Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Template:Infobox American Universities
- For other "Worcester Colleges," see Worcester College (disambiguation).
Located in Worcester, Massachusetts, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI, informally: "Worcester Tech") was founded in 1865 as the Worcester County Free Institute of Industrial Science by John Boynton, Ichabod Washburn, and Stephen Salisbury II (and Emory Washburn, George Frisbee Hoar, Phillip Moen, Seth Sweetser, David Whitcomb, and Charles O. Thompson).
Today a science and engineering university, WPI has an enrollment of over 2,700 undergraduate students and over 1,000 full- and part-time graduate students.
Academic system
WPI's project-based curriculum makes it unique by requiring undergraduate students to complete a Sufficiency in the Liberal Arts, an Interactive Qualifying Project (IQP) to study the social effects of technology with students from other disciplines, and a Major Qualifying Project (MQP) within their own discipline. These projects are based on WPI's founding principle of theory alongside practice.
Sufficiency in the Liberal Arts
To provide intellectual breadth and a better understanding of themselves, their cultures and their heritage, every student must complete a Sufficiency Project, most often in the Humanities and Arts. Students majoring in a scientific or engineering field or in business management or the social sciences must fulfill this requirement in a humanities and arts area while students majoring in a humanities field must complete this project in an engineering field. Sufficiency projects generally consist of five thematically related courses concluded with an independent research project or, in the case of languages, an additional course.
Interactive Qualifying Project
To provide an understanding of the priorities of other sectors of society, develop the ability to communicate effectively with disparate groups, organize and derive solutions to complex problems, and gain an awareness of the interrelationships between technology and people, every student must complete an Interactive Qualifying Project (IQP). Consisting of independent study, often in a team environment, and equating to three courses in terms of work and credit, it may be performed on-campus or at one of many global project centers.
An IQP shall address a topic relating science and/or technology to society. In this context, both "society" and "technology" should be construed as broadly as possible. Technology refers to the application of rational and efficient principles to a body of knowledge or to the control of space, matter and/or human beings. Thus, the IQP encompasses not only techniques of production embodied in tools and machines, but also advances in methods of social and economic organization, in managerial techniques, and in methods of analysis in science, mathematics, and engineering. Society refers not only to a grouping of individuals but also to the culture, values, laws, customs, and institutions shared by these individuals.
Major Qualifying Project
To provide a capstone experience in the professional discipline, to develop creativity, instill self-confidence and enhance the ability to communicate ideas and synthesize fundamental concepts, every student must complete a Major Qualifying Project (MQP). This consists of an independent team-oriented project equivalent in credit to three courses of work. It may be performed on-campus or at one of several project centers around the globe.
Student Life Events
WPI's student body stages a number of regular weekly events that students can enjoy. Some of them are listed below.
- Friday Night Gaming - An event sponsored by WPI's Science Fiction Society (SFS). The SFS has a stock of various board games in a library at the basement of Riley Hall. Every Friday (even during term breaks and summer vacation), these games will be brought to the Wedge (the space between Morgan and Daniels Hall) so that students can play. It usually starts at 5-6 PM and can last to 2 or 3 AM.
- Sunday Movies - Hosted by SocComm's Film division. Every Sunday, a new film is shown on the WPI campus.
In addition to regularly scheduled campus activities, WPI is host to a number of annual events. These events usually only attract students, however, some events are large enough to draw in off-campus visitors. Some are listed below in order of occurence.
- Gaming Weekend - A bi-annual three-day event hosted by the SFS. It is the first major campus event of the year, usually taking place around Labor Day weekend. It is also held in the last term of the year. Gaming Weekend attracts a number of students and alumni, sometimes as many as 50-75. Games such as Magic: The Gathering, Care Bears: Call of Cthulhu, and Duck, Duck, Goose are all regular features.
- Homecoming - sponsored by the Office of Alumni Relations, this fall event brings numerous alumni back to campus to celebrate the past, present, and future of the University.
- Anime Fest - An annual showing of Japanese animation hosted by the SFS. This is one of the largest events held on campus during the year, attracting in upwards of 100 people. Attendees include students, alumni, students from other Consortium colleges, and even people from Eastern and Western Massachusetts. Anime Fest only shows licensed anime with permission from their respective companies.
- Dragon Night - A annual celebration hosted by WPI's Chinese Student Association (CSA). Dragon Night usually features Chinese food, lion dancing, and other elements of Chinese culture.
- National Day of Silence - Every year, BiLaGa and other organizations lead an effort on campus for students to observe the National Day of Silence, an event created to raise awareness about those oppressed by various ideologies, such as bigotry and political correctness.
- Ugly Man on Campus (UMOC) - Hosted by WPI's chapter of Alpha Phi Omega. Students nominate themselves to compete for the title of Ugliest Man on Campus. Votes are done by putting money in the student's collection cup. Whoever raises the most money wins the title and chooses which charity the funds go to. UMOC usually coincides with QuadFest.
- QuadFest - The largest event held on campus, hosted by the WPI Social Committee (SocComm). It takes place during the final week of the WPI school year. Events include musical acts, movies, and special booths created by WPI clubs and organizations.
Clubs and Organizations
The students of WPI have created various student clubs and run many student organizations.
- American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Student WPI Branch - AIAA
- Association for Computing Machinery - ACM
- Ballroom Dance Team
- Campus Radio - WWPI
- Emergency Medical Services - EMS
- Game Development Club - GDC
- Graduate Student Organization - GSO
- IEEE WPI Student Branch
- International Student Council - ISC
- Lens and Lights - LnL
- Theatre Club - Masque
- Motorspots Club
- Newman Club
- WPI Pep Band
- Student Pugwash
- Science Fiction Society
- Social Committee - SocComm
- Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers - SHPE
- Student Alumni Society - SAS
- Student Comedy Productions - SCP
- Student Government Association - SGA
- Tech News (Student Newspaper)
- WPI Wireless Association
- Women in Electrical and Computer Engineering - WECE
The Campus
WPI is an urban school with what some have called "a suburban feel." The main campus is not gated, but it is entirely WPI owned. No public roads cross this part of the school. WPI sits on Boynton Hill, which sets it apart from the surrounding neighborhood. Situated only one block away from "the Hill" (as some call it) is a stretch of restaurants and stores on Highland Street. A Subway sandwich shop, Tech Pizza, the Bean Counter (coffee shop), the Sole Proprietor (a fancy seafood restaurant), a consignment shop, Tortilla Sams (a Mexican food restaurant), and the Boynton (a traditional WPI student favorite) are all located there.
You can find a listing of things to do in Worcester (and at WPI) on the SocialWeb. The SocialWeb is a site run by a WPI staff member. The SocialWeb powers many calendars in the Worcester area including Assumption College and Worcester State College.
Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science at WPI
WPI participates in a collaborative effort with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the high schools of Massachusetts in the Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science at WPI.
Mass Academy is an 11th and 12th grade public high school for 100 academically accelerated youths. Juniors receive advanced high school classes at the academy building, with seniors taking the WPI freshman curriculum at the university.
The program emphasizes math and science within a comprehensive, interactive program and is the only public school in Massachusetts whose students attend a university fulltime as seniors in high school.
Notable alumni
WPI's best-known alumnus is Robert Goddard, who graduated in 1908 and is widely regarded as the Father of Modern Rocketry. Another successful graduate is Robert Stempel, inventor of the catalytic converter and former Chairman and CEO of General Motors. A third important alumni is Harold Stephen Black who revolutionized electronics by inventing the negative feedback amplifier in 1927. WPI is also known for its famous drop-outs. Dean Kamen, who left the school without finishing his degree, invented the first portable insulin pump and the Segway Human Transporter. Atwater Kent, who dropped out twice in the 1890s, went on to found the Atwater Kent Manufacturing Company which was the world's leading producer of radios in the late 1920s. In Japan, a famous alumnus is Kotaro Shimomura, chemical engineer. After graduating, he became president of Doshisha University and Osaka Gas Co., Ltd.
For more information on notable alumni, please see the WPI Library's Online Exhibition of Distinguished Alumni
Trivia
- The term "gweep," meaning one who hacks on a computer at night, originated at WPI.
- Many of the members of the well-established fanfiction-writing group Eyrie Productions are or were students at WPI, and much of their writing is littered with WPI references.
- WPI has a student organization known as the Skull. Details on the group are scarce due to their tradition of being secretive. Publicly available information includes who their members are and that they induct about 10 people per year. When a person is considered for membership, they are considered "tapped," a word used in official Skull related press releases. According to students who have been tapped, the process partly involves answering questions about WPI's past and wearing yellow tags. Their stated purpose is to preserve the traditions of WPI and they are not associated with the Skull and Bones organization in Yale.
- Usenet flaming is said to have originated at WPI in arguments over computer time. WPI currently maintains wpi.flame.
- Male-only school until 1968. The current male:female ratio is approximately 3:1.
- WPI's first Marshall Scholar was Nicholas Twomey Baker '03.
- Its newspaper, Tech News, changed its name to Newspeak in the 1970s, then changed its name back to Tech News in 2000.
- Since 1982 WPI has offered a summer-program for high school science & engineering students named Frontiers.
- Since 1997, WPI has offered a summer outreach program for girls entering the sixth grade, Camp REACH, to promote women in math & science.
- The WPI Acronym Dictionary currently consists of over 760 acronyms which are catalogued by an alumnus from the Class of 2005.
