News

Troy, N.Y. - Researchers searching for information about highly complex systems, such as the spread of diseases, the rise and fall of financial markets, or cell-phone communication networks, benefit from large-scale networked computer simulation. These simulations are frequently implemented using large networks of computers that break down the problem into many parts. Tackling weighty problems, bit by byte, allows the simulation process to run faster - sometimes.

Troy, N.Y. - Rensselaer President Shirley Ann Jackson, has been recognized alongside Colin Powell, Halle Berry, Oprah Winfrey, Maya Angelou, and Condoleezza Rice, in a recently published book by ESSENCE titled, 50 of The Most Inspiring African-Americans. The book features African-Americans who are breaking barriers in a number of fields, including politics, education, and entertainment.

Troy, N.Y. - Georges Belfort has been named a chaired professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Belfort will hold the title of Russell Sage Professor of Chemical Engineering. Belfort has been a chemical engineering faculty member for 25 years. He is a world-renowned authority on bioseparation, the science of recovering valuable proteins and other biological molecules from the complex mixtures in which they are produced. He's also an expert on the behavior of biological molecules at solid interfaces.

Troy, N.Y. - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Director of Athletics Ken Ralph has announced the signing of Head Men's Hockey Coach Dan Fridgen to a three-year contract extension. Financial terms of the pact, which will keep Fridgen at Rensselaer through 2005-06, were not disclosed.

Troy, N.Y. - The Paul J. '69 and Kathleen M. Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship at Rensselaer's Lally School of Management and Technology announces a new $40,000 student business plan competition that is open to all colleges and universities in the 17-county, Tech Valley Region. The Tech Valley Collegiate Business Plan Competition aims to introduce students to entrepreneurship as a career choice, says Jeanne Stefanik, manager of the Severino Center.

Troy, N.Y. - Budding student entrepreneurs are invited to a workshop sponsored by Rensselaer's Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship at the Lally School of Management and Technology. The workshop, "How to Write a Successful Business Plan," will be held Wednesday, Jan. 22, from 6-8 p.m. at the Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber of Commerce office in Colonie. This workshop is free to all participants.

Troy, N.Y. - A previously unseen band of stars beyond the edge of the Milky Way galaxy has been discovered by a team of scientists from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The discovery could help to explain how the galaxy was assembled 10 billion years ago.

Her Term with the World's Largest General Scientific Society Begins in 2004

Troy, N.Y. — Slingerlands resident E. Jeanne Jenkins will receive the Outstanding Service Award on Wednesday, Dec. 18 from Rensselaer's Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) detachment. The award recognizes an individual or organization for providing exceptional support to the AFROTC, and for helping it fulfill its mission to cultivate leaders for the Air Force. Jenkins is the first recipient of the award.

Troy, N.Y. — Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has formed an alliance with two upstate New York universities and the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez to enroll more minority students in graduate programs and to produce more minority professors.