At WPI, Vernescu has helped kick the school’s already prestigious research and innovation track record into overdrive.
First joining the university in 1991, he has since worked his way up from an assistant professor in the mathematical sciences department to leading and coordinating the school’s research efforts. The school has scored a number of impressive research-related victories as of late; in February, WPI received the designation of being a Research 1 institution by the national American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
This exclusive classification means the school is among the top research institutions in the country, the only one in Central Massachusetts and one of just 187 nationwide. The school has had great success in finding internal and external funding for research-related endeavors, with $71.6 million raised in fiscal 2024, an all-time record for the school.
Not just confined to the world of academia, these efforts have had meaningful results in creating new companies, new jobs, and new opportunities in the region, with five companies with ties to WPI named to TIME magazine’s list of America’s Top GreenTech Companies of 2024.
Eric Casey is the managing editor at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the manufacturing and real estate industries.
