News Spring 2021

Sense of Place

Spanning Four Revolutions

Ascending Boynton Hill, a new academic and research building bridges WPI’s past and future. At its apex, the building faces the Washburn Shops, a paean to practicality that rose at the crest of the first industrial revolution and bustled through revolutions two (the Electric Age) and three (the Digital Age). The 100,000 square feet of the new structure are dedicated to the fourth industrial revolution, in which disruptive technologies (Internet of Things, robotics, artificial intelligence) are changing our lives as completely as did the previous three transitions. And as Washburn continues to do, the new building will prepare WPI students to rise to the challenge of harnessing this latest wave of change to build a better world.