School of Engineering

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has named three dynamic new members to the Rensselaer Board of Trustees.

Professor Emily Liu, a condensed matter physicist and nuclear engineer, has been named head of the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the oldest and one of the most renowned technological research universities in the nation. Dr. Liu is professor of nuclear engineering and engineering physics and brings extensive experience leading and managing multidisciplinary research, including collaborations with engineers, scientists, economists, and psychologists.

Suvranu De, the J. Erik Jonsson ’22 Distinguished Professor of Engineering and head of the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering (MANE) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has been selected to receive the 2022 ASME Edwin F. Church Medal.

In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing protocols did not slow Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute students Wyatt Delans and Jake Szottfried down when they needed to design and develop code for a robotic system capable of assembling a model trophy for a class project. Using new simulation and virtual reality lab capabilities at the university, they were able to design most of the project in their dorm rooms and then test it in a virtual environment before physically manufacturing it in the Manufacturing Innovation Learning Lab (MILL) at Rensselaer.

With the recent award of a New York Life Science Entrepreneur Development grant from Empire State Development (ESD), the Lally School of Management at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will launch a life science entrepreneurship concentration within their Master of Business Administration (MBA) program.

Faculty members from the School of Engineering recently received four of the prestigious annual Institute Awards.

Alex Connor, a Ph.D. chemical and biological engineering candidate at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, won first place in the Agtech and Food Industry track in the 12th annual New York Business Plan Competition (NYBPC) for his presentation on Ripely, his proposed business geared toward extending the shelf life of fresh produce. Connor was also named a finalist in the Grand Prize competition.

TROY, N.Y. — Jonathan Dordick, the Howard P. Isermann ’42 Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), for his “contributions to methods for rapidly screening drug efficacy and toxicity, and biocatalytic technologies for improving human health.”

More than a dozen faculty members in the School of Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have received 2020 School of Engineering Faculty Awards. The awards recognize innovative pedagogy, high impact research, and teamwork by Rensselaer Engineering faculty who have continued to push the frontiers despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute community contributed more than $70,000 for the Rensselaer 2020 United Way campaign.