In this episode, we sit down with WPI’s Athletic Director to explore what it really means to be a student-athlete at one of the nation’s top STEM universities. With college sports making headlines nationwide, we take a closer look at the Division III experience at WPI — where academics come first, teamwork is essential, and the lessons learned on the field connect directly to WPI’s project-based learning approach.
We talk about balance, motivation, competition, community, and why being part of a team at WPI is about much more than winning games. It’s about collaboration, leadership, and preparing students for life after graduation.
In this episode, we sit down with WPI’s Athletic Director to explore what it really means to be a student-athlete at one of the nation’s top STEM universities. With college sports making headlines nationwide, we take a closer look at the Division III experience at WPI — where academics come first, teamwork is essential, and the lessons learned on the field connect directly to WPI’s project-based learning approach.
We talk about balance, motivation, competition, community, and why being part of a team at WPI is about much more than winning games. It’s about collaboration, leadership, and preparing students for life after graduation.

Researchers across departments at WPI are studying how wildfires start, spread, and impact communities. In this episode of The WPI Podcast, Nan (Nancy) Ma, assistant professor, and Rachel Hurley, PhD candidate, both in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, discuss their work to understand the impacts of wildfire smoke on indoor environments. Ma studies the effects of smoke exposure on children’s sleep health. Hurley conducts research on how building materials found indoors absorb and re-emit smoke particles. This is the second of two episodes focused on wildfire-related research at WPI. See Episode 13 for a discussion with researchers in the Department of Fire Protection Engineering about their studies on wildfire behavior.
Related links:
Published study referred to in Nancy Ma interview
EPA information on protecting yourself from wildfire smoke indoors