In the News

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WPI researcher provides expertise and context in The New York Times on AT&T data breach

“When you move your IT infrastructure to the cloud, suddenly you’re in a place that is shared with a bunch of other people, and it becomes much trickier… There are many more ways in which potential attacks can be done.”  Professor Patrick Schaumont in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering provided analysis for The New York Times on the AT&T breach involving the data of more than 100 million phone customers. He discussed the potential risks of shared IT infrastructure in the cloud. The article also appeared on MSN. He was also quoted on the national security concerns raised by the data breach in an article on CBS News that was posted on yahoo! News and AOL.

Read the report in The New York Times
Yahoo! News
Researchers develop way to effectively recycle stubborn Styrofoam: 'Efficient and potentially economically competitive'

WPI chemical engineering researchers are working to find ways to recycle more polystyrene – a common product packaging material you may know as Styrofoam. Their analysis of the potential for a chemical recycling process is featured in yahoo! News

Recycling Today
Chemical engineers in US, UK analyze polystyrene recycling process

“Our analysis finds polystyrene to be an ideal candidate for a chemical recycling process.” – Professor Michael Timko on the study he authored with colleagues from the Department of Chemical Engineering and the University of Bath. The analysis found a simple and scalable technology could increase the viability of recycling products like food packaging and packing peanuts. WPI authors include Professor Nikolaos Kazantzis and PhD students Elizabeth Belden (’24) and Madison Reed. This analysis was also reported on in Plastics Today, Recycling Today, and The Business Magazine.

PHYS.ORG
New polystyrene recycling process could be world's first to be both economical and energy-efficient

Analysis from researchers in the Department of Chemical Engineering and at the University of Bath suggests a new approach could dramatically increase the amount of polystyrene recycled. Their paper in the Chemical Engineering Journal finds a simple process combining pyrolysis and distillation has the potential to be a scalable, cost- and energy-efficient method of transforming old into new when it comes to polystyrene. WPI researchers include professors Michael Timko and Nikolaos Kazantzis and PhD students Elizabeth Belden (’24) and Madison Reed.

 

Good News Network
Massachusetts innovators aim to turn ocean plastic into fuel right onboard the ship

Chemical engineering professors Michael Timko and Nikolaos Kazantzis are leading efforts to give ships the ability to transform collected plastic garbage in oceans into fuel.