Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) today announced a visionary $12 million legacy gift from Carl Karlsson, Class of 1960. The unrestricted estate gift, made following Karlsson’s passing in 2023, will provide broad support across WPI, with a portion dedicated to establishing endowed professorships for early career faculty—a strategic investment in the university’s long-term academic excellence.  Among the most significant philanthropic commitments ever made by an individual to WPI and in support of Beyond These Towers: The Campaign for Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Karlsson’s gift will leave a lasting mark on the university’s future. Unrestricted gifts are among the most powerful forms of philanthropy because they provide WPI with the flexibility to address its highest priorities, respond to emerging opportunities, and invest strategically in areas of greatest need. Karlsson’s altruism ensures WPI remains nimble and well-positioned to advance its mission for generations to come.  “This is a shining example of the extraordinary generosity and dedication of our alumni to give back and help WPI continue to thrive,” said Grace J. Wang, President of WPI. “Carl Karlsson’s remarkable gift will impact the university by supporting faculty excellence, fueling research and innovation, and enriching the student experience. His legacy will empower future generations to achieve, discover, and lead in ways that ensure WPI’s enduring excellence and global impact.”  After earning his degree in chemical engineering in 1960, Karlsson built a successful career in information systems and technology, working for Praxair Inc. in Tonawanda, New York. Throughout his life, he remained deeply connected to WPI, contributing annually to the university’s areas of greatest need for nearly four decades. His legacy gift reflects a lifelong belief in the power of education to improve lives, a value that aligns closely with WPI’s mission and project-based learning model.

Christina Bailey-Hytholt’s research explores something so ordinary that it is often discarded when no longer needed yet so critical that it sustains life. The placenta. Recently named to the Leonard P. Kinnicutt Professorship, Bailey-Hytholt ’15 is an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering who focuses on using engineering approaches to advance women’s and prenatal health. She concentrates specifically on problems of the placenta, a temporary organ that forms in the uterus during pregnancy to provide nutrients and oxygen to a developing baby. Some of her work is considered exploratory, but she’s also interested in developing models of the placenta for research and developing particles that package and deliver therapies to patients. Her research has captured attention from funders and others. In 2024, Bailey-Hytholt was awarded a three-year, $502,999 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant for early-career researchers to determine the relationship between placental cells known as trophoblasts and the biomolecules they secrete, called exosomes, that are important for cell communication. In 2022, Forbes named her to its 30 Under 30 Class of Innovators. Bailey-Hytholt joined the WPI faculty in 2022 after receiving her PhD in biomedical engineering at Brown University and completing postdoctoral research in genomic medicine and biologics drug product development and manufacturing at Sanofi. Her research has been supported by the NSF, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, and the Amnion Foundation. She is affiliated with WPI’s Department of Biomedical Engineering. From left, Christina Bailey-Hytholt and students Emily Lei '27 and PhD student Kerstin Andrews '25 Q: Did you always want to be a researcher? A: I always gravitated toward healthcare. During middle and high school, I volunteered at a nursing home for several years. When I arrived at WPI as an undergraduate in chemical engineering, I thought I would later go to medical school. Then I worked in the lab of Terri Camesano (dean of graduate studies) and had the best experience. She and the graduate students working in her lab encouraged me to think about pursuing research and my PhD. I didn’t know what graduate school and becoming a researcher really was until my experience working in a lab. At the same time, I had some health challenges of my own. I realized that there are many things we don’t have answers to in a clinical setting, and new research is important to advance medicine.  Q: How did you decide to focus your research on women’s unmet health needs? A: Women’s health is an area that I can relate to and feel I can be an advocate for, which led to my passion for this area of research. However, research into women’s health as an engineer really wasn’t on my radar until a few things came together during my first year of graduate school—opportunities, exciting projects, and good mentors. There was an opportunity to contribute to a prenatal diagnostic project, and that project spurred ideas about using engineering skill sets to study the placenta. I also was fortunate to be an NSF fellow and to have advisors who supported me. Pursuing these projects, I really became passionate about the subject and saw that there were not many engineering approaches being used to advance prenatal and women’s health. On a personal level, I recently went through my own pregnancy and had a healthy daughter, so I saw firsthand how important research is for prenatal health. A researcher holds a clear container that is used to measure the surface charge of nanoparticles in solution. Q: What does chemical engineering have to do with human health? A: The words “chemical engineering” may typically conjure up images of a person wearing a hard hat and working in an industrial plant, but chemical engineers work in many different fields. Many chemical engineers work in health-related fields such as the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Chemical engineers learn to solve problems involving complex systems and processes, and human health involves complex systems and processes. Chemical engineering concepts such as material properties, mass balances, transport, kinetics, thermodynamics, and more are crucial to designing therapeutics and cell models, which are important in advancing human health.  Q: What is the goal of your three-year NSF-funded project? A: The goal of this project is to study and identify the relationship between the environment that trophoblast cells, the main cells in the placenta, are grown in and how they communicate with each other. Trophoblasts invade the endometrium, which is the membrane that lines the uterus, to anchor the placenta in place and ensure adequate blood flow. Trophoblasts also secrete factors that allow cells in the placenta to communicate with each other. The placenta is not a well-understood organ, so my lab is looking at how the environment in the placenta—such as the presence of growth factors or hormones—influences invasiveness and impacts what trophoblasts secrete. It’s important to expand knowledge about the placenta because it is a critical organ for developing babies and there are studies that suggest placental health impacts the lifelong health of babies and mothers—so really, everyone. This award also financially supports graduate and undergraduate students in the lab. We have a great team working on this important project.  Q: As a graduate of WPI, what is it like to return here as a faculty member? A: I love it. It’s awesome to be back in the same research building where I got started. I also think a lot about the mentors I had as an undergraduate, how they influenced my career decisions, and how I can give the undergraduates in my research group a similar experience. I want to give them the opportunity to own their research and enjoy an immersive experience. In the classroom, I can relate to students taking the chemical engineering courses that I teach, because I was in the same seat as them not so long ago. I thought the seven-week terms were fast paced as a student, but they seem to fly by even faster now as a faculty member!

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) researcher Catherine Whittington has been awarded a prestigious CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop three distinct laboratory models for the study of fibrosis in pancreas, skin, and uterine fibroids. Whittington, an associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, was awarded $629,998 from the NSF for the five-year project. The models she develops could lead to research advances in the understanding and treatment of fibrosis, a condition that occurs when an injury results in too much scarring that stiffens tissue and threatens to disrupt the normal functioning of organs. Chronic pancreatitis, keloid scars, and uterine fibroids are all the result of fibrosis. “There is much to learn about fibrosis so that better treatments can be developed,” Whittington said. “Better laboratory models for pancreatic, skin, and uterine fibroid tissues could lead to an improved understanding of factors at the cellular level that lead to fibrosis and how interventions could interrupt or reverse that process.” Models are representations, such as physical objects or mathematical equations, that represent real-world phenomena. Researchers use models to study a problem, test ideas under controlled conditions, and make predictions.  Whittington will develop models composed of materials such as collagen and human cells that represent the tissues of interest. The combined materials will be placed in wells on laboratory plates about the size of an index card and then exposed to hormones, varied mechanical inputs, and other environmental factors.  “These models will be small, but they will allow us to systematically ask questions and make discoveries about how different chemicals and forces contribute to the process of fibrosis,” Whittington said. 

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) has been named to a select group of academic institutions leading a nationwide effort to strengthen cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities in the U.S. automotive industry—a sector increasingly reliant on smart, connected technologies.  Supported by a $2.5 million grant from the National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity  the DRiving Automotive Industry WorkForce Transformation (DRIFT) program will provide specialized online and in-person training designed to upskill the workforce and protect vehicle systems from emerging threats.  WPI associate professors Jun Dai, Xiaoyan Sun, and Xiaozhong Liu, all from the Department of Computer Science, will lead the university’s DRIFT program. WPI will receive $749,994 over two years, with the opportunity for an additional $300,000 in a third year. The program will offer tuition-free modules, workshops, and real-world training to help engineers and professionals develop advanced competencies in cybersecurity and AI.  “Today’s vehicles are computers on wheels—powered by data, software, and smart systems,” said Dai. “AI is transforming the future of mobility, but without robust cybersecurity, we put innovation—and lives—at risk. DRIFT directly addresses the workforce gap by preparing engineers and professionals with the tools they need to protect connected and autonomous vehicles, and ultimately, to accelerate the development of next-generation transportation.”  As vehicles become more connected, equipped with internet-enabled infotainment systems, GPS, remote diagnostics, and automated driver assistance systems, they also become more vulnerable to cyberattacks. While autonomous vehicles are often in the spotlight, nearly all modern vehicles are now potential targets.  In one of the most publicized demonstrations of this risk, cybersecurity researchers remotely took control of a Jeep Cherokee in 2015, manipulating its brakes, steering, and transmission while it was on the highway. More recently, the 2025 Global Automotive and Smart Mobility Cybersecurity report by Upstream revealed that massive-scale incidents—each impacting millions of vehicles—more than tripled between 2023 and 2024, rising from 5% to 19%. The data shows the vulnerability of even top-tier smart vehicles. These incidents underscore the urgent need to secure both automotive systems and the talent pool capable of doing so.  The DRIFT curriculum is designed for a wide audience, including:  Automotive engineers  Cybersecurity and AI professionals  IT workers transitioning into transportation-related sectors  Educators and students at two- and four-year institutions  Department of Transportation personnel  Military and civilian defense staff  First responders and public safety officials  Policymakers and regulators    Courses will be delivered online, in-person, and hybrid formats and will cover:  The architecture and key components of connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) systems  AI applications and their role in enabling core CAV functions  Common vulnerabilities in connected vehicle systems, including GPS spoofing, sensor interference, and over-the-air update threats  Defensive cybersecurity strategies tailored for CAV environments  Hands-on case studies to bridge theoretical knowledge with real-world applications    WPI joins the following partner institutions in offering DRIFT training:  Oakland University  University of Delaware  University of Michigan-Dearborn  Cleveland State University  Sinclair Community College   Those interested in this program can access the application link for the activities at: https://www.secs.oakland.edu/ei/drift/programs/. For more information about WPI’s DRIFT program, visit: https://www.wpi.edu/academics/departments/cybersecurity/drift. 

Worcester Polytechnic Institute has been ranked 39th on the 2025 LinkedIn Top Colleges list, an inaugural ranking of the top 50 schools in the U.S. LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, created the Top Colleges list to identify the undergraduate programs that best position their alumni for long-term career success. “LinkedIn’s Top Colleges list is additional proof of something we’ve long known and prioritized: that WPI offers students an incredibly valuable education,” said WPI President Grace Wang, noting that more than 95% of WPI graduates who responded to a survey reported that the university’s signature project-based learning prepared them for their current career. “Our unique hands-on educational model is designed not only to equip students with specific expertise and skills in their fields but also to empower them to think critically, work well in teams, and learn how to learn. As a result, our graduates are well positioned to be versatile and successful throughout their professional lives.” LinkedIn's data finds WPI has the second highest percentage of recent grads working in engineering roles for their first job after graduation. The first-ever ranking relies on exclusive LinkedIn data that measures the career outcomes of millions of alumni from universities and colleges. It uses a methodology that compares schools based on factors including job and graduate school placement rates, internship completions, and recruiter demand. “Employers tell us consistently they love WPI graduates, and that’s for a number of reasons,” said Amanda Laungani, director of the Heebner Career Development Center at WPI. “The employers we work with praise our students for having the confidence and capability to contribute immediately to their organizations as well as the extensive experience working in teams that allows our graduates to turn knowledge into impactful applications.”  The LinkedIn ranking echoes a March 2025 ranking by U.S. News & World Report that placed WPI 18th on its list of “Colleges with the Best Return on Investment” and cited an estimated $3,408,000 return on investment for a WPI education after 40 years, as measured in 2023 dollars.

Shichao Liu To determine the ultimate driving environment, WPI researcher Shichao Liu has put drivers to the test in some interesting ways. Liu, an assistant professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, has measured the performance of study participants in a driving simulator while outfitting them in caps to image brain activity and exposing them to varying light levels, heat, cold, and even stinky T-shirts. Now Liu’s lab has published new research showing that when it comes to driving performance at night, the temperature inside a vehicle matters. Study participants who drove in a simulator were less comfortable, sweatier, and more mentally stressed as temperatures rose. They also used the simulator’s accelerator more and drove in a way that would increase the vehicle’s pitch and roll—meaning there would be more car body movement that could make rides feel rougher. “As the temperature inside the simulator went up, participants drove less steadily and with more variation in their speed,” Liu says. “This has implications for air conditioning operation in vehicles, vehicle design, and, of course, safety.” The group’s research, which focused on both temperature and lighting, was published in the journal Building and Environment. In addition to Liu, authors were Chao Wang, PhD ’24, a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard Medical School and McLean Hospital; John Elson, a research engineer at Ford Motor Co.; and Yingzi Lin, a professor at Northeastern University. The research was supported by WPI and the Ford University Research Program.

Worcester, Mass.—Aug. 7, 2025— Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) today announced the appointment of Crate Herbert as vice president for university advancement. A nationally recognized advancement leader with more than 25 years of experience in higher education and nonprofit fundraising, Herbert brings a proven track record of transformational philanthropy, strategic innovation, and collaborative leadership to WPI. She will begin her new role Sept. 15, 2025. Herbert joins WPI from Wentworth Institute of Technology, where she served as vice president for institutional advancement and external relations. There, she built a 40-person team, overseeing Advancement and Marketing and Communications, and managing a $7 million operation. During her tenure at Wentworth, the institute enjoyed unprecedented fundraising success as she reshaped the team with centers of excellence in donor relations and stewardship; industry and government relations; demand generation; advancement operations; and internal communications. She also laid the foundation for Wentworth’s first-ever comprehensive campaign including the closure of foundational lead gifts.  At WPI, Herbert will lead the Division of University Advancement during a time of extraordinary opportunity. The university was recently designated an R1 research institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and is nearing the successful completion of its $500 million Beyond These Towers campaign. Reporting directly to President Grace Wang and serving on the president’s cabinet, Herbert will guide a strategic refresh of WPI’s advancement operations, donor and alumni engagement, and philanthropic partnerships. “Crate Herbert is a results-oriented leader who understands how to connect mission-driven institutions with the resources needed to fuel their impact,” said Wang. “Her vision, energy, passion to deliver impact, and her empathetic leadership style position her perfectly to advance WPI’s distinctive impact.” “Crate’s collaborative spirit and the energy she brought to each interaction throughout this process were notable,” said George Oliver ’82, member of WPI’s Board of Trustees and search committee chair. “The committee was impressed by her deep understanding of how to cultivate meaningful philanthropic partnerships, and we look forward to having her join this community.”  Prior to her role at Wentworth, Herbert held senior leadership positions at Harvard University, where she helped launch and lead campaigns totaling over $4 billion. As executive director of development for the Harvard Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, she exceeded the school’s $450 million campaign goal by 50% and played a key role in securing and stewarding a historic $400 million naming gift. She also pioneered Harvard’s Leadership Giving program, securing six- and seven-figure unrestricted gifts. Herbert’s appointment reflects WPI’s commitment to building a data-informed advancement program that deepens alumni engagement, strengthens corporate and foundation partnerships, and attracts transformative gifts. She will lead a team of more than 50 people and work closely with faculty, trustees, and university leaders to scale philanthropic support with WPI’s strategic priorities. “I am honored to join WPI at such an exciting time.” said Herbert. “WPI embodies the best elements of American higher education, offering a powerful model for the future. WPI’s distinctive education blends hands-on, project-based learning with field-leading research. This is an exciting moment in WPI’s long, impressive history, and I look forward to partnering with President Wang and the entire community—alumni, parents, students, faculty, and staff—to build lasting relationships that advance this extraordinary institution. I can’t wait to get to work.” Herbert holds a master of music from the University of Texas at Austin and a bachelor of arts from Earlham College. She also serves as faculty dean of Cabot House at Harvard College and is a former professional classical singer.  

In a major step forward for sustainable energy technology, researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), led by Professor Yan Wang, William B. Smith Professor of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, have developed a new, scalable method to recycle lithium-ion batteries in a way that is both efficient and environmentally friendly.  The team’s research, titled Upcycling Mixed Spent Ni-Lean Cathodes into Ni-Rich Polycrystalline Cathodes, was recently published in Energy Storage Materials, a multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal focused on the topics of materials and energy. The paper details an innovative hydrometallurgical upcycling approach that offers both environmental and performance advantages over traditional recycling methods.  The process specifically targets spent mixed nickel-lean (Ni-lean) cathode materials, which are commonly found in used lithium-ion batteries. Traditional recycling methods struggle to recover these materials effectively and often rely on energy-intensive processes that produce lower-value outputs. In contrast, Wang’s approach recovers more than 92% of critical metals—nickel, cobalt, and manganese—and turns them into high-performance cathode powders.  Testing shows that batteries made with these recycled materials perform on par with those made from virgin materials, retaining 88% of their capacity after 500 charge cycles and over 85% capacity after 900 cycles in commercial-scale pouch cells. The new process also uses 8.6% less energy than conventional hydrometallurgical methods and significantly reduces carbon emissions—by 13.9% when compared with traditional recycling, slightly more than with direct upcycling.  “This work not only addresses the environmental challenges of battery waste but also helps reduce our dependence on mining for critical materials,” said Wang. “We’ve shown that it’s possible to create high-performance batteries from recycled materials at scale, which is essential for building a more sustainable and resilient battery supply chain.”  This innovation directly tackles two major challenges: the growing volume of battery waste and the global demand for critical materials used in electric vehicles and other clean energy technologies. With industry and policymakers focused on sustainable solutions, this advancement could play a key role in building a more circular and climate-conscious battery economy.