News

National experts gather to discuss women’s advancement in academy’s senior ranks Troy, N.Y. — Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute today announced a universitywide initiative to improve representation of female educators in academia’s influential high-ranking positions. The program, which is funded by a $329,960 grant from the National Science Foundation, seeks to aid women along the academic career path from junior positions toward tenure and full professorship

TROY, N.Y. — Burt Swersey, a lecturer in Rensselaer’s department of mechanical, aerospace, and nuclear engineering, has been awarded the 2007 Olympus Lifetime of Educational Innovation Award for his dedication to innovative thinking and his commitment to students and their learning.

Program builds off Institute’s highly successful games studies minor Troy, N.Y. — Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute recently announced the launch of a new undergraduate degree program in Games and Simulation Arts and Sciences (GSAS). The major — which builds off the success of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences’ highly popular game studies minor — will equip graduates with a suite of integrated skills necessary for leaders in the game development industry.

Troy, N.Y. — The size, type, and dispersion of nanomaterials could all play a role in how these materials impact human health and the environment, according to two groups of researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In new studies, the teams found that while carbon nanotubes inhibited growth in mammalian cells, they sustained the growth of commonly occurring bacteria.

Geophysicist urges public, policy makers to consider all tectonic boundaries as lethal

Troy, NY — Wai Kin “Victor” Chan plans to predict the future. Chan, an assistant professor of decision sciences and engineering systems at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has been awarded a Faculty Early Career Development Award (CAREER) from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Chan will use the projected five-year, $400,000 grant to develop better computer simulation methodologies to improve systems from healthcare to military operation and airport security.

I write to share with you information on the outcomes of Rensselaer’s recent Board of Trustees meeting. The Board took a number of actions I will describe briefly here, and I will look forward to a conversation to respond to your questions at the Town Meeting on April 2.

Troy, N.Y. — Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Lally School of Management & Technology is one of nine new schools to be named to BusinessWeek magazine’s 2007 list of top 50 undergraduate business programs. The Lally School makes its debut at number 40 on the list, which is in its second year of publication. 

Jackson will speak in Geneva, Paris, and London about the challenge of global energy security Troy, N.Y. — A delegation from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will travel to Europe March 15-22 to meet with leading representatives from government, industry, science, and higher education. Led by Rensselaer President Shirley Ann Jackson, the trip will provide a platform for university officials to continue forging partnerships with international leaders and institutions. 

Troy, N.Y. — Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have discovered a tiny bacterium that could one day transform the way we remove polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from our environment. The organism could be the key to developing methods that help detoxify commercial PCB compounds on site — without the need for dredging. The results will appear in the April 15 issue of Applied and Environmental Microbiology.