ACTIVITIES
Lab for Education & Application Prototypes (LEAP)
On January 11, 2018 Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), in collaboration with Quinsigamond Community College (QCC), had a kickoff event for the future Lab for Education & Application Prototypes (LEAP) at WPI, part of the national American Institute for Manufacturing Integrated Photonics (AIM Photonics).
The Lt. Governor Karyn Polito announced $4M in state funding in support of the lab, that will continue to expand the Commonwealth’s commitment to innovation, technology and education.
LEAP at WPI will support the integrated photonics manufacturing sector in central Massachusetts. This partnership will:
- Advance integrated photonics research
- Support the growth of the integrated photonics industry along the I-90 Corridor
- Accelerate innovation from the lab to the marketplace
- Educate and train the next generation of industry leaders
The US Council on Competitiveness, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and QuesTek Innovations LLC, led a meeting to formulate policy recommendations for a future Council report and strategic agenda to be delivered to the next presidential administration. Leaders from national laboratories, universities and industry CEOs discussed four cross-cutting pillars to frame a productive and invigorating discussion: talent, technology, investment and infrastructure.
PANEL: BIG DATA – ANALYSIS AND SECURITY AS A STRATEGY TO CONQUER NEW MARKETS
![7º Congresso Brasileiro de Inovação na Indústria. Tendências - Sessão - Big data como estratégia de ganho de novos mercados. Rodrigo Kede Lima, IBM América Latina; Ailtom Barberino do Nascimento Filho, Grupo Stefanini; Bogdan M. Vernescu, Instituto Politécnico de Worcester; Elizabeth Stroble, Universidade de Webster e Paul Kearns, Argonne National Laboratory. São Paulo (SP) 27.06.2017 - Foto: José Paulo Lacerda](https://wp.wpi.edu/vernescu/files/2017/12/congresso_Brazil-2017-1-300x200.jpg)
7º Congresso Brasileiro de Inovação na Indústria. Tendências – Sessão – Big data como estratégia de ganho de novos mercados. Rodrigo Kede Lima, IBM América Latina; Ailtom Barberino do Nascimento Filho, Grupo Stefanini; Bogdan M. Vernescu, Instituto Politécnico de Worcester; Elizabeth Stroble, Universidade de Webster e Paul Kearns, Argonne National Laboratory.
São Paulo (SP) 27.06.2017 – Foto: José Paulo Lacerda
At the Industry Innovation Summit, Vernescu was part of a U.S. delegation that included representatives from higher education, the Council on Competitiveness and national laboratories, as well as private sector corporations like Cisco Systems, Intel Capital and Dassault Systems.
He participated on a panel: “Big Data: Analysis and Security as a Strategy for Gaining New Markets” that addressed the importance for developing data analytics strategies in the developing corporate sector.
University of Massachusetts Medical School
WPI and the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS), located just a few miles from each other, combine the strengths, expertise, and facilities of two world-class institutions to solve critical health sciences and engineering problems within the local community and around the world. With a long-term view of diversifying our combined research funding portfolio, expanding student training, and enhancing the impact of our discoveries, WPI looks to collaborate with UMMS to fuel innovative research ideas and shared funding.
PANEL SESSION: Twenty years of Professional Science Master’s programs – What does the future hold?
Panelists: Elizabeth Friedman – College of Science at Illinois Tech, Dagmar Beck – Rice University, Bogdan Vernescu – Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and Ursula Bechert – University of Pennsylvania; Moderator: Loida Escote-Carlson
The panel formed by past NPSMA presidents, discussed viable opportunities and paths forward for professional master’s degrees in the context of the changing landscape of higher education, the increase in industry influence, the decrease in federal and state funding, and the variety of university credentials being offered as we move away from traditional graduate education.