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- WPI Entrepreneurs Find Pricing, Awareness, and Supplies Impact Rare Earth Recycling IndustryWhen a group of WPI students and faculty members first set out in 2022 to interview people connected to the rare earth magnet industry, they wanted to know if an innovative magnet recycling business could succeed. After more than 130 interviews, says Adam Powell, associate professor in the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering and a member of the team, the group concluded that the answer is a qualified “yes.” Adam Powell “We learned there is demand for recycled materials, and a lot of people want a domestic recycling industry to grow,” Powell says. “Yet the reality is that only a small number of U.S. companies are building recycling capacity. The industry is still maturing as companies develop facilities, awareness of recycling grows, and a steady supply of old magnets builds.” “Rare earth” refers to a group of metallic elements such as neodymium that are abundant in the earth’s crust but difficult and environmentally damaging to mine and process. Magnets made from rare earth minerals are used in everything from hybrid and electric vehicles to wind turbines and fighter jets, and the total market for rare earth elements was valued at more than $3 billion in 2023. China supplies most of the world’s rare earth minerals and has used its hold on the market as a political tool. In early 2025, China threatened to limit rare earth exports, especially to Western defense contractors, as a response to U.S. tariffs. During its review, the WPI group found that challenges for rare earth recycling include incentivizing the recycling of materials and competing with magnets made from virgin materials.
- David LaMarco Named Associate Vice President for Facilities and Campus Planning at WPIWorcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) announced the appointment of David LaMarco as associate vice president for facilities and campus planning. LaMarco, who will join WPI Oct. 6, brings more than two decades of leadership experience in facilities operations, capital planning, and strategic infrastructure management across higher education and private industry. LaMarco joins WPI from Wheaton College, where he has served as associate vice president for facilities and auxiliary services, providing executive oversight for facilities operations, dining services, business services, and conference and event management. At WPI, LaMarco will serve as the university’s chief facilities executive, reporting directly to Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Mike Horan. He will lead oversee specialized areas—including campus planning, design and construction, and environmental health and safety—and manage a team of approximately 110 professionals and an annual budget of more than $40 million. He will provide strategic oversight of WPI’s built environment, including implementation of the university’s comprehensive campus framework, and will lead capital planning and projects. LaMarco will provide operational management of campus services, including maintenance, custodial, utilities, and groundskeeping, with a focus on performance metrics and continuous improvement, and will advance WPI’s sustainability initiatives, including energy management, green building practices, and environmental stewardship. LaMarco’s appointment comes at a pivotal time for WPI, which recently achieved Carnegie R1 research status—placing it among the top 3% of research institutions nationwide. As WPI’s research enterprise and academic programs continue to grow, LaMarco will play a critical role in ensuring the university’s physical infrastructure supports its mission of preparing students to solve global challenges through project-based learning and interdisciplinary collaboration. “David’s deep expertise in facilities management and his proven ability to lead complex operations make him an outstanding addition to our leadership team,” said Horan. “His strategic vision and operational acumen will be essential as we continue to expand and evolve our campus to meet the needs of an R1 institution.” “I am excited to join WPI right now, as the campus is experiencing strategic growth while adapting to the rapidly changing landscape of higher education,” said LaMarco. “Now more than ever, it’s crucial for leaders within facilities operations to add value through data-driven decision-making while creating an aspirational vision for their teams.” LaMarco holds a master of science in cybersecurity policy and governance from Boston College and a bachelor of science in facilities engineering from Massachusetts Maritime Academy. He is a certified energy manager, certified professional maintenance manager, and certified data center professional.
- Worcester Polytechnic Institute Receives $12 Million Legacy Gift from Distinguished Alumnus Carl Karlsson ’60 to Advance Faculty Excellence and Student SuccessWorcester 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.
- How Math at WPI Is Solving a 70-Year-Old Mystery in Muscle ScienceWPI professor Sam Walcott developed a molecular model that explains and accurately predicts muscle force, offering new opportunities for medical innovation. In honor of our upcoming Arts & Sciences Week, WPI is showcasing research that demonstrates how mathematics is advancing medical science. A new mathematical model developed at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) could enhance our understanding and treatment of heart disease. Created by Sam Walcott, director of bioinformatics and computational biology, the model simulates how microscopic structures within muscle cells generate force, using principles from both physics and biology to describe the interaction of individual molecules. It also reveals how subtle changes at the molecular level can lead to serious cardiac conditions. The research could inform the next generation of energy-efficient prosthetics. Walcott collaborated with Edward (Ned) Debold, professor of kinesiology at UMass Amherst, and Walter Herzog, professor of kinesiology at the University of Calgary. Using rabbit muscle tissue, Debold conducted molecular-scale experiments to study how individual muscle proteins respond under different conditions, while Herzog examined how whole muscle cells generate force. Their combined experiments provided data that Walcott then used for his model. “We have developed a mathematical model that describes how muscle cells generate force by accounting for how the molecules in the cell interact,” Walcott explains. “This connection between the cellular and molecular scale is important because, for example, genetic heart disease often causes subtle changes in one or two types of molecules in the heart muscle, yet drastic changes in heart function.” Walcott’s research has big potential for the future of medical science. For example, a relatively new discovery in the world of muscle contraction research is thick filament activation, which is a kind of “on/off-switch” for muscle molecules. Walcott’s mathematical models account for this process and suggest how it might affect muscle function. When you tense your muscle and stretch it (as if you're beginning to lose an arm-wrestling contest), your muscle can produce more force than without the stretch, a phenomenon called force enhancement. Similarly, if you tense your muscle and shorten it (as if you're beginning to win an arm-wrestling contest), your muscle can generate less force, a phenomenon called force depression. These phenomena, discovered in 1952, lack a molecular explanation. Remarkably, though one might expect force depression and enhancement to arise from the same process, there are differences between them—for example, force enhancement is not associated with an increased number of force-generating muscle molecules, while force depression is associated with a decrease in those molecules. A leading idea for how force enhancement arises is that a molecular "spring" gets engaged as you activate your muscle. When the muscle is then stretched, the spring is also stretched, thereby generating some extra force in addition to the force-generating molecules in the muscle. Walcott and his collaborators proposed that, when the muscle is shortened, the spring contracts. This then decreases the force in the muscle. Thick filament activation proposes that the force-generating molecules switch "off" when force drops, so this drop in force decreases the number of force-generating molecules. This explains both the drop in force observed in force depression and also why the number of force-generating molecules decreases. The model, which was originally designed to describe the Herzog lab’s cellular experiments, was also able to successfully predict the results of the Debold lab’s molecular-scale experiments. This suggests that we can, in fact, connect the behavior of molecules with the function of muscle cells. These discoveries mark an exciting step in the world of medicine and biomechanical design, like heart disease research and prosthetics. “Designing prosthetics requires thinking about how muscles use energy, since one wants the prosthetic to be both functional and efficient,” Walcott explains. “If we understand how muscle molecules interact, we can understand how they use energy and how the muscle overall uses energy.” Walcott’s research was supported by a $1.4 million grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), an institute of the NIH. This project also highlights the interdisciplinary focus of WPI’s Bioinformatics and Computational Biology program, where students and faculty use math and data to explore the frontiers of biological research.
- Last Day to Submit Wellness Day Events for 9/19!Today is the last day to submit Wellness Day events for approval! Requests received after today will not be approved. Submit your event request here.
- WPI Researchers Design Microbial Tool To Analyze Neuropeptide Function: Advance May Point To New Approach for Peptide TherapeuticsJagan Srinivasan Shruti Shastry Liz DiLoreto Researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), in collaboration with researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, have developed a simple, scalable method to study how specific neuropeptides affect behavior by programming common lab bacteria to deliver peptides directly to worms. The research also suggests a possible microbial approach for the future design of peptide therapeutics. The study, “Harnessing microbial tools: Escherichia coli as a vehicle for neuropeptide functional analysis in Caenorhabditis elegans,” was published in GENETICS in August 2025. Neuropeptides—small protein messengers that fine-tune brain circuits—are notoriously tricky to evaluate one by one. Traditional approaches often rely on creating transgenic animals or purchasing synthetic peptides, both of which are time-consuming and expensive. The WPI team instead engineered the bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli) to produce single neuropeptides, then fed those bacteria to Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) worms with a neuropeptide loss-of-function genetic mutation. The researchers then measured whether native behaviors—such as mate-searching, chemotaxis, and pheromone avoidance—were restored. “Our approach turns bacteria into on-demand couriers for the nervous system,” says Jagan Srinivasan, senior author and associate professor in WPI’s Department of Biology and Biotechnology. “When a behavior snaps back only if the matching receptor is present, you get direct, in-vivo evidence for which peptide talks to which circuit—and which ones are redundant versus uniquely powerful.” Because the method delivers intact, sequence-defined peptides through engineered microbes, it suggests a new peptide therapeutic strategy: using microbial “chassis” to produce and deliver short, bioactive peptides in vivo. While this study focuses on worms, the same design principles—sequence control, receptor specificity, dosing through diet—could guide the development of next-generation microbial or probiotic therapies in more complex systems. “We see this as a proof of concept for microbial peptide therapeutics,” says first author Liz DiLoreto, PhD '25. “In true WPI fashion—hands-on and collaborative—our tiny teachers (C. elegans) let us learn the rules fast: which sequences work, how to dose them, and how receptor context shapes outcomes. Those rules can guide adapting the approach to mammalian models.” “What excites me is the accessibility,” adds second author and graduate student Shruti Shastry. “Because the method uses standard E. coli and simple feeding, it’s easy to scale and share, empowering more labs and students to test many peptides and build the design playbook for translational work.” Beyond developing a new toolkit for worm neuroscience, the method opens the door to broader discoveries. Because it cleanly separates individual peptides, it can help researchers identify new peptide-receptor pairs, examine peptide processing and uptake, and investigate how neuromodulators change circuit “states” during complex decision-making.
- Sep 159:00 AMDS Ph.D. Dissertation Proposal Defense | Ruofan Hu | Monday, Sept. 15 @ 9:00amDATA SCIENCEPhD Dissertation Proposal DefenseRuofan Hu Time: Sep 15, 2025, from 9:00- 10:00 amLocation: Gordon Library Conference Room 303PhD Committee:Prof. Elke A. Rundensteiner, Data Science, WPI. Advisor.Prof. Randy Paffenroth, Mathematical Sciences, WPI.Prof. Fabricio Murai, Data Science, WPI.Prof. Feifan Liu, Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, UMass Chan Medical School. External member. Title: Learning from Weak SupervisionAbstract: Deep learning models often rely on high-quality labeled data, yet such resources are scarce and costly in domains like public health and healthcare. This dissertation addresses the problem of learning from weak supervision, where labels are noisy, incomplete, or coarse. This dissertation focuses on two major regimes: noisy supervision, which involves developing strategies to learn effectively from mixed- and unknown-quality labels, and indirect supervision, which entails designing methods that leverage coarse-grained signals to guide fine-grained tasks, such as rationale extraction and clinical notes summarization. Across four tasks, novel approaches are proposed to reduce dependence on expert annotations, mitigate label noise and imbalance, and exploit existing high-level signals. This work contributes to the development of robust, scalable models that enhance clinical decision support and medical text understanding.
- Sep 1512:00 PMBME Seminar Series: Sam Walcott, PhD: WPI Mathematical Sciences: ��Successes and Challenges in Using Mathematical Modeling to Bridge Scales in Muscle Contraction”Seminar Series “Successes and Challenges in Using Mathematical Modeling to Bridge Scales in Muscle Contraction” Sam Walcott, PhD Mathematical Sciences Worcester Polytechnic Institute Monday, September 15, 2025 GP1002 12:00pm – 12:50pm Abstract: The contraction of muscle powers vital processes like locomotion, gastric motility, and blood circulation. The rational development of therapies for dysfunction in these processes, e.g. genetic heart disease, depends on connecting molecular-scale interactions to physiological function. Since the 1950s, the sliding filament and cross bridge theories seemed to relate molecular interactions to the contraction of muscle cells. But, despite the successes of these theories, aspects of muscle contraction, e.g. the history dependence of isometric force, have eluded a mechanistic description. I'll discuss our work using mathematical modeling to bridge the molecular to cellular and larger scales. In particular, I'll share three stories: first, how we used mathematical modeling to explain how a molecular change causes fruit flies to jump further. Second, how our model of calcium activation was used to understand the mechanism of a heart drug. And third, how our modeling suggests a molecular mechanism for muscle's history dependence, and how that ties into a newly-discovered mechanism of muscle activation. Biography: (last name pronounced like the words "wall" and "cot"). I received my undergraduate degree in Biology and my PhD in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, both from Cornell University. I did my first postdoc with David Warshaw at the University of Vermont, performing measurements in the laser trap to understand smooth muscle regulation. I did my second postdoc with Sean Sun at Johns Hopkins, developing mathematical models for cell mechanosensation. I then became an independent investigator at UC Davis in the Department of Mathematics. I am currently at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in the Department of Mathematical Sciences. My primary research interest is using mathematical modeling to tie together experimental measurements of biological systems at the molecular, cellular, and larger scales. For a zoom link please contact Kate Harrison at kharrison@wpi.edu
- Sep 153:00 PMProfessor David Cyganski presents “Unraveling Quantum Mechanics into a Realistic and Ballistic Theory”Ludwig Boltzmann was unsatisfied with fluid theory (Navier-Stokes Eq., etc.) as it lacked a microscopic theory that could explain the irreversibility at the core of thermodynamics. He committed himself to show how the disbelieved notion of atoms could unravel fluid dynamics into a stochastic particle theory. This talk is about my research program to similarly find a microscopic and ballistic theory of “particles” that generates quantum mechanics, while staying within the guard rails of Einstein’s notion of “realism”. We will visit several less traveled areas of quantum theory and mathematics while following a path to this goal and end with a demonstration of a computational demonstration.David Cyganski Professor Emeritus, Electrical and Computer Engineering, RBE - WPIAll Faculty and students are welcome and encouraged to join us! Physics Department Room 218
- Sep 1612:00 PMLife Sciences Seminar Series; talks by Opeyemi Isaac Ibitoye, BBT PhD Candidate and Danni Li, BBT PhD StudentLife Sciences Seminar Series "Investigating the post-transcriptional role of regulatory small RNAs in mycobacterial stress responses" Opeyemi Isaac Ibitoye, BBT PhD Candidate, Advisor: Associate Professor Scarlet Shell"Identification of Functional Targets Reveals Novel GLD-2 Functions in the C. elegans Proximal Germline" Danni Li, BBT PhD Student, Advisor: Karl-Frédéric Vieux Tuesday September 16th 2025 @ 12:00 PM 60 Prescott St. Gateway Park 1st floor GP1002
- Sep 164:00 PM9/16 4:00 PM WPI Field Hockey vs Worcester StateLive Stats
- Sep 164:00 PMDepartment of Mathematical Sciences Discrete Math Seminar: Jane Coons, WPIDepartment of Mathematical SciencesDiscrete Math SeminarTuesday, September 16th, 20254:00PM-4:50PMOlin Hall 126Speaker: Jane Coons, WPITitle: Quasi-Independence Models with Rational Maximum Likelihood Estimator Abstract: Let X and Y be random variables. Quasi-independence models are log-linear models that describe a situation in which some states of X and Y cannot occur together, but X and Y are otherwise independent. We characterize which quasi-independence models have rational maximum likelihood estimator, or MLE, based on combinatorial features of the bipartite graph associated to the model. In this case, we give an explicit formula for the maximum likelihood estimate. We also give a substantial introduction to algebraic statistics, which will be accessible to advanced undergraduate students.
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0:22See Why Emmanuella `26 From Ghana Felt at Home at WPI
0:18Benjamin `26, a Graduate Student From Ghana Wants You to Know Something About WPI
0:36Grads are signing off.That’s a wrap. Grad commencement: complete. Time to sign off. 🖊️
7:26How to Make Simple Storytelling Videos That Look and Sound GreatVideo Chapters: 0:18 - Horizontal or Vertical Orientation 0:39 - Camera Quality Settings: HD or 4K 0:56 - Clean Your Lens 1:07 - Audio Quality / Microphone 1:52 - Personal Protective Equipment 2:29 - Storytelling Techniques 3:46 - Shooting Techniques 4:36 - Editing Options 4:51 - Exporting Your Video 5:19 - Final Product / Sample 6:57 - Recap / Final TipsPlease feel free to contact gr-multimedia@wpi.edu with your questions.The Academic Technology Center on campus also offers training, support, and equipment loans for video production projects. https://canvas.wpi.edu/courses/14090/pages/audio-visual-servicesEditing Tutorials:Adobe Premiere Pro Editing Tutorial: https://youtu.be/ihHwLfIg_Dk?si=NTMnfAicOuD0RJCdCanva Video Editing Tutorial: https://youtu.be/AlrC-XaKwew?si=cR346D-fnhEd70DYCapCut Video Editing Tutorial: https://youtu.be/VUMVsGm0xOE?si=-I02THB9Scu2PTzZHow to Edit Videos on Android: https://youtu.be/PzeP8Nl02aw?si=58hbHeJ2WJM7X20VHow to Edit Videos on iPhone: https://youtu.be/xGaUuBqgaMk?si=63WLQDTnpSH2G_FnEquipment Suggestions:DJI Mic Mini for Smartphone: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1858479-REG/dji_cp_rn_00000432_01_mic_mini_compact_wireless.htmlDJI Osmo Mobile 7 Smartphone Gimbal: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1873250-REG/dji_cp_os_00000406_01_osmo_mobile_7_smartphone.html
2:50Fire Protection Engineering and Wildfire Research at WPIFire Protection Engineering at WPI is at the forefront of research to better understand wildfires and their impact.00:00 Wildfire Research Funding 01:01 Fire Whirl Demonstration 01:21 Firebrand Research
1:54WPI wildfire research headed to International Space StationJames Urban, assistant professor in the Department of Fire Protection Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute is leading a study that will examine fire spread phenomenon on Earth through experiments on the International Space Station.