James L. Green, NASA chief scientist, and Steven M. Rothstein, executive director of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. President Laurie Leshin moderated the discussion, which covered the historical perspective of the United States’ participation in the Space Race against the Soviet Union, how Apollo 11’s legacy still lives on 50 years later, and other topics. (Clip starts at 4:04 mark)
Diversity in Action magazine highlighted WPI's new Master of Science program in Neuroscience, which was spearheaded and instituted by Jean King, Peterson Family dean of Arts and Sciences. "The program will provide students with a strong foundation in computational, molecular, psychological, quantitative and interdisciplinary approaches to neuroscience, and is 'just a good blend of all the things that we do readily already, and where neuroscience as a field is emerging and where it is going,'" King said.
Jennifer McWeeny, associate professor of Humanities and Arts, was noted in the Telegram & Gazette’s College Town (scroll down to 4th item) for being awarded a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award to conduct research in Paris from January to July 2020. McWeeny is the second woman in the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award’s history to receive a Fulbright to study philosophy in France, and the fourth woman at WPI to receive a Fulbright scholarship.
The Worcester Business Journal is the latest to report on research by Kristen Billiar, professor and head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, who hopes to close an important gap in the understanding of physical factors that help regulate the life and death of cells in our bodies, and the important roles they play in the development of a wide range of disorders. Co-principle investigators include Nima Rahbar, associate professor of civil & environmental engineering, and Qi Wen, associate professor of physics.
Gregory Fischer, William Smith Dean’s Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics Engineering, was noted in the Worcester Business Journal on his being elected a senior member of the National Academy of Inventors.
The Telegram & Gazette’s Wall & Main column called out WPI as an area university the T&G said sounds most confident in handling a “dramatic” decline in the college age population. “The projected decline is a concern for many colleges and universities, but the degree to which it’s seen as a threat varies greatly by region and unique institutional factors,” said Andrew B. Palumbo, dean of admissions and financial aid.
Worcester News Tonight covered New England's first Algorave, which was brought to PopUp Worcester by Charlie Roberts, assistant professor of computer science. Roberts, along with Gillian Smith, assistant professor of computer science, participated in live coding to create images and music simultaneously for attendees to enjoy. Roberts said one of the goals of the event was to combine computer science with art to make coding easier to digest and more accessible to students. (Clip begins at 9:21)
Boston 25 spoke with Angela Incollingo Rodriguez, assistant professor of social science and policy studies, regarding her research about the impact of weight stigma or fat shaming on pregnant and postpartum women.
NSF360 (2:17 mark), the National Science Foundation’s online news channel featured work by Erin Solovey, assistant professor of computer science, on using non-invasive sensors to capture brain wave images to better understand how a person learns using on-line programs. Solovey’s research received $1 million in funding from the NSF.
Referring to her work as “pioneering,’ Medical Academicincluded research by Professor Pamela Weathers, biology and biotechnology, on the Artemisia plant, in this article. Her work shows that the leaves of the plant can be made into a therapy that appears to be more effective than a drug at knocking out the malarial parasite.
Calling it a “breakthrough process,” WCVBTV-Boston’s “Cutting Edge” segment, featured Yan Wang, William Smith Dean’s Professor of Mechanical Engineering, who developed a groundbreaking process for recycling lithium-ion batteries.
Andrew Palumbo, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, was quoted in an Inside Higher Ed story about recent surveys asking people whether they think race should have a role in college admissions decisions. Palumbo helped give context to the public perception of the factors involved in the admissions process.
WPI professor Alexander Wyglinski discusses a variety of academic and practical strategies for students exploring careers in the self-driving car industry.
The Telegram & Gazette's College Town led off with news of WPI hosting its second annual Women in Data Science Central Massachusetts Conference, a satellite event coinciding with the annual Global Women in Data Science Conference.
Eleanor Loiacono, professor in the Foisie Business School and director of the IDEA Hub, and Huimin Ren, a PhD student in the Data Science Program, were interviewed by the Telegram & Gazette for this article. Their newly published academic paper stated that high-tech firms have an opportunity to take advantage of the talents of a growing neurodiverse workforce.
Boston 25 featured a report on the university becoming an inaugural member of ReCell, the first U.S. Department of Energy center focused on lithium-ion battery recycling. Yan Wang, William Smith Dean’s Professor of Mechanical Engineering, was noted for developing the groundbreaking process for recycling lithium-ion batteries that can recover and reuse cathode materials regardless of their chemistry, will lead the project.
