Alumnus

UXSYM 2025 is where AI meets User Experience (UX) research to spark the next wave of product innovation. As user expectations rise and digital experiences grow more complex, UX research has become essential to creating intuitive, impactful, and profitable products.This year’s symposium explores how AI is transforming the way we understand users, generate insights, and design for human flourishing. From data-driven decision-making to creative design breakthroughs, AI is redefining what is possible in UX.Join leading researchers, industry experts, and design innovators for a day of talks, panels, and workshops — all focused on shaping the future of AI-enabled, human-centered product design.

REGISTER WHO'S COMING?Join your host Arly Dungca '08, president of the WPI Alumni Association, for an alumni gathering in Cambridge, MA! Get together with old and new friends for snacks, drinks, and WPI memories.Wednesday, October 29, 20256:00 to 8:00 PMGeppetto100 N. First StreetCambridge, MA 02141This event is sponsored by the WPI Alumni Association. Appetizers and bar service will be available. Two-hour parking is available in front of 222 Jacobs Street every day. A self-park garage located 100 yards north of Geppetto at 211 Water Street is available after 4:00 PM. ($10 with validation from the restaurant host stand; please note there is a four-hour max.)The use of public transportation is encouraged. The nearest MBTA station is Lechmere Station on the MBTA's Green Line.Space is limited - advanced registration is strongly encouraged

Join us for the Opening Event to kick off WPI Business School's Business Week 2025!President Grace Wang, along with Dean Kwamie Dunbar, will welcome the WPI community to the start of WPI’s third Business Week. President Wang will expand on her article, “Business Education in a Polytechnic Era” and Dean Dunbar will share his vision of how The Business School is preparing students to thrive in a rapidly changing world.Don’t miss this inspiring conversation as we set the stage for a week of exploration, networking, and business in action.We look forward to seeing you in the Odeum

Join WPI Archives & Special Collections in celebration of the new 2025-2026 Gladwin Gallery exhibit, "Currents of Change: Electrical & Computer Engineering at WPI from the Dawn of the Electric Age to Present Day". This event is a casual drop-in/drop-out style gathering with a brief welcome and short program led by ECE faculty at the start. After this introduction, attendees will be welcome to explore the exhibit and some interactive elements on their own. Light refreshments provided. Students, staff, faculty, alumni, and guests are welcome. Registration preferred. Please email archives@wpi.edu with any additional questions.

REGISTER WHO'S COMING?Join your host Matt Dunster '16 for an alumni gathering in New York City! Get together with old and new friends for snacks, drinks, and WPI memories.Monday, November 3, 20256:00 to 8:00 PMRaines Law Room at the William24 East 39th StreetNew York, NY 10016 This event is sponsored by the WPI Alumni Association. Appetizers and bar service will be available. Space is limited - advanced registration is strongly encouraged.

Take a Midweek Break at Wellness Day Bundtinis!Join us on Tuesday, November 4, from 11 AM–1 PM in Washburn AM for a special midweek pause. Enjoy delicious bundtinis while connecting with peers, faculty, and staff in a relaxed and welcoming setting.This is the perfect chance to recharge, build community, and celebrate wellness during Business Week 2025. Don’t miss out on the sweetest event of the week!We look forward to seeing you there!

REGISTER BY NOVEMBER 3WHO'S COMING The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) Student Steel Bridge Competition competes annually, challenging universities to design, fabricate and build a scale model of a steel bridge. What's the 2026 challenge? Communities north of El Paso need a new, aesthetically pleasing pedestrian bridge over the Rio Grande, and they’re counting on student teams to make it happen. WPI Voyagers invites the WPI community, age 55+, to the undergraduate student and faculty-led Steel Bridge Team presentation highlighting their endeavors, priorities and needs, including their academic learning, skills, design and construction process for an annual scale model steel bridge competition. The team will also discuss how you can support their efforts, and you will learn about WPI's Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Department priorities.Meet the PresentersDr. Leonard Albano is faculty advisor for the Steel Bridge Team, and Associate Professor for Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering for WPI. Dr. Albano enjoys teaching engineering fundamentals as well as upper level and graduate courses presenting advance topics and fostering deeper learning. He works to align his approach to MQPs with classroom philosophy, guiding students to build from their background learning experiences and to integrate new knowledge and skills.Student Teammates:Freddie Smith IV ’26, Civil EngineeringSteven Tran ’26, Civil EngineeringMena Youssif ’26, Civil EngineeringAidan Flanagan ’26, Civil Engineering Matt Santos ’27, Civil Engineering Kyler Ma '27, Civil EngineeringDavid Nichols ’28, Civil EngineeringFollow the team on Instagram (@wpisteelbridge)!DetailsWednesday, November 5, 2025The Alumni Center at Higgins House10:00 AM Check-In and Guest Social10:30 AM Welcome Remarks, WPI Voyagers10:45 AM Steel Bridge Team Presentation/Q&A11:30 AM Closing Remarks and Guest Social12:00 PM Program ConcludesRegister by November 3 to receive your parking pass. WPI Voyagers has been a campus staple since 1958 and welcomes all members of the WPI community, age 55+. Learn more about this social organization, and upcoming programs here.

On Wednesday, November 5, from 3:30–4:30 PM in the i3 Lab, join us for a panel discussion featuring rotational and leadership development program coordinators who manage top programs across many industries. Learn how these programs accelerate professional growth, build leadership skills, and open doors to diverse career pathways in today’s competitive business world.

Go Behind the Scenes at Polar Beverages!On Thursday, November 6, join us for an exclusive site visit to Polar Beverages, Worcester’s iconic company with a rich history of branding, innovation, and community impact.The bus departs at 10 AM and returns by 12 PM, giving participants a unique opportunity to see firsthand how Polar has built its reputation as a leader in the beverage industry. Learn about the company’s operations, explore its production process, and gain insights into how tradition and innovation come together to shape a lasting brand.This site visit is a highlight of Business Week, don’t miss the chance to experience a Worcester business legacy up close!Registration for this event is limited and preference will be given to students attending as part of a course assignment or experience. Click this link to register today!

The first event in the Gordon Library's 25-26 WPI Author Series, "For a Change," features Professor Mahamadou Lamine Sagna, faculty in the WPI Social Science and Policy Studies (SSPS) department, and Inaugural Director of Africana Studies.Prof. Sagna will discuss his book Cornel West Matters: Politics, Violence, Racism, and Religion in America (2024, WPI Press) with WPI Press Editor in Chief and Head, SSPS, Prof. Rob Krueger. Updated to reflect Cornel West’s independent candidacy in the 2024 US presidential campaign, this second edition explores West’s role as a philosopher, activist, and prominent intellectual with a singular dialectical and sometimes contradictory voice, echoing the title of West’s most influential books, Race Matters (1993) and Democracy Matters (2004). A zoom link will also be made available here. Please check back!Please note that the Gordon Library’s elevator remains out of service; visitors who wish to avoid using the stairs are welcome to join via zoom.

Alumni & Student SocialJoin us on Thursday, November 6, from 5–7 PM in Odeum A/B for the Alumni & Student Social. This event brings together WPI alumni, students, and faculty for an evening of networking, conversation, and community building.Celebrate Business Week by strengthening connections, sharing experiences, and creating opportunities for future collaborations. Whether you’re a student eager to learn from alumni or an alum looking to give back and reconnect, this social is the perfect way to conclude the week.Don’t miss this chance to engage with the WPI Business School community!You can register by clicking this link.

Gain insight from some of The Business School's most recent interns!Join us on Friday, November 7, from 3 PM–4 PM online for the "Preparing for your Internship Virtual Panel." Students who are currently or recently on internship will share about their experiences.Hear about their internship, their first date, lessons learned and what they would have done differently.You can register for the Zoom at this link.

Saranga: milliWatt Ultrasound System for 3D Navigation in Visually Degraded Environments Abstract: Tiny autonomous aerial robots face severe limitations in sensing capability due to payload and power constraints, making robust 3D navigation in visually degraded environments extremely challenging. In this work, we propose Saranga, a lightweight, low-power ultrasonic 3D obstacle localization stack for aerial robots. Propellers generate ultrasonic noise that limits the efficacy of ultrasound systems on aerial platforms, for which I proposed a two-step solution: (1) a physical acoustic shield that mitigates propeller noise, and (2) a deep neural network that denoises echoes and estimates obstacle positions by reconstructing the impulse response of the scene. This talk will focus on the sensor suite configuration, denoising technique, synthetic data generation process, and the 3D trilateration method, along with comparisons against classical denoising and edge detection techniques. We demonstrate that the system enables reliable operation under low light, fog, transparent obstacles, and snow—conditions where conventional sensing modalities such as cameras, LiDAR, and radar fail—paving the way for robust all-weather perception in tiny aerial robots.Advisor: Professor Nitin SantekZoom link: https://wpi.zoom.us/my/vmanoj1996

The STEM Education Center is pleased to be hosting a free community screening and conversation of the Counted Out film, a powerful documentary that interrogates the way math is taught in schools and explores how math shapes everything from economic opportunity to democracy. @CountedOutDoc #CountedOut #ReImagineMathWatch the trailer and register. K–14 educators are especially encouraged to join us for this screening and discussion. Raffle and door prizes will be available for K–12 teachers.SynopsisIn our current information economy, math is everywhere. The people we date, the news we see, the influence of our votes, the candidates who win elections, the education we have access to, the jobs we get—all of it is underwritten by an invisible layer of math that few of us understand, or even notice.But whether we know it or not, our numeric literacy—whether we can speak the language of math—is a critical determinant of social and economic power.Through a mosaic of personal stories, expert interviews, and scenes of math transformation in action, Counted Out shows what’s at risk if we keep the status quo. Do we want an America in which most of us don���t consider ourselves “math people”? Where math proficiency goes down as students grow up? Or do we want a country where everyone can understand the math that undergirds our society—and can help shape it?ParkingParking is available at any of the WPI visitor parking lots. The closest lot to the WPI Fuller Laboratory, Fuller Upper Perreault Hall, is the Library / Boynton Parking Lot - North. There is additional parking at Park Ave Garage, located at 151 Salisbury Street, Worcester.

REGISTERCalling all venture enthusiasts!Please join us for the ACIS (Advisory, Connections, Innovation and Support) Kickoff Event, Wednesday, November 19, at WPI's Innovation Studio from 4:30 to 8:30 PM. This will serve as our inaugural mentor-venture symposium—an evening that introduces ACIS to the broader community, spotlights faculty and student startups, and builds momentum for a connected ecosystem of alumni, mentors, and innovators.The evening will include:Welcome & Vision – Setting the stage for WPI’s leadership in deep-tech innovation.Faculty & Student Startup Showcases – Brief, high-energy pitches (no Q&A) to highlight ventures emerging from our research and incubator programs.Guided Networking & Mentor Marketplace – A structured opportunity for alumni, mentors, and innovators to connect around specific domains and readiness levels.Food and RefreshmentsAdvanced registration is requested. For any additional questions, please email Terry Adams, Director of the Office of Technology Commercialization, at TAdams1@wpi.edu.

Join us for a thought-provoking discussion with John Sanbonmatsu, WPI Professor of Philosophy, as he explores his 2025 book The Omnivore���s Deception: What we get wrong about meat, animals, and ourselves (NYU Press). Prof. Sanbonmatsu proposes a new perspective on our relationship with animals, the food we eat, and with each other. His book has received warm praise from leading thinkers and activists including Angela Davis, writing: “Everyone who believes in justice for all should read this brilliant book,” and Jeffrey Moussaief Masson, who writes: “You cannot read this book without changing your life. It is a work not only of immense moral significance, but a masterpiece." Prof. Sanbonmatsu will open the program, the second event in this year's Gordon Library WPI Author Series, "For a Change." He will be joined in conversation by Prof. Joel Brattin and Prof. Scott Barton, followed by an open Q&A with the audience. Copies of The Omnivore’s Deception will be available for sale for half an hour before the event begins (3-3:30pm, All major credit/debit cards (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, Amex) or Google/Apple/Samsung Pay will be accepted).

Welcome to the Worcester Inter-University Innovation Exchange (WIIX)The WIIX Evening Event is a dynamic, fast-paced gathering designed to bring together students from Worcester’s universities to network and share innovative ideas. This event emphasizes connections, rapid pitches, and meaningful conversations, fostering cross-campus innovation in an engaging and energetic setting.

Theatre Fall production-The Importance of Being EarnestBy Oscar WildeDirected by Dr. Kate MoncriefWPI Little Theatre (in Riley Hall)Thurs, Nov 20 at 7:30pmFri, Nov 21 at 7:30pm (with a talk-back after the performance)Sat, Nov 22 at 2pm Tickets will be available here (starting in late Oct / early Nov):

Presenting Sounds of the Season with the WPI Choirs! Hosted by WPI Voyagers, this invitation-only event includes a performance by WPI Student Choirs featuring seasonal pieces, complimentary luncheon, and a guest social. Invitees will receive a personal invitation to register via email and registration is requested by December 1. DETAILSThis event is invitation-only for WPI Voyagers and Alden Society members and their guest and pre-registration is required. Members will receive a personal email invitation and should register using the link provided by December 1. Please contact Maureen Maynard at mmaynard@wpi.edu with registration inquiries. DateTuesday, December 9, 2025LocationFirst Baptist Church, Gordon Hall (Next Door to WPI's Higgins House)Parking is available in the Higgins House lot or the Park Avenue garage.Accessible parking is available at the church parking lot entrance.Parking pass is required and provided upon registration. 11:30 AMDoors Open, Guest Social12:00 PMWelcome Remarks, Followed by LuncheonBuffet MenuAssorted Soft BeveragesSoup/SaladSalmon PiccataChicken MarsalaOven Roasted VegetablesDessert12:30 PMWPI Choirs Performance1:00 PMDessert and Social1:45 PMClosing Remarks2:00 PMWPI Voyagers Program Concludes2:15-4:30 PM *Great Problems Seminar Poster Presentation*(optional, requires separate registration to serve as a volunteer judge; see below link to register by December 1).Extend your day on campus by serving as a volunteer judge for the Great Problems Seminar Poster Presentations. See below for additional information and registration. Observers also welcome to attend. Please note that Sounds of the Season with the WPI Choirs and GPS Judging opportunities require advance and separate registration.WPI Voyagers is a social organization founded in 1958 for members of the WPI community, age 55+. Learn more about the organization and programming. We look forward to having you join us! SEEKING VOLUNTEER JUDGES FOR THE GREAT PROBLEMS SEMINAR POSTER PRESENTATIONS Tuesday, December 9, 20252:30-4:30 PMWPI CampusRubin Campus Center, Odeum (3rd floor) Seeking WPI community members to serve as judges for the poster presentations. Prior experience or topic expertise are not required. Volunteers will learn alongside current students and enjoy shared experiences.Interested in volunteering as a judge? Advance registration is required, and registration link is forthcoming. SAVE THE DATE!Enjoy the presentations as an observer! Members of the community are invited to attend the poster presentations with an option to observe only. Registration is not required to attend as an observer. More About the Great Problems SeminarThe Great Problems Seminar (GPS) immerses first-year students into university-level research and introduces them to the project-based curriculum at WPI. As part of The Global School at WPI, the course gives students and faculty the opportunity to step outside their disciplines to solve problems focused on themes of global importance. This culminates in annual Poster Presentation Days that celebrate students’ innovative research on a wide range of solutions to some of the world’s most critical challenges. Alumni report significant gains from their GPS experience, citing the strong preparation for all stages of WPI's project- and team-based curriculum, as well as positive impacts on their job readiness.

All residential halls and houses will be closing on Saturday, December 13th at 5pm. Students are encouraged to leave within 24 hours of their last final.Before you leave campus, please be sure to: Close/lock window(s) Open shades/drapesPull items away from heat sources Empty garbage/ remove perishables. Completely clean out refrigerators. Turn off lights/lock door Return rental textbooks Take home all essential personal belongings as you will not have access to your space. (Medication, Passports, Etc.)Take your WPI room key and WPI ID card with you. Store them in a safe place and bring back with you when you return to campus!