Eckart the second woman in RAA history to lead the organization Troy, N.Y. — Carrie Eckart ’85 has been elected president of the Rensselaer Alumni Association (RAA), an organization made up of more than 90,000 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni worldwide. Only the second woman since 1862 to serve as president of the RAA (or its predecessor, the Association of Rensselaer Graduates) Eckart began her two-year term on Saturday, June 9.

Troy, N.Y. — Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new method of compacting carbon nanotubes into dense bundles. These tightly packed bundles are efficient conductors and could one day replace copper as the primary interconnects used on computer chips and even hasten the transition to next-generation 3-D stacked chips.

TROY, N.Y. — When it comes to identifying, planning for, and achieving career goals, undergraduate students are getting a head start from the Career Development Center (CDC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. For their efforts, the center won a NACE Excellence Award for developing its “Sophomore Career Experience” program.

Rensselaer researchers awarded major NIH grant to develop 4-D virtual patient model Troy, N.Y. — With a $2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are developing a physics-based virtual model that can simulate a patient’s breathing in real time. When used in conjunction with existing 3-D models, adding the fourth dimension of time could significantly improve the accuracy and effectiveness of radiation treatment for lung and liver cancers. 

Troy, N.Y. — Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are challenging current thinking on the causes and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease, offering a new hypothesis that could be the key to preventing this form of dementia. The researchers have found that a specific imbalance between two peptides may be the cause of the fatal neurological disease that affects more than five million people in the United States.

Troy, N.Y. — The incoming Class of 2011 at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute promises to be an exceptional group, with the average SAT score up almost 20 points from the previous year, and more than 65 percent of the students coming from the top 10 percent of their high school classes. The high-achieving group also includes a significant increase in the number of women, the national and international profile of the student body, and those who are interested in new areas of Rensselaer’s expanding curriculum.

Thomas Friedman delivers the 2007 Commencement address. Photo by Rensselaer/Kris Qua Author and columnist addresses more than 1,470 students at Rensselaer’s 201st Commencement

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Troy, N.Y. — Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new method to bond materials that don’t normally stick together. The team’s adhesive, which is based on self-assembling nanoscale chains, could impact everything from next-generation computer chip manufacturing to energy production.

Troy, N.Y. — More than 1,470 students will receive degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Saturday, May 19, at 9:30 a.m. on the Harkness Field. They represent the next generation of leaders and innovators in fields ranging from engineering to architecture, from fine arts to science, and from business to the military.