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David Buitrago, a member of the class of 2025 majoring in Aerospace Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), recently completed a senior thesis that is required of all graduating seniors as part of the university’s distinctive project-based educational experience. David’s Major Qualifying Project (MQP), a research-driven, professional-level project that challenges students to solve the kinds of problems they would typically encounter in their professional discipline, was titled ‘Tensile SHPB for High-Rate Testing of Aerospace Materials’.
“It’s inspiring to see the creativity and skills that our students bring to these projects, as well as the professionalism with which they present their research,” says Arne Gericke, interim dean of undergraduate studies and director of the Office of Undergraduate Research. “Their experience managing a major project like this-including identifying a problem and researching all of the implications and possible solutions while also managing team dynamics over an extended period of several months-sets them up well for success not only in their first jobs after graduation but throughout their careers.”
WPI’s innovative undergraduate education is centered around project-based learning, a hands-on approach that offers students opportunities to apply their scientific and technical knowledge to real-world, open-ended problems. These projects produce tangible results that affect the quality of people’s lives, an experience that changes both the student and their world.
MQPs are usually team-based and often focus on specific issues or needs of an organization that has partnered with the university to sponsor the students’ work. In addition to providing practical work experience that proves valuable to future employers, MQPs often lead to publications in peer-reviewed journals, presentations at regional and national conferences, patents, and entrepreneurial ventures. Others become useful innovations and products for their corporate sponsors.
About Worcester Polytechnic Institute
WPI is a top-tier STEM-focused research university and a recognized pioneer and global leader in project-based learning. Founded in 1865 on the principle that students learn most effectively by applying the theory learned in the classroom to the practice of solving real-world problems, WPI’s continued mission is to transform lives, turn knowledge into action to confront global challenges, and revolutionize STEM through distinctive and inclusive education, projects, and research. WPI’s project-based curriculum engages undergraduates in solving important scientific, technological, and societal problems throughout their education and at more than 50 project centers around the world. Today WPI offers more than 70 bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree programs across 18 academic departments in science, engineering, technology, business, the social sciences, and the humanities and arts. To help address ongoing challenges, improve lives, and help create a more sustainable world, WPI faculty and students pursue groundbreaking research in such areas as the life sciences, smart technologies, materials and manufacturing, and global initiatives.
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