About the Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Located in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA, the Worcester Polytechnic Institute 
(WPI) is a university specializing primarily in science and engineering. Founded in 1865 at the peak of the American Industrial Revolution, WPI produced many of the engineers and scientists that would pioneer their fields in the years to come.
Worcester, the second-largest city in New England (population c. 175,000), sits on the Blackstone River, which powered textile mills during the 19th century. Known as the "Heart of the Commonwealth [of Massachusetts]," Worcester is home to countless inventions and patents that have shaped our world, including the monkey wrench, the liquid-fuel rocket (by WPI alumnus Robert Goddard), and the smiley face.
WPI has a student body of about 3,000 undergraduates and 1,000 graduate students. Introduced in the 1960s by WPI President Harry Storke, the so-called "WPI Plan" revolutionized undergraduate education at the school. Under the Plan, students complete three projects before they graduate. The projects ensure a well-rounded education for participants:
- Sufficiency: a humanities project in music, literature, a foreign language, or the arts
- Interactive Qualifying Project (IQP): addressing the influence of science on society
- Major Qualifying Project (MQP): a detailed team effort in a student's major field of study
All projects can be completed off-campus, but students most commonly choose to do IQPs abroad. The nature of the IQP lends itself to off-campus locations, allowing students to use and develop engineering and problem-solving skills while helping in different parts of the world.
WPI began offering a Venice project center, founded by Prof. Fabio Carrera in 1988. The first project evaluated the feasibility of founding a full-time WPI center in Venice, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Over 450 students have completed IQPs and MQPs in Venice, addressing issues like the moto ondoso, overcrowding by tourists, the preservation of the city's traditional boats, the decline in services for locals, ambulance dispatching, and more. Public art has received its fair share of projects, too.