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It’s never too late to finish what you started. Proof of that adage will be on display at this week’s undergraduate Commencement ceremony. That’s when Kerry Lynn will complete an academic journey at Worcester Polytechnic Institute that started in 1972. He’ll walk across the stage to receive his bachelor’s degree 50 years after he first planned. While Lynn entered the university in the Class of 1976, life’s journey made him part of the Class of 2026. Image “I’ve set graduation goals in the past—graduating alongside my children and so on—but work always intervened,” says Lynn. “Last year, though, I decided it was now or never, and I was really determined to finish on the 50th anniversary of my original target.” Since 1972, Lynn’s path has shifted to include a five-decade career and family responsibilities. While juggling it all, he kept chipping away on his WPI degree in computer science. He’d never given up on the goal. “Now that I’m graduating, I hope this accomplishment might inspire even one other person, maybe a fellow student, that there is great value in persistence,” adds Lynn. “I feel persistence is underrated.” 1972–2025 Lynn’s original major was mechanical engineering. He grew up in Connecticut and spent a lot of time around the machine shop his dad, an industrial engineer, had co-founded. In high school, Lynn started to get interested in computers. He was drawn to WPI by its academic program’s focus on project work. “It’s a place where you can chart your own course,” says Lynn. 1972 high school yearbook photo - Kerry Lynn He arrived on campus shortly after faculty approved the WPI Plan in 1970, a bold shift in engineering education that emphasized project-based learning and applying theory to real-world challenges. Lynn left WPI during his second year while still exploring his career path, but his growing interest in computers quickly led him into the emerging tech industry. He worked hands-on with early microcomputers in Connecticut and moved back to Massachusetts in 1982 to resume part-time study at WPI in computer science. As a member of the Boston Computer Society, he attended a 1984 presentation by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs unveiling the Macintosh computer. “That night in Boston was transformative for me,” Lynn says. He and others formed a Macintosh developers’ group on the spot, which Lynn co-led until moving to California in 1987 to join Apple. During his ten years at Apple, he helped develop one of the world’s first wireless local area networks and eventually became an engineering manager in the PowerBooks division. After returning to New England in 2000, Lynn resumed classes at WPI while balancing family life and a career that included roles at Cisco, Verizon, and Oracle. His work contributed to Wi-Fi and internet protocol standards, and he earned 10 patents, including two for wireless network security methods.  WPI President Grace Wang congratulates Kerry Lynn during Class of 2026 Earle Bridge Crossing While in midcareer, he completed a now-discontinued graduation requirement from the original WPI Plan—the competency examination. The requirement culminated in an oral examination conducted by faculty members to determine if a student was well-prepared to enter their chosen profession. Lynn thinks he could be the last person at WPI to graduate under the original version of the WPI Plan, with its competency exam requirement. “During my career, I often didn’t have time to take courses,” says Lynn, who explains the off-and-on approach to completing his required course load. “Graduating has always been at the top of my bucket list, however, so I kept returning to it.” The final academic year In fall 2025, after a layoff accelerated his retirement from full-time work, Lynn decided it was time to make one final push to complete the degree he began decades earlier. While volunteering with Fab Foundation, a nonprofit focused on providing access to and education about digital fabrication tools and technology that supports innovation and creation, he reached out to George Heineman, associate professor of computer science, to explain his goal. “One doesn’t receive such an email every day,” says Heineman, who worked with the registrar and researched old university catalogs with Lynn to determine that he needed to complete a required humanities and arts inquiry seminar (HUA) and a Major Qualifying Project (MQP) to graduate. Heineman became Lynn’s MQP advisor and noted the uniqueness of the project: “As Kerry was writing his MQP report, he found that he had to cite his own work that he did with standards organizations from decades ago. Likely no other undergraduate MQP has had to do the same thing.”

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) will hold two ceremonies to honor its Class of 2026. This year, 1,200 undergraduates and nearly 700 graduate students, including master’s and PhD recipients, will be awarded their degrees during separate events.   All events will be held at the DCU Center, 50 Foster Street, Worcester, MA, and will be led by WPI President Grace Wang and Board of Trustees Chair William Fitzgerald ’83.     Thursday, May 14  What: Graduate Commencement Exercises  Who: Lisa Barton ’87, president and CEO of Alliant Energy and a WPI electrical engineering alumna, will deliver the graduate commencement address.  Honorary degrees will be awarded to Barton and Philip “Flip” Morgan, a fifth-generation member of the Morgan family to serve on WPI’s Board of Trustees and to have lead Morgan Construction Company as president and chief executive officer.   When: 5:00 p.m. Members of the media are asked to arrive by 4:30 p.m.; the ceremony is expected to last approximately two hours.     Friday, May 15  What: Undergraduate Commencement Exercises  Who: will.i.am, artist, tech founder, and philanthropist, will deliver the undergraduate commencement address. Honorary degrees will be awarded to will.i.am and Paul Covec ’64, an entrepreneur and investor who has played a formative role in advancing technologies that shape modern industry.  When 2:00 p.m. Members of the media are asked to arrive by 1:15 p.m.; the ceremony is expected to last approximately three hours.    For full information about WPI’s 2026 Commencement events, including the livestream of each ceremony, visit: https://www.wpi.edu/news/annual-events/commencement  Media Credentials:  Members of the media wishing to cover any or all of these events in person must have WPI-issued credentials. To obtain credentials please contact:    Jon Cain  Senior Public Relations Manager  774-437-2157  jcain@wpi.edu    Editor’s Note:    If your outlet requires the use of will.i.am’s full legal name, it is William Adams. Other names shown on Wikipedia and previously published stories are  incorrect. Please share this information with your copy editor, photo desk, and research/factchecking teams.   About Worcester Polytechnic Institute    Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) is a top-tier, STEM-focused university with an R1 research classification and global leadership in project-based learning. Founded in 1865, WPI’s distinctive approach integrates classroom theory with real-world practice, preparing students to tackle critical challenges through inclusive education, impactful projects, and interdisciplinary research. With more than 70 bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree programs across 18 academic departments and over 50 global project centers, WPI advances knowledge and innovation in fields such as life sciences, smart technologies, advanced materials and manufacturing, and global innovation. Learn more at www.wpi.edu.   

Researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) have developed a solid polymer coated with harmless viruses to detect the bacteria Salmonella enterica (S. enterica), an advance that could lead to new ways of finding contamination in the food supply. The group, led by Yuxiang “Shawn” Liu, an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, reports that the technology can rapidly capture and visualize foodborne bacterial contaminants in tiny fluid samples. With no need for incubation or complicated equipment in research centers, the technology has the potential to be used as a rapid biosensor in field applications and in areas with few resources. “We have a solid surface that can be used anywhere in the food supply chain, from farm to fridge, to detect foodborne bacteria with minimum human intervention,” Liu says.  Foodborne diseases cause millions of illnesses and an estimated 420,000 deaths worldwide annually. S. enterica, a leading cause of foodborne illness, can spread through fecal matter and has been found in raw and undercooked foods, such as eggs, meat, milk, and fresh produce. The bacterium infects the intestines, causing diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps.  Conventional tests for foodborne bacteria typically involve lab techniques that require special equipment and training. Samples may need to be incubated to allow bacteria to grow so they can be counted, and tests at research centers can take 24 to 48 hours. Other approaches involve amplifying segments of genetic material in samples or detecting antibacterial antibodies in a sample, but those tests may not differentiate live pathogens from dead pathogens. Testing devices with antibodies also tend to have a limited shelf life at room temperature.