News

Troy, N.Y. — More than 900 area students and their families came to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute today to participate in the 10th annual Black Family Technology Awareness Day. The workshops, designed to spur young people’s interest in pursuing careers in science and engineering, were hosted by Rensselaer’s Office of Institute Diversity. Rensselaer’s Black Family Technology Awareness Day is part of a nationally celebrated week of the same name. The theme for 2008 is “A Decade of Discovery.”

Troy, N.Y. — 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 Friday evening through November from 8-10 p.m. Anyone from the community is invited to come learn about our universe from Rensselaer students and faculty. Children are welcome.

Research will focus on renewable energy, future electronics, and nano science Troy, N.Y. — Shengbai Zhang, a quantum physicist renowned for his computational modeling and research in semiconductor defects, has been named senior chair of Rensselaer’s Gail and Jeffrey L. Kodosky ’70 Constellation in Physics, Information Technology, and Entrepreneurship.

Student and fraternity recognized with Community Service Award during ceremony tonight Troy, N.Y. — In a tribute to outstanding commitments to community service, the Rensselaer Alumni Association (RAA) will recognize both an individual student and a Greek life organization with its Community Service Award. Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and Tamer Khattab ’08 will be presented with the award tonight — Friday, Feb. 1 — during the first intermission of the Rensselaer vs. Quinnipiac hockey game.

Researchers in Rensselaer’s Department of Physics and Center for Integrated Electronics have developed a new inexpensive, quick-drying polymer that could lead to dramatic cost savings and efficiency gains in semiconductor manufacturing and computer chip packaging.

Carbon nanotube array absorbs light, could boost solar energy conversion  The vertically aligned carbon nanotube samples were mounted in the center of a integrating sphere, which measured the material's reflectivity.

A computer generated image of a cell membrane being “pierced” by HIV peptides.

Applications increase another 10 percent from 2007 to new record level Troy, N.Y. — More than 11,000 high school students have filed applications to attend Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, according to numbers released today by Rensselaer Admissions. The record number of applications for 2008 is up 10 percent from the previous year, and it is more than double the number received just three years ago in 2005.

Troy, N.Y. — Design optimization pioneer Achille Messac, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has been elected a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). An award to commemorate this honor will be presented at an AIAA gala on May 14 in Washington, D.C.

Troy, N.Y. — It turns out that our math teachers were right: being able to solve problems without a calculator does come in handy in the “real” world. Two theoretical physicists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have used what they call “pen-and-paper math” to describe the motion of interstellar shock waves — violent events associated with the birth of stars and planets.