“In the News” November 2009
Following is a selection of news media stories about Rensselaer people and programs. The stories are listed by date, with the most recent articles first. Note that some publications may require subscriptions or logins to access individual articles online. Additionally, archived links may change or be available online for a limited time.
11/30/09
At Work on the Web, and on the Slopes
The New York Times
Rachel Vecchitto, 28, is a software developer at Etsy, a Brooklyn-based online marketplace for handmade crafts. Born in Meriden, Conn., she graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in Troy, N.Y., where she studied computer science. Before Etsy, she worked for UBS, Meetup, The New York Times Web site and most recently, a start-up called Wee Web.
Read the story.
11/28/09
Exciting the Next Generation Engineer
Automation World
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute President Shirley Ann Jackson’s fear, that in the very near future there won’t be enough trained engineers and scientists to meet our society’s current needs, let alone invent new technologies and support economic growth, is borne out by the statistics being produced by increasingly fearful bureaucrats and industry observers.
Read the story.
11/27/09
An offshore educational experience
Times Union
Raymond Lutzky, director of outreach and associate director of enrollment at RPI, wants to see more students from abroad studying upstate. RPI, which has a total enrollment of about 6,500, has joined a new statewide effort to attract more international students. The school has joined with Study New York, a consortium of private and public colleges and universities, to promote the state as a destination for foreign study. The schools will meet annually and share information on recruitment strategies and research.
Read the story.
11/23/09
Will Federal Stimulus Money Spark a High-Speed Rail Renaissance in the U.S.?
Scientific American
Dedicated tracks are important to the development of high-speed railways. For one, high-speed trains are more sensitive to changes in their rails, which means it is not a good idea for them to share their lines with heavier freight trains that can warp the tracks, says José Holguín-Veras, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic University in Troy, N.Y. Although the Acela shares tracks with slower-moving passenger and freight trains, "sharing rails between high-speed and freight won't work" if fast trains are introduced and traffic is increased.
Read the story.
Read the Rensselaer news release.
11/21/09
Birth control for him
Times Union
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and the University of Virginia have begun to decode the process by identifying specific proteins within the sperm that change in response to capacitation. Other than condoms and vasectomies, there are few alternatives. "There is not a really good male contraceptive that is reversible," said Mark D. Platt, professor of chemistry and biology at RPI. The researchers published their work in the Sept. 18 edition of the American Chemical Society's Journal of Proteome Research.
Read the story, which was also covered by the Sun Sentinel.
11/21/09
Another church to close
The Record
“The university is interested in purchasing this property given its location and the university's need for additional facilities to house expanding programs,” said Claude Rounds, vice president for administration at RPI. “Assuming the sale is completed, its use will be compatible with the architectural significance of the property, as we have done with the other properties the university has purchased.”
Read the story.
11/19/09
College presidents to grads: Remain flexible
The Record
Shirley Ann Jackson, president of RPI, said that continuing education was always important that that learning should not stop with a degree, referencing how she had actually switched fields shortly after the start of her own career.
Read the story.
11/18
Astronauts to test out super Teflon in space
Space.com
Greg Sawyer [Rensselaer Class of ‘99] worked with his former mentors at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York to develop nanocomposite materials for many different space applications. Super Teflon's durability and non-stick character would make it easier for moving parts within spacecraft to move, and require less energy due to less resistance from friction.
Read the story.
Read the Rensselaer news release.
11/16/09
BullEx Digital Safety growing
The Record
Ryan O’Donnell was looking for a way to apply his Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute training as an engineer with his experience as a volunteer fireman in Guilderland. His first idea — to equip firefighters with remotely monitored locator devices — fizzled. His second idea caught fire. BullEx Digital Safety Friday celebrated its growth from an RPI incubator company to a manufacturing plant with 50 employees with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 20 Corporate Circle. Its original product was a propane fire extinguisher training device. BullEx now markets a variety fire safety, rescue and security products on six continents.
Read the story.
11/16/09
IBM Executive Armbrust Named Sematech CEO
Semiconductor International
Sematech named IBM semiconductor executive Daniel Armbrust as its president and CEO, replacing Michael Polcari, who becomes chairman of the board. Armbrust most recently was in charge of IBM's 300 mm fab in East Fishkill, N.Y. He began his career at IBM in 1983, working in process development and manufacturing, including interfacing with members of the Fishkill process development alliance. Armbrust, 47, studied ceramic science and engineering at Pennsylvania State University and holds a master of science degree in manufacturing systems engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Read the story.
11/16/09
In post-Madoff era, a new focus on teaching business ethics
Albany Business Review
There’s only so much a business school can do, professors said. “It tends to be cyclical. When things were going very well, people just get turned off if you begin to talk about complex ethical problems, ” said Jonathan Story. He is a global business professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Lally School of Management & Technology in Troy. “I’m not taking business schools off the hook; I’m just saying there’s a limit to what they can do,” Story said.
Read the story.
11/16/09
Higher Education: Sound Off
Albany Business Review
Frank X. Wright of the Lally School of Management & Technology writes concerning the frame of mind of undergraduates during the recession. "We hear that “quality of life” now trumps “standard of living” alone as a measure of their career choice. This is a surprise. Our undergraduates challenge the fundamental assumptions they encounter, while prudently positioning themselves to start their careers — like we all did. They’re just asking for our help more."
Read the story.
11/16/09
Don't tell business schools about the recession today; they're investing in the future
Albany Business Review
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy is reinvigorating and expanding its Lally School of Management & Technology, adding commercialization and risk analysis programs to prepare students to compete in a rapidly changing economy.
Read the story.
11/15/09
A green business blooms in Green Island
Times Union
It's been a busy year since two graduates of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute won a $750,000 environmental prize for developing a environmentally friendly technique that uses mushroom fungus to make insulation and packaging material. That prize, awarded in October 2008 by the Dutch lottery system, helped Eban Bayer and Gavin McIntyre launch Ecovative Design, which now occupies a 10,000 square-foot warehouse in Green Island that is beginning to manufacture a product that could reduce the need for petroleum-based material.
Read the story.
11/13/09
Teaching, after relearning how to live
Post Star
Somebody said to me once that it would have been easier for me to have been blind as a child," she said. "There is no easy way to be blind." After Desiree Roberts went blind in 1995, she struggled with relearning how to live. Then, she dusted off some old memories of what she remembered as being her true calling. She enrolled in courses at Empire State College. She began a seven-year journey that took her from a bachelor's degree to a master's degree and an eventual Ph.D. in management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Read the story.
11/14/09
Environmental institute honored for economic mission
Poughkeepsie Journal
Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries has won the grand prize in the Business Excellence Awards program of the Dutchess County Economic Development Corp. the Beacon Institute has close ties with Clarkson University in Potsdam, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, Pace University in Westchester, and Columbia University in New York City.
Read the story.
11/13/09
Nanotech in Space: New Experiment to Weather the Trials of Orbit
Science Daily
Novel nanomaterials developed at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are scheduled to blast off into orbit on November 16 aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis. The project, funded by the U.S. Air Force Multi University Research Initiative (MURI), seeks to test the performance of the new nanocomposites in orbit. Space Shuttle Atlantis will carry the samples to the International Space Station (ISS).
Read the story.
Read the Rensselaer news release.
11/12/09
Celebrating Uncle Sam and Troy
Troy Record
As a Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute architecture student in 1971, Douglas Bucher, a member of the the Rensselaer Historical Society’s board of trustees documented Wilson’s former home at 144 Ferry St. before its demolition. His drawings, as well as artifacts from the house recovered in a 1989 dig, now sit in the new permanent exhibit permanent exhibit at the Rensselaer County Historical Society.
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11/09/09
$5M boosts tech firm
Times Union
Apprenda, a local tech firm founded by graduates from two local colleges, has received $5 million from an investment firm. Based in Clifton Park, Apprenda makes SaaSGrid, server-side software that helps companies produce "cloud computing" applications and services without too much initial development investment. Apprenda was founded by graduates from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and University at Albany.
Read the story.
11/10/09
Fossilized Tiny Animals Provide Clues to Past Climate Change
Softpedia
Tiny aquatic creatures, no larger than a grain of sand, can yield significant details of past climate changes, as long as scientists know what they are looking for. The complex shells of calcium carbonate, also known by their scientific name of foraminifera, can yield knowledge spanning more than 250 million years into Earth's past, says Miriam Katz, who is an assistant professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI).
Read the story, which was also covered by the Times Union.
Read the Rensselaer news release.
11/10/09
Buy a pizza, clothe a child
The Troy Record
With Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Clothe-A-Child efforts coming to a close for another year, the college has raised more than $6,000 and expects to raise even more with an upcoming fund-raising event at Uno Chicago Grill in Latham.
Read the story.
11/10/01
Switching Gears to Greener Transportation
PhysOrg.com
At the end of the day, we’re going to have to do more with less,” said Holguín-Veras, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rensselaer. “The importance of the transportation sector in terms of energy and the environment is undeniable.” Freight companies that hire truckers likely don’t necessarily want to send out partly filled trucks, but need to fulfill the demand of their customers, who are business owners and have their own clientele — with their own set of expectations — to worry about. Efficiency seems to get lost in the shuffle, but Holguín-Veras said this doesn’t necessarily have to be the case. “This is a major challenge that requires not only new technology, but whole new perspectives on transportation,” he said.
Read the story.
Read the Rensselaer news release.
11/09/09
Westover School students engineer fix for puddle
Republican American
Shannon Swiderski, along with her classmate, Jamie Grome, were told to embrace the muddy water as an engineering challenge. The puddle evolved into a semester-long project for the two girls. The students are part of the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) program, and are searching for a way to divert the water away from the trail down to a pond at the bottom of a slight hill. WISE started in 1992 in collaboration with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to encourage girls to pursue engineering, science and computer science careers.
Read the story.
11/09/09
How the Semantic Web would work
GCN
The concept of a Semantic Web, in which data is linked via machine-readable formats, is still far from reality, but some organizations and researchers are making progress. At the recent International Semantic Web Conference, researchers from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute demonstrated how they re-rendered all the data from the Office of Management and Budget’s Data.gov Web sites into the Resource Description Framework. Their work was partially funded by grants from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and National Science Foundation.
Read the story.
Read the Rensselaer news release.
11/06/09
US specialist wins top award for semiconductor innovation
MSN Money
One of the worlds top electrical engineers has scooped the semiconductor industrys highest prize for his outstanding contribution to the field. Dr John E Kelly III, who oversees eight global laboratories in his position as senior vice president and director of research at IBM, was named as the industrys top innovator by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). Announcing the award, the chairman of the industry body, John Daane, noted that Dr. Kelly has consistently pushed the boundaries ever since joining IBM in 1980 following the completion of his doctoral studies at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Read the story, which was also covered by Rapid MSN Money the Times Union.
11/03/09
They Followed Fulton with Fuel Cells
TMS
After roughly nine months of preparation, and the last two weeks embroiled in almost continual troubleshooting, Gathright and his team had hoped he would be positioned on a Hudson River dock to welcome the New Clermont home. Instead, standing in an epicenter of fossil fuel transportation, he heard the voice of the New Clermont’s captain from 800 miles away reporting that the tiny, experimental craft powered by hydrogen had finally completed its journey from Manhattan to Albany, New York.
Read the story.
Read the Rensselaer news release.
11/03/09
Aretha Franklin to sing at RPI president's 10-year fete
WCAX
Aretha Franklin will sing at RPI in December at a celebration of Shirley Ann Jackson's 10 years as president and the culmination of the $1.4 billion capital campaign she led.
Read the story.
Read the Rensselaer news release.
11/02/09
23 Private College Presidents Made More Than $1 Million
New York Times
The highest paid private university executive was Shirley Ann Jackson, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., with a pay package totaling $1,598,247 in fiscal 2008. Ms. Jackson, a physicist and former chairwoman of the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, has been at Rensselaer since 1999, and first became the highest-paid university president just two years later.
Read the story, which was also covered by the Washington Post, USA Today, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Wall Street Journal, BET, and many more media outlets.
Read the Rensselaer news release.
