Life Sciences and Health in a Polytechnic Era

Dear WPI community, 

Not long ago, we celebrated our 157th Founders Day, commemorating the dedication of Boynton Hall on Nov. 11, 1868. Since the Industrial Revolution, we have never lost focus on providing advanced practical education to those who will enter the new and growing sectors of our economy.

Today’s health and life sciences industries are in a state of continuous revolution, fueled by technology and supercharged by the demand for better care at lower cost. Consequently, leadership in healthcare now extends far beyond the clinical setting.

Advances across the life sciences—including biomedical engineering, biology, biotechnology, computational biology, drug discovery and delivery, and medical robotics—are reshaping our understanding of how to treat and cure injury and disease, provide early detection and prevention, and improve human health. These disciplines draw from fields where WPI has always excelled, such as physical sciences, engineering, computer science, and social sciences.

Life sciences and healthcare present the perfect demonstration of how these fields converge in our polytechnic era. The WPI community collaborates across these disciplinary boundaries, making breakthroughs possible.

From developing robotic systems that assist in surgery to designing algorithms that accelerate drug discovery, our community is advancing healthcare—not at the bedside, but through science and engineering.

At our Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center, interdisciplinary teams coalesce around ideas, approaching complex problems from multiple perspectives to speed the pace of discovery.

Right next door, PracticePoint at WPI is a premier life sciences training and research and development facility, providing companies with access to the same resources found in the most advanced clinical settings for real-world training, designing, prototyping, and testing of various health technologies and surgical innovations. 

These shifts are shaping the future talent need in life sciences and health. The most recent cohort of WPI’s pre-health advisees achieved a 100% placement rate into medical, dental, and veterinary schools. The national rate is closer to 40%. This achievement speaks to the strength of WPI’s education, the rigor of our project-based learning model, and the critical linkage between life sciences, health, and technology.

Recently, WPI and Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences signed an agreement creating clear pathways for students to transition from undergraduate to graduate programs across both institutions—an exciting step toward deeper collaboration and expanded opportunities for our students.

Students and faculty members who choose to work in life sciences and related fields at WPI are choosing a career of profound impact. Exciting horizons are unfolding, and the possibilities exceed anything we can foresee today.  

I ask you to help more prospective students see and choose these pathways. Together, we are shaping a healthier, more resilient future.

Sincerely, Grace