Projects

In Washington, D.C., the projects tend to be with federal agencies and non-profits. WPI aims to take advantage of the potential impact of the D.C. area by sponsoring with these prominent and significant sponsors. In all instances, the students work to further the mission of these organizations in one of two ways – mission of the agency or aiding internal operations.

Often the projects are directly in support of the mission of the agency. For example, students work with the Marine Safety Center at the Coast Guard on issues like occupancy standards for ferries, emergency response in harbors or the safe disposal of expired safety flares. 

In other agencies, students work to improve the internal functioning of the agency. For example, at the FDA, the students worked to improve workflow processes for handling reports about problems that arise when an approved drug still creates an adverse reaction in a patient. The FDA receives thousands of such communications from doctors, hospitals and patients monthly and effective use of that information is important to public safety. Here, the goal is to help the public by improving processes at the agency.