News

Businesses Focused on Vibro-Diagnostics, Renewable Energy, 3-D Modeling, “Zombie-Zapping” Aviation Safety, and Terahertz Instrumentation Troy, N.Y. — Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Incubator Program today announced that six new high-technology companies will join the Incubator. The companies — represented by members of the Rensselaer community and beyond — are focused on vibro-diagnostics, renewable energy, 3-D modeling, zombie-zapping, aviation safety, and terahertz instrumentation technologies.

Troy, N.Y. — Researchers have created organic gel nanomaterials that could be used to encapsulate pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetic products and to build 3-D biological scaffolds for tissue engineering. Using olive oil and six other liquid solvents, the scientists added a simple enzyme to chemically activate a sugar that changed the liquids to organic gels.

Troy, N.Y.— A researcher at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has uncovered mathematics embedded in the designs of various aspects of native and contemporary culture, from traditional beadwork and basket weaving to modern hairstyles and music. Using the discovery, he’s developed a series of interactive, Web-based teaching tools that are capturing the interest – and imagination – of students in math classes across the country.

Troy, N.Y.

Simmonds Will Conduct Agricultural Research in Australia

New $30,000 Lemelson-Rensselaer Student Prize Available in 2007 Academic Year to Undergraduate Seniors and Graduate Students Troy, N.Y. — The spirit of invention lives and breathes within the research laboratories, classrooms, hallways, and dorm rooms at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Now, the breakthrough ideas conceived by Rensselaer undergraduate seniors and graduate students can get an additional financial boost with the new $30,000 Lemelson-Rensselaer Student Prize that will be awarded beginning in the 2007 academic year.

Earthquake simulation to test new damping system in full-scale townhouse Troy, N.Y.

Troy, N.Y. — Changing a surface from sticky to slippery could now be as easy as flipping a molecular light switch. Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have created an “optically switchable” material that alters its surface characteristics when exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light. The new material, which is described in the June 19 issue of the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition, could have a wide variety of applications, from a protein filter for biological mixtures to a tiny valve on a “lab-on-a-chip.” 

Troy, N.Y.