Sending a student to college is an exciting milestone, but it also comes with plenty of questions. How involved should parents be? When should they step in, and when should they step back? In this episode, WPI's Dean of Students shares practical advice on supporting college students through academic challenges, independence, well-being, and everything in between. Whether you're preparing for move-in day or navigating the college years, you'll come away with tips to help you and your student embrace these evolving roles.

Can artificial intelligence help create better public policy and stronger communities? In this episode, WPI professors Rob Krueger and Lane Harrison discuss how AI is transforming social science research and providing policymakers with new tools to better understand complex societal challenges. The conversation also explores Poverty Stoplight, an innovative initiative that empowers families to assess their own circumstances across areas such as income, housing, health, and education using a simple red, yellow, and green framework. Learn how AI and community-driven data can work together to inform decision-making, elevate lived experiences, and help drive meaningful social change.

In this episode of The WPI Podcast, we explore ways that students who are getting ready to start college, at any institution, can manage the transition so they’re prepared to succeed academically.  

Paul Reilly, assistant dean of student success, and Raghavan Rajkumar, an undergraduate student in computer science and data science and a former summer transition assistant, share practical advice for steps students and their families can take in the summer before college classes begin. 

This episode also offers specific guidance to incoming WPI students to help them start strong, discussing what the university does to help students prepare for and navigate their first-year.  

 

Related links: 

Academic Advising Office 

First-Year Welcome Experience 

Peer leadership 

First-Year Insight Program 

First-Year student success 

In this episode of The WPI Podcast, we explore how communities can better prepare for hurricanes and their long-term effects. Sarah Molinari, assistant teaching professor in the Department of Integrative and Global Studies, discusses lessons learned from damaging storms in modern Caribbean history.

The conversation highlights examples of grassroots preparedness and response strategies, the challenges of scaling community-led solutions, and the importance of centering relationships, collaboration, and community voices in research and planning related to  storm resilience.

As one of several Worcester Polytechnic Institute faculty members in the Caribbean Collaborative Action Network, Molinari conducts research on climate adaptation and collaborates with communities in the region. She discusses this work and her role at the university’s Puerto Rico Project Center advising student projects, which have included the co-creation of a disaster response management tool.

Related links:

“Building Equitable Climate Adaptation Partnerships in the US Caribbean”

Caribbean Collaborative Action Network

Department of Integrative and Global Studies

The Global School

San Juan, Puerto Rico, Project Center

Interactive Qualifying Project

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Regional Integrated Sciences andAssessments Program

In this episode of The WPI Podcast, we speak with Paula Gibbons ’26, ahead of her upcoming graduation, about her experiences in classrooms, labs, academic projects, student organization activities, performance spaces, research settings, and more as a student at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Gibbons, a lifelong Worcester resident who is majoring in biomedical engineering and minoring in biology, shares her motivation for pursuing a career in biomedical research and discusses her plans to continue her education by entering a PhD program at UMass Chan Medical School.

Gibbons also discusses her advice for students on selecting a career path and choosing a college or university, as well as what activities and experiences to pursue while in college. 

Related links:

Department of Biomedical Engineering

Santa Fe, New Mexico Project Center

Interactive Qualifying Project

Major Qualifying Project

National Society of Black Engineers

Philharmonic Association

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship

Robert Goddard

Project-based Learning

In this episode of The WPI Podcast, we explore why video, images, and other content generated by artificial intelligence seems to be everywhere on social media.

Rodica Neamtu, professor of teaching in the Department of Computer Science, explains how AI-generated content is easily produced and distributed and why it can be difficult to distinguish it from human-generated content. She discusses the societal challenges that emerge when people struggle to determine what’s real versus what’s fake, and she proposes strategies to navigate the fast-moving disruption caused by AI development.

Neamtu also shares how she works with WPI students to create AI tools to meet public needs and to consider the potential implications of technology they develop.

Related links:

About AI at WPI

Computer Science Department

Bucharest, Romania Project Center

Project-Based Learning

Major Qualifying Project

Interactive Qualifying Project

In this episode of The WPI Podcast, we explore common running injuries and the engineering research aimed at predicting or preventing them.

Karen Troy, the John Woodman Higgins Professor in Engineering and head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, explains her research that examines bone stress injuries and the role of biomechanics and physiology in bone health and injury. Troy’s research seeks to develop predictive tools for runners to guide their training and reduce the risk of bone stress injury and to develop interventions to improve bone strength and injury resistance.

Troy also shares practical knowledge and advice to runners so they can run smarter and enjoy the activity they love.

Related links:

Department of Biomedical Engineering

Musculoskeletal Biomechanics Laboratory

Interested in participating in a running footwear study? Fill out this form

 

On this episode of The WPI Podcast, WPI’s Director of the Heebner Career Development Center, Amanda Laungani, unpacks how today’s students—and WPI alumni—can thrive in a job market transformed by AI and rapid technological change. She explains how the entry level is evolving—and how WPI equips students with the human and technical skills employers now demand.

Listeners get an inside look at how WPI prepares students from day one: early networking, tapping into a powerful alumni network, and building diverse experiences that make graduates stand out. Laungani also shares how WPI stays ahead of industry shifts in fields like AI, biotech, and cybersecurity, ensuring students are ready for jobs that don’t even exist yet.

If you’re looking to navigate the future of work, this episode offers clear, practical insight—and shows why employers consistently seek out WPI graduates.

Featured Links

https://cdc.wpi.edu

https://cdc.wpi.edu/first-destination-dashboard/

In this episode of The WPI Podcast, we explore how K–12 robotics programs are igniting a passion for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics by giving students hands-on opportunities to design, build, and problem-solve in real time. 

This conversation with Colleen Shaver, the director of the Robotics Resource Center at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, highlights how the university supports this growing pipeline—from mentoring elementary through high school teams and providing in-person and virtual resources to creating a natural next step for students drawn to robotics and innovation. 

Aimed at prospective college students and parents, this episode breaks down why robotics is such a powerful gateway to future careers and how WPI helps students turn early curiosity into real-world impact.

Related Links:

Robotics Resource Center

OpenSTEM

Robotics Competitions and Awards

 

In this episode of The WPI Podcast, we celebrate 100 years since the “Father of Modern Rocketry,” Robert Goddard (Class of 1908), conducted the first successful launch of a liquid-fueled rocket, a development that opened the door to space exploration. 

Nikolaos Gatsonis, professor and head of the Department of Aerospace Engineering, and John Blandino, professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering, explain why Goddard’s 1926 launch in Auburn, Mass., was so groundbreaking. They discuss how Goddard also laid the groundwork for the future development of another form of propulsion, electric propulsion for spacecraft. 

Gatsonis and Blandino describe how electric propulsion is used widely by vehicles in space today and how WPI faculty and students are conducting research and working on projects that seek to further advance electric propulsion technology, which is one way Goddard’s legacy lives on at WPI. 

Related Links:

WPI Digital Exhibit: Where the Space Age Began: Robert H. Goddard's WPI Student Days

Department of Aerospace Engineering

NASA Dawn Mission

NASA EO-1 (Earth Observing-1 Mission)

NASA CubeSat Launch Initiative