Move-in day at WPI hits different when you play with time. From those slow-motion goodbyes to lightning-fast unpacking! Welcome to campus life, Goats! 🐐 #WPI #MoveInDay #SpeedRamp

Worcester Polytechnic Institute researcher Catherine Whittington has been awarded a prestigious CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation 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. CAREER Awards are given to promising researchers who are in the early stages of their academic careers. More than 40 current WPI faculty members have received CAREER Awards since the NSF program launched in 1994. Whittington joined the WPI faculty in 2018 after receiving her PhD in biomedical engineering at Purdue University, completing post-doctorate work at Eli Lilly and Co., and serving as a visiting scholar at Purdue. She was a recipient of WPI’s Romeo L. Moruzzi Young Faculty Award for Innovation in Undergraduate Education in 2022 and was awarded tenure in 2025. Her research has explored cancer, tissue engineering, lymphatic disorders, and the role of fat cells in pancreatic fibrosis. Her work has been financially supported by the National Cancer Institute, the NSF, Genentech, and the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. As part of her CAREER Award project, Whittington will develop and lead educational programs tailored to high school students, college students, and patients at a free medical clinic in Worcester. She will expand her biomedical engineering curriculum offerings to high school students enrolled in Frontiers, a summer science, technology, engineering, and mathematics program at WPI. She also will collaborate with the Epworth Medical Program in Worcester to develop educational materials for patients, and she will advise teams of WPI undergraduates as they work with the clinic on projects that use STEM to address social problems. “A unique element of CAREER Award research is the opportunity to broaden educational outreach about science to the public,” Whittington said. “I am excited to work with others to improve medical literacy, inspire the next generation of scientists, and show how the research in my laboratory can positively impact people.”

Researchers across departments at WPI are studying how wildfires start, spread, and impact communities. In this episode of The WPI Podcast, Nan (Nancy) Ma, assistant professor, and Rachel Hurley, PhD candidate, both in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, discuss their work to understand the impacts of wildfire smoke on indoor environments. Ma studies the effects of smoke exposure on children’s sleep health. Hurley conducts research on how building materials found indoors absorb and re-emit smoke particles. This is the second of two episodes focused on wildfire-related research at WPI. See Episode 13 for a discussion with researchers in the Department of Fire Protection Engineering about their studies on wildfire behavior. Related links: Wildfires Explained WPI Experts on Wildfires Published study referred to in Nancy Ma interview EPA information on protecting yourself from wildfire smoke indoors American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers: wildfire response resources  

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.”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. A separate measurement finds that WPI graduates start their careers in a position of strength. WPI’s undergraduate Class of 2024 reported an average salary of $80,294 within six months after graduation, according to the university’s First Destination Outcomes data, which shows average starting salaries for recent WPI graduates consistently exceed the national average. WPI’s transformative STEM education model is based on learning by doing. All undergraduates are required to complete three long-term academic projects. Each of these experiences has a distinct focus and purpose and often involves students working in teams with community or corporate partners on challenges that have real-world relevance. In addition to these long-term projects, nearly two-thirds of WPI alumni report that they did project work in at least half of their undergraduate courses. This project-based learning approach provides repeated hands-on experiences that have a substantial positive impact for graduates. In the most recent survey of WPI alumni, 93% of respondents reported their project experiences enhanced their ability to effectively function on a team and 88% indicated that the approach helped them develop a stronger personal character. Class of 1990 alum Michelle Gass highlighted this in her 2025 WPI undergraduate commencement address. The Levi Strauss & Co. president and CEO stated, “This school has truly made itself into a powerhouse, providing an intimate learning experience that invites the outside world in, preparing students for the many challenges that lay ahead.” WPI students are also empowered to launch their career success through ongoing engagement with the Heebner Career Development Center. The center provides services including coaching, alumni networking and mentorship, workshops, and digital resources and hosts several in-person and virtual career fairs each year that attract hundreds of employers. Many employers hire multiple WPI graduates each year into fields including aerospace, information technology, life sciences, and financial technology.

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. Both temperature and lighting play a role in what people experience in vehicles, Liu says, and those experiences have implications for a driver’s ability to safely and effectively manage a vehicle, make decisions, and respond quickly to different scenarios. Concentration, cognitive skills, memory, and reaction times are all impacted by temperature and thermal comfort. Light generally can affect alertness, sleep-wake cycles, and mood. “When the temperatures are very hot or very cold, drivers can feel uncomfortable and annoyed, which impacts their driving,” Liu says. “In addition, studies have shown that during hot summers, drivers drive more aggressively.” Thermal comfort and optimal lighting conditions also have implications for how vehicles of the future are designed, according to Liu. Commuters using self-driving cars might need temperatures and lighting that allow them to work while traveling. Electric vehicles may need to be designed with sufficient battery power to provide air conditioning for drivers traveling long distances in hot weather. To test multiple temperature and lighting scenarios under controlled conditions, the researchers built a simulator that replicated the experience of driving a typical sedan. First constructed in Kaven Hall and later moved to Unity Hall, the simulator was equipped with screens and a projection system to display front, left, and right window views from a video game that depicts driving at night. A steering wheel vibrated to provide a realistic driving sensation, and an audio system generated road noise. Foot pedals simulated brake and accelerator pedals. Wang, who was a graduate student in Liu’s lab at the time, even hit the road for the study. He loaded his car with sensors and drove through Worcester to measure nighttime light so researchers could replicate realistic conditions in the simulator. After screening applicants for a type of motion sickness that occurs in simulators, the researchers randomly assigned 72 participants to three groups that drove while the cabin’s temperature was set at 18, 23, or 28 degrees Celsius (approximately 64, 73, or 82 degrees Fahrenheit). All participants drove under four different ambient lighting conditions and, in a test of their mental performance, responded to numbers that flashed on a screen while they drove. The simulator collected information on vehicle position, motion, acceleration, steering wheel movement, and gas pedal usage, and study participants completed questionnaires about their experiences. Liu says that while the simulator provided valuable data, real-world driving may involve additional factors. The results offered some clear answers about light. Participants noticed changes in lighting, but the lighting changes did not affect driving performance. Liu says that finding contradicted some expectations about lighting’s role in comfort or alertness. In contrast, temperatures mattered. Higher temperatures impaired driver accuracy, and participants reported more mental strain, more sweating, and more sleepiness. Overall, participants preferred the middle driving temperature of 23 degrees Celsius (73 degrees Fahrenheit). Liu, whose research focuses on the design of healthy and sustainable indoor environments, says the next step in his lab’s research will be to analyze brain data collected from participants in the driving simulator. “We’re interested in how brain...

From perfectly coordinated Pinterest boards to last-minute duffel bag packers, this episode dives into the highs, lows, and hilarious moments of living on campus. The director of WPI's housing and residential experience center shares insider tips, real-life stories, and advice for students and parents navigating the exciting new world of college housing.

Spreading WPI spirit one sticker at a time. #wpi(no stickers were left behind in the making of this reel)

WPI’s Dr. Alexander Wyglinski answers 3 questions you didn’t know you needed the answers to: 📍 How does GPS work? 📵 What’s a cellular “dead zone”? 📱 And why do we call it a cell phone?Spoiler: It’s all about wireless innovation.Meet Alexander Wyglinski — wireless wizard, innovation leader, and WPI’s Associate Dean of Graduate Studies. From 5G to connected cars, he’s shaping the future of tech and helping the next generation of engineers thrive. 🚀📡 #WPI #WirelessInnovation #CellNetwork #Cellcoverage #GPS #STEM #stemmajor #stemsoftiktok

Researchers across departments at WPI are studying how wildfires start, spread, and impact communities. In this episode of The WPI Podcast, James Urban, assistant professor in the Department of Fire Protection Engineering, and Albert Simeoni, professor and head of the Department of Fire Protection Engineering, discuss their research on fire behavior and how they’re working to share the knowledge generated from this research to protect people and property. This is the first of two episodes focused on wildfire-related research at WPI. In the next episode on the topic, researchers in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering will talk about their work to understand the impacts of wildfire smoke on indoor environments, with a focus on children’s sleep health and the absorption of smoke by building materials.     Related links: Wildfires Explained WPI Experts on Wildfires Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center National Fire Protection Association: Firewise USA (wildfire risk reduction program)

Researchers Develop Cleaner, Scalable Process to Recycle Lithium-Ion Batteries. Findings published in prominent international journal 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.