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TROY, N.Y. — In a fraction of a second, a colorful digital block shaped like the letter “L” falls from the top of the computer screen. In even less time, fingers float across a controller, striking the arrow keys in rapid succession to rotate the figure so it falls in line with a computerized stack of shapes. Form after form falls, faster and faster. The decades-old puzzle game Tetris and the people who play it competitively have become a testbed for cognitive scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute who want to know how humans learn and gain expertise.

“Tonight, we are honoring a pioneer, an entrepreneur, and a sensitive visionary,” said Arthur F. Golden ’66, the chair of the board of trustees of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, on Thursday night as he welcomed the audience to a special tribute event celebrating 20 years of transformative leadership by President Shirley Ann Jackson.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute physicist Vincent Meunier has been appointed to an International Francqui Professor position, supporting a five-month research stay with the Université de Namur in Belgium.

Jacob Shelley, an expert in plasma-ambient mass spectrometry instruments and professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has won the 2020 Emerging Leader in Atomic Spectroscopy Award from Spectroscopy, a multimedia platform devoted to spectroscopic instruments.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson’s transformative leadership at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, which has experienced extraordinary advancements in research, pedagogy, and the student experience in that time. To mark the occasion, a tribute will be held on campus on October 3, beginning at 8 p.m. in the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) Concert Hall.

A recently unveiled mural in downtown Troy’s Waterfront District underscores the strong connection between the city and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

The Paul J. ’69 and Kathleen M. Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has named the founders of Interactive Learning International Corporation (iLinc) the 2019 recipients of the William F. Glaser ’53 Entrepreneur of the Year award. The honorees, Mark Bernstein ’94, Degerhan Usluel ’94, and Jack Wilson, Ph.D., will be recognized this October for creating the first PC-based virtual classroom and web conferencing software product.

TROY, N.Y. — Victims of human trafficking in the United States number in the thousands each year, but little is understood about the networks that perpetuate these crimes. Mathematical models designed by systems engineers could help researchers gain critical insight into trafficking operations and develop effective methods for bringing people to safety.

As part of the inaugural class participating in The Arch at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, rising junior Zeyi Zhang ’21, an economics and aeronautical engineering dual major, secured a fall semester away internship opportunity with Crestview in New York City

The baseball facility at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will be officially named in honor of longtime coach Karl Steffen at a ribbon cutting ceremony at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, September 28. The ceremony will take place at Robison Field, which will retain its name as part of the newly christened Karl Steffen Ballpark. Steffen recently retired after a distinguished 34-year career as the head coach of the baseball team at Rensselaer, which he led to unprecedented success, posting a career record of 852-470-3 over 1,325 games.