News

Troy, N.Y. — With the recent news of dangerous side effects, women on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) are wondering about whether they should continue to take such estrogen-based medications that ease menopausal symptoms. But those who want to go off the drugs may have another side effect to worry about — an enhanced appetite for alcoholic beverages, according to a research team headed by Larry Reid, professor of psychology and neuroscience at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Troy, N.Y.- After the World Trade Center attacks on Sept. 11, Colleen Mulrenan waited two days for her father come home from his job as a deputy chief for the New York City Fire Department. When he did return home to Warwick, an hour north from Ground Zero, Mulrenan did the only practical thing she could think of: She began to clean by hand his work shirts covered thick with soot and debris since he needed a clean uniform for the next day.

Troy, N.Y. — David Duquette, a highly respected expert in metallurgy and corrosion, and professor and head of the department of materials science and engineering at Rensselaer, was appointed by President Bush this summer to serve as a member of the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB). The board will hold its first meeting Sept. 10 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Troy, N.Y. — E. Fred Schubert, a pioneering semiconductor researcher and professor of electrical and computer engineering at Boston University, has been appointed Senior Distinguished Professor of the Future Chips Constellation at Rensselaer. Internationally renowned for his work on semiconductor doping and light-emitting diodes, Schubert was selected for his sustained record of innovative research, excellence in teaching, and significant technological advances over his 20-year career. Schubert’s tenure will begin Sept. 3.

Troy, N.Y. — A $1 Million grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation of Los Angeles will establish the W.M. Keck Laboratory for Terahertz Science within a new Center for Terahertz Research at Rensselaer.

Troy, N.Y. — Robert E. Palazzo, who previously served as professor of molecular biosciences at the University of Kansas, has been named professor and chair of the biology department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In addition to teaching and research, Palazzo has worked with several public service organizations including New York's own Wadsworth Center, the state laboratory dedicated to science in the pursuit of health.

Troy, N.Y. — Selmer Bringsjord, director of the Rensselaer Artificial Intelligence and Reasoning (RAIR) Lab and professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has been named chair of the Department of Cognitive Sciences. Bringsjord, a Rensselaer faculty member in the same department for 14 years, specializes in the logico-mathematical and philosophical foundations of artificial intelligence.

Troy, N.Y. — Donald Siegel, a distinguished professor in England, has been named chair of the Economics Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Siegel was professor of industrial economics at the University of Nottingham in England. His research interests are the economics of technological change; university technology transfer; productivity analysis; and corporate social responsibility.

Troy, N.Y. — Michael Century, a former teacher at McGill University and art-and-technology consultant from Canada, has been named chair of the Arts Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Partnership With IBM Will Position New York as a Leader in Information Technology Troy, N.Y. — Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, with generous support from IBM, is forming a $33 million research center that will create an information technology infrastructure so advanced that it can handle any level of Internet traffic, data storage, and new scientific challenges that require immense computing power, such as bioinformatics.