Esteemed geotechnical engineer and educator James K. Mitchell, Class of 1951, will receive the prestigious Davies Medal for Engineering Achievement from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute School of Engineering.
Computational physicist Vincent Meunier has joined Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as the Gail and Jeffrey L. Kodosky ’70 Constellation Professor of Physics, Information Technology, and Entrepreneurship.
On October 14, 1835, scientist and educator Amos Eaton posted a notice informing faculty and students at the fledgling Rensselaer Institute about the awarding of a new degree: civil engineering. It was the first civil engineering degree awarded in the United States.
Two Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute professors have been named 2010 fellows of the American Chemical Society (ACS). Director of the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies (CBIS) and the Howard P. Isermann ’42 Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering Jonathan Dordick and Professor Emeritus of Chemistry Leonard Interrante were both recognized by the ACS for their “outstanding achievements in and contributions to the science, the profession, and service to the society.”
The National Lighting Product Information Program (NLPIP) released its latest Specifier Report, designed to provide objective performance information on existing street lighting technologies -- including light-emitting diode (LED), induction, and high pressure sodium (HPS) streetlights. This report comes at a critical time when many municipalities, some with funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, are in the process of replacing HPS streetlights with LED and induction models.
A $1.76 million study at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute seeks to identify new methods of diagnosing osteoporosis and inform the development of next-generation drugs to treat the bone disease.
The purification of drug components is a large hurdle facing modern drug development. This is particularly true of drugs that utilize proteins, which are notoriously difficult to separate from other potentially deadly impurities. Scientists within the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies (CBIS) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to understand and improve an important protein purification process.
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are leading a new $2 million NSF-funded study to help overcome a key bottleneck slowing the proliferation of large-scale wind and solar power generation.
Individuals within a networked system coordinate their activities by communicating to each other information such as their position, speed, or intention. At first glance, it seems that more of this communication will increase the harmony and efficiency of the network. However, scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have found that this is only true if the communication and its subsequent action are immediate.
Four leading researchers will join Rensselaer President Jackson at ‘Summer Davos’ meeting and deliver talks on bio-inspired approaches to sustainability.
James Myers, who currently serves as associate director for cyberenvironments at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois, has been selected by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to lead the Computational Center for Nanotechnology Innovations (CCNI) at Rensselaer.
Since opening in October 2008, the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has provided artists, scholars, researchers, engineers, and designers with opportunities to develop ground-breaking art and ideas all under a single roof. From Oct. 1-3, EMPAC will present Filament, the first biennial festival showcasing new work in performance, visual arts, sound, and media created by national and international artists at EMPAC.
Building on an enzyme found in nature, researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have created a nanoscale coating for surgical equipment, hospital walls, and other surfaces which safely eradicates methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), the bacteria responsible for antibiotic resistant infections.
Today, as state and local governments seek to integrate environmental and energy policies with job creation, a first-of-its kind national study has found that only a few states and cities have policies in place to create green jobs.
For more than 40 years, Rensselaer Professor Minoru Tomozawa has been pioneering new innovations in a field that most people take for granted: glass. More than panes in a window or screens on a television, glass is at the center of many critical technologies, including communications. Tomozawa’s particular focus is the temperature at which liquid “freezes” to become a solid glass.
In the developing world, philanthropic engineers offer rescue by wizardry, their bag of marvels filled with technical tricks like off-the-grid electricity fueled by scrub brush and washing machines powered by bicycles. Technological quick-fixes are a powerful lure, but the results will not meet the promise until technology bows to the larger context, according to a recent study co-authored by Rensselaer professor Dean Nieusma.
Researchers have found that an enzyme in the bacteria that causes cholera uses a previously unknown mechanism in providing the bacteria with energy. Because the enzyme is not found in most other organisms, including humans, the finding offers insights into how drugs might be created to kill the bacteria without harming humans.
One of the human body’s most powerful defensive tools, the blood-brain barrier is a chemical labyrinth that prevents toxins and viruses in the bloodstream from reaching the brain. This foolproof security system, however, limits the ability of physicians to deliver drugs directly to the brain, making it difficult to treat brain tumors. Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are endeavoring to solve this problem by investigating new methods for bypassing the blood-brain barrier and combating the spread of brain cancer.
In the spring, later sunset and extended daylight exposure delay bedtimes in teenagers, according to researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Lighting Research Center (LRC).
Hydrology and soil science pioneer Philippe Baveye will join Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute this summer as the Kodak Chair in Environmental Engineering. His new appointment, as a tenured full professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, is effective August 16.
The New York Center for Astrobiology will widen the scope of its search for the building blocks of life beyond Earth with the help of a new NASA grant. Based at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the center is devoted to investigating the origins of life on Earth and the conditions that lead to formation of habitable planets in our own and other solar systems.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute researchers receive $2.3 million NIH grant to develop and validate virtual reality hardware, software for training and certifying laparoscopic surgeons.
More than $2 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy will strengthen nuclear research and education, and help develop the next generation of nuclear technology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
A major breakthrough in remote wave sensing by a team of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute researchers opens the way for detecting hidden explosives, chemical or biological agents, and illegal drugs from a distance of 20 meters.
Leaders at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are pairing engineering smarts with old-fashioned common sense to trim energy costs and reduce the carbon footprint of the university’s historic Troy campus.
An organic compound found in red wine – resveratrol – has the ability to neutralize the toxic effects of proteins linked to Alzheimer’s disease, according to research led by Rensselaer Professor Peter M. Tessier.
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a simple new method for producing large quantities of the promising nanomaterial graphene. The new technique works at room temperature, needs little processing, and paves the way for cost-effective mass production of graphene.
Rising concern about America’s ability to maintain its competitive position in the global economy has renewed interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. The challenge, according to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Science and Technology Studies Professor Ron Eglash, is that minority students are often disinterested in STEM academics because they do not see its relevance to their own lives and communities.
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new, ultra-simple method for making layers of gold that measure only billionths of a meter thick. The process, which requires no sophisticated equipment and works on nearly any surface including silicon wafers, could have important implications for nanoelectronics and semiconductor manufacturing.
Patrick Underhill, assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has won a prestigious Faculty Early Career Development Award (CAREER) from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Underhill will use the five-year, $400,000 award to further his research into how transport phenomena affect biological processes.
A $1.3 million National Science Foundation grant awarded to Heidi Newberg, associate professor of physics, creates a ground-breaking partnership between U.S. scientists and the new Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) in China.
White House Office of Management and Budget Director addresses nearly 1,400 graduates at Rensselaer Polytechnic institute’s 204th Commencement; President Shirley Ann Jackson urges graduates to collaborate in innovation.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Professor Richard Radke is leading a new $1.4 million NIH study to develop novel computer automation techniques that could reduce the prep time of a promising cancer-treatment technology from several hours to a few minutes.
This year, 1,378 students will receive degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Saturday, May 29, at 10:30 a.m. in the stadium at the Institute’s new East Campus Athletic Village (ECAV). They represent the next generation of leaders, engineers, scientists, entrepreneurs, patent holders, game designers, and innovators, in fields ranging from engineering to architecture, from fine arts to science, from game design to information technology, and from business to the military.
The director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, a Nobel-winning cancer researcher, the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History, and a renowned biotechnology professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology will join Rensselaer President Shirley Ann Jackson May 28 as she convenes and moderates a discussion on “Re-Igniting the Innovation Economy: Science and Technology.”
Rensselear Polytechnic Institute to expand stem cell research capabilities with $2.45 million New York State Stem Cell Science program grant to outfit laboratories in the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies.
The White House on Friday cited Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for its leadership role in using the Web to promote government transparency. The announcement was made at an event in Washington, D.C. to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the open government Web site, Data.gov.
Researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new nanotechnology-based “microlens” that uses gold to boost the strength of infrared imaging and could lead to a new generation of ultra-powerful satellite cameras and night-vision devices.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has been selected to join a new international network of prestigious world-class research laboratories to support the growing field of Web science research and education programs.
David T. Corr, assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has won a Faculty Early Career Development Award (CAREER) from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Corr will use the five-year, $449,999 award to further his research into the engineering, evaluation, and theoretical modeling of biological soft tissues. His work aims to harness the cell’s natural abilities to improve functional tissue engineering.
A team of researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will send an army of microorganisms into space this week, to investigate new ways of preventing the formation and spread of biofilms, or clusters of bacteria, that could pose a threat to the health of astronauts.
Funded by the Army Research Lab, New Center Is Dedicated to the Emerging Discipline of Network Science and Will Investigate How Technology Impacts Social Interaction
A devastating personal experience inspired Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Professor Linda Layne to devote two decades to studying issues surrounding pregnancy loss. Today, Layne, cultural anthropologist and Alma and H. Erwin Hale ’30 Professor of Humanities and Social Sciences at Rensselaer, is a leading international advocate for reform. She has completed production on Motherhood Lost: Conversations, an educational television series developed in collaboration with Heather Bailey, producer, director, and lead graphic designer at George Mason University.
Changing the hue of hospital gowns and bed sheets to match a patient’s skin color could greatly enhance a physician’s ability to detect cyanosis and other health-related skin color changes, according to a new study from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Brenda Wilson-Hale, currently chief executive officer of the Washington State University Foundation and vice president for university development, will join Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as vice president for institute advancement on July 1, Rensselaer President Shirley Ann Jackson announced today.