FinTech Collaborative

The WPI FinTech Collaborative is an interdisciplinary partnership of faculty, students, and industry sponsors focused on creating a more cohesive academic and institutional strategy for the creation, implementation, and commercialization of innovative Financial Technology (“FinTech”).

The Collaborative synthesizes the work of a network of experts across disciplines to solve challenges in FinTech.

WHY PARTNER WITH WPI?

WPI has a long history of thought leadership at the intersection of finance and technology. We solve real-world FinTech challenges through project-based learning, applied interdisciplinary expertise, and collaboration in the financial and technology sectors.

Highly engaged faculty and students.
Recognized pioneer in project-based learning and truly innovative research.
Global presence with initiatives in FinTech and other disciplines on every continent.
Active participant in FinTech ecosystems in New York and Boston (WPI – Boston Seaport).
Over 150-year history of academic rigor linking practice and theory.
Peer-leading capacity to solve real-world challenges creatively, quickly and nimbly in collaboration with our industry partners.
International distinction in the interdisciplinary application of business, technology, math, and data science for complex problem-solving.
History of connecting companies to leading edge talent through extensive career services and project-based learning initiatives.

Download our Brochure/Fact Sheet.

FINTECH “FACTS & FIGURES”

FinTech refers to technology enabled financial solutions. It is the evolving integration and innovation of financial services and information technology.

82%
Percentage of financial institutions expect to increase FinTech partnerships in the next 3 to 5 years (PWC, Global FinTech Report 2017)

50.2%
Percentage of financial services customers globally already embracing FinTech by doing business with at least one non-traditional firm (Capgemini/LinkedIn, World FinTech Report 2017)

TOPS $31 BILLION IN 2017
Global investment in FinTech in the first half of 2017 (KPMG, The Pulse of Fintech Q4 ’17 Report)

FINTECH AND WPI PROJECT-BASED LEARNING

WPI is recognized globally for its project-based curriculum, which places faculty-advised student teams with a variety of sponsoring organizations on every continent in the world.

Two of WPI’s longest running and most highly regarded project initiatives work at the intersection of finance, data, mathematics, and technology, and they are actively engaged in the WPI FinTech Collaborative:

Wall Street/FinTech Project Center (Established in 2000)
Center for Industrial Mathematics and Statistics (CIMS) (Established in 1997)

The Wall Street/FinTech Project Center organizes undergraduate and graduate project-based learning initiatives in FinTech for WPI students and faculty in partnership with financial and technology industry leaders and innovators like Angelo, Gordon & Co., Vestigo Ventures, BNP Paribas, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

CIMS also organizes various FinTech-related project initiatives, including the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) in Industrial Mathematics and Statistics. Started in 1998 and funded by the National Science Foundation, it is the first mathematics REU program in the United States that exclusively involve students in real-world projects sponsored by corporate partners, including (for example) State Street Corporation.

WPI FINTECH COLLABORATIVE FACULTY

Various WPI faculty from multiple programs and departments throughout the University participate in the WPI FinTech Collaborative (e.g., The Business School, Mathematical Sciences, Financial Mathematics, Actuarial Mathematics, Computer Science, Data Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Cybersecurity).

They bring professional experience, multi-disciplinary expertise, extensive research, and enthusiasm and dedication to WPI students to our FinTech projects and other related initiatives.

Learn more about our faculty partners.

WPI FINTECH COLLABORATIVE EXECUTIVE ADVISORY BOARD

Jey Amalraj | Invesco Ltd.
Scott Burton | Angelo Gordon & Co.
Andy Clark | BNP Paribas
Greg Friel | Millennium Management
Anup Menon | Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Jason Tondreau | Millennium Management
Silvia Velasquez Casado | Goldman, Sachs & Co.

Recognizing the rapidly expanding needs for FinTech partnerships that extend beyond traditional financial services firms, the former Wall Street Project Center Executive Advisory Board is now the WPI FinTech Collaborative Executive Advisory Board. We will be adding new members not only from firms that have sponsored prior WPI projects but also from other innovators in the FinTech sector.

The current Project Center building on the campus of WPI in Worcester, MA was built in 1902 to serve as a commercial and educational iron foundry where students learned to case machine parts from molten metal. It was later converted into a high-tech forge shop that produced many of the intricately designed components Robert Goddard used in his liquid fueled rocket experiments. Today the building serves as the home to the Career Development Center and the Interdisciplinary and Global Studies Division, which oversees student helps manage more than 50 WPI project centers around the world.

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