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WPI to research wildfires, from space
Astronauts on the International Space Station will perform experiments for a study led by James Urban, assistant professor in the Department of Fire Protection Engineering. A spacecraft carrying materials for the experiments was launched to the space station in August. Urban studies wildfires and believes the experiments in microgravity will provide insight on non-steady flame behavior and lead to better understanding of how wildfires spread on Earth. The research was featured in Are We There Yet? - The Space Exploration Podcast, Spaceflight Now, Spectrum News 1, Industry Wired, and MassLive.
Scarlet Shell, assistant professor of biology and biotechnology, has received a $1.1 million CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation for a five-year program to study the molecular mechanisms bacteria use to survive stressful conditions of starvation and lack of oxygen.
Alex Wyglinski, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, pointed out that connectivity is "one of those core technologies that would facilitate reliable and safer self-driving cars in the future by giving them beyond-line-of-sight situational awareness on the road.”
An interview with Susan Landau regarding encryption and what we need to know was broadcast by more than a dozen public radio stations across the country.
The Boston Globe reports on WPI’s “AlcoGait,” a first-of-its-kind smartphone app developed by Emmanuel Agu, associate professor of computer science, and students to detect when a user has reached the legal blood alcohol limit. The app uses data from a smartphone’s gyroscope and accelerometer to monitor changes in the way users walk, similar to the common “walk the line” sobriety field test police use with suspected drunk drivers.
Healthcare IT News publishes an article on hacking, including comments by Craig Shue, assistant professor of computer science. "We're seeing that bad days happen an awful a lot in a network," Shue recently told the HIMSS Privacy and Security Forum.
The Boston Globe national publication STAT reports on how a chip developed by mechanical engineers led by Balaji Panchapakesan, associate professor of mechanical engineering, that can trap and identify metastatic cancer cells in a small amount of blood drawn from a cancer patient.
An Associated Press article about campus bomb-sniffing dogs, including the WPI Police Department's newest member, Bella, appeared in more than 150 media outlets, nationwide, including the Arizona Sun, Fort Worth Star Telegram, and the Miami Herald. The article was accompanied by a photo of WPI’s handler officer Brian Lavelle walking Bella on campus.
Raghvendra Cowlagi, assistant professor in the aerospace engineering program, talks about raspberry pi technology opening up new horizons in education.
GEN quotes Kamal Rashid, Ph.D., research professor and director of the Biomanufacturing Education and Training Center, regarding a panel discussion he moderated at the Biotech Week in Boston Conference. Susan Roberts, Ph.D., professor and head of chemical engineering, discussed collaborations between her department an several life sciences companies.
The public-private partnership Project Lead The Way between WPI and Medway that focuses on hands-on learning was highlighted. “Medway expanded Project Lead The Way over the last few years, thanks, the superintendent says, to generous grant funding from WPI,” the station reported.
An article by the Associated Press, highlighting WPI’s efforts to educate the public about the potential fire risk of Christmas trees that are not watered properly.
Featured was the work of Greg Fischer, associate professor, mechanical engineering, who, with his wife, Laurie Dickstein-Fischer, Ph.D., a professor at Salem State, developed the robotic penguin PABI (Penguin Autism Behavioral Intervention) for autistic children.
A live demonstration by WPI’s Fire Protection Engineering program showed how quickly a dry Christmas tree can burn and spread flames throughout a room.
WPI President Laurie Leshin is among the members of this new group of experts that will steer statewide policy to support the growing health information technology industry. The councilwill be supported by the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development and the Massachusetts eHealth Institute at MassTech.
Aluminum Insider is the latest publication to report on research being done at WPI’s Center for Resource Recovery and Recycling (CR3) to reclaim valuable metals from toxic red mud.
The Boston Globe notes WPI students will be among the first group of 20 area college graduates to benefit from a new coalition of business, academia, and nonprofits that have launched Hack.Diversity. This program recruits black and Latino computer science and engineering students from local urban colleges and then will place graduating students in internships at area tech companies, giving them mentors and support to land a permanent job.
