Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute President Shirley Ann Jackson is participating in the 2012 World Economic Forum’s (WEF) “Summer Davos,” to be held September 11-13, 2012, in Tianjin, China.

Considered “the foremost global business gathering in Asia,” according to WEF officials, this 6th  Annual Meeting of the New Champions will engage more than 1,000 participants from 90 countries in forums designed to share strategies and solutions and to discuss global issues and risks. The meeting of global leaders in government, business, academe, media, the arts, and civil society will focus on “Creating the Future Economy.”

“Successful innovation — essential to strengthen the global economy and to meet the grand challenges of our time — will be driven by creative collaboration among the business, government, and academic sectors. This gathering of global leaders provides an invaluable opportunity to enhance the interconnections that can help strengthen our various and collective institutions as we work to meet the challenges and tap the opportunities before us,” said Rensselaer President Shirley Ann Jackson.

President Jackson will be a panelist in two forums: “The 7 Billion Challenge,” focusing on innovations required to meet the basic needs of a growing population, on Tuesday, September 11, and “The Future of Innovation,” focusing on how leading innovators are reshaping models of research and development, on Wednesday, September 12.

“The solutions to our global water, food, health, housing, transportation, and energy challenges will come from entrepreneurial scientists and engineers such as the faculty and student researchers at Rensselaer who are working on the frontiers of discovery and innovation in energy, health, transportation, infrastructure, high- performance computing, advanced manufacturing, and other arenas,” President Jackson said.  “Universities play a significant, though perhaps under-recognized, role in generating the ideas and sparking the innovations that drive the global economy and sustain our security.”

A theoretical physicist, Dr. Jackson has held senior leadership positions in government, industry, research, and academe. Her research and policy focus includes global energy security and the national capacity for innovation, including addressing what she has dubbed the “Quiet Crisis” of looming gaps in the science, technology, and engineering workforce and reduced support for basic research. Dr. Jackson was chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission from1995 to 1999, and is a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). She also is a member of a number of prestigious organizations and Boards, including the World Economic Forum USA board.

Dr. Jackson will be joined by Dr. Jonathan S. Dordick, Vice President for Research, Director of the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies (CBIS), and Howard P. Isermann Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In addition to attending the WEF forums, Dr. Dordick will meet with Tianjin area university, business, and government officials, as well as Rensselaer alumni and alumnae.  He also will deliver a lecture entitled “New Technologies Shaping Pharmaceutical Discovery” at Tianjin University.

About Rensselaer
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, founded in 1824, is the nation’s oldest technological research university. The university offers bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in engineering, the sciences, information technology, architecture, management, and the humanities and social sciences. Institute programs serve undergraduates, graduate students, and working professionals around the world. Rensselaer faculty are known for pre-eminence in research conducted in a wide range of fields, with particular emphasis in biotechnology, nanotechnology, information technology, and the media arts and technology. The Institute is well known for its success in the transfer of technology from the laboratory to the marketplace so that new discoveries and inventions benefit human life, protect the environment, and strengthen economic development.

For more information about the World Economic Forum 2012 Annual Meeting of New Champions go to: http://www.weforum.org/events/annual-meeting-new-champions-2012