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.
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.
“The app collects data on individual species of bee and flowers and allows us to figure out what the individual needs of the species are ... so people can make changes to their yard, learn what flowers to plant, and tell us how do we conserve lands to increase bee diversity,” Robert Gegear, professor of biology and biotechnology, told the T&G.
The New York Times interviewed Brian Meacham, associate professor of fire protection engineering, about this week’s tragic high rise apartment building fire in London. Meacham weighed in on the differences between building codes in the United States and the United Kingdom saying, “building codes in Britain put a lot of the onus on building engineers to comply with nonmandatory guidelines on sprinkler systems, alarms and fire exits.”
WPI Physics professor David Medich discussed the four-day international radiation protection forum at WPI. “Every type of medical imaging test has a purpose and, if not done properly, you will not get the information you need,” he said.
Referring to him as a “leader in haptic technology,” the American Society of Mechanical Engineers featured Cagdas Onal, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, in the article. “Many potential applications exist, including prosthetic/orthotic devices, wearable technologies, robotic collaborators/assistants, elder care, and systems that augment human performance,” Onal said.
Biology and biotechnology assistant professor Robert J. Gegear wrote an op-ed in the Telegram & Gazette in which he stresses that bumblebee decline has detrimental effects on our ecology and notes differences between bumblebees and honeybees, which were the subject of a prior editorial.
USA Today interviewed Alexander Wyglinski, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, for the lead article in its Tech section. Commenting on sound waves generated by technology able to generate enough power to keep multiple devices running, Wyglinski said, “in general, just like with any other signal, there’s an issue with it getting weaker the farther away it travels from the transmission source.”
The Telegram & Gazette, interviewed Yanhua Li, assistant professor of computer science and data science, for the article, "WPI researcher aims for a better, cheaper commute." He’s developing an idea for a new kind of transit system, CityLines, inspired by airlines and built for urban areas.
This Reuters’ article included comments from Susan Landau, professor of cybersecurity policy. In the article, Landau stated that “the new bill was an effort to put the process ‘into civilian control.’”
Referring to her as “the first lady” of WPI, CBS Boston/WBZ-TV reported on 86-year-old Audrey Carlan ’57, who received an honorary doctoral degree during the university’s Graduate Ceremony yesterday, where nearly 800 master’s and doctoral degrees were awarded. Although she received the first degree awarded by WPI to any woman—15 years before the first female undergraduates were awarded degrees—she did not attend commencement because she was more than eight months pregnant.
Mike Gennert, director of WPI’s Robotics Engineering program, discusses some of the challenges faced by companies and IT departments using industrial robots.
This story features WPI-developed prosthetic technology. The work is aimed at providing better prosthetics options for injured soldiers and others with transradial amputations who have found it difficult or impossible to perform a wide range of daily tasks with current one-degree-of-freedom hand-wrist prostheses.
Worcester Magazine profiled WPI’s Camp Reach and its proven results of getting young women interested in engineering. “In terms of what we know about research on girls and the way students behave differently in teams, there are just different ways that boys and girls approach problems and the way they’ll approach work in a teamwork setting,” said Sue Sontgerath, WPI’s director of pre-collegiate outreach.
Fox 25 News aired a feature about an afterschool program at the Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science (located at WPI), during which high school juniors and seniors construct 3-D prosthetic hands for children in other countries. The prosthetic hands built by these students cost about $35 in material, a fraction of the cost for prosthetics from hospitals and other providers.
WPI received a $5 million state grant for a new healthcare research and product development initiative. The new center, PracticePoint at WPI, will be established at the college's Gateway Park.
Worcester News Tonight interviewed WPI Police Officer Brian Lavallee and K-9 Bella for a story in its 6:00 and 10:00 newscasts Thursday Night focused on Bella’s upcoming work at the Boston Marathon.
Michael Gennert, professor and director, robotics engineering, was quoted in this article. "It’s very much a different mindset than traditional IT,” he said. “Robots affect the real world. That brings issues IT managers have not had to confront.”
A recent WGBH broadcast featured students at the Mass. Academy of Math and Science who 3D print prosthetic hands for people in developing countries, free of charge. The students are part of a group called e-NABLE, which is comprised of volunteer designers and engineers from all over the world.
The New York Times quoted WPI’s Jeanine L. Skorinko, associate professor of psychology. She told The Times, that people, especially Americans, prefer more distance between themselves and strangers and would rather take the stair below them or walk past them. “This is why people put bags on seats next to them on the train so people don’t sit next to them,” she said.
