Museum of Russian Icons Annual Report 2016 V2 Annual Report 2017 | Page 9

Students from WPI enjoying their time in Moscow.
In 2016, The WPI Project Center
in Moscow, with support from
Gordon Lankton and the Museum
of Russian Icons, offered a
chance to experience Russia
to 21 students and two faculty
members from WPI. They were
in Russia from late August to
mid-October, and worked for
companies such as Deloitte, PwC,
Brunswick Rail and The Astrakhan
State University. The Financial
University in Moscow was a
reliable institutional partner for all
the projects. Three members of
its top administration came to WPI
and visited the Museum of Russian
Icons in June of 2016. They were
very impressed by the collection
and the educational partnerships
that support student work in
Russia. Projects this year included
designing the maintenance robot
for the Caspian Sea gas pipeline
development of an algorithm for
identifying failing banks based
on economic data, projecting the
implications of outsourcing railcar
repairs, among others. Students
were fortunate to travel to Saint
Petersburg, Vladimir, and Suzdal
as part of their cultural immersion.
The success of this experience
is manifest in the application of
four students from this group to
return to Moscow in the fall of 2017
to complete their senior major
qualifying project (MQP) project.
Students’ visit to the Museum of
Russian Icons last spring, including
a tour led by Registrar Laura
Garrity-Arquitt proved formative
for their cultural orientation and
preparation for the Moscow
experience.
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