Tracy K. Smith, 22nd Poet Laureate of the United States and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for her book Life on Mars, will speak at the 83rd annual McKinney Writing Award ceremony on Friday, April 19 at 7 p.m. in the Concert Hall of the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) on the campus of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The event is free and open to the public.

Deepfakes grab headlines when celebrities are involved, but fewer people are aware that deepfakes affect the financial services industry, too.

Research from the Center for Architecture, Science, and Ecology (CASE) and the School of Architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute was chosen by the Trust for Governor’s Island to be part of its inaugural Climate Solutions Challenge, a call for small busi¬ness¬es, entre¬pre-neurs, and non¬prof¬its to test and demon¬strate urban cli¬mate solu¬tions.

Customer’s online reviews of products and services are highly influential and have an immediate impact on brand value and customer buying behaviors. According to the Pew Research Center, “82% of U.S. adults say they at least sometimes read online customer ratings or reviews before purchasing items for the first time, including 40% who say they always or almost always do so.” How and whether to respond to online reviews is a critical consideration that may very well make or break a company’s success.

The Games and Simulation Arts and Sciences (GSAS) program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is among the top in the country, according to the Animation Career Review.

Frank (Fengqi) Li, was featured in a story on the news site of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory for his work studying the interactions of cities and their environments and people to address challenges like climate change and urban living.

Researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) will use hemp to develop a commercially viable, durable, and low-embodied-carbon insulated siding product to address what the U.S. Green Building Council says is a “crucial need for building retrofits to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.”

Raquel Velho, Ph.D., associate professor and undergraduate program director of science and technology studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has recently published a new book, Hacking the Underground: Disability, Infrastructure, and London’s Public Transport System.