The Role Universities Play in Supporting Industry Ecosystems

Innovation and entrepreneurship are ever more important parts of every organization’s strategy.  With fewer institutional resources and investments that work on quarterly-to-yearly cycles, it has become ever more important to leverage limited resources for both technological and workforce development.  There are a wide range of academic-industry-government programs to support and promote collaborations and sandboxes and we will discuss several of these.  In particular, we will focus on recent developments associated with the photonics industry.  In addition, it is important for the student learning environment to reflect the workplace, and WPI’s Project Based Learning model will be discussed.
 
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), in collaboration with Quinsigamond Community College (QCC), have developed the Laboratory for Education & Application Prototypes (LEAP @ WPI/QCC). Part of the national American Institute for Manufacturing Integrated Photonics (AIM Photonics) and funded through the Massachusetts Manufacturing Innovation Initiative (M2I2), the LEAP@WPI/QCC supports the integrated photonics manufacturing sector and supply chain in central Massachusetts through an open-access facility/sandbox and service center model.
This presentation will discuss the role the LEAP@WPI/QCC facility and other LEAPs will play in supporting the regional integrated photonics ecosystem through academic research, workforce training and outreach to facilitate discovery, innovation and entrepreneurism.

Meeting Logistics

Doug Petkie and James Eakin , Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Douglas Petkie

Department Head and Professor, Physics, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Director of the Laboratory for Education & Application Prototypes (LEAP@WPI/QCC)
Doug joined WPI in 2016 as the Department Head and Professor of Physics. His research is centered on the science and technology in the millimeter and terahertz regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, a region that leverages RF/microwave and infrared/optical techniques, and focuses on spectroscopy, imaging, and radar applications. This research has ranged from the spectroscopic study of interstellar related molecules to the remote detection of vital signs (i.e. the ‘tricorder’). He is the director of the LEAP@WPI/QCC facility - an integrated photonics facility part of the AIM Photonics Initiative, a Manufacturing USA Institute. Doug is also a strong supporter of the K-16 STEM education community and closely follows the Physics Education Research (PER) community in the creation of evidence-based pedagies as we learn how to create environments that are more effective for student learning. Doug received his Ph.D. in physics from Ohio State University.

James Eakin

Technical Operations Manager, Laboratory for Education & Application Prototypes (LEAP@WPI/QCC)
James Eakin joined WPI in 2019 as the Technical Operations Manager for the LEAP@WPI/QCC facility. In this role, James supports internal faculty research, equipment training and serves as a technical liaison between WPI, external partners and stakeholders in the area of photonic systems and manufacturing. Prior to WPI, James spent the last 12 years in industry involved in various stages of project development for wearable sensors, displays and fiber optics.  James received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Brown University where he was a recipient of a NASA Graduate Student Research Program (NASA GSRP) fellowship from Marshall Space Flight Center.