Worcester Polytechnic Institute Junior M. Paige Myatt of Norfolk Awarded 2016 Kranich Prize

2016 May 4

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) has announced that M. Paige Myatt of Norfolk, Mass., a junior majoring in mechanical engineering, was awarded the university's Wilmer L. and Margaret M. Kranich Prize.

The Kranich Prize is awarded annually, and it recognizes a science, engineering, or management major who best integrates the humanities and arts into his or her undergraduate experience-including course work, independent projects, and extracurricular activities. Wilmer Kranich was a professor of chemical engineering who was active in the development of the WPI Plan, and who served as dean of graduate studies for the university.

"The Humanities and Arts play a fundamental role at WPI, and they have certainly played an important part in Ms. Myatt's undergraduate experience," said dean of undergraduate studies Arthur C. Heinricher. "The Humanities and Arts play a key role in the WPI curriculum because we believe that this is where students learn about themselves and their place in a global community. They learn how to communicate effectively and they become better equipped to apply their knowledge to solve problems-and even create beauty-all for the benefit of others.

Paige's passion for music began at a very young age and she has woven music throughout her life at WPI. She has performed as a member of the Percussion Ensemble and the African Percussion Ensemble, and her interest in performance has also extended to improvisational and stand-up comedy. She has managed to incorporate music into her engineering projects, using manufacturing techniques to create instruments or programming robots to play different melodies on a hand-built instrument. Paige was chosen as the Resident Assistant of the Year for 2015 partly because of the way she used music to bring students together and create community in her residence hall. Similarly, her project team used music as a way to connect with the local community while working on her junior-year project in New Zealand this spring.

She is a remarkable young woman with a deep passion for the arts, and she is a very worthy recipient of this recognition."