Rensselaer Engineers Take To Flight

Amir Hirsa, professor of mechanical, aerospace, and nuclear engineering, and a group of undergraduate and graduate students recently returned from Sanford International Airport in Florida after completing an experiment in zero gravity. “I couldn’t have asked for better people—smarter, more talented, harder-working, or more creative to work with. The ones that weren’t flying were working on their aerodynamics homework in the aircraft hangar,” said Hirsa.

Biomimicry and Bio-Inspired Science On Display

Bio-inspired chemistry, in which biological design principles are applied to the construction of man-made hybrid nano-chemical catalytic structures, is a rapidly emerging area that is attracting intense interest. Baruch ’60 Center for Biochemical Solar Energy Research at Rensselaer was established to meet this challenge through the combined and iterative use of chemical, biochemical, physical, nanomaterials, […]

Corridor of Creativity Provides Windows Into Creative Process

The School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (HASS) has transformed two cinderblock hallways of the Sage Labs into the Corridor of Creativity, a place where visitors can view the latest student projects and catch a glimpse of innovation in action.

AAAS Announces 2017 Fellows

Troy, N.Y. — A recognized global leader in chromatographic bioprocessing, Steven Cramer, the William Weightman Walker Professor of Polymer Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The tradition of AAAS fellows began in 1874. Election as a AAAS fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers.

The Future of Urban Farming

Troy, NY – Growing food year-round is not a new concept. Today, researchers are exploring a sustainable way to increase access to locally grown food, through urban farming, which fosters the growth or production of food in a city or heavily populated town or municipality.

New Deposition Technique Puts the Heat on Silicon

Although Germanium is a more efficient semiconductor than silicon, the high cost of developing germanium crystals eclipsed its efficiency, and silicon captured the field in electronic devices. But new research establishing an economical method for growing crystalline thin-film germanium – using a process known as van der Waals epitaxy — challenges that supremacy. 

Noninvasive Brain Imaging Shows Readiness of Trainees To Perform Operations

Troy, N.Y. — While simulation platforms have been used to train surgeons before they enter an actual operating room (OR), few studies have evaluated how well trainees transfer those skills from the simulator to the OR. Now, a study led by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute that used noninvasive brain imaging to evaluate brain activity has found that simulator-trained medical students successfully transferred those skills to operating on cadavers and were faster than peers who had no simulator training.

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