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Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Professor Nikhil Koratkar is leading a $1 million study to develop new coatings for nanosensors that could lead to more accurate and efficient oil exploration. Koratkar and colleagues are investigating how the flow of water, steam, or certain gasses over surfaces coated with carbon nanotubes or graphene can generate small amounts of electricity.

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About 300 million people around the world have difficulty breathing due to asthma, and for several years, it’s been a special research interest for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Associate Professor Kim Fortun. The incidence of asthma has increased dramatically in the United States and globally in recent decades, making asthma one of the most common chronic diseases in the world.

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A team of geophysicists led by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Professor Steven Roecker is in Chile to study the scope and strength of aftershocks that continue to rattle the area following the massive Feb. 27 8.8-magnitude earthquake. The 10-member team, which was assembled quickly from universities around the United States, will be putting in place more than 50 broadband seismometers throughout the impacted area in Chile.

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Peter R. Orszag, Director of the Office of Management and Budget in President Obama’s Administration, To Deliver Commencement Address May 29.

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Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute undergraduate biology student Nicole Nolan recently looked into the murky water of a fish tank here, checking on hundreds of zebra mussel larvae that she studied in the laboratories of the Darrin Fresh Water Institute. Nolan was part of the first class of students to spend an entire “Semester of Study” at the Institute, a Rensselaer research and education facility located on the western shores of Lake George in the Adirondack Mountains of New York.

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Anak Agung Julius, assistant professor of electrical, computer, and systems engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has won a Faculty Early Career Development Award (CAREER) from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Julius will use the five-year, $536,785 award to further his research into computational analysis of hybrid systems.

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Peter Tessier, assistant professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has won a Faculty Early Career Development Award (CAREER) from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Tessier will use the five-year, $411,872 award to further his research into protein thermodynamics and aggregation.

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Determined to play a key role in solving global dependency on fossil fuels, Javad Rafiee, a doctoral student in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has developed a new method for storing hydrogen at room temperature.

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Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have discovered a new method for predicting – with up to 99 percent accuracy – the fate of stem cells. Using advanced computer vision technology to detect subtle cell movements that are impossible to discern with the human eye, researchers can successfully forecast how a stem cell will split and what key characteristics the daughter cells will exhibit.

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Professor of Mathematics Mark Holmes and his graduate student Lisa Rogers are using math to develop a new computer model that can be easily manipulated by other scientists and doctors to predict how different environmental, medical, or physical changes to a person’s body will affect their sleep. Their model will also provide clues to the most basic dynamics of the sleep-wake cycle.

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The first field study on the impact of light on teenagers’ sleeping habits finds that insufficient daily morning light exposure contributes to teenagers not getting enough sleep.

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Using state-of-the-art flow measurements, engineering professor Timothy Wei and students at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., are employing science and technology to help the U.S. skeleton team trim track times and gain an edge over other sliders.

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At this very moment, tens of thousands of home computers around the world are quietly working together to solve the largest and most basic mysteries of our galaxy.

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More than 13,200 high school students have filed applications to attend Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, according to numbers released today by Rensselaer Admissions. Applications are still being counted, but the current record total represents a growth of more than 8.8 percent since last year at this time.

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Novel nanomaterials developed at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are scheduled to blast off into orbit on November 16 aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis. The project, funded by the U.S. Air Force Multi University Research Initiative (MURI), seeks to test the performance of the new nanocomposites in orbit. The materials will be mounted to the International Space Station’s outer hull and exposed to the rigors of space.

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Deep under the sea, a fossil the size of a sand grain is nestled among a billion of its closest dead relatives. Known as foraminifera, these complex little shells of calcium carbonate can tell you the sea level, temperature, and ocean conditions of Earth millions of years ago. That is, if you know what to look for.

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Experts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Lighting Research Center (LRC) estimate that about half of the approximately 13 million streetlights in America have the opportunity to significantly reduce energy consumption by as much as 50 percent, translating to an annual savings of 1 billion kWh, and a reduction in power plant CO2 emissions of 546,000 tons per year.

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With $16.75 million in funding from the Army Research Laboratory (ARL), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will launch a new interdisciplinary research center devoted to the study of social and cognitive networks. The Center for Social and Cognitive Networks is part of the newly created Collaborative Technology Alliance (CTA) of the ARL, which includes a total of four nationwide centers focused on different aspects of the emerging field of network science.

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Web scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will use the World Wide Web to compile and share scientific data on an unprecedented scale. Their goal is to hasten scientific discovery and innovation by enabling rapid and easy collaboration between scientists, educators, students, policy makers, and even “citizen scientists” around the world via the Web.

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Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have received a grant for $792,000 from the U.S. Air Force to create a new laboratory for developing and testing next-generation radar systems that can be used in crowded cities and other urban environments.

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Fengyan Li, assistant professor of mathematical sciences at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has won a Faculty Early Career Development Award (CAREER) from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

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In early 2008, there was a frightening failure in drug safety processes. In just a few weeks, more than 100 Americans had died after being administered contaminated doses of the common blood thinner heparin. The contaminant, present in heparin manufactured in China and discovered with the help of scientists from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, was so structurally similar to pure heparin that is was undetectable to all but the most sophisticated detection techniques. As a result, many people became seriously ill or died around the world and the several hundred thousand patients that receive the drug every day in the U.S. were put at risk.

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A group of ambitious Rensselaer students will soon sail up the Hudson River, propelled by pollution-free hydrogen fuel cells and a clear vision for a cleaner, greener future.

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Cities are organized like brains, and the evolution of cities mirrors the evolution of human and animal brains, according to a new study by researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

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Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are working to create better, brighter green LEDs, which could lead to a new generation of high-performance, energy-efficient monitors, TVs, and other display devices. The problem, however, is that green LEDs are more difficult to create than anyone imagined.

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An experimental heat transfer system designed by researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is scheduled to depart Earth aboard Space Shuttle Discovery. Astronauts will install the system into a laboratory of the International Space Station, where it will remain for up to three years.

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Rensselaer plans to offer annual scholarships up to $15,000 to qualified admitted individuals, and the match from the Department of Veterans Affairs will add an additional $15,000, if applicable. With the combined total benefit, admitted veterans and eligible dependents under this program will have their tuition and fees fully covered while attending Rensselaer.

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Rensselaer Associate Professor Michael Symans and incoming Dean of Engineering David Rosowsky are among the team of researchers who will converge in Japan next week to perform the largest earthquake simulation every attempted on a wooden structure. The multi-university team has placed this seven-story building on the world's largest shake table and will expose it to the force of an earthquake that hits once but every 2,500 years.

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Reaching beyond "how," and instead inquiring "why" vision evolved as it has over millions of years, Mark Changizi made a startling discovery: human beings do, indeed, have superpowers - telepathy, X-ray vision, seeing the future, and speaking with the dead. And it turns out that these superpowers, all related to vision, have been instrumental in shaping the way we interact with and see the world.

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Researchers have known for more than half a century that sperm is able to fertilize an egg only after it has resided for a period of time in the female reproductive tract. Without this specific interaction with the female body, the sperm is incapable of producing offspring. But until now there was very little understanding of what changes occur within the sperm that suddenly allows it to fertilize an egg.

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Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new method for using computer graphics to simulate and render an accurate visualization of a lunar eclipse. The model uses celestial geometry of the sun, Earth, and moon, along with data for the Earth's atmosphere and the moon's peculiar optical properties to create picture-perfect images of lunar eclipses.

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Sleep disturbances increase as we age. Some studies report more than half of seniors 65 years of age or older suffer from chronic sleep disturbances. Researchers have long believed that the sleep disturbances common among the elderly often result from a disruption of the body's circadian rhythms"”biological cycles that repeat approximately every 24 hours.

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Robert J. Linhardt, the Ann and John H. Broadbent Jr. '59 Senior Constellation Professor of Biocatalysis and Metabolic Engineering at Rensselaer, has been named one of the Scientific American 10. Linhardt is featured in the June 2009 edition of the popular science and technology magazine for his lifesaving work with the commonly used blood thinner heparin alongside nine other global innovators including philanthropist and business leader Bill Gates and President Barack Obama.

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Today's children are coming of age immersed in video gaming, Web browsing, and instant messaging. Many have cell phones, laptops, and hand-held video games. Others have created avatars of themselves, and some are raising robot pets in virtual worlds. What impact does this technology have on children? A new journal issue explores the promises and perils ahead for children in technological environments.

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Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has announced that Paul Marthers will join the Institute as vice president for enrollment and dean of undergraduate and graduate admissions. Marthers, who has more than 25 years of experience in higher and secondary education and administration, is currently the dean of admission at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. He will join Rensselaer on August 1, 2009.

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Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute announced May19 that Evan Douglis, chair of the Undergraduate Department in the School of Architecture at Pratt Institute and principal of the contemporary architecture and design firm Evan Douglis Studio, will join Rensselaer as dean of the School of Architecture. The appointment is effective August 1.

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Promising new research announced by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute could provide an entirely new tool to combat the flu. The discovery is a one-two punch against the illness that targets the illness on two fronts, going one critical step further than any currently available flu drug.

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Realizing the vision of a peaceful, prosperous world of 2050 will require monumental innovation, collaboration, and leadership, Peter Schwartz '68 told the Class of 2009 at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The futurist, business strategist, alumnus, and author of The Art of the Long View addressed nearly 1,900 graduating students and their families at Rensselaer's 203rd Commencement on May 16 on the Harkness Field.

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During her time at Rensselaer as a doctoral student in biochemistry and biophysics, Melissa Kemp has worked on research that has drawn international attention and could help protect the lives of millions of people. With 10 publications and a submitted patent, the young scientist has already helped develop research that has implications for drug safety, spinal injury repair, and malaria prevention.

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Ranganath Teki this month will earn his doctorate in chemical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, but his quest for learning and knowledge is far from complete. Along with his cutting-edge nanomaterials research and clever green energy innovations, Teki is fostering an undying fascination for the world around him and a greater appreciation for the connectedness of it all.

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Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute today announced David Rosowsky will join the university as dean of the School of Engineering. The appointment is effective July 15. Rosowsky joins Rensselaer from his current position of professor and head of the Zachry Department of Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University, where he is also the A.P. and Florence Wiley Chair in Civil Engineering.

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A team of students from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will be spending part of the summer designing and starting to build solar-powered pasteurization systems for communities in rural Peru. The group of engineers was one of four student teams nationally to win a highly competitive SEED grant from nonprofit volunteer organization Engineers for a Sustainable World.

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Amanda Waite Lund has grown as a scholar as the Rensselaer Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies (CBIS) has grown as a new research platform at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Lund, who will be the first student to graduate with a doctoral degree through the School of Science Accelerated B.S./Ph. D. Program, joined Rensselaer in 2002 "“ just two years before CBIS was opened in 2004.

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Conventional smoke detection and sprinkler systems are important safety tools and help to save lives, but indiscriminately soaking an office building, home, or workplace with water can cause tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage. A group of graduating engineers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute set their sights on this problem, and have developed a promising solution.

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While many Rensselaer students can claim hands-on work experience, even the most accomplished among them likely can't admit to helping deliver two babies. Tuesday Fisher, a senior graduating with a dual degree in biochemistry and biophysics and psychology, takes it all in stride as she calmly explains that one of the bundles of joy was delivered into her arms right in the ambulance that she was staffing that night.

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A global business leader, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, a pioneering entrepreneur and prominent art collector, and a renowned strategic consultant to corporations and countries will share insights on taking "The Long View: Leading and Thriving in Challenging Times," in a conversation convened and moderated by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute President Shirley Ann Jackson.

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For more than 10 years, Mark Wentland, professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, led a Rensselaer team in the discovery of a family of novel opioid receptor compounds with the potential to treat nervous system disorders and addiction. The family of compounds was licensed to Alkermes Inc., and the company identified a lead product candidate from the library. Clinical trials with the candidate, known as ALKS 33, began in December 2008.

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Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is a diverse community of student dreamers and doers who share several characteristics. They are drawn to science, engineering, and technology, and to disciplines ranging from architecture and business to literature. Rensselaer students love to tackle complex problems, and they have a sincere desire to improve the world. Now, a soon-to-be graduate from Rensselaer's Class of 2009 will join the ranks of alumni students who came to Rensselaer seeking a pathway to greatness that is uniquely their own.

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Libby Stehr has a vision of a greener, more sustainable future. The civil engineering major will graduate this month with a near-perfect grade point average and clearly determined to change our perception of the buildings in which we live, work, and study.

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At a time when many are shorting the ability of the global economic and financial systems to right themselves, the Lally School of Management & Technology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's business school, is "long" on finance. The Lally School will host Finance Day on April 22, 2009 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The Lally School will formally launch its International Center for Financial Research (ICFR) and announce the new master's degree track in Financial Engineering and Risk Analytics (FERA).