In the News

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.

Randy Paffenroth, associate professor of mathematical sciences, computer science, and data science, told Boston-based WBZ radio how he is helping the U.S. Army create a thumbnail-sized chemical sensor to protect soldiers. In the five-minute segment, he noted that he is using a “combination of classic and new math to extract from these many sensors what’s in the environment.”​

WBZ radio interviewed Randy Paffenroth, associate professor of mathematical sciences, computer science, and data science, on his work to make NASA spacecraft lighter and more damage tolerant. “Any mission that NASA wants to do, they have to build spacecraft out of materials, and they want those materials to be stronger, to improve the safety of the spacecraft,” Paffenroth told WBZ. WPI, he said, helps make the materials even better.

WPI professors Alexander Wyglinski and Randy Paffenroth discuss how WPI is using the International Space Station as a testbed for space communications.