State of the University

1
State of the University

• October 18, 2002
• John F. Carney III
• Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

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WPI The University of Science and Technology.
And Life.
3
Who We Are

• A university with a core focus on science,
  engineering, and the management of technology
  that grants bachelors, masters, and doctoral
  degrees in 30 disciplines.

4
Enrollment Profile

• 2767 Undergraduates
• 1035 Graduate Students

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Full-Time Undergraduate Enrollment

• Engineering
• Biomedical (114)
• Civil (169)
• Chemical (115)
• Electrical (483)
• Industrial (30)
• Mechanical (550)
• Manufacturing (15)
• Undeclared (64)

By Department, AY 02/03 2708
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Full-Time Undergraduate Enrollment
By Department, AY 02/03 2708(Cont.)

• Sciences
• Biology (219)
• Biochemistry (57)
• Chemistry (26)
• Computer Science (530)
• Math (68)
• Physics (52)
• Undeclared (8)

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Full-Time Undergraduate Enrollment
By DepartmentAY 02/03 2708(Cont.)

• Management (144)
• Econ/Soc Sci Tech (10)
• Humanities Arts (11)
• Interdisc/Tech Writ (14)
• Undeclared (29)

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Changes in Freshman Class Makeup
Department Fall 2001 Fall 2002
CS 163 147
ECE 135 96
ME 130 142
TBD 11 63
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Academic Reputation
10
National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)

• Annually surveys undergraduates at universities
  to assess extent to which they engage in a
  variety of good educational practices that are
  positively related to learning and personal
  development
• Surveys at the end of the first year and senior
  year
• Forty-one questions assigned to five clusters

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National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)

• Level of academic challenge
• Supportive campus environment
• Enriching educational experiences
• Active and collaborative learning
• Student interactions with faculty members

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National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)

• Four survey groups
• WPI
• AITU
• Doctoral/Research-intensive
• National

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Level of Academic Challenge

• Preparing for class (studying, reading, writing,
  rehearsing, and other activities related to your
  academic program
• Number of assigned textbooks, books, or
  book-length packs of course readings
• Number of written papers or reports of 20 pages
  or more
• Number of written papers or reports of between 5
  and 19 pages
• Number of written papers or reports of fewer than
  5 pages
• Coursework emphasizes Analyzing the basic
  elements of an idea, experience, or theory
• Coursework emphasizes Synthesizing and
  organizing ideas, information, or experiences
  into new, more complex interpretations and
  relationships
• Coursework emphasizes Making judgments about the
  value of information, arguments, or methods
• Coursework emphasizes Applying theories or
  concepts to practical problems or in new
  situations
• Worked harder than you thought you could to meet
  an instructors standards or expectations
• Campus environment emphasizes spending
  significant amounts of time studying and on
  academic work

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Supportive Campus Environment

• Campus environment provides the support you need
  to help you succeed academically
• Campus environment helps you cope with your
  non-academic responsibilities (work, family,
  etc.)
• Campus environment provides the support you need
  to thrive socially
• Quality of relationships with other students
• Quality of relationships with faculty members
• Quality of relationships with administrative
  personnel and offices

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Enriching Educational Experiences

• Participating in co-curricular activities
  (organizations, publications, student government,
  sports, etc.)
• Practicum, internship, field experience, co-op
  experience, or clinical assignment
• Community service or volunteer work
• Foreign language coursework study abroad
• Independent study or self-designed major
• Culminating senior experience (comprehensive
  exam, capstone course, thesis, project, etc.)
• Had serious conversations with students that have
  different religious beliefs, political opinions,
  or personal values.
• Had serious conversations with students of a
  different race or ethnicity
• Used electronic technology (list-serve, chat
  group, internet, etc.) to discuss or complete an
  assignment
• Campus environment encourages contact among
  students from different economic, social, and
  racial or ethnic backgrounds

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Active and Collaborative Learning

• Asked questions in class or contributed to class
  discussions
• Made a class presentation
• Worked with other students on projects during
  class
• Worked with classmates outside of class to
  prepare class assignments
• Tutored or taught other students
• Participated in a community-based project as part
  of a regular course
• Discussed ideas from your readings or classes
  with others outside of class (students, family
  members, co-workers, etc.)

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Student Interactions with Faculty Members

• Discussed grades or assignments with an
  instructor
• Talked about career plans with a faculty member
  or advisor
• Discussed ideas from your readings or classes
  with faculty members outside of class
• Worked with faculty members on activities other
  than coursework (committees, orientation,
  student-life activities, etc.)
• Received prompt feedback from faculty on your
  academic academic performance (written or oral)
• Worked or planned to work with a faculty member
  on a research project outside of course or
  program requirements

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Engineering Benchmarking Initiatives

• Four survey groups
• WPI
• 6 selected universities (Stanford University,
  Carnegie Mellon University, Stevens Institute of
  Technology, Boston University, Northeastern
  University, and Vanderbilt University)
• Carnegie classification group
• All schools

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WPI Comparative Analysis of Factors

1. Instruction and interaction in major courses
2. Aspects of major courses
3. Breadth of curriculum
4. Team and extracurricular activities
5. Computing resources
6. Fellow Students
7. Career Services and Job Placement
8. System design and problem solving

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WPI Comparative Analysis of Factors

• Impact of engineering solutions
• Use of tools and text
• Apply knowledge and identify problems
• Design experience built on coursework
• Design experience issues
• Laboratory facilities
• Overall student satisfaction

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Freshman Year

• Insight Program
• Created opportunities in the freshman year for
  incoming engineering, science and technology
  students to
• develop strong mentoring relationships with
  faculty, staff, and upper-class students outside
  the classroom
• assist these students in developing strong
  academic and social connections within the campus
  community

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Freshman Year

• Project-Based Learning
• Community (PLC)

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Tutorial Structure (PLC)

• 24/300 random selection enrolled in first course
  in Physics, Mathematics, and Humanities
• Full credit for first semester (two terms at WPI)
• In a room, with open hours and 5 PCs on line via
  hubs (later, 24 laptops wireless)
• In 5 to 6 project teams by DISC assignment
• All evaluation (outcomes based) done in the
  Tutorial, with retakes possible
• Project ppt and reports every 9 days

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Instructional Model
Insight Program learning to be put in
Physics lectures
Calculus
Project Core History of Science Ethics Issues ALL
EVALUATIONS
Physics conf. Q A
Humanities core
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Example Projects from Five Areas
Comp. Party Platforms, 1892,1912, 1936,2002
Galileos Experiment duplicated
Goddard at WPI primary sources
Roy Dams Controversy Water and the Middle East
Worcester Transit 1890s 1990s
Each Area (Rocketry Wealth/Poverty Galileo
Dams Transportation) contains 6 projects,
crossing science/math/history/ethics issues.
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NSSE and Tutorial/PLC
Areas Deficient for WPI in Comparison to AITU
group
Areas Rated Superior by Tutorial/PLC students

• Questions in class
• Presenting in class
• Writing integrative multi-source papers
• Working together on projects
• Analyzing and synthesizing ideas
• Writing/speaking effectively

• Interaction with faculty
• Oral presentation of projects
• Writing complex integrative reports
• Project teamwork and group learning
• Analysis and problem solving
• Writing and speaking effectively

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ABET / CAC

• Accreditation visit in December for eight
  engineering programs and the Computer Science
  Department

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U.S. News

• WPI deserves to be on the top 50 National
  Universities list

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New Faculty Hires

• Eighteen new tenured/tenure-track faculty added
  for 2002/03 academic year

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Extramural Support for Academic Sponsored
Programs13,000,000
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Committee on Graduate Studies and Research Goals

• Regain top 50 national university status
• Increase per capita funding and participation in
  research and scholarship
• Achieve 0.2 Ph.D./year/faculty
• Expand masters degree programs with
  self-supporting students
• Integrate undergraduate education with graduate
  research programs

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Bioengineering Institute
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The WPI Bioengineering Institute
A Bridge from the University to Advanced
Manufacturing

• Timothy R. Gerrity, Ph.D.
• Director, BEI
• October 18, 2002

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The WPI Bioengineering Institute

• What University/industry/government partnership
  (cluster)
• Why We need new industry, we have resources
  (especially student faculty expertise)
• Where Gateway Park (Grove Prescott St. area)
• When Already started, move ahead faster
• How RD, new products, new companies (product
  realization, incubators), corporate partnerships,
  services.

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Importance

• Create new and innovative medical devices
• Provide new opportunities for university faculty,
  students, and entrepreneurs
• Create jobs
• Increase tax base
• Secondary benefits to community
• Strong support of community, and local and
  federal governments.

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A Facilitated Path to Commercialization
Financing
Business
WPI
BEI
Academic Research
Medical Product Commercialization
Marketing
Manufacturing
IP
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Bioengineering Institute Organization

• Office of the Director
• Four RD centers within BEI
• Center for Untethered Healthcare
• Center for Comparative Neuroimaging
• Molecular Engineering - proposed
• Bioprocessing and Tissue Engineering - proposed

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The Center for Comparative Neuroimaging
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The Center for Comparative Neuroimaging
(CCNI) Coil Technology for High Field
MRI and Visualization and Analysis of NMR Data
Reinhold Ludwig John M. Sullivan, Jr.
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Technology Integration
RF coil technology is an integral part of animal
restrainer system. It can be placed in such a way
as to image various regions of the animals
anatomy.
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Visualization-CNI-Workbench
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Tasks-Image Visualization and Analysis
Mesh Generation
Segmentation ? Registration ? Mesh Generation
Posterior and Shaded View of Volume Mesh
Transverse and Shaded View of Volume Mesh
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Solid Volume Mesh 850,000 Tetrahedral
Elements Rendered to Enhance Blood Vessel
Visualization Watch a Video Simulation (Requires
QuickTime)
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S.I.M.

• Exciting new graduate certificate/MS program for
  industry