Tucson Student Engages In Research Project In Panama

TUCSON, AZ — Matthew St. Louis, a class of 2021 Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) computer science major from Tucson, recently participated in a hands-on, intensive research project at the institute’s project center in Panama. The project — “Development of a Self-guided Tour for El Cano Archeological Park” — required students including St. Louis to design a brochure and a mobile app in the English and French languages. The app's and brochure’s purpose is to “make the archaeological interpretation of the [park's] site accessible,” WPI officials reported in a news release.

Hands-on projects such as the one St. Louis took part in are par for the course at WPI, which requires all undergraduate students to successfully complete a professional-level, research-driven project applying technology and science in solving a vital societal challenge or need. About two-thirds of WPI’s students do so at one of the institute’s 50 off-campus project centers worldwide, like the one in Panama.

“The WPI project-based curriculum’s focus on global studies brings students out of the classroom and their comfort zones and into the global community to apply their knowledge and to solve problems,” said Kent Rismiller, WPI professor and global studies interim dean. “Students are immersed in all aspects of a different culture, from the way people live and work to the values they hold to the foods they eat — all valuable perspectives for surviving and thriving in today’s global marketplace.”

Students engaged in WPI's global projects also learn teamwork and make a difference in the community they serve, in addition to increasing their competitive edge on professional school or graduate school applications or on a resume, Rismiller added.

WPI, a technological university, was founded in 1865 on the belief that students will gain the most from their education when they apply classroom-learned theories to solving problems in the real world. The school was recognized in 2016 with the National Academy of Engineering’s Bernard M. Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Education. Areas of study at WPI include science, technology, engineering, business, the humanities and arts and social sciences.