WPI engineering students help Worcester area manufacturers grow

"Since the recession, manufacturers face a tension between seeing opportunities for growth on the one hand but a lack of resources on the other that would allow these businesses to hire more workers to tackle greater demand," say Marty Jones and Walter Towner in their Worcester Telegram article "As I See It: Innovating growth in Worcester and beyond." The solution? More brainpower. Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) is now home to one of four manufacturing innovation centers in Massachusetts to provide that brainpower. Selected by MassDevelopment, the state's quasi-public finance and development authority, the WPI Innovation Center helps small- to medium-sized manufacturers grow.

"In February, MassDevelopment selected Algonquin Industries, Boston Engineering Corporation, the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, and WPI to provide such services and expertise to companies that employ 100 or fewer employees and need assistance in product development, prototyping, scaling up, cost reduction and other areas. MassDevelopment pays the lesser of 75 percent or $75,000 of the cost of a contract between a manufacturing company and the Innovation Center of choice.... Since the program’s launch, 60 companies have applied through the four centers and 10 projects are underway so far. Independent Plating was WPI's first project; the school has others in the pipeline. MassDevelopment has committed $1.3 million overall, and once the projects are complete, hopes to better understand the multiplier effect of this work on jobs created."
​Jones and Towner

WPI students can help companies create products, develop better processes, and open up new jobs. For example, a team of engineering students created a production line data collection system that improved data accuracy and assessments for a local company. "Innovation Center projects also open a pipeline for new employees, as graduate and undergraduate students can fill positions as the businesses succeed in scaling up and hiring more workers," add Jones and Towner.

Massachusetts has a rich entrepreneurial community:

• Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives in Worcester, a lifesciences incubator
• Greentown Labs in Somerville
• EforAll in Lowell
• Cutting-edge companies such as Bose, New Balance and Raytheon.

Worcester County is home to 950+ manufacturers that employ roughly 33,000 workers.