News

Troy, N.Y. - A new generation of nanoscale devices is being developed based on inspiration found in nature. Grazyna Sroga, a postdoctoral research associate at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is using DNA and related proteins to construct microscopic structures that may one day conduct electricity, deliver drugs, boost computer memory, or sense the presence or absence of chemicals. She is working in the laboratory of Jonathan S. Dordick, Howard P. Isermann '42 Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering.

Troy, N.Y. - With acceptance letters in the mail and due dates for enrollment deposits rapidly approaching, high school students across the nation this month face a tough decision: Where to go to college? But deciding what school to attend doesn't have to be stressful. Experts offer some helpful advice to some vexing questions: How safe is the campus?

Troy, N.Y. - How do you improve on plastic, a modern material that has already changed the way we do everything from design medical devices to build cars? Embed it with specialized proteins called enzymes, says Shekhar Garde, assistant professor of chemical engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Troy, N.Y. - Jeffrey Trinkle, former principal member of the technical staff at Sandia National Laboratories, has been named professor and chair of the computer science department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Trinkle is widely recognized as an expert in robotics.

Troy, N.Y. - Although the Internal Revenue Service has significantly improved its internal processes since it implemented its first major information technology (IT) system in the 1960s, the agency has spent billions of dollars over the years on mainly unsuccessful IT initiatives. Mark Nelson, a Rensselaer management professor, recommends tips that can help such a huge organization streamline processes, increase efficiencies, potentially save billions of dollars, and prevent a cycle of multiple IT failures.

Troy, N.Y. - Entrepreneur magazine has named the technological entrepreneurship program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Lally School of Management and Technology one of the 25 best entrepreneurial programs in the nation. The magazine's "Top 100 Entrepreneurial Colleges and Universities" feature is slated for the April 2003 issue, and will appear on newsstands March 25.

Troy, N.Y. - Rensselaer has been awarded a five-year $3.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish an International Materials Institute (IMI) for Materials Informatics and Combinatorial Materials Science. It is one of the first centers of its kind to be awarded funding by the NSF.

Troy, N.Y. - Omkaram "Om" Nalamasu, professor of materials science and engineering and director of Rensselaer's Center for Integrated Electronics (CIE), has received a $1 million grant from the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR) Faculty Development Program.

Troy, N.Y. - Georges Belfort, professor of chemical engineering at Rensselaer, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). Belfort, the Russell Sage Professor of Chemical Engineering at Rensselaer, was elected for his advances in bioseparations using membrane filtration, affinity processes, and membrane bioreactors for biotechnology. He joins the NAE as one of 77 new members and nine foreign associates.

Troy, N.Y. - Robert J. Linhardt, a world-leading carbohydrate chemist, has been appointed a senior constellation chair in biocatalysis and metabolic engineering at Rensselaer. "Dr. Linhardt is an outstanding scientist who is highly regarded for his intellect and his scholarship," said Rensselaer President Shirley Ann Jackson. "Dr. Linhardt's collaborative spirit, his abilities as a consummate educator, and his visionary research will add a new dimension to the exciting advancements in biotechnology research at Rensselaer."