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DISCOVERY AND INNOVATION WITH PURPOSE AT WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE FALL 2012 RESEARCH
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4 ACADEMIC LEADERSHIP
Dennis Berkey, President Eric Overström, Provost
Selçuk Güçeri, Dean of Engineering
Karen Kashmanian Oates, Dean of Arts and Sciences Mark Rice, Dean, School of Business
EDITOR Michael Dorsey,
Director of Research Communications DESIGN
Pamela Mecca Steven Pascal
PHOTOGRAPHY
Patrick O'Connor PRODUCTION
Doreen Manning, Managing Editor Peggy Isaacson, Copy Editor
Dianne Vanacore, Production Coordinator
WPI Research is produced annually for the Division of Academic Affairs by the
Division of Marketing and Communications
Address correspondence to: Editor, WPI Research
Worcester Polytechnic Institute 100 Institute Road
Worcester, MA 01609-2280 508-831-5609
research@wpi.edu wpi.edu/+research
2 | Research Notebook Notable research stories from the past year. A E 4 | Robots for the Real World If robots are to live and work among us, they must be like us. A E 10 | The Wizards of Washburn Advancing the science of metals with some metallurgical magic. E
16 | Success is All in the Family Learning lessons from the successes of family-owned businesses.
22 | Crunching the Big Numbers Controlling infections and stopping fraud with big data. A 28 | Engineers in the Clinic Speeding life-saving technology from the lab to the bedside. E 34 | Research Highlights Faculty awards, honors, books, and grants. A 40 | Tools of the Trade Using a vacuum chamber to pull knowledge out of thin air. On the cover
WPI researchers employ the wizardry of advanced analytical and computational tools to breathe new life into metallurgy, utilizing their newfound knowledge to create new alloys and use metals in exciting new ways. See story, page 10.
Key to symbols
The symbols above indicate that the stories describe research in Arts and Sciences
A , Business , and/or Engineering . B WATCH VIDEOS RELATED TO THIS ISSUE Entire contents ©2012 Worcester Polytechnic Institute
In the pages that follow, you'll see QR codes like this one (which links to WPI's Research site). Snap them with a smart phone to watch the videos. You'll need a QR code reader app for your phone. All of the videos are available at YouTube.com/WPI.
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CONTENTS