Farhan Gandhi Named Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

TROY, N.Y. — Farhan Gandhi, the Rosalind and John J. Redfern Jr. ’33 Endowed Chair in Aerospace Engineering, has been elected to the Class of 2020 Fellows of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). He receives this honor for “pioneering research and academic leadership in the areas of reconfigurable vertical lift, advanced rotary-wing configurations, and adaptive aerospace structures.” He will be inducted during a ceremony on May 19, 2020, and further honored on May 20 at the AIAA Aerospace Spotlight Awards Gala — both in Washington, D.C.

Engineering a Better World Using Mirrors, Sun, and Steam

TROY, N.Y. — Partha Dutta, a professor of electrical, computer, and systems engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, envisions a not-so-distant future where even the most remote parts of the world would have access to clean and renewable energy. His vision wouldn’t require a large power grid or expensive technology. Instead, he believes it could be accomplished using simple mirrors, local resources, and the sun. “I call this ‘engineering for a better world,’ which means that you have to use affordable, accessible, and adequate resources,” Dutta said.

Novel Compound is Promising Drug Candidate for Alzheimer’s Disease

A newly identified compound is a promising candidate for inhibiting the production of amyloids, the abnormal proteins that form toxic clumps, called fibrils, inside the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. As published in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Chemical Communications, the compound — known as “C1” — uses a novel mechanism to efficiently prevent the enzyme gamma-secretase from producing amyloids.

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