Nantucket Project Center
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI)
Founded in 1865, WPI is a private technology-oriented university, located in Worcester, Massachusetts, with around 3,500 undergraduate students, 800 graduate students, and 220 full-time faculty members. WPI students pursue degree programs in engineering, the sciences, the humanities, and management. All WPI undergraduates must complete a third-year interdisciplinary research project called the “Interactive Qualifying Project,” or IQP. More than 50% of students go off campus to conduct their IQPs and to co-ordinate these activities WPI has established over thirty “project centers” in Europe, Central and North America, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific region. Projects cover an enormous range of topics and sponsors include national and local government agencies, museums, service organizations,
community groups, and other non-profit organizations.
Nantucket Project Center
WPI established the Nantucket Project Center in 2008. Over the past four years, 63 students have conducted 21 projects in collaboration with a various organizations and town committees and departments. These projects have covered a wide variety of topics in areas such as alternative energy, energy conservation, museum studies, sustainable agriculture, and public awareness of tick-borne diseases. These projects may not look like appropriate topics for budding engineers or scientists. Indeed, they are specifically designed to push students beyond their comfort zone and to challenge them to think about problems in a different way. The projects are typically more social science and address issues at the nexus of science, technology, and society.
The projects (and the entire student experience on the Island) offer wonderful, real-world opportunities for WPI students and provide Nantucket with valuable data and perspectives on pressing problems. WPI hopes that this is just the beginning of a long and fruitful symbiotic relationship with the Island of Nantucket, its residents, and its visitors. We anticipate that each year for many years to come a small number of WPI teams will explore similar kinds of projects with these and other sponsors to address particular needs and concerns as they arise.
Projects Completed in 2012
(Advised by Professor Dominic Golding)
Project Team: Ethan Forbes, Casey Hayes, Alexander Kafantis
Sponsor liaisons: Anne Kuszpa & Milen Tsvetkov, Housing Nantucket
Project Team: Michael Andres, Courtney Carroll, Ari Hopkinson
Sponsor liaison: Lauren Sinatra, Nantucket Energy Office
Project Team: John LaCamera, Xavier Leo, Camille Levy
Sponsor liaisons: Maria Mitchell Association, Nantucket Historical Association,
Nantucket Atheneum, Artists Association of Nantucket,
Dreamland Foundation, Nantucket Visitor Services and
Nantucket Chamber of Commerce
Project Team: Nicholas Defossez, Meaghan Dunn, Danielle Heinle
Sponsor liaisons: Molly Anderson, Nantucket Atheneum
Catherine Stover, Town & County Clerk
Project Team: Rebekah Cocks, Margaret Corrigan, Aleksandra Larue
Sponsor liaisons: Kara Buzanoski, Department of Public Works
Project Team: Tara Jarobski, Sarah Meehan, Dominique Throop
Sponsor liaisons: Richard Ray, Board of Health
Alexandra (Sandra) Welsh
Projects Completed in 2011
(Advised by Professor Dominic Golding)
Project Title: Implementing the Nantucket GrownTM Brand
Project Team: Kellie Chadwick, Brett Limone, Hannah Pacheco
Sponsor liaisons: Morgan Beryl & Laura Villasenor, Sustainable Nantucket
Project Team: Aileen Caceres, Christa Coscia, and Christopher Surprenant
Sponsor liaison: Janet Schulte, MMA
Project Team: Jacqueline Foti and Jonathan Rapp
Sponsor liaisons: Chris Mason & Claire White, NHA
Project Team: Robert Alvarado, Corey Phillips, Joseph Taleb
Sponsor liaisons: Peter Morrison & Whitey Willauer, ESC
Project Team: Christopher Bannon, Timothy Ellsworth, Nicholas Musselman
Sponsor liaisons: Whitey Willauer & Peter Morrison, ESC
Project Team: Dustin Lombardi, Christa O’Rourke, Thomas Wise
Sponsor liaisons: Oscar Plotkin, GreenBeach
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