The Alumni Magazine for Worcester Polytechnic Institute. (WPI)
Issue link: http://wpialumnimag.epubxp.com/i/277771
Spring 2014 5 W hen American undergraduates head off campus to study or work in distant locations, they often experience a world dra- matically different from the one with which they are familiar. It is no different for WPI students who travel to one of the 39 project centers that make up our Global Perspective Program. But our program takes students well beyond a simple tourist adventure and gives them a far more engaging experience than a standard study-abroad pro- gram. Our students don't experience the world superfcially. Instead, work- ing closely and collaboratively with our many partners around the globe, they have the chance to deeply immerse themselves in new cultures and in real-world challenges that lie in that critical zone where science and technology meet social issues, human needs, and cultural norms. Work- ing in teams, and guided by faculty advisors, they make a real difference to local communities and organizations. The Global Perspective Program, now in its 41st year, is the core of a widening world view for WPI. Building on the great successes our students and faculty have already achieved across fve continents, we are further expanding our global impact through our academic, research, industry, and governmental networks. Starting with international relationships built organically by our faculty, alumni, students, and business partners, we are consolidating and reinforcing our global connections in locations where we have the opportunity to address important challenges in a more robust, multifaceted manner. The idea for establishing multiple focal points of international activity grew from a Global Task Force appointed by WPI Provost and Senior Vice President Eric Overström in 2011. That group strongly reinforced the value of continuing global outreach for our academic and research programs and recommended that the university have "a coherent, clearly defned global strategy for interna- tional engagement that is consistent with our entrepreneurial nature." Among its recommendations was that the university defne "relationship hubs" in strategic locations around the world that can serve as centers for research, scholarship, and corporate connections. The frst set of hubs are emerging in China, were the university has strong alumni relationships and longstanding student project programs; in Switzerland, where we've been building productive ties to the Zurich University of Applied Sciences and where strong alumni ties exist to the international pharmaceutical companies situated there; and in Moscow, where faculty and corporate connections helped pave the way for a new student project center. These emerging hubs of global engagement hold the promise of greatly expanding opportunities for the members of our university community to interact on a global stage and have an impact on the great challenges that face our world. They are particularly exciting and especially powerful be- cause, having emerged as a natural evolution of our Global Perspective Program, they are built upon the foundation of the WPI Plan, our project- based approach to education, which, in turn, has its roots in our heritage of putting theory into practice for the betterment of society. Through our distinctive philosophy of education, we allow our students to take control of their own learning by developing ideas, solving real- world problems, and understanding professional interactions in ways a traditional classroom cannot duplicate. We've always believed that this is a particularly impactful way to learn, but only recently have we had the empirical evidence to back up this belief. A recent study of the impact of the Plan on generations of WPI students conducted by the Donahue Institute at the University of Massachusetts has provided overwhelming evidence that our project-based curriculum, combined with our global projects program, offers students preparation for careers, an expanded world view, and personal growth that far exceeds the experience of typical undergraduates. As one alumnus stated in re- sponse to the survey, "I can't think of another school that would have been suitable for me to be doing what I do now, [because] life is projects." "I don't think it really mattered where I went….," another alumnus wrote. "My entire experience after my Interactive Qualifying Project was different than before. Somehow, something changed. I felt like a different person when I came back. I saw the reason why I went to college, because I saw something taken to completion in the real world." In this issue of the WPI Journal, you will meet WPI graduates who have taken their education out into the real world, where they are ready to work anywhere, on anything. Take Nancy Pimental '87, who went from chemical engineer to Hollywood writer, or Piti Bhirombhakdi '02, who, through his ex- panded world view, transformed his family's Boon Rawd Brewery based on the skills he learned while at WPI. A WPI education provides a universal viewpoint that can serve as a foundation for something much more profound than the degree you hang on an offce wall. We offer our graduates the world. Where is WPI? Everywhere. Phil Ryan '65 Interim President Where in the world is WPI? message from the president WPI_Spring14_PhilLetter.indd 5 3/9/14 11:51 AM