Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) undergraduate students Ronak Wani and Hemankit Vallurupalli represented the university at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) 2026 in Richmond, Virginia, where they presented their Major Qualifying Project (MQP) to a national audience of student researchers, faculty mentors, and academic leaders. NCUR is one of the largest and most prestigious interdisciplinary undergraduate research conferences in the United States, bringing together exceptional student researchers from colleges and universities across the country to present peer-reviewed scholarly work. Selection to present at NCUR recognizes the quality, originality, and broader impact of undergraduate research. By presenting at NCUR 2026, the students showcased not only the technical innovation of their research but also WPI's longstanding commitment to experiential learning, interdisciplinary collaboration, and solving meaningful societal problems through research and innovation. Their participation, funded by the Dean of Undergraduate Studies, highlights how WPI students engage in impactful research that extends beyond the classroom and contributes to advancing education and sustainable development on a global scale.

Ronak Wani presented his research at the 41st ACM SIGAPP Symposium on Applied Computing (SAC 2026) in Thessaloniki, Greece. His paper, accepted in the AI in Education track, introduces a Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) based approach to backward curriculum design, aligning learning objectives with instructional content and interdisciplinary frameworks such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals and UNESCO AI Competency Goals. Dr. Matthew Ahrens and Dr. Roee Shraga covered the expenses for his travel, accommodation, and conference registration, reflecting WPI's strong support for integrating research opportunities into student academic development.

Kang Zhang conducts medical robotics research in the COMET lab at WPI. His work contributed to two peer-reviewed journal articles this semester: In the Journal of Medical Robotics Research, he co-authored a paper introducing a Finite Element Method-based physics engine for simulating thermal laser-tissue interactions, validated through benchtop experiments to enable realistic surgical robot simulations. In the Journal of Medical Devices, he co-authored a study presenting a novel steerable optical fiber for office-based laryngeal laser surgery, demonstrating expanded anatomical access in anatomically-accurate models.

In the Journal of Medical Robotics Research, Chris co-authored a paper introducing a Finite Element Method-based physics engine for simulating thermal laser-tissue interactions, validated through benchtop experiments to enable realistic surgical robot simulations.

Max Seager is part of team of researchers whose recently published findings suggest that the some of the building blocks of life-here on Earth, at least-might actually be able to survive in Venus's harsh atmosphere.

Two undergraduate students working with Kun-Ta Wu, assistant professor in the Department of Physics, are the lead authors of a new report on how "active" fluids develop circulatory flows within a millimeter-scale droplet.