News

Institute to Launch Cross-Cultural Collaborations in Science and Engineering Research, Education, and Development in Africa Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute President Shirley Ann Jackson is leading a delegation from the Institute to Africa, from March 14 to March 22, 2009, to expand its collaborations in the region. Delegation members will meet with academic, scientific, business and government leaders in South Africa and Ghana to discuss capacity-building opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. 

Class of ’51 Student Entrepreneurship Award supports innovation in patent-pending detection system, light therapy technology Ideas for a patent-pending detection system and a light therapy technology have both received funding by the Rensselaer Class of ’51 Student Entrepreneurship Award, established to help transform student ideas into successful ventures.

It is with great sadness that I announce the passing on March 3 of Harry Apkarian ’46, member of the Rensselaer Board of Trustees — serving continually since 1969, as adjunct, active, and most recently, honorary trustee — and longtime friend of the Institute. 

Yuehua “Tony” Yu Yuehua “Tony” Yu’s innovation could lead to new medical devices, drug delivery technologies

Watch the movie trailer! Movie unveiled for campus community, set for global release in 2009

Rensselaer researchers use computers to find keys to stabilizing proteins

It’s something of an understatement to say Shekhar Garde has an eye for detail.  A global leader in his field, Garde works to shed new light on the hidden world of atoms and molecules. Equipped with state-of-the-art advanced imaging, molecular modeling, and computer simulation tools, he is a high-tech archeologist who scrutinizes nanoscale landscapes in search of clues, patterns, and systems that could lead to a better understanding of the most basic building blocks of life. 

When a promising cancer drug reached clinical trials in the 1990s, researchers were disappointed by the debilitating side effects that limited the trials. The drug inhibited a family of enzymes known as matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). Now, researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have shown that creating drugs that inactivate a different part of the MMP enzyme could have the capacity to target the tumor without the damaging side effects. Their findings, which hold promise for improved cancer therapies, were published Feb.

More than 900 area students and their families came to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute today to participate in the 11th annual Black Family Technology Awareness Day. The event, designed to spur young people’s interest in pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, (STEM) fields and the arts, was hosted by Rensselaer’s Office of Institute Diversity and the Office of Academic Outreach Programs. Rensselaer’s Black Family Technology Awareness Day is part of a nationally celebrated week of the same name.

Observatory joins NASA public outreach program Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute invites members of the community to the Hirsch Observatory to view planets, stars, and galaxies with the observatory’s 16-inch telescope. The observatory will be open to the public every Saturday evening through November from 8-10 p.m. as part of its annual open house program starting the evening of Feb. 7, 2009. Anyone from the community is invited to come learn about our universe from Rensselaer students and faculty. Children are welcome.