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How can AI tools help consumers find the best deals and tackle the holiday shopping list? Associate Professor of marketing Purvi Shah spoke with NBC Boston about the technology driving retail transformation. "AI can help you compare products and prices across stores. It can also give you review summaries that can help you evaluate various product options based on those review summaries," Shah said. "All of this is done very efficiently."
For the first time this fall, the Great Problems Seminar, a program for first-year students, will feature two courses dedicated to understanding and thinking critically about artificial intelligence. The Telegram & Gazette highlighted one of the new courses: AI, Design, and Society. The course will provide a hands-on opportunity to build and use AI systems and to explore the history and future of AI. It will be co-taught by Sarah Stanlick, director of the Great Problems Seminar and assistant professor in the Department of Integrative and Global Studies, and Gillian Smith, director of the Interactive Media and Game Development Program and associate professor of computer science.
DesignNews reported on how using emerging technologies, including augmented reality, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and digital twins, can improve training for the workforce of the future. Robert Dempski, professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, a member of the Interactive Media and Game Development program, and managing director of the Intentional Design Studio, discussed the demonstrated advantages of training tools he and his students are developing for laboratory safety and tool assembly.
Milosh Puchovsky, a professor in the Department of Fire Protection Engineering, provided analysis for The Boston Guardian about the fire risks associated with batteries in e-bikes when they are charged improperly, stored incorrectly, or not up to industry safety standards.
The Green Business Journal in the United Kingdom reported on an analysis authored by faculty and PhD students in the Department of Chemical Engineering and researchers from the University of Bath. It found a simple and scalable technology could increase the viability of recycling products like food packaging and packing peanuts.
Inside Higher Ed highlighted recent research by WPI researchers who looked into how syllabi can signal inclusivity in the classroom. The study, originally published in Nature's Humanities and Social Sciences Connections, was authored by Francesca Bernardi, Crystal Brown, Lindsay Davis, Michelle Ephraim, Rebecca Moody and Raisa Trubko.
Live Science explained the science behind the squeaking sounds of metal with the help of Robert Hyers, professor and department head of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at WPI. The article was also distributed through Yahoo! News and Inkl.
The Worcester Guardian reports WPI landed on College Raptor's 2025 "Best Colleges" rankings. These rankings, now in their tenth year, evaluate schools based on selectivity, financial health, academic rigor, and student success. WPI earned recognition as one of the top schools in the nation for AI, ranking 14th on the list.
At a ceremony on August 2, President Grace Wang and Middlesex Community College (MCC) President Phil Sisson signed an articulation agreement to provide a clear pathway for MCC students to transfer to WPI. "Graduates from this program will be well-prepared to contribute to the local economy, particularly in STEM fields that are vital to our region’s growth,” said Wang. “This initiative holds immense promise for both institutions and, most importantly, for the students who will benefit from it.”
Milosh Puchovsky, professor of practice and associate head of the Department of Fire Protection Engineering, provided analysis to the Las Vegas Review-Journal for its coverage of a fatal residential fire, and laws regarding retrofitting older buildings with fire protection equipment. Puchovsky discussed the benefits of sprinklers, including the additional time they provide residents to escape a fire.
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 on August 4. 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 Massachusetts Clean Energy Center is providing funding to Mehdi Mortazavi, associate teaching professor in the Department of Mechanical & Materials Engineering. The funding will support research to develop more efficient production of green hydrogen for use as fuel in heavy-duty transportation.
The Bangor Daily News and other media outlets reported on the results from a study by students at WPI's Acadia National Park, Maine Project Center in Bar Harbor. Students, as part of WPI's interactive qualifying project requirement and the Global Projects Program, have been collecting data on e-bike usage in the national park since 2019.
Suzanne LePage, an instructor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, & Architectural Engineering juggles engineering with a side gig. Read more about her work in the classroom and her work running a farm-to-table restaurant, brewery, and bar. LePage is one of several women in engineering featured in this article in Society of Women Engineers Magazine on women in the field with professional endeavors outside of engineering.
What lessons should we learn from the global technology outage that resulted from a faulty CrowdStrike cybersecurity software update? NPR spoke with Professor and Computer Science Department Head Craig Shue to get his take. He discussed the need for speed in cybersecurity software updates and why there are pros and cons to the cybersecurity landscape's reliance on a handful of providers.
‘Technology is changing so fast, and there are many cool things to learn,’ said Elke Rundensteiner, head of the data science program and professor of computer science. The Worcester Business Journal spoke with Rundensteiner and reported on WPI's new master's degree program in artificial intelligence in a story on AI in higher education in the region.
A team from WPI representing the startup FinSafe AI placed second in a pitch competition held during the FinTech + AI 413 Startup Launch Series. The startup seeks to provide AI-driven cybersecurity solutions for early-stage FinTech organizations.
Steve Taylor, a professor in The Business School, is quoted in a column in BeautyMatter that suggests companies with a sustainability focus must also pay attention to aesthetics to connect with customers. Taylor, who researches organizational aesthetics, discusses storytelling as an aspect of aesthetics.
Peter Hansen, a mountaineering expert and professor of history and director of International and Global Studies at WPI, spoke to the BBC’s The Forum podcast about the history of mountain climbing dating back to the 1300s. Hansen, author of several books on mountaineering, including “The Summits of Modern Man: Mountaineering after the Enlightenment,” gave important insight into the role climbing has played in society’s ever-changing relationship with nature.
“If you’ve got a thousand computers, that’s going to take somebody a while to do.” Craig Shue, head of WPI’s computer science department discussed the recovery work facing organizations affected by a global technology outage. Professor Shue provided analysis on the outage’s effects and on cybersecurity software for an article in The Boston Globe.
Computer Science Department Head Craig Shue helps explain a global technology outage that resulted from a CrowdStrike software update. "It is an ‘all our eggs are in one basket’ situation,” he told The Associated Press.
