News

A team of researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Pennsylvania State University, Yale University, and Louisiana State University has revealed the structure of a modified and evolved version of Photosystem I (PS I), a key protein complex used by plants and cyanobacteria to convert sunlight into chemical energy. This discovery sheds light on the evolution and adaptation of photosynthetic organisms and could potentially lead to new, highly efficient systems for producing renewable solar fuels.

President Marty Schmidt ’81 and his wife, Lyn, invite the Capital Region to join them for the RPI Bicentennial Holiday Concert and Victorian Stroll Kick-Off, which will take place on Saturday, December 7, at 7 p.m. in the Concert Hall of the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) on RPI’s campus.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai will offer a joint Ph.D. program in health sciences engineering beginning in the fall semester of 2025. RPI is a world-renowned technological research university known for its engineering, technology, and science programs. Icahn Mount Sinai is the academic arm of the Mount Sinai Health System, which includes eight hospitals and a vast network of ambulatory practices throughout the greater New York City region. The Ph.D.

Wei Bao, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has won the Early Career Program (ECP) Award and Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP) Award from the Department of Defense to study superconductors and cavity quantum materials, respectively. The two awarded grants, which total nearly $700,000, will allow Bao to further his research into the unique properties of quantum materials and lay the foundation for practical innovations in the decades to come. 

As a third grader, Tahira Reid Smith ’00, ’04, Ph.D., was already thinking like an inventor. So, when her school, PS 97 in the Bronx, New York, held a poster contest where students were asked to depict something each of them wished he or she had, she didn’t draw a typical childhood fantasy. She designed a machine. 

High school innovators and students with entrepreneurial aspirations have a new chance at a significant scholarship to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s (RPI) Lally School of Management.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Air Force Reserve Officers Training Corps (AFROTC) Detachment 550 will honor and celebrate all veterans—past and present—this Veterans Day on November 11 at the Approach. Join the cadets at 10:45 a.m. as they lay a wreath near the WWI and WWII memorials and highlight the stories of a few RPI veterans. A small gathering will follow to honor veterans and their families at Evelyn’s Café, thanks to the Registrar’s office. All are welcome.

On Saturday, November 9, hundreds will gather at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for HackRPI 2024. The 24-hour marathon of coding will begin at 11 a.m., when participants will team up to address the competition’s theme: Urban Upgrades. Participants will be asked to enhance the infrastructure, services, and quality of life in cities by developing new ideas and technologies. Examples are smart transportation systems, sustainable energy solutions, improved public safety, and inclusive community spaces. Prizes will be awarded during the closing ceremony around 2 p.m. on Sunday.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Frank Spear, Ph.D., professor of earth and environmental sciences and Edward Hamilton Distinguished Educator Chair, is the 2024 recipient of the Walter H. Bucher Medal from the American Geophysical Union (AGU). The medal is presented annually to a “senior scientist in recognition of original contributions to the basic knowledge of crust and lithosphere.” It is considered a recognition of lifetime achievement.

Recently, RPI’s Richard Bonocora, Ph.D., senior lecturer in biological sciences, joined 29 other international participants for the Spaceflight Technology, Applications and Research (STAR) program. STAR is “a virtual NASA training for space biosciences.” The program, which will run until February, will give Bonocora an overview of the current topics in space biology, how to conduct an experiment in space and all of the unique considerations, and provide unique collaborative opportunities. He plans to share his new knowledge across campus with fellow faculty members as well as students. “I’m excited to gain knowledge through the STAR program that can help my students in many fields pursue these exciting opportunities,” said Bonocora.