As climate-induced disasters such as hurricanes grow more frequent and severe in Puerto Rico, communities across the archipelago are increasingly relying on mutual-aid networks to protect one another.A set of emergency preparedness strategies developed by a Puerto Rican mutual-aid hub and WPI students may advance the effectiveness and sustainability of those grassroots efforts. In new research published in the journal Disasters, WPI students and faculty advisors associated with the university’s San Juan, Puerto Rico, Project Center report on the creation of the Disaster Response Mobilization System (DRMS), a community-based emergency management system. The DRMS was co-designed and co-piloted with Centro de Apoyo Mutuo, Las Carolinas, a mutual-aid hub based in Caguas, Puerto Rico. “The DRMS reflects the reality that neighbors often serve as first responders in Puerto Rico,” says Tara Checko ’25, one of the authors on the research article. Other authors were Abigail Sumner ’25, John-Michael Davis, assistant professor of teaching in the Department of Integrative and Global Studies (DIGS), and Sarah Molinari, an assistant teaching professor in DIGS. The authors identified three insights from the development of the DRMS that could advance the effectiveness and sustainability of community-based disaster preparedness: • The DRMS can serve as one approach within a broader community engagement and resilience planning process. • Community-driven implementations of the DRMS can build preparedness and provide an entry point for marginalized communities to connect to other networks of pre- and post-disaster support. • Volunteer-based community disaster preparedness efforts face sustainability and scalability challenges and require support from additional relevant stakeholders.The research that led to the DRMS started in early 2024 when a team of students that included Checko and Sumner were working on an Interactive Qualifying Project (IQP), an interdisciplinary project that examines a problem or need at the intersection of science and society. All WPI undergraduates must complete an IQP to graduate.Drawing on the experience of Hurricane Maria in 2017 and ongoing infrastructural failures that disproportionately impacted elderly and disabled residents, WPI students worked with Centro de Apoyo Mutuo, Las Carolinas, to design the DRMS so it would reflect the community’s specific challenges, strengths, and local knowledge. Faculty advisors, students, and the community partner co-created and co-piloted the system using household surveys and geo-located coordinates on Google My Maps. The group had three goals: assess household preparedness for disasters to guide hub strategies such as resource stockpiling and community engagement; identify household assets available to the community during a disaster, as well as household vulnerabilities such as medical or mobility conditions that may require extra support; and map household assets and vulnerabilities for community and other first responders. Checko and Sumner revisited the project during summer 2024 in an experimental course, Post-IQP Academic Publishing. The course was created by Davis and offered students an opportunity to return to their IQP research, sharpen their academic writing, and co-author a peer-reviewed journal article. Faculty advisors guided students through the publishing process—from engaging with the relevant literature to refining arguments and responding to reviewer feedback—to create a pathway for students to contribute to scholarly conversations and amplify the impact of their global project work. The authors said that the DRMS offers a promising, adaptable model for communities across Puerto Rico and beyond that are seeking to strengthen local disaster preparedness. “By focusing on community knowledge and fostering mutual-aid networks, the system can be scaled and tailored to diverse contexts, providing a strategy for grassroots organizations to build resilience from the ground up and connect more effectively with external support systems,” says Sumner.

A team of researchers that includes Worcester Polytechnic Institute computer scientist Kyumin Lee has developed a DNA testing procedure that could potentially help border control agents identify fins and other illegally traded parts from endangered sharks and rays. The researchers say their approach, a low-cost assay that involves a heating process and machine learning-based species detection using melting curve analysis, can quickly and accurately identify at least 55 shark and ray species, including 38 species listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. The assay is effective even in samples that have been dried, frozen, processed, or cooked into food. “We think of this assay and machine learning-based species detection technology as a molecular enforcement tool that could help law enforcement monitor trade, enforce international regulations, and combat wildlife trafficking,” says Lee, an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science. The research, published in the peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports, emerged from a four-year collaboration among multiple institutions and supported with $2 million in funding from the National Science Foundation and the Allen Family Philanthropies. The team includes researchers from WPI, Florida International University, and the University of Maryland. The researchers sought to address a problem for law enforcement officers who battle illegal trade in animals and animal products: Fish fins and body parts from different species can appear similar, making it difficult to visually identify those from endangered species. Products also can be mislabeled and disguised, hampering investigations and criminal prosecutions. “A lot of the law enforcement that we’ve worked with in the past say that if they cannot have preliminary evidence within 24 hours, they have to let the container go,” says Diego Cardeñosa, a Florida International University assistant professor of biological sciences and an author on the paper. “If that first layer of proof is gone, then everything else falls.” To improve identification, the researchers focused on a technique called high-resolution melt analysis, which involves collecting DNA from a sample, amplifying a specific section of the genetic code, and then applying heat to measure the rate at which the DNA melts over time. The technique can be used as a relatively quick and simple way to spot genetic differences between samples. After building a library of melting data from 669 known fish samples, the researchers used machine learning to create a model that could compare unidentified samples to the library data. They tested their process using frozen, dried, preserved, processed, and cooked fish samples. The assay, they say, cost about $1.50 per sample, took about two hours to complete using simple equipment that could be installed at ports and other border facilities, and was 99.2% accurate. In addition to Lee and Cardeñosa, the paper’s authors were Zhuang Luo, WPI master of science 2025; Associate Professor DeEtta Mills, Emma Aitken, and Maria A. Herrera, all of Florida International University; John Carlson of the National Marine Fisheries Service; and Gavin Naylor of the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida, Gainesville. Lee has previously researched the spread of phony and malicious online information, and he has worked with Renata Konrad, professor in The Business School, to understand how technologies and tools might be used to combat illegal wildlife trafficking. Threats to endangered sharks and rays are particularly urgent. Sharks and rays have been consumed as food for centuries, notably in Asia. Some Indian communities consider consumption of milk sharks beneficial to pregnant and lactating women. Shark fins are used in traditional Chinese medicine and shark fin soup. However, overfishing has diminished wild populations and endangered many species. Lee says the researchers hope their technology can be shared with law enforcement and developed to assist with anti-trafficking efforts focused on other species. The group also plans to work on technologies that can monitor social networks and e-commerce sites for suspicious trade activity. Other parts of the project will involve identifying trafficking routes and determining actions that will disrupt networks. “This collaboration brings together researchers with unique skills and resources,” Lee says. “Together we’re trying to use our expertise to make a positive impact for social good on an important global problem, which is the illegal and destructive trafficking of wildlife.”

Worcester Polytechnic Institute has been awarded a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation to develop hands-on training, internships, and mentoring aimed at expanding the hydrogen energy workforce. WPI will collaborate with Western New England University, regional community colleges, and industry partners to create a one-year course to prepare nontraditional workers for careers in fields that are needed by hydrogen-sector leaders. Mehdi Mortazavi, principal investigator and associate teaching professor in the WPI Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, said organizers expect to train 40 people over three years. “This program will be unique because it will focus on experiential learning,” said Mortazavi. “Students will gain theoretical knowledge about hydrogen while also getting hands-on experience during industry internships. After three years, we aim to have a blueprint that can be adapted to prepare workers in other regions for jobs in any emerging technology industry, not just hydrogen energy.” Others working with Mortazavi on the project include Andrew Teixeira, associate professor in the WPI Department of Chemical Engineering, and Seyed Niknam, associate professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management at Western New England University. Hydrogen has gained attention in recent years for its potential role in solving a clean-energy conundrum. Renewable resources such as the sun and wind can be tapped to generate energy without producing the emissions associated with carbon-based fuels. But when the sun sets and winds drop, energy generation stops. A solution is to use electricity generated by solar and wind power to power an electrolyzer, a device that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen. Hydrogen then can be stored, transported, and ultimately converted into electricity and water through fuel cells. Developing a skilled workforce with knowledge of hydrogen technologies will be essential to expanding the hydrogen economy, Teixeira said. “Massachusetts is investing in industry-academic collaborations aimed at improving the state’s energy resiliency, and hydrogen will play a big role in expanding economic activity,” Teixeira said. “The people we train will become workers for emerging and established hydrogen companies in Massachusetts.” The WPI-led team will work with community colleges in Massachusetts to recruit the first cohort of 13 students for the training program before the end of 2025. Mortazavi hopes to attract a wide range of applicants, including first-generation college students, veterans, and people from low-income families. Students selected for the program will receive stipends and spend about four weeks in training focused on hydrogen safety, production, use, and infrastructure manufacturing. The cohort will train in laboratories at WPI and at the Center for Advanced Manufacturing Systems at Western New England University. Students then will be placed in internships with corporate partners for about three months. After their internships, students will have access to mentoring, career counseling, and other job placement services at WPI. The program aims to equip students with the technical and practical skills needed to secure jobs across the hydrogen energy sector. Potential roles could include fuel cell and electrolyzer technicians or engineers and hydrogen infrastructure specialists. “A critical element of this training program is the collaboration across academic disciplines at WPI and among WPI, other educational institutions, industry partners, regional workforce and clean energy organizations, and federal agencies,” Mortazavi said. “The program brings together the mechanical and chemical engineering programs, with support from several WPI offices and external partners, to offer a holistic experience for participants who might otherwise face barriers to finding jobs in emerging technology fields.”

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), in collaboration with Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives (MBI), the City of Worcester, and more than 30 regional partners, has been awarded $5.2 million from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to establish the BioHub, a transformative initiative designed to power the bioindustrial revolution in Central Massachusetts.The award was announced by Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll at an event held at WPI, where she also recognized 14 other innovation and technology projects funded by the state to strengthen Massachusetts’ growing innovation economy.The BioHub will serve as the foundation for a thriving bioindustrial manufacturing ecosystem, positioning Worcester and Central Massachusetts as leaders in sustainable biomanufacturing, applied research, and workforce development.“WPI’s strengths in advanced manufacturing, biotechnology, and life sciences make us a natural catalyst for collaboration and economic growth,” said Grace Wang, president of Worcester Polytechnic Institute. “The BioHub builds on this foundation—bringing together academic, industry, and government partners to drive biomanufacturing innovation, create jobs, and expand opportunity for people across Central Massachusetts and beyond.”Over the next three years, the initiative aims to complete more than 24 pilot projects, train over 500 individuals, and create 3,000 new jobs, with an anticipated twentyfold return on investment in economic output. The initiative also aims to create a network of bioindustrial companies from startup to multinational corporations that will collaboratively shape the course of research and training in this field for years to come.Powered by breakthroughs in genetics, genomics, process engineering, and artificial intelligence, Central Massachusetts is poised to lead a new era of biology-based manufacturing that transforms how food, fuels, chemicals, and materials are produced. The region already ranks among the top 10 emerging biotech hubs in the country, with $4.5 billion in recent projects, a highly skilled workforce, and one of the nation’s densest concentrations of bioengineers and biological technicians.“By designating Worcester as a BioHub, the Healey-Driscoll administration will help the city build on the work it has already been doing to make the city a hub of innovation and help grow industry across the state,” said City Manager Eric Batista. “I am excited to see how WPI and the MBI will accelerate the commercialization of new food, fuels, chemicals, and materials.” WPI will leverage its extensive research infrastructure and facilities to support and accelerate the work, including the Biomanufacturing Education and Training Center (BETC), a 10,000-square-foot pilot-scale laboratory where theory is put into practice through active training, process development, and scale-up testing.“WPI’s BETC has long been a cornerstone for hands-on learning and industry collaboration in biopharmaceuticals,” said Eric Young, associate professor of chemical engineering and principal investigator for the BioHub project. “Through the BioHub, we’ll expand that impact. This is where research, training, and real-world application truly come together.”In addition, the BioHub calls for the creation of an AI-integrated pilot facility to accelerate scale-up testing, launching a builder’s lab for process optimization, expanding a bio-foundry for bioengineering, developing hands-on and augmented-reality training programs, and connecting academic and industry partners across Massachusetts to form a statewide bioindustrial network. MBI will help guide the strategy for accelerating company growth and scaling innovation. As the region’s longest-running nonprofit life sciences incubator and a leader in developing the Central Massachusetts biomanufacturing sector, MBI will work with academic, industry, and government partners to connect emerging ventures to facilities, technical support, and talent pipelines.“When we developed the regional biomanufacturing strategy, we knew that focused collaboration and investment in Central Massachusetts was the key to global competitiveness. This investment from the Healey-Driscoll administration recognizes what’s already happening here on the ground,” said Jon Weaver, president and CEO of MBI. “We’ve grown biomanufacturing jobs by more than 84% in the last five years, even as other regions have struggled. The BioHub is about continuing that momentum—giving companies the tools, space, and skilled workforce they need to thrive in Central Massachusetts.”

You voted in every poll—social media student Charles did everything you picked. From the 6am workout to the Dunkin' meal, study spots, and even where he grabbed late-night snacks... this is YOUR perfect day at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.This is what a REAL day looks like at WPI when our community designs it. No scripts, no perfect takes—just authentic college life. ⏱️ Timestamps: 0:06 - Breakfast 0:11 - Class 0:14 - Gym 0:24 - Studying 0:29 - Activities

In this episode of The WPI Podcast, Erin Solovey, associate professor in the Department of Computer Science, introduces the concept of “thinking with AI,” a vision of human-centered intelligent systems designed as collaborative partners that enhance decision-making and creativity. She also discusses her research that seeks to make technology more intuitive and responsive. Solovey’s work lies at the intersection of AI, human-computer interaction, and neuroscience and is focused on how people interact with artificial intelligence.    Related links: AI at WPI Human-Computer Interaction Lab Interacting with AI at Work: Perceptions and Opportunities from the UK Judiciary Neuroscience at WPI Media: Contact Our Faculty AI Experts The Symposium on Human-Computer Interaction for Work

Coming back to The Hill feels like coming home for so many—and what better way to celebrate that feeling than with Homecoming 2025 events? From the legendary rope pull to the parade across Earle Bridge, the electric pep rally, and unforgettable athletic showdowns—relive all the moments that make Homecoming special.

Chronic pain affects millions of Americans and too often leads to dependence on opioids for relief. But what if doctors could predict, before writing a prescription, whether a patient would respond better to non-drug therapies like meditation? This episode explores groundbreaking research at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) that combines neuroscience, data science, and artificial intelligence to personalize pain treatment with guests Benjamin Nephew, assistant research professor, biology and biotechnology, and Emmanuel Agu, Harold L. Jurist ’61 and Heather E. Jurist Dean’s Professor of Computer Science. The study “Integrative Mindfulness-based Predictive Approach for Chronic low back pain Treatment" or IMPACT is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) HEAL (Helping to End Addiction Long-term) initiative. In addition to Nephew and Agu,  WPI researchers include Jean King (Principal Investigator), the Peterson Family Dean of Arts and Sciences at WPI, Carolina Ruiz, the WPI Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences and Harold L. Jurist ’61 and Heather E. Jurist Dean’s Professor of Computer Science, Angela Incollingo Rodriguez, assistant professor of psychological and cognitive sciences, Zheyang Wu, professor, mathematical sciences. 

WPI faculty members Jennifer Rudolph, historian of modern China and professor in humanities and arts, and Lane Harrison, data visualization expert and associate professor in computer science, have received a $600,000, two-year International Peace and Security Program grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York to advance an international project called Mapping Global China, with collaborator Maria Adele Carrai, assistant professor of Global China Studies at New York University Shanghai.Mapping Global China aims to help people better understand China’s expanding role on the world stage by creating an open-access digital platform that integrates curated datasets, interactive maps, and advanced data visualization. By combining qualitative and quantitative data, the initiative enables scholars, policymakers, educators, and students to explore how China’s global engagements intersect with local contexts and impact global structures. This innovative, interdisciplinary approach brings together expertise in history, law, economics, cartography, and geography with WPI’s strengths in computer science and data visualization to provide accessible, unbiased resources that help reposition understanding of China both within and outside of its state borders.“Mapping Global China is designed to provide a clearer, more nuanced understanding of China’s global presence,” said Rudolph. “By allowing users to access integrated and reliable data sets to create tailored maps that advance significant research questions, the site supports informed decision-making for scholars and policymakers worldwide.”The grant also supports extensive student and faculty involvement at WPI. Harrison and Rudolph are leading a collaborative effort that includes advising two Major Qualifying Project (MQP) student teams, co-advised by Diane Strong, professor in WPI’s Business School, and incorporating into the site a story map on Confucius Institutes developed by a WPI Chinese Studies minor with assistance of the Global Lab. In January 2026, a WPI PhD student in computer science will join the project to incorporate cutting-edge machine learning and visualization technologies to take the project and the field to new levels. A second advanced WPI PhD student in computer science will join in year two of the grant.In addition to the interactive digital platform that will allow users to create their tailored maps, the project will produce a collected volume, Global China: Histories, Methods, Encounters, co-edited by Rudolph and Carrai, as well as an atlas. The Mapping Global China initiative also includes themed working groups, research briefs, story maps, and interviews with experts on various aspects of China’s global impact.

A WPI experiment focused on a new way to prevent electronics from overheating flew into space September 18, 2025, aboard a Blue Origin spacecraft, giving researchers led by Jamal Yagoobi a critical opportunity to advance their technology by testing it in zero-gravity and multi-gravity settings.The uncrewed suborbital flight lasted just over 10 minutes, including slightly more than three minutes of weightlessness, and carried more than 40 scientific and research payloads. Blue Origin’s New Shepard spacecraft blasted off and landed at a site near El Paso, Texas, while Yagoobi, the George F. Fuller Professor of Mechanical Engineering, watched a live webcast of the flight in his Multi-Scale Heat Transfer Laboratory with students who had worked on the WPI experiment.“Many people, including students and collaborators at NASA, deserve credit for working hard on this project during the years leading up to this mission,” says Yagoobi. “The results of our experiment aboard the flight confirm that our design can significantly reduce the surface temperatures of electronics in zero-gravity and much higher gravity conditions. Because of the excellent results we obtained, we are very close to commercializing our electrohydrodynamic cooling technology, as our project has reached a new level of maturity as designated by NASA’s Technology Readiness Level.”The project, funded by NASA, sought to address an out-of-this-world challenge that could have implications for future spaceships and satellites. On Earth, liquids boil upon encountering hot objects, and vapor carries away the heat, making boiling a liquid an efficient way to cool heated items. However, in space, where there is no gravity, vapor bubbles cannot rise from a boiling liquid and heat does not dissipate effectively or at all. To enable heat transfer in small spaces to avoid overheating, Yagoobi and his team adopted an electrohydrodynamic approach.Yagoobi’s gravity-independent hardware improves two-phase, or liquid-vapor, heat transfer by extracting vapor bubbles away from a heated surface during boiling with a dielectrophoretic mechanism, which leverages an electrical field to move bubbles. This thin-film boiling technology is a thermal management system that acquires heat non-mechanically at higher rates while consuming negligible power. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center collaborated with the WPI team to fabricate parts for the experiment, which was vacuum-sealed inside a metal chamber and housed in a locker that measured about 24 by 24 by 18 inches. Yagoobi traveled to Blue Origin’s Texas site in August with PhD student Matthew Catuccio and Alexander Castaneda, PhD ’25, to install the final pieces of hardware on the experiment. Two others in Yagoobi’s lab, Nate O’Connor, PhD ’23, and PhD student Lindsey Podlaski, have also worked on the project.“I am extremely grateful to have been a part of this project from its early stages to now,” says Castaneda. “To see it fly on a rocket into space is extremely rewarding and feels like the next step to pushing the technology readiness of this project. I am hopeful that the data from this experiment will lead to many more space launches for our laboratory at WPI.” Castaneda joined Blue Origin as an employee in September.“As an individual, this has been an incredible opportunity to work on a very cool experiment that got to go to space,” says Catuccio. “It is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I also know this experiment is a major step forward for the laboratory. The technology being tested is very innovative and has the potential to reach integration into real application very soon.”Yagoobi has been exploring the problem of cooling in space for over 30 years, both on Earth and in the skies. He, his PhD students, and his collaborators at NASA have tested earlier versions of their technology aboard several of NASA’s parabolic flights, in which airplanes repeatedly climbed and plunged through the skies to produce 20-second bursts of weightlessness. Yagoobi also had a different experiment aboard the International Space Station for more than a year.The work was supported by the Biological and Physical Sciences Division in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters under NASA grants NNX16AT09G and 80NSSC22K0676.Blue Origin is a privately held space flight company owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos. The flight was the 35th and final mission for New Shepard, an autonomous and fully reusable rocket-and-capsule system built to fly people and payloads beyond the Kármán line, the boundary of outer space 62 miles above the Earth’s surface.Yagoobi continues to be passionate about space as reflected from his continuous engagement with NASA’s Goddard and Glenn Research Center.“When I was young, I dreamed about being an astronaut and traveling into space,” he says. “It has been very rewarding to work on this and other projects with so many students, researchers, and engineers who share ...