News

Troy, N.Y. — Researchers at Rensselaer have discovered a surprising new property of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCN). When exposed to a conventional photographic flash, the nanotubes emit a loud pop and then ignite. This discovery, reported in the April 26 issue of the journal Science, could mean that SWCNs might be used in light sensors or to remotely trigger explosives and combustion reactions, although researchers say that more testing needs to be done to realize these possibilities.

Troy, N.Y. — Anne Marie Lisuzzo ’04, a 19-year-old sophomore from Albany, has been appointed by Governor George Pataki and the New York State Senate as a student member of the board of trustees of the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC), the state agency that helps people pay for college. On the board, which handles more than $2.2 billion in student loans each year, Lisuzzo will represent needs at private colleges and universities.

Troy, N.Y. - The Hirsch Observatory on the Rensselaer campus will offer free public observing beginning Wednesday, April 24, and continuing every Wednesday through the end of August. The observatory will open for three hours beginning at sunset (approx. 8-8:15 p.m. this time of year) if skies are clear or mostly clear.

Troy, N.Y. — Philanthropist Morris “Marty” Silverman will be honored in a new award to be presented annually by the Hudson Mohawk Association of Colleges and Universities (HMACU). The award will recognize an individual, organization, or collaboration that has promoted inter-institutional educational initiatives, research, or related efforts in advancing higher education in the Hudson-Mohawk region.

Troy, N.Y. — Daniel Freedman, 30, has been awarded a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation. He is the fifth Rensselaer faculty member this year and the 17th in the past three years to receive the award. The CAREER Award is the NSF’s most prestigious honor for faculty members who are at the beginning of their academic careers.

Rensselaer Researchers Achieve Unprecedented Control over Nanotube Growth Troy, N.Y. — Next-generation computer chips, integrated circuits, and the microelectromechanical (MEMS) devices that power them depend upon carbon nanotubes that can be grown up, down, sideways, and in all three dimensions. Researchers at Rensselaer are the first to achieve this unprecedented, specific, and controlled nanotube growth.

TROY, N.Y. — On Monday, April 8, Habitat for Humanity International (HHI) will honor the student chapter of Habitat for Humanity at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Millard Fuller, founder and president of HHI, based in Georgia, will kick off the event with a speech at 10 a.m. at the Chapel and Cultural Center, 2125 Burdett Avenue. He will talk about the need to build decent, affordable housing. His talk is free and open to the public.

New York State Support Helped to Undergird Success Troy, N.Y. — Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has been awarded a Center for Advanced Interconnect Systems Technologies (CAIST) by the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) to support research in microelectronic interconnect technologies, the backbone of the next generation of computer technology.

Honorary Doctorates To Be Conferred on Moviemaker Bobby Farrelly, Genomic Researcher Claire Fraser, and Brown University President Ruth Simmons Troy, N.Y. — Civilian space traveler and Rensselaer alumnus Dennis Tito will be the featured speaker at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s 196th Commencement ceremonies on May 18.

Troy, N.Y. — Mike Savic can't recapture the 18 missing minutes of the Watergate tapes, but he can teach computers to deliver sounds that have been damaged in transmission. His research will aid military communications, improve hearing aids, and possibly find music's lost chords.