Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute students interested in exploring the cosmos and learning about the universe’s origins have two new faculty members with whom to learn and conduct research. This year, Rensselaer’s Department of Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy welcomed Yong Zheng, Ph.D., and Victor Robles, Ph.D., as assistant professors.

When you try a new restaurant or book a hotel, do you consider the online reviews? Do you submit online reviews yourself? Do you pay attention if they are filtered and moderated? Does that impact your own online review submissions? A research team comprising of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s T. Ravichandran, Ph.D., professor in the Lally School of Management, and Jason Kuruzovich, Ph.D., associate professor in the Lally School of Management; and Lianlian Jiang, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston, examined these questions in recently published research.

Jihoon Chung, a doctoral candidate in the Built Ecologies program at the Center for Architecture, Science, and Ecology (CASE) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, will spend the next eight months conducting research at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). There, Chung will study under the tutelage of Tianzhen Hong who is leading an occupant behavior research project as a principal investigator (PI) at LBNL to integrate occupant behavior models and tools with building performance simulation.

A new light and sound installation titled “Reverberating Light,” featuring sound by Jonas Braasch, Pauline Oliveros, and Zack Layton, has opened in EMPAC Studio 1. There will be a reception on Friday, December 15, beginning at 6 p.m.

The Rensselaer Games Showcase (RGS) — a celebration of creativity and innovation in student-designed video games — will be held in the McNeil Room and lobby of the Rensselaer Student Union on Saturday, November 18, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the campus and local community.

Jaehoon Choi, a Ph.D. student in the Electronic Arts Department of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, was selected as one of 10 young composers to develop and premier work at the prestigious Venice Biennale International Music Festival.

For the first time ever, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will host the National Organic Chemistry Symposium (NOS) June 22-26, 2025 at the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center. NOS is the premier event sponsored by the American Chemical Society’s Division of Organic Chemistry.