Guides: Pandemics and Intellectual Discourse: WPI Research

WPI Research: News Articles

WPI researchers expanding development of oxygen sensor for babies to also monitor COVID-19 patients
An interdisciplinary group of researchers at WPI is expanding their work to develop a small wireless mobile sensor that will measure a baby’s blood oxygen levels to also create a similar sensor that can act as early detection device for COVID-19 infections.
WPI Researchers Developing Open-Source Designs to Speed Creation of Low-Cost Ventilators
Report on how WPI professors and students team up to develop multiple designs so companies or individuals with 3D printers could manufacture much-needed medical equipment
WPI Researcher Shares 3D Roadmap of Coronavirus with Scientists Worldwide
Professor Dmitry Korkin and colleagues reconstruct 3D model of novel coronavirus; findings to provide research community with greater understanding of infection spread and possible treatment
WPI Researcher’s Paper on COVID-19 Published in Viruses Journal
Professor Dmitry Korkin’s peer-reviewed paper draws parallels to SARS virus; Says 3D roadmap of novel coronavirus can be used “to streamline the search for new antivirals and vaccines
Pivoting the Lab
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Destin Heilman shifted the focus of his now-digital lab to educate students about the novel coronavirus
WPI Developing Safe COVID-19 Detection Robotic Ultrasound
A $300,000 grant will allow a team at WPI to develop a robotic ultrasound machine to detect COVD-19. X-Rays, CT scans, and ultrasounds are used to detect Covid in the lungs of patients, UT ultrasounds require technicians to sit next to the patient while preforming the scan. This robotic ultrasound machine will allow health care providers to minimize their risk.
An App May Make Digital Contact Tracing for COVID-19 More Private and Secure
Engineers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Virginia Tech are collaborating on a smartphone app that can help conduct contact tracing needed to contain the spread of COVID-19 without risking users’ privacy or personal security. Their work is funded by a one-year, $120,000 RAPID grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Patrick Schaumont, professor of electrical and computer engineering at WPI is a co-principal Investigator on the project.
Mass. is working on a tracing app, but will it matter?: Privacy concerns, design flaws hinder usefulness of virus-fighting tool elsewhere
Patrick Schaumont (WPI) is joining with researchers at Virginia Tech to create a tracing app that would track the user's location and movements. This data will be stored on the phone in encrypted form and never shared with any government agency, unless the user is infected with COVID-19.

Student Research: WPI MQPs

The Major Qualifying Project (MQP) is a team-based, professional-level design or research experience. It is the culmination of WPI's project-based undergraduate education, a successful MQP demonstrates such learning outcomes as how to communicate effectively; understand the scientific, social, and ethical dimensions of the problem; and demonstrate knowledge appropriate to your specific major. Click below for COVID linked MQP’s

MQP's on COVID Pandemic

Student Research: WPI IQPs

What is an IQP?

The Interactive Qualifying Project (IQP) is one of the most distinctive elements of the WPI Plan and WPI’s signature project-based curriculum, giving every WPI student the experience of working in interdisciplinary teams to solve a problem or need that lies at the intersection of science and society. Click below for COVID linked IQP’s

IQP's on COVID pandemic

WPI Thesis & Dissertation's on COVID Pandemic

WPI Thesis & Dissertations - Masters and PhD candidates take on their biggest projects and writings, delve into research and prepare for professional life. Click below for COVID linked WPI Thesis & Dissertations

WPI Research: Awards/Grants

WPI Researchers Awarded National Science Foundation Grant to Measure Stress in College Students and Impact on Learning During Pandemic
COVID-19 Outbreak a “Rare and Fleeting Chance” to Gain Real-World Insights
WPI Researchers Awarded NSF Grant
WPI Researchers Awarded NSF Grant to Measure Stress in College Students and Impact on Learning During Pandemic

Student Research: Global Lab - COVID-19 Project Hub

Covid-19 Project Hub
A collection of student research and scholarship on COVID-19. This collection showcases the work of 24 students who pursued different dimensions of the covid-19 crisis, including medical stories, the college experience, impacts on work, the outdoors, and the sense of the pandemic

Pandemics and Intellectual Discourse: WPI Research