Mimicking the agile gecko, with its uncanny ability to run up walls and across ceilings, has long been a goal of materials scientists. Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of Akron have taken one sticky step in the right direction, creating synthetic "gecko tape" with four times the sticking power of the real thing.
Specialized pulsed lasers have been used to inject individual cells with a variety of materials, but little is known about how this type of injection might affect living cells. For the first time, researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have analyzed this nanoscale injection process on living cells and discovered that minor changes in the intensity of the laser could mark the difference between a healthy cell and a dead one.
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new method of compacting carbon nanotubes into dense bundles. These tightly packed bundles are efficient conductors and could one day replace copper as the primary interconnects used on computer chips and even hasten the transition to next-generation 3-D stacked chips.
With a $2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are developing a physics-based virtual model that can simulate a patient's breathing in real time. When used in conjunction with existing 3-D models, adding the fourth dimension of time could significantly improve the accuracy and effectiveness of radiation treatment for lung and liver cancers.
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are challenging current thinking on the causes and prevention of Alzheimer's disease, offering a new hypothesis that could be the key to preventing this form of dementia. The researchers have found that a specific imbalance between two peptides may be the cause of the fatal neurological disease that affects more than five million people in the United States.
Emerging scientists, mathematicians, and engineers will play a critical role in the future success of the United States, Thomas Friedman told the graduating Class of 2007 at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The New York Times and best-selling author of The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century addressed nearly 1,500 graduating students and their families.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute today offered the first glimpse of what is planned to be the world's most powerful university-based supercomputing center. The Computational Center for Nanotechnology Innovations (CCNI) is designed to continue advancing semiconductor technology to the nanoscale, while also enabling key nanotechnology innovations in the fields of energy, biotechnology, arts, and medicine.
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new method to bond materials that don't normally stick together. The team's adhesive, which is based on self-assembling nanoscale chains, could impact everything from next-generation computer chip manufacturing to energy production.
Since his freshman year at Rensselaer, Zane Van Dusen has played in 13 bands "” and he founded 11 of them. A vocalist who also plays five instruments, the New York City native has been expressing himself through music for years. Now he has combined his lifelong passion with a keen set of technical and computing skills to create a device that allows all people, regardless of physical mobility, the opportunity to experience music's positive effects.
Armed with a microscope, sharp eye, and knack for design, Caitlin Piette isn't shy about letting her creative side influence her work in the laboratory "“ and vice versa.
To educate and nurture today's would-be entrepreneurs, universities across the country face a difficult question: Can innovation, risk-taking, and originality be taught in the classroom? For more than 180 years, students at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have been developing technologies, creating innovations, and forming business ventures to translate scientific discoveries into practical applications.
On May 18, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will host a discussion about global challenges at the intersection of politics and technology, featuring four prominent leaders who bring unique perspectives to bear on these critical issues. The public colloquy will be moderated by Rensselaer President Shirley Ann Jackson and will include the Institute's three Commencement honorees "” Thomas Friedman, Don Hewitt, and Mae Jemison.
Sky-rocketing oil prices, rising demand for reliance on renewable resources, and an increase in environmental consciousness have placed a newfound focus on "green" solutions to global energy issues. Following his May 19 graduation from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, student inventor Eben Bayer hopes to alleviate some of those growing issues "“ by growing.
Along with conducting cutting-edge bioengineering and nanotechnology research, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute senior Abigail Eldridge is a star athlete and campus leader. She spent much of last year at the prestigious Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, and will return this summer to continue her NSF-funded work on improving the design of a new bioartificial kidney and pancreas.
As an Eagle Scout, it is no surprise that Gregory Ten Eyck would be an innovator with a deep respect for the environment. But he has taken these values to a whole new level, developing inventions that could lead to better fuel cells, reduce the impacts of carbon dioxide, and create the next generation of super-efficient microelectronics.
José González is fluent in the international language of science. Born the son of a medical doctor in Puerto Rico, he has been speaking this language since he was a child. On May 19, González will take the next step in a long journey as he crosses the platform at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's 201st Commencement.
More than 300 11th grade girls from the Capital Region and across New England will participate in Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's "Design Your Future Day" (DYFD) on Saturday, April 21. The event is designed to engage students in activities to inform and excite them about career opportunities in engineering, science, architecture, and technology.
With a major grant from the Office of Naval Affairs, researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are collaborating with four other universities to address a hot topic in today's military: how to keep modern ships cool in extreme environments.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute recently garnered approval from the New York State Education Department to offer a doctoral degree in electronic arts. Now one of only a handful of universities in the United States to offer a Ph.D. program in this emerging field, the Institute will begin admitting students in fall 2007.
Michael Shur, the Patricia W. and C. Sheldon Roberts '48 Chaired Professor in Solid State Electronics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has been promoted to fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). Shur is being recognized for his "individual responsibility, sustained achievements, and exceptional professionalism."
Thomas L. Friedman, best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The New York Times, will deliver the 2007 Commencement address at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on May 19 at 9:30 a.m. on the Harkness Field. Friedman also will receive an honorary degree at the ceremony, along with pioneering producer Don Hewitt, best known as the creator of the weekly CBS-TV news program 60 Minutes.
As the electronics industry continues to churn out smaller and slimmer portable devices, manufacturers have been challenged to find new ways to combat the persistent problem of thermal management. New research suggests that carbon nanotubes may soon be integrated to ensure the equipment does not overheat, malfunction, or fail.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute recently announced the launch of a new undergraduate degree program in Games and Simulation Arts & Sciences (GSAS). The major "“ which builds off the success of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences' highly popular game studies minor "“ will equip graduates with a suite of integrated skills necessary for leaders in the game development industry.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute today announced a university-wide initiative to improve representation of female educators in academia's influential high-ranking positions. The program, which is funded by a $329,960 grant from the National Science Foundation, seeks to aid women along the academic career path from junior positions toward tenure and full professorship.
The size, type, and dispersion of nanomaterials could all play a role in how these materials impact human health and the environment, according to two groups of researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In new studies, the teams found that while carbon nanotubes inhibited growth in mammalian cells, they sustained the growth of commonly occurring bacteria.
The 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake and resulting tsunami are now infamous for the damage they caused, but at the time many scientists believed this area was unlikely to create a quake of such magnitude. In the March 23 issue of the journal Science, a geophysicist from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute urges the public and policy makers to consider all subduction-type tectonic boundaries to be "locked, loaded, and dangerous.
Wan Kin "Victor" Chan plans to predict the future. Chan, an assistant professor of decision sciences and engineering systems at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has been awarded a Faculty Early Career Development Award (CAREER) from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Chan will use the $400,000 grant to develop better computer simulation methodologies to improve systems from healthcare to military operation and airport security.
Rensselaer President Shirley Ann Jackson called for a renewed focus on science in key public policy deliberations; urged scientists to become more actively engaged in the public policy arena, and for policymakers to rely on sound science; and continued her call for increased investments in STEM talent to sustain the nation's capacity for innovation.
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have discovered a tiny bacterium that could one day transform the way we remove polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from our environment. The organism could be the key to developing methods that help detoxify commercial PCB compounds on site "” without the need for dredging.
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have discovered what likely triggered the eruption of a "supervolcano" that coated much of the western half of the United States with ash fallout 760,000 years ago.
A team of researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has created the world's first material that reflects virtually no light. They describe an optical coating made from the material that enables vastly improved control over the basic properties of light. The research opens the door to much brighter LEDs, more efficient solar cells, and a new class of "smart" light sources that adjust to specific environments.
Daniel Gall, assistant professor of materials science and engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has been awarded a Faculty Early Career Development Award (CAREER) from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Gall will use the projected five-year, $400,000 grant to help craft the next generation of custom nanoscale structures.
More than 10,000 high school students have filed applications to attend Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, setting a record with an increase of almost 50 percent over the previous year, according to numbers released today by Rensselaer's Office of Enrollment Management.
"T-rays" have been touted as the next breakthrough in sensing and imaging, but the need for bulky equipment has been an obstacle to reaching the field's potential. Enter Brian Schulkin, winner of the first-ever $30,000 Lemelson-Rensselaer Student Prize. Schulkin has invented an ultralight, handheld terahertz spectrometer "” an advance that could help catapult T-ray technology from the lab bench to the marketplace.
By fusing wet and dry nanotechnologies, researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have found a way to control the flow of water through carbon nanotube membranes with an unprecedented level of precision. The research could inspire technologies designed to transform salt water into pure drinking water almost instantly, or to immediately separate a specific strand of DNA from the biological jumble.
A new computer-based technique could eliminate hours of manual adjustment associated with a popular cancer treatment. In a paper published in the Feb. 7 issue of Physics in Medicine and Biology, researchers describe an approach that has the potential to automatically determine acceptable radiation plans in a matter of minutes, without compromising the quality of treatment.
Using a series of interactive computer programs that focus on the mathematics embedded in various cultural designs, students from across the country in grades 4-12 have shown a statistically significant increase in their math achievement scores. Now a new NSF grant will help the Rensselaer researcher who developed these programs extend their use to help engage underrepresented minority students in the subject of computing.
Frank Spear, department chair and professor of earth and environmental sciences at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has been elected as a fellow of the American Geophysical Union (AGU).
Using powerful computers to model the intricate dance of atoms and molecules, researchers at RPI have revealed the mechanism behind an important biological reaction. In collaboration with scientists from the Wadsworth Center of the New York State Department of Health, the team is working to harness the reaction to develop a "nanoswitch" for a variety of applications, from targeted drug delivery to genomics and proteomics to sensors.
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have found a new pathway by which cells change their adhesive properties. With a $1.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, they plan to fill in the details behind how cells decide to stick to a surface, which could lead to a better understanding of the importance of this pathway to the physiology and development of organisms.
A team of researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has created hybrid structures that combine the best properties of carbon nanotubes and metal nanowires. The new structures, which are described in a recent issue of Applied Physics Letters, could help overcome some of the key hurdles to using carbon nanotubes in computer chips, displays, sensors, and many other electronic devices.
Researchers at Rensselaer will continue to advance the frontiers of computational science with the help of IBM's Blue Gene supercomputer. Awarded under IBM's Shared University Research (SUR) program, this Blue Gene will complement the $100 million partnership between Rensselaer, IBM, and New York state to create one of the world's most powerful university-based supercomputing centers.
A four-month residency program developed in order to help technical professionals and others develop the critical managerial skills needed to manage large-scale, energy-related projects. The program consists of tailored academic coursework, corporate site visits, cultural experiences, and interaction with industry leaders.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute President Shirley Ann Jackson joined U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Dina Habib Powell, and a delegation of 11 other United States university and college presidents traveling to Japan, Korea, and China to promote U.S. higher education in Asia.
A materials scientist from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is being honored with two distinctions for his work with carbon nanotubes. Pulickel Ajayan, the Henry Burlage Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, is being awarded the MRS Medal from the Materials Research Society and has been named by Scientific American magazine as a Research Leader within the 2006 "Scientific American 50" "” the magazine's prestigious annual list recognizing outstanding acts of leadership in science and technology.
As part of their ongoing effort to improve traffic management in New York state and across the country, a team of transportation researchers will be testing an array of wireless, solar-powered readers to monitor traffic flow. The portable units, which are based on the same technology as E-ZPass tag readers, could eventually be used to provide valuable data for a variety of applications.
With a $1.23 million grant, researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will be creating a distributed power "test-bed" to study how the electricity distribution grid might be affected by the widespread adoption of clean, renewable energy sources. The two-year project is designed to help understand the potential effects of meeting New York state's key alternative energy goal.
Many of the vaunted applications of carbon nanotubes require the ability to attach these super-tiny cylinders to electrically conductive surfaces, but to date researchers have only been successful in creating high-resistance interfaces between nanotubes and substrates. Now a team from RPI reports two new techniques, each following a different approach, for placing carbon nanotube patterns on metal surfaces of just about any shape and size.
FEMA, Coast Guard responses to Hurricane Katrina help researchers simulate how organizational characteristics improve or impede emergency management.
Undergraduate students from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Howard University will now have a chance to pursue research at the intersection of mathematics and computational science, thanks to a $1.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation.
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