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

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

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

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

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

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