Welcome

Since 2000, the WCPC has partnered with over 100 local organizations and community leaders to tackle real world problems. Research teams, made up of WPI faculty and students, work collaboratively with local leaders to develop economically, technically, and socially feasible solutions to pressing community problems. Each problem represents an opportunity for students and community partners to collaborate creatively and design real solutions for real people. Through the program, students realize their ability and responsibility to use their knowledge and experience to help address pressing issues facing their community and the world.

Project Sponsors

Thank you for your interest in the WCPC! We believe you will be tremendously impressed by our students’ dedication and the quality of their work. Feel free to peruse our website to learn more about the Interactive Qualifying Project (IQP) process and how you can collaborate with us. What is an IQP? The Interactive Qualifying…

WPI Students

Have a global IQP experience in neighborhoods close to campus. The WCPC develops projects both from the grass roots and from the public sector. This means students work with Worcester based organizations in the trenches of important social and environmental justice issues and local politicians working on issues that impact your Worcester neighbors. Students who…

WCPC in the News

July 15, 2021 – Growing a Plan for Food Availability, Access, and Options April 15, 2021 – WPI students help Audio Journal listeners connect by developing first phone app October 6, 2020 – WPI Students presented Keys to the City of Worcester February 2019 – WCPC students presented with prestigious President’s IQP Award April 30,…

Explore Projects

The Worcester Community Project Center operates four terms per academic year, running from mid October through late June. Each “project term” the WCPC students complete 4-7 projects for the greater Worcester community, totaling 12-21 community based projects per academic year.

June 27, 2025June 27, 2025 by sdponcet

Habitat For Humanity: Developing an E-Commerce Inventory System for the Ashland ReStore

Project Description The Ashland ReStore had implemented an e-commerce program to improve revenue, but lacked a comprehensive inventory system to support it. Drawing on over 608 hours of fieldwork, along with expert stakeholder interviews, we designed an updated, user-friendly inventory system to address this need. Employing an iterative design model, multiple rounds of feedback and…

March 7, 2025March 7, 2025 by Laura Roberts

Habitat for Humanity Restore: Developing and Implementing a Translation Tool for use in Habitat for Humanity ReStore Locations

Project Description Language barriers in Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore second-hand stores prevent communication between employees, volunteers, and non-English speaking customers. Through research and piloting in the Worcester and Ashland ReStores, we established that Spanish, Portuguese, and Persian are key languages and built a web-based translation solution with Microsoft Translator, OpenAI’s Whisper, and GPT-4o-mini. The solution…

Recent Projects