In the News

NBC News cited tests conducted in 2013 by Ali Rangwala, professor of Fire Protection Engineering, that led to passage last week of the Portable Fuel Container Safety Act of 2020, which establishes performance standards to protect against portable fuel container explosions. The piece showed that under certain conditions — including a very low volume of gasoline left inside — gas container explosions are possible.

·A thought leadership piece about how metal-based catalysts can boost biofuel yields by Mike Timko, associate professor of chemical engineering, was published in Biofuels Digest.

In the article, “WPI Awarded $3M for Graduate Data Program” the Worcester Business Journal reported on WPI using a $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish a unique graduate curriculum to train the next generation of scientists who can apply chemical sciences along with data analytics, mathematics, and computing power to reduce energy usage, waste, and pollution. Elke Rundensteiner, professor of computer science, founding director of the Data Science program, and principal investigator on the grant, is collaborating with Michael Timko and Aaron Deskins, associate professors of chemical engineering, and Randy Paffenroth, associate professor of mathematical and data sciences, among others.

President Leshin was quoted in the WGBH report, “As Students Return, New England Colleges Are Seen As Models Of Testing And COVID Control.” “Here in Massachusetts, I think we’re actually lighting the way on how to live and learn in the age of COVID,” Leshin told the station. “I really sincerely hope that other parts of the country look to our successful model and set up a way that they can do the same because we’ve shown that it’s possible to stay open and keep operating with relatively low case numbers.”

The Worcester Business Journal noted that the WPI alumnus-founded nonprofit makerspace and incubator located in downtown Worcester is seeking new board members

President Leshin was quoted in The Boston Globe article, “Regular testing across the whole campus community is really essential to success,” Leshin told The Globe, which also noted her role in leading the state’s task force on college reopening. “The testing was really critical…It’s not a secret formula.”

Patrick Schaumont, professor of electrical and computer engineering, was included in The Boston Globe regarding a story about COVID-19 contact tracing apps. The story explores the larger picture of contact tracing apps being developed nationally. Reporter Hiawatha Bray wrote: “WPI said it’s developed a way to track location and time, while still concealing the identity of the infected person.”

 

Patrick Schaumont, professor of electrical and computer engineering, was featured in a story on Spectrum News 1 discussing his research on a COVID-19 contact tracing app. “When you have been diagnosed as COVID-positive, you will have the ability to share your data with the health agency,” he says in the interview.

The National Park Service quoted Music Professor Fred Bianchi, director and advisor at the Glacier National Park Project Center, and detailed how WPI students pivoted when COVID-19 impacted their research there.

Article courtesy of the Crown of the Continent Research Learning Center, Glacier National Park

Steven Van Dessel, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, and his students were highlighted in The Telegram & Gazette (scroll down to last graph) for designing the new WWl memorial at Green Hill Park, which was unveiled yesterday.

Paul Mathisen, director of sustainability, spoke with Worcester Magazine about the Green Worcester Plan. The goal of the plan is to make the city more energy sustainable and climate resilient. “A sustainable society really needs to be resilient, in that it can make an efficient recovery from the impact of various weather events,” Mathisen told the magazine.

David Ibbett, adjunct professor of music, sat down with The Telegram & Gazette to talk about his first album, "Octave of Light," which was written based on the more than 4,000 exoplanets that have been discovered in our solar system. Ibbett will debut his album tonight via live stream at the Boston Museum of Science. 

Spectrum 1 News covered the $300,000 grant received by Haichong Zhang, assistant professor in robotics engineering and biomedical engineering, to build a robotic ultrasound machine to detect disease symptoms in the lungs. This is a significant development that will allow healthcare providers to minimize their exposure to the virus when conducting assessments of COVID-19 patients.

In its College Town section, The Telegram & Gazette featured how Jacob Whitehill, assistant professor of computer science, is collaborating with colleagues at the University of Colorado Boulder to explore how artificially intelligent (AI) teaching agents might help encourage more meaningful collaboration among students in school classrooms.

Spectrum News 1 spoke with David Ibbett, adjunct professor of music, about his first album, Octave of Light, which will debut this Thursday. Ibbett, who will also live stream a performance of the album from the Boston Museum of Science (also on Thursday), wrote the album to explore the possibility of life on exoplanets.

WPI and President Leshin were named to The Boston Globe Magazine’s “The 2020 Top 100 Women-Led Businesses in Massachusetts” WPI was ranked at 42. The list, a joint project of The Commonwealth Institute and The Globe’s magazine, includes leaders of health care companies, retail giants, financial institutions, and nonprofits. 

The Worcester Business Journal sought insight from Michael Elmes, professor of business, for its article.“Given how easily this virus is transmitted via aerosol droplets in closed spaces, it is not clear to me how many customers will risk eating in restaurants in spite of the precautions that restaurants are taking,” he told The Journal.

The Boston Business Journal reported that Richard J. Doherty, who has led the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (AICUM) since 2005, plans to step down May 31. WPI President Laurie Leshin commented on the announcement: “The respect for Rich at the Massachusetts State House and with our Congressional delegation undoubtedly begins with Rich’s integrity and earnest concern for the students and families who attend our colleges and universities. His role this past year in assisting our colleges and universities to navigate the Covid-19 pandemic has been invaluable.”

Firehouse noted WPI’s role in the development of fire protection degrees (5th graph) in their article. “As time and society evolved, more fire protection-related degree programs were founded, including large ones at Eastern Kentucky University, the University of Maryland and Worcester Polytechnic Institute,” the article stated.

President Leshin was interviewed by NBC Boston for the segment, “Containing Covid at WPI” (6:35 mark). The report cited President Leshin saying that students are following the university’s masking and social distance guidelines.