2013-14
RENSSELAER ENGINEERING
Education
with a
World View
2013-14
RENSSELAER
ENGINEERING
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School of Engineering
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
110 8th Street
Troy, NY 12180-3590 USA
eng.rpi.edu
Opinions expressed in these pages do not
necessarily reflect the views of the editors
or the policies of the Institute.
©2013 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
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Dear alumni and friends:
Dr. David Rosowsky, who served as the Dean of
Engineering at Rensselaer for the last four years, was
recently appointed Provost and Senior Vice President
at the University of Vermont. Dr. Rosowsky’s many
accomplishments in the School of Engineering include:
establishing three new School of Engineering Centers with
more than $1 million in funding, advocacy, mentoring, and
development of new faculty, establishing a central student
services center (known as the Hub), and developing closer relationships with alumni. We wish him
the best in his new assignment and applaud his continued passion for higher education.
In this issue we highlight two broad initiatives in the School of Engineering to develop tomorrow’s
engineers to meet challenges of national and global interest. The first feature article entitled,
“Education with a World View,” describes the pedagogical innovations in courses from multiple
departments and a broad array of learning opportunities available to engineering students. You will
read about the use of education technology to eliminate boundaries between theory and practice,
and access to state-of-the-art laboratories.
The second article entitled, “Educational and Community Outreach,” details the School of
Engineering outreach to K-12 students in the STEM areas. For example, National Manufacturing
Day is a new activity that has drawn much attention and is relevant to high-skill job creation.
We are currently seeking an endowment to fund an expansion of the Manufacturing Innovation
Learning Laboratory (MILL).[1]
Personally I am excited to lead the School of Engineering through this period of enrollment
and research growth. We continue to have a large group of high-quality incoming freshmen and
graduate students. Our faculty, including many newly-recruited members in constellation, chaired,
and junior positions, are highly productive. The Institute has launched the Rensselaer 2024 Plan
which coincides with Rensselaer’s outreach to our alumni to encourage their increased involvement
with Rensselaer’s future. As always the School of Engineering stands ready to lead this effort. We
thank you for your support and encourage you to more closely connect with your alma mater.
Joe H. Chow, Ph.D., P.E.
Administrative Dean of Engineering
[1]
For opportunities to support MILL and many other Engineering activities, please contact Mr. Richard Graw,
Senior Advancement Officer for the School of Engineering at 518-276-4868 or grawr@rpi.edu.
eng.rpi.edu | 3
/ / F A CTS & F I G U R E S
“The depth and breadth of experiences I have had
here at Rensselaer have been tremendous.”
Grace Tilton ‘14
BS, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Three season varsity athlete: Cross-country,
Track and Field, and Swimming
Member, Tau Beta Pi
2011 RPI Founders Award
2013 Barry Goldwater Scholarship
15
National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty
Early Career Development
(CAREER) Award winners
(2010-2013)
$50M+ in annual
research expenditures
3100
Undergraduate students
172
faculty members
(tenured, tenure-track,
clinical, and research)
42
Early Career Awards
among current faculty
(e.g., NSF CAREER and other Young
Investigator Awards)
17 Engineering focused research centers
2 NSF Engineering Research Centers
525
graduate students
“I am interested in the optimization of pharmaceuticals
and the arts—at Rensselaer I get to do both. This
summer I WORKED with Professors Breneman and Cramer on insulin research, and I AM CURRENTLY THE president
of the the music, arts, and culture club, Ground Zero.”
Emily Ackerman ‘16
4 | Rensselaer Engineering
BS, Chemical Engineering,
In-House President, Ground Zero
Treasurer, Resident Student Association
RENSSELAER
Rankings
ENGINEERING
TOP 30
Rensselaer Engineering ranked #26
(Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs,
2013 USN&WR. six engineering graduate
programs were ranked among the top 25)
24
endowed chairs
or professorships
Faculty
Average annual research expenditures
vectoring towards $400K per faculty
Academics
7
academic
departments
550
freshman students
participated in the
“Honor the Code”
induction
Students
31
degree programs
(12 Undergraduate
and 19 graduate)
“Working with Professor Koffas,
I am rewiring E. coli’s metabolism
to produce energy dense molecules
that could be an alternative to
fossil fuels.”
Andrew Jones ‘17
PhD, Chemical Engineering
eng.rpi.edu | 5
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ENGINEERING AT RENSSELAER
Education
with a World View
Rensselaer not only prepares top university
students to become premier engineers, but
continually innovates curricula to prepare
them to meet global challenges, sharing new
pedagogical methods to build a better
pipeline for students across the spectrum
from K-12 education to entrepreneurship to
workforce development.
eng.rpi.edu | 7
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8 | Rensselaer Engineering
Increasingly, engineers will lead teams that not
only work on solutions to the global challenges,
but in all fields, so they will need skills beyond
engineering expertise. They will need to
be skilled communicators, facilitators, and
lobbyists, working across disciplines to get the
job done. Many will need to understand project
finance, and be versed in public and private
policy issues. They must be sensitive to both
political and cultural differences, as they work
increasingly with colleagues and projects across
national boundaries. Tomorrow’s engineers
must be comfortable working in such settings,
so it is imperative their education today reflects
these realities – beginning in early education
and continuing through college, university, and
workforce preparation.
Learning without Limits
It is no secret that today’s “wired” students
learn differently, with multiple demands for
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Engineers for Tomorrow
The call to educate professionals in
technological fields has become more urgent in
recent years with the graying of the workforce
and the growing urgency and complexity of
the challenges the world faces: stabilizing the
American economy, creating jobs, and solving
global challenges surrounding food, water,
energy security, and the environment. President
Obama issued a challenge to graduate 10,000
more American engineers per year, because the
path to renewed prosperity must include major
commitments to our nation’s infrastructure,
to climate adaptation, and to energy security.
All of these require engineers and engineeringrelated jobs.
their attention and time. They have grown up
with handheld gaming platforms, smart phones
and laptops, running multiple programs and
communications channels simultaneously.
Increased competition for their attention and
a lessened ability to focus create serious
challenges for educators to teach in more
dynamic, compelling, and interactive ways,
and to engage students and keep them focused
in math and science classrooms – and in
engineering laboratories.
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This is the way it works at Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, and it is just one example
of the hands–on education and continuous
curriculum innovation in the School of
Engineering, the nation’s oldest engineering
program. In addition to pedagogy for
undergraduate and graduate students, faculty
and staff engage in exciting projects with broad
reach beyond the university, bringing innovative
tools, concepts and methods of instruction
to K-12 students and teachers in science,
technology, engineering and mathematics
(STEM), helping to prepare better teachers
to build the pipeline of prospective university
students in those fields. The School also
involves undergraduate and graduate students
in entrepreneurial activities in class and through
extracurricular activities, and it reaches out to
the wider community – locally and nationally
– to bring innovative ideas to workforce
development, preparing workers for the new
jobs that advancing technologies will bring.
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Rensselaer lecturer Josh Hurst, Class of ’02,
snaps together a small, ungainly device: an axle
and a pair of wheels, a direct current motor,
and a microcontroller board. It looks like a
mini-Segway. He flips a switch and stands it
precariously on its wheels. Instead of falling
over, the device begins tiny motions – back,
forth, a bigger motion backward – and it is
balancing itself, over and over. It is entrancing,
and intriguing. Like the LegoTM toys many
students grew up with, it is the perfect device to
capture their attention and pique their curiosity
– how does it do that? The hand-sized device is
a sophisticated system of mechanical, electronic,
and control components – with control
algorithms developed by undergraduate research
program students – and for the students who
enroll this Fall in MANE 4490, Mechatronics,
it will replace their textbooks. Instead, students
will use the device outside of class to perform
assigned lab experiments, and to tinker with on
their own.
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Studio-based curricula began at Rensselaer in the 1990s. Today the Mobile Studio uses inexpensive
hardware/software which, when connected to a computer, provides the functions of traditional
classroom laboratory equipment.
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A sophisticated system of mechanical, electronic and
control components in a hand-sized device replaces a
textbook and encourages experimentation.
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School of Engineering faculty began to address
this phenomenon in the 1990s by pioneering
the studio classroom, and several years ago
they began to create an instrumentationbased, collaborative studio environment that
was flexible, re-configurable, and location
independent. Thus was born the “Mobile
Studio,” which aimed to develop and use
educational technology to eliminate boundaries
between theories provided in a lecture, and
their practice; apply concepts in directed
problem sessions; and enable and encourage
students’ hands-on exploration of engineering
principles, devices, and systems previously
dedicated laboratory facilities.
Today, the Mobile Studio project has
developed technology-based pedagogy that
uses inexpensive hardware/software which,
when connected to a computer, provides the
functions of laboratory equipment traditionally
located in an instrumented classroom, such
as oscilloscopes, function generators, multimeters, or power supplies. The Rensselaerdeveloped Mobile Studio IOBoard™ is a small
hardware platform at about the cost of a
textbook in a package the size of a cell phone.
When used with its companion Mobile Studio
Desktop™ software, the system can replace
much of the hardware often used to teach
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Students work with the Rensselaer Mobile Studio as part of a 2012 STEM
conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, led by Dr. Yacob Statke of
Morgan State University.
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Rensselaer is one of 15 “collaboratory” sites that offer earthquake
engineering researchers the opportunity to use a robust cyberinfrastructure to conduct advanced research.
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electrical engineering, computer engineering, physics, and K-12 technology-related courses. The
Mobile Studio frees schools from the expense of providing special purpose classrooms, because it
can be used in any setting, even at home.
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The pedagogy developed with this technology allows instructors to link theory and practice
through demonstration and hands-on laboratory experiences, while providing the ability to expand
experimental activities beyond the classroom. Under a National Science Foundation grant for
curriculum transformation in partnership with Howard University and Rose-Hulman Institute of
Technology, the concept was first used at Rensselaer for two basic circuits/electronics courses: one
for electrical, computer, and systems engineering majors, and one for other engineering disciplines.
It was followed by similar courses at Howard and Rose-Hulman. After an evaluation process that
involved observations of students and interviews with faculty and students, a valuable set of vetted
Mobile Studio resources and pedagogy resulted that can be widely adopted by other schools
and universities.
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According to project leader Kenneth Connor, professor in the department of electrical, computer,
and systems engineering and director of education and outreach for the Smart Lighting ERC, the
vision was to develop and deploy affordable technology and learning materials to enhance STEM
education while expanding studio pedagogy to environments no longer limited by equipment
access or cost issues. The goal was to enable “tinkering” and hands-on exploration – fostering
learning anyplace, anytime.
The Mobile Studio gives students the ability to perform and further explore experiments at
their own pace where and when they want, while providing educators with low-cost, innovative
educational technology for use both in and outside the classroom, providing entirely new
modes of educational delivery and new opportunities for learning not possible in traditional
classroom settings.
The concept is working. Besides its use at the NSF partner institutions, the Mobile Studio has
spread to universities and community colleges across the United States, where it has been used
for on-campus and distance education, and in high schools and summer research experiences for
students and teachers. It is also well suited to pedagogy in developing nations, and has been used in
universities in southwest India and sub-Saharan Africa.
Broader Access to State-of-the-Art Laboratories
State-of-the-art university facilities provide unparalleled opportunities for research, and researchers
in the multidisciplinary Rensselaer Center for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (CEES), a
member of the George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES),
are making major contributions to the field. NEES was created by the National Science
Foundation to aggressively move forward the development of improvements and innovations
in infrastructure design and construction practices to prevent or minimize damages during
earthquake or tsunami events.
Rensselaer is one of 15 “collaboratory” sites in
the nation that offer earthquake engineering
researchers and students the opportunity to use
experimental equipment and a robust cyberinfrastructure to conduct advanced research of
designs, materials, construction techniques, and
monitoring tools toward the development of
better and more cost-effective ways to mitigate
earthquake damage.
NEES also facilitates the education and
development of the next generation of
earthquake and tsunami engineers. Tarek
Abdoun, the Thomas Iovino Chaired Professor
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, is
a co-principal investigator of a collaborative
National Science Foundation grant to develop
a multi-institutional classroom learning
environment for geotechnical engineering
education. The project integrates state-ofthe-art experimental and educational tools
into the undergraduate curriculum by using
web-based technologies that enable real-time
video monitoring, tele-control, and execution
of experiments. It will provide students
at three campuses – Southern Methodist
University, Rensselaer, and the University of
North Carolina at Charlotte – with new tools
for understanding theoretical geotechnical
engineering concepts.
The goal was to
enable “tinkering”
– fostering learning
anyplace, anytime.
eng.rpi.edu | 9
The team developed a pilot educational model using the Rensselaer CEES 150 G-ton
centrifuge facility, visual observations of the response of soil and soil-foundation systems, use
of instrumentation, interpretation of data, and use of the facility’s 3D data viewer for analyzing
the measured response. Cross-university student teams have been able to access, interpret,
evaluate, and exchange relevant technical information via the Internet, thereby bringing major
experimentation into undergraduate geotechnical engineering classes.
of nanoparticles, nanotubes or nanowires. The
nanoscale suspensions have been shown to
exhibit novel properties as compared to pure
liquids, which arise from phenomena associated
with the interaction between the nanometersized particles and the surrounding liquid.
The Experimental Soils course used the CEES centrifuge to examine the stability of a slope of dry
sand and a shallow footing near the slope. The Rensselaer tools included the centrifuge, a rigid
container with a front acrylic panel to view what happens to the model, and devices to measure
the displacement of the footing in horizontal and vertical directions, pressure under the footing,
laser sensors to track deformation of the slope surface, and the Center’s “in-flight robot” to
load the footing to failure. A high-speed digital camera monitored the deformation of the slope
through image processing.
The new course modules are offered in a
laboratory setting, with mechanical engineering
students and chemical engineering students
performing experiments in at least one of the
modules. The two departments’ lab instructors
communicate and coordinate the lab offerings.
Students have found these research-oriented
modules a preferred venue to run their own
experiments, so that they can demonstrate
the ability to design and perform such
experiments in the area of thermals and
fluids – a key requirement for Rensselaer’s
program accreditation.
Boiling Heat Transfer and Nanofluids
Boiling heat transfer has a number of industrial applications, such as refrigeration, power
generation, heat exchangers, cooling of high-power electronics components, and cooling nuclear
reactors. Developing more energy-efficient heat-transfer fluids and improving process efficiency to
reduce costs has been a goal of researchers for many years, and it is thought that nanofluids could
play a key role in this process. One advantage of using nanofluids for heat transfer applications is
the ability to alter their properties.
A team of Rensselaer faculty is using a National Science Foundation grant to introduce this
aspect of nanotechnology into the Thermal and Fluids curriculum using a multi-department,
modular laboratory that encourages experimentation. The team consists of professor Amir Hirsa,
associate professor Diana-Andra Borca-Tasciuc, and professor Theodorian Borca-Tasciuc of the
department of Mechanical, Aeronautical, and Nuclear Engineering, and professor Joel Plawsky of
the department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. Their goal is to introduce undergraduate
students to aspects of nanoscale science and technology relevant to thermal and fluids engineering
in a formal class environment using a discovery-driven approach.
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A new course using nanofluids introduces nanotechnology into the Thermal and Fluids
curriculum using a multi-department, modular laboratory that encourages experimentation.
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Over the past three years the team has developed and implemented four experimental modules
for Thermals and Fluids courses in two departments. The modules focus on visual demonstrations
and hands-on activities around the study of thermal conductivity and boiling heat suspensions
Student involvement was built in to the
process. The laboratory experiments for
the course modules were created in part by
undergraduate research program students and
several Ph.D. candidates, who also developed
the lab handouts as well as training videos. At
the annual ASME International Mechanical
Engineering Congress and Exposition,
undergraduate students presented work related
to thermal conductivity and critical heat flux
in nanofluids. High school students enrolled in
an area outreach program called New Visions
performed experiments with the modules
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and presented their work at a conference.
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The Rensselaer team has also had a paper
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about the new pedagogical approachOGaccepted
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in the International Journal of Mechanical
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These interactive course modules were a success, and the team plans to release them, along with
their recorded data and video captures, to the geotechnical community. The project team plans to
build on their success by applying for further NSF funding. The plan is to repeat similar loading
tests every semester, with the participation of 6 to 8 schools.
Students playing “Energy Bingo”, created by mechanical engineering student Melanie Derby and technology
teacher Carl DeCesare of Niskayuna High School.
Two requirements of the NSF GK12 program are publishing and the development of educational
games, and the fellows and teachers have been quite successful with both. The game “Energy
Bingo” was created by mechanical engineering student Melanie Derby and technology teacher Carl
DeCesare of Niskayuna High School. It was published in Technology and Engineering Teacher in
April 2011. Other games include “Gold Rush,” which explores the environmental and economic
impacts of mining, and “Back to the Future,” which teaches students about past geologic events
while preparing them for the New York State Science Regents exam. These games have been
well received by high school students, teachers, and other members of the science and academic
communities. All together, Katz and Borca-Tasciuc found that the grant’s activities improved the
fellows’ speaking and communications skills and their ability to convey scientific discoveries to
technical and non-technical audiences.
A Growing Graduate Program in Nuclear Engineering
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The nuclear engineering program at Rensselaer is among the oldest
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construct a linear electron accelerator. It awarded its first nuclear engineering doctoral degree in
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1962, and for several years graduated more nuclear engineering undergraduates than any other
university in the United States. Currently about 150 undergraduate and graduate students
are enrolled in Nuclear Engineering, and Rensselaer consistently rates among the
top-ranked programs.
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Since the program began at Rensselaer in 2008,
ten graduate fellows
FUeach year were paired with
EL schools. Over the fiveteachers from area high
year life of the grant, approximately 5,500 high
The number of participating teachers swelled as the grant progressed, due to summer enrichment
programs offered by Rensselaer to high school science and technology teachers. Over the course of
three summers, approximately 35 local teachers attended energy-related workshops developed by
the graduate fellows.
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school students in biology, physics, technology, earth science, and engineering classes were exposed
to activities and cutting edge, emerging technologies in the areas of energy and the environment –
things they might not have seen without this program.
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NSF developed the Graduate STEM Fellows
in K-12 Education Program (NSF GK12)
to provide graduate students the opportunity
to acquire the skills to prepare them for their
professional and scientific careers, recognizing
that, in addition to being competent
researchers, they must be able to communicate
science and research to a variety of audiences.
As the graduate students bring their cuttingedge research into the K-12 classroom, they
gain skills that enable them to explain science
to people of all ages – students as well as their
teachers. It is hoped that this exposure benefits
all sides of the partnership.
In addition to being competent researchers,
graduate students must be able to explain
science to people of all ages—
K-12 students as well as their teachers.
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Nuclear engineering students at the newly renovated 40 meter station of the Gaerttner Linear Accelerator (LINAC) Center. Given the global need for
inexpensive and safe sources of energy, Rensselaer nuclear engineering graduates are in great demand for positions in the nuclear power industry,
national laboratories, medicine, or national defense.
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Building Bridges from
Grade School to Grad School
As any parent knows, communicating with
high school students can be a challenge. It
can be even more challenging for university
graduate students who are preparing for
professional careers. Assistant professor Mimi
Katz, of earth and environmental sciences, and
associate professor Diana-Andra Borca-Tasciuc
of the department of Mechanical, Aeronautical,
and Nuclear Engineering, are implementing
a six-year, $2.7 million National Science
Foundation grant to link Rensselaer graduate
students and their research to local high
school students, not only to introduce them
to advanced scientific concepts and emerging
technologies, but to expose the graduate
students to this challenging audience to share
their research results.
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Professor Ozisik uses Rensselaer’s computational
the new nantechnology courses he is developing
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Supported by NSF, the Regional Center for Semiconductor and Nanotechnology Education was
established to fulfill the needs of nanotechnology and semiconductor manufacturing industries
in New York State and Western New England.
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The need to educate more nuclear engineers to
replace an aging workforce, and renewed attention
toward energy security in the U.S has created a
more attractive climate for nuclear education.
In fact, Rensselaer nuclear engineering faculty have a rapidly expanding research portfolio, creating
a need to attract more graduate research and teaching fellows, with 15 positions anticipated
for Fall 2013. Associate professor of nuclear engineering Li (Emily) Liu and assistant professor
Wei Ji are administering a nuclear fellowship grant program of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission. The grant is intended to develop and maintain the nuclear workforce by encouraging
advanced training and experience for those entering the nuclear field. It is expected that fellowship
opportunities will increase interest in graduate study and attract greater numbers, with more
diversity in the student body. The program has succeeded in attracting more domestic students
and women, and bringing them successfully through the program through consistent advisement
and evaluation.
12 | Rensselaer Engineering
“Our vision is for Rensselaer to take full
advantage of the current nuclear renaissance
spurred by a national focus on energy security
and environmental sustainability as well as
ever-stronger demand for electricity in overseas
markets,” said X. George Xu, program head of
nuclear engineering. “We are in an important
time of history when global economic
prosperity and sustainability rely increasingly
on advanced and safe nuclear technologies.
There are unprecedented opportunities for
our faculty and students to make substantial
contributions in areas including advanced
reactor design, nuclear safety, and medical use
of nuclear technologies.”
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In the past decade, the need to educate more nuclear engineers to replace an aging workforce, and
renewed attention toward energy security and environmental sustainability in the United States,
has created a more attractive climate for nuclear education. The renewed interest in nuclear energy
is also fueled by a strong demand for electricity in emerging overseas markets, especially in China
and India, where new nuclear power plants are being constructed. Over the past five years, the
nuclear power industry and the U.S. Department of Defense increased investment in nuclear
engineering research, development and education at a level not seen in many years. Even the recent
Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan is expected to bring an increased awareness of safety issues
that will likely result in new research opportunities.
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The program covers nuclear fission and fusion engineering, electron accelerator physics and
neutron physics, multiphase flow and reactor safety analysis, nuclear materials and fuel cycle,
homeland security, and health/medical physics. It offers unique and state-of-the-art research
facilities, and access to a critical reactor, the Gaerttner electron accelerator, and sophisticated
computer interfacing technology. With the global need for inexpensive sources of energy,
Rensselaer nuclear engineering graduates are in great demand in industry or academia, with career
possibilities in space power propulsion, fusion reactor engineering, medicine, and national defense.
Given the global need for inexpensive and
safe sources of energy, Rensselaer nuclear
engineering graduates are in great demand
for positions in the nuclear power industry,
national laboratories, medicine, or national
defense, Xu said.
Toward Creating a Nanotechnology
Workforce
Over the past two years, Rahmi Ozisik,
associate professor of materials science and
engineering, has been working to develop the
skill sets of the technical workforce
by developing curricula and conducting
outreach activities as part of the NSF
Advanced Technology Education Regional
Center for Semiconductor and
Nanotechnology Education.
The Center was established to fulfill the
needs of nanotechnology and semiconductor
manufacturing industries in New York
State and western New England through
development, demonstration, and utilization of
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Rensselaer is part of the Great Lakes Fuel Center Education Partnership, a National
Science Foundation initiative to advance workforce development in the fuel cell
industry in the Great Lakes region (including New York).
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modeling software XenoView (above) as part of
with high school teachers.
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As part of this broader effort, Ozisik is
developing nanotechnology courses suitable
for community colleges and performing
outreach to the general public and K-12
teachers and students. For secondary school
teachers and community college faculty, he has
organized and presented numerous workshops
and multiple day- and weeklong education
opportunities, and supported teachers’
attendance at major conferences around the
country. For high school students and younger
children, he has offered hands-on materialsrelated activities at area technology events and
weeklong summer camps at Rensselaer.
In addition, Ozisik has given invited public lectures on Center activities, and he is creating
computational models, with help from the high school teachers, to be used with the Rensselaer
computational modeling software XenoView. Looking ahead, he hopes to expand his presentation
of public lectures, hands-on activities, and displays at more local museums to enable further
outreach to the general public and younger children.
2
M K-1
FRO
In response to the needs of the nanotechnology
and semiconductor industries, the Center
is developing related AAS and AS degree
programs among its community college
partners, on-the-job co-op and internshipbased training, distance learning options, and
K-12 pipeline development. It also performs
research in emerging workforce trends and
training needs.
P
R
OG
RA
Rensselaer is part of the Center’s
collaborative partnership, which includes
major corporations and universities such
as GLOBALFOUNDRIES, IBM, General
Electric, SEMATECH, Applied Materials,
Tokyo Electron, Hudson Valley Community
College, regional BOCES, Rochester Institute
of Technology (RIT), the College of Nanoscale
Science and Engineering (CNSE), The State
University of New York Institute of Technology
(SUNYIT), and community colleges
throughout the northeastern United States.
ES
IDG
BR
new materials, curricula, and delivery methods
by using the resources of academia, industry,
and government.
Great Lakes Fuel Cell Education Partnership
Daniel Lewis, associate professor of materials science and engineering, directs Rensselaer’s Fuel
Cell and Hydrogen Research Lab and is a member of the Center for Future Energy Systems.
He also represents Rensselaer in the Great Lakes Fuel Center Education Partnership, a National
Science Foundation initiative to advance workforce development in the fuel cell industry in
the Great Lakes region (including New York) through curriculum enhancement, research,
professional development, information sharing, and public understanding of emerging fuel cell
power technologies. It is a collaborative effort among major colleges and universities, government,
and fuel cell industry partners.
The industry-driven partnership’s home is at Stark State College in Ohio, with more than $15.4
million raised to support it. Ohio was selected as the lead state because it is located within
600 miles of two-thirds of the U.S. population. Minorities represent 20% of the Great Lakes
population, but the percentage is much higher in industrial urban areas. The region has been hit
especially hard economically with the major loss of traditional manufacturing jobs, so providing
training and retraining opportunities will promote diversity in the technical workforce. The Great
Lakes Fuel Cell Education Partnership (www.fuelcelleducation.org) has three major goals:
•
to research and develop innovative solutions for advancing fuel cell education and training in
collaboration with high schools, colleges and universities, business and industry, government,
and professional societies;
•
to research and define essential technical skills to advance workforce development in fuel-cell
related technologies and promote the creation of additional jobs;
•
to serve as a national clearinghouse to share proven curriculum materials and foster public
understanding of fuel cell related technologies, the hydrogen economy, and the importance
of developing sustainable energy sources.
The partnership includes 11 colleges and universities and an industry advisory board, and has
already assisted in the revision and establishment of laboratory experiments and class content at
the high school, community college, and university levels; aggregated and reviewed curricular
materials related to fuel cells and alternative energy; and conducted professional development
workshops and seminars for high school and college teachers. To reach younger school children,
partners have developed middle-school-level content on an interactive web site, City of Materials
(cityofmaterials.net).
eng.rpi.edu | 13
“Thank you RPI Engineering Ambassadors for
making the day @ Berlin Jr./Sr. High school
so worthwhile and meaningful. It was a
wonderful day - thanks to you.”
ST
Facebook post: March 28, 2012 at 6:43pm
Berlin InvenTeam
14 | Rensselaer Engineering
S
T
N
E
D
U
TEA
“When my students got back from [Design Your Future Day],
you should have heard their enthusiasm and eagerness to
share…events like Design Your Future Day can motivate
students for future success rather than mediocrity.”
Joanne Coons, Environmental Science
Shenendehowa High School East
ACHER
S
A Common
Purpose
Educational
and
Community
Outreach
eng.rpi.edu | 15
Rensselaer was founded to teach individuals the
“application of science to the common purposes of
life” so that they could use–and teach to others–
scientific methods to improve their communities.
Today, this model of educational innovation
and community outreach makes the School of
Engineering and its faculty, staff and students
valued resources to students, teachers and
educational communities locally, nationally
and in places around the world.
We are working to build a better pipeline for the
global technology workforce of tomorrow.
A
n array of outreach programs of the
Engineering Educational Outreach and
Diversity Center and NSF-funded Rensselaer
research centers, with assistance from civic,
corporate and individual sponsors, aims to
inspire a new generation of top engineering
scholars and provide exceptional educational,
community building, leadership and mentoring
experiences. These efforts reach students from
K-12 to undergraduate and graduate level as
well as teachers and the greater community.
The intent is to promote the development of
the 21st century skills technology workers
need: critical thinking, problem solving,
communication, collaboration, leadership,
creativity, innovation and the application of
technology. Here are some of the programs
doing just that at Rensselaer.
Welcoming the Community
Reaching out to diverse communities to
promote technology education is one mandate.
Black Family Technology Awareness Day
is a full-day program of hands-on workshops
and speakers to interest area young people
and families. Typically held during the
February school break, this year’s event, STEM
Fest 2013! Connecting Minds to Science,
Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)
through Music & the Arts, featured workshops
led by Rensselaer professors, students, alumni
and community organizations.
Appealing to elementary-age children, Exploring Engineering Day offers hands-on explorations
designed to spark the interest of young children in engineering and computer science. “The
program also creates an opportunity for us to engage parents with interesting activities while
providing them with step-by-step instructions, so that they may continue to work on these
activities at home with their children,” said Barbara Ruel, director of diversity and women in
engineering programs and program director. Over the past 10 years, the program has increased in
both size and diversity. This year’s program was sponsored by Rensselaer, the Society of Women
Engineers, and ExxonMobil.
Design Your Future Day brings eleventh grade high school girls with an interest and aptitude in
math and science to campus for a day of hands-on explorations, including dynamic and interactive
hands-on sessions with faculty, graduate students, alumnae, and local practicing professionals—all
designed to encourage young women to pursue technical careers. Plus, the girls get an inside peek
into college life and how to prepare for a career through the eyes of current undergraduate women
pursuing STEM majors. The program is led by the Women at Rensselaer Mentor Program, where
first-year undergraduate women from all majors are matched with peer mentors. Thanks to the
generous corporate sponsorship by BAE Systems and the Gene Haas Foundation, the program was
offered at no cost to attendees.
16 | Rensselaer Engineering
National Manufacturing Day highlights the
importance of manufacturing to the economy
and draws attention to high-skill jobs in the
field. More than 100 students from area high
schools attended the activities and workshops
at Rensselaer in October 2012, in a partnership
with Hudson Valley Community College, the
Chief Executives Network for Manufacturing
of the Capital Region, and the Center for
Economic Growth, as well as Haas-HFO
Allendale Machinery, area chapters of the
Society of Manufacturing Engineers, Ecovative
Design, and New York State.
Activities ranged from learning how a fuel cell
works and interacting with the university’s fullscale Motoman industrial robot, to a LEGO®based demonstration of additive manufacturing
and wearing a “bunny suit” for a tour of clean
room facilities. Participating labs and centers
were the Center for Automation Technologies
and Systems, the Manufacturing Innovation
Learning Lab, and the Center for Integrated
Electronics’ Micro- and Nanofabrication
Clean Room.
Rockstar Robotics
Interest in robotics is exploding, and for the
seventh year, the FIRST LEGO® League
Regional Qualifying Tournament was held
at Rensselaer in December 2012 with 14 area
elementary and middle school teams and more
than 120 students competing to use their
imaginations and creativity with science and
technology to provide a solution to a real-world
scientific issue.
“This year’s challenge required robotics teams
to partner with a person over the age of 60
and research innovative solutions to obstacles
that keep seniors from having quality and
engaging lifestyles in their communities,”
said Paul Schoch, associate professor in the
Electrical, Computer and Systems Engineering
department and director of the Center for
Initiatives in Pre-College Education (CIPCE).
“Students love learning about something
that is part of their life, and this competition
encourages them to see the connections
that such issues have to science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM)
disciplines.”
National Manufacturing Day: Area High School Students Attend Workshops at Rensselaer
Exploring Engineering Day: Hands-on Activities in Engineering and Computer Science
In Senior Solutions SM, robots were tasked
with completing missions related to being
independent, engaged and connected. These
included using the robot to fix a chair, select
the correct medication, work with service
animals, turn off stove burners, exercise, and set
up a video call.
This year’s event was produced by Rensselaer,
Hudson Valley FLL, and Time Warner Cable,
which co-sponsored the event for the last three
years through its Connect a Million Minds
Initiative. More than 75 volunteers supported
Design Your Future Day: Eleventh Grade High School Girls with an Aptitude in Math and Science
eng.rpi.edu | 17
FIRST LEGO® League Regional Qualifying Tournament at Rensselaer
The Molecularium® Project unveiled NanoSpace®, an online “molecular theme park”
the tournament, including Rensselaer students, faculty and staff, along with area students from
high school robotics teams. Successful teams had the chance to move on to the FIRST Lego League
(FLL) World Festival and Championship with 30,000 fellow team members, volunteers and
spectators held in April 2013 at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis. FLL is a partnership between
the LEGO® Group and FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology),
founded in 1989 by inventor Dean Kamen to motivate young people to pursue careers in science,
technology and engineering. Coming in December of 2013, Rensselaer will host the Hudson
Valley FIRST® LEGO® League (HVFLL®) Regional Qualifying Tournament with the support of
Dutchess Community College.
Young Scholars
The NSF Smart Lighting Engineering Research
Center educational outreach programs teach
core engineering and scientific concepts of
digital lighting technology and how it benefits
humanity. Programs generally take place
within informal educational settings and
use expertise and resources from across its
university partners.
A Worldwide Audience
The Molecularium® Project (www.molecularium.com) is the flagship outreach and education
effort of the Rensselaer Nanotechnology Center, home of the NSF Nanoscale Science and
Engineering Center for Directed Assembly of Nanostructures (from 2001-2012). The goal of the
Molecularium project is to excite audiences of all ages, and especially young children, to explore
and understand the molecular nature of the world around them by telling compelling stories, using
experiential learning and unprecedented visualizations in immersive and interactive media.
One supported program is the Questar III
New Visions High School STEM program;
a one-year, honors-level program, for highly
motivated, academically successful high school
seniors. In this program, students attend a
3.5 hour block of classes on campus each day
during their entire senior year. The innovative
project-based curriculum gives students the
opportunity to study science and engineering,
contextualized with social studies and
English. Plus, students interact with over 80
professionals each year, including researchers
from Rensselaer and technology companies
such as GE, SuperPower, and Benet Labs. This
unique blend of classroom learning with realworld perspectives from guest speakers and
site visits, encourages students to complete
undergraduate and graduate degrees in STEM.
In October 2012 NanoSpace® was unveiled, receiving a “2013 Best of the Web” award from the
Center for Digital Education, in the category of Higher Education Website. The online “molecular
theme park” is populated with more than 25 games, activities and animations for young students.
From solving the Polypeptide Puzzler in DNA Land to button-jamming on Electronz and other
retro-style games in the arcade, NanoSpace visitors are having too much fun to notice they are
also learning complex scientific topics. It is the latest platform for the project, joining the very
successful animated movies Riding Snowflakes and Molecules to the MAX!, whose dynamic nanoscale
molecular environments are derived from accurate, state-of-the-art molecular simulations of
massive scale and complexity.
“We realize that not every kid wants to be a scientist, but learning the basics of science – involving
molecules and atoms – is critical to the careers that will be available in the next decade,” said
Richard W. Siegel, the Robert W. Hunt Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and
director of the Nanotechnology Center. “When learning is fun, it increases a child’s capacity to
absorb and retain knowledge. Kids are interacting, exploring, and having a great time, and they are
not even realizing they’re learning.”
The concept of “stealth education” runs throughout the Molecularium Project. Executive
producers, in addition to Siegel, are Linda Schadler, the Russell Sage Professor of Engineering and
associate dean for academic affairs for the School of Engineering, and Shekhar Garde, the Elaine
S. and Jack S. Parker Professor of Engineering and head of the Department of Chemical and
Biological Engineering. To bring NanoSpace and the Molecularium animated movies to life, the
team partnered with highly recognized artists, animators, programmers and web designers.
18 | Rensselaer Engineering
Plus, the Smart lighting STEM program goes
even further, inspiring the next generation of
engineers and scientists. Here, students select a
particular concept they learned in the program
and develop it into a hands-on learning activity
for K-6 students; and teach it! Through this
process they learn valuable communication
skills, transforming complex ideas into easyto-understand activities. “What they decide to
develop into a hands-on activity is completely
their choice,” notes Professor Ken Connor,
Director of Education and Outreach for the
NSF Smart Lighting Engineering Research
Center, “we have even had students return to
their own elementary school to teach their
activity. It’s an extremely rewarding experience
for everyone involved.”
Another program is a collaboration with
regional high schools for students interested
in the opportunity to perform independent
science research whether for personal
experience or as a part of a Science Research
in the High School (SRHS) course. There
are more than 110 schools in New York, New
Jersey and Connecticut that participate in the
SRHS course in which students earn college
credit and seek out research mentors from
institutions like Rensselaer.
Elizabeth Herkenham, Director of K-13
Outreach for the School of Engineering,
also works one-on-one with young scholars
who approach Rensselaer and for whom
there is a research “fit” and helps to manage
their laboratory experience.
Summer at Rensselaer programs for young
scholars have expanded in recent years
and include a well-subscribed weeklong
residential engineering enrichment program
for high school students, introducing them
to engineering concepts through a designtest-build experience. A weeklong aerospace
engineering program uses a similar approach
with model airplanes, using wind tunnel and
flight tests. Also offered are a wide range of
day programs for K-12 students in engineering
concepts such as Smart Lighting, Smart
Power and Smart Systems, Smart Grid, and
the popular Rensselaer Robotics Engineering
Academy using LEGO® systems.
Rensselaer Students Reach Out
With their motto, “Find your passion
and engineer it,” Rensselaer’s Engineering
Ambassadors (EA) are a group of highly
motivated students who are focused on
inspiring a younger audience to explore the
role of engineers in society. After completing
extensive communications and professional
development training to learn how to develop
engaging presentations, they travel to K-12
schools and offer hands-on demonstrations
and short talks on engineering topics to
encourage the interest of students in the
STEM disciplines.
Wearing their Rensselaer cherry-red shirts,
Engineering Ambassadors participate in 12-15
full day visits each year to middle and high
school classrooms in the region and encourage
over 3000 students to consider careers in
science, technology and engineering. They
talk about what they are doing in their chosen
major, the newest technological breakthroughs
“I feel very blessed to have had
opportunities to share my
passion for engineering with
students in my communities,
first as an
Engineering
Engingering Amabassador
-- alumni
Ambassador
(EA) and now
through Lockheed Martin.
EA not only prepared me
for volunteering with
Lockheed Martin, but also
has had a great positive
effect on my career.”
Jason Griffith ’12,
Systems Engineer Associate,
Lockhead Martin
in their field, and the obstacles yet to be overcome. They bring stylish, award-winning
presentations, hands-on activities, and a passion to connect what they teach to the lives of students.
They even hold panel discussions to answer student questions about engineering, college, jobs and
internships, or just about anything.
Based on a model originating at Penn State, the Engineering Ambassador message and concept is
taking root at universities around the country and attracting corporate support. Rensselaer’s key
corporate sponsor is UTC, and the team recently was selected for a GE Global Leadership Award,
which will support a day program at an area high school in Fall 2013.
Other student organizations are taking up the call to enthusiastically promote STEM to their
peers. The student chapter of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) uses two
outreach programs aimed toward high school students. SHPE Junior was launched this year at
Amsterdam High School, with a student population that is 25% Hispanic. Outreach so far focuses
on developing interest in the STEM fields through fellowship and leadership activities and the
chapter hopes to support student success through mentoring, tutoring, scholarships and other
resources to overcome persistent barriers to education. A second program, Outreach Weekend,
invites underrepresented students to a recruiting weekend on campus to encourage them to pursue
higher education in science and engineering.
eng.rpi.edu | 19
The Rensselaer chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) follows its mission
“to increase the number of culturally responsible black engineers who excel academically, succeed
professionally and positively impact the community.” Besides its co-sponsorship each year of the
NSBE/SHPE Career Fair, the chapter and its members are key participants in fellowship and
outreach efforts across campus and in the greater community, from tutoring and mentoring in
area schools, raising funds for United Way and other causes, and serving as role models in myriad
campus events including Accepted Students Day, Black Family Technology Awareness Day and
after school, weekend and summer programs for underrepresented students.
Outreach is a key goal of the student chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). They
host a number of events throughout the year, including Exploring Engineering Day (EED), as well
as participating in campus events for young women. The chapter has a strong relationship with the
Girl Scouts of Northeastern New York, Microsoft’s Digigirlz program and was recently awarded
a $13,000 grant from National SWE and ExxonMobil to deliver 12 EED hands-on engineering
activities at the Museum of Innovation and Science (miSci) located in Schenectady, NY. The
chapter earned the regional Outreach Award from the national organization in April 2013 and
national outstanding collegiate section award in 2012.
Innovations in Pedagogy: Teaching the Teachers
With a national consensus and government policy focus on the need to expand technological
literacy and to educate the nation’s future workforce to be competitive in the global economy,
more resources are focused toward educating our youngest citizens in science, technology
and mathematics. Over the past decade, federal programs supporting research in colleges and
universities increasingly include a component to inform and educate the K-12 population, and the
general public, about the rewards of working in technological fields and the benefits of science and
technology to society. In addition, federal and New York State both grant funds to improve K-12
education methods.
Rensselaer, with its founding mission already closely aligned with these aims, continues to lead
in developing innovative pedagogical methods that can be applied broadly in other educational
arenas, and in assisting to apply those methods to classrooms in the area, nationally and even in
international settings.
Rensselaer pioneered the studio classroom as an interactive and team-based learning model in the
mid-1990s, earning several national honors for these enhancements to the student educational
experience. Our “next-generation studio” was an evolved version of the “flipped classroom”
long before the concept was popularized by the Khan Academy. This model brings on-demand
video and other class content to students outside the classroom and uses class time for hands-on,
interactive learning and discussion. Mobile computing platforms, including the Mobile
Studio, encourage faculty to continue to innovate in pedagogy to engage today’s digitally
sophisticated students.
The Office of the Provost sponsors an annual free Colloquium on Teaching and Learning with
invited speakers and Rensselaer faculty presenting real-world successes. It is open to the entire
teaching and education community. This year, it focused on recent developments in online
learning, how it enhances residential learning experiences and increases access to education.
Elizabeth Herkenham, Director of K-13 Outreach for the School of Engineering, makes it a
priority to stay abreast of leading-edge developments in engineering education, so that the outreach
efforts she leads are informed by the latest thinking. In June 2013 she attended the American
Society for Engineering Education annual conference, where there was a tremendous focus on
the new K-12 Next Generation of Science Standards, which, in many states, are incorporating
engineering standards for education. The new standards will involve more cognitive work and
more problem solving. Herkenham believes that going forward, states will see the need to embed
engineering standards into the entire K-12 curriculum instead of limiting them to introductory
engineering classes. A number of components of engineering thinking and practice are found to
some extent in over 30 states’ standards. With this background in the changes to STEM
standards, Rensselaer remains ideally qualified to assist K-12 teachers in preparing tomorrow’s
technology workforce.
Rensselaer primarily promotes leading edge pedagogy to K-12 STEM teachers through the Center
for Initiatives in Pre-College Education (CIPCE), directed by Dr. Paul Schoch. Its emphasis
on multi- and interdisciplinary approaches in curriculum, teaching and outreach, emphasizes
20 | Rensselaer Engineering
interactive learning, the use of technology
and teamwork to involve students as active
participants in their own educations.
CIPCE partners with faculty and staff of
Rensselaer’s NSF research centers to support
outreach programming for teachers through
summer teaching programs, many of which
are free, which support the National Research
Council New Framework for Science
Education and the Next Generation Science
Standards. These join the array of outreach
efforts of other campus partnerships that
bring Rensselaer students, faculty and staff
into the community to promote science and
engineering.
In 2013, the Smart Lighting – Smart Power
Curriculum Development Institute provided
high school and middle school teachers a weeklong program to introduce them to leadingedge lighting, power and sensor technologies
and how they can be integrated into real-world,
sustainable and well-engineered Smart Systems.
Rensselaer graduate students led participants in
hands-on activities using the fundamentals of
electronics and photonics to engineer solutions
that address current challenges, and provided
time for collaborative curriculum development
to help teachers develop skills, confidence, and
strategies to create unique curricula to meet
common core education standards.
In 2012, the NSF-sponsored GK12 (Graduate
Fellows in STEM K-12 Education) program
provided a small cohort of about a dozen
teachers with a 5 to 6 week campus research
experience using Rensselaer Smart Lighting
and other state-of-the-art engineering labs
and equipment associated with the latest
developments. The goal was for teachers to
develop age-appropriate curricular materials to
take back to their own schools and classrooms.
CIPCE has pioneered an integrated approach
to teaching mathematics in grades 4-8 using
NXT LEGO® Robotics, funded by the U.S.
Department of Education. It works with a
group of highly accomplished teachers, many
National Board Certified, from ten diverse
school districts in New York state. They design
and implement mathematically rich lessons
for robotics that are aligned with Common
Core Learning Standards, provide a physical,
real-world context, and aim to authentically
assess student learning. Modules are fieldtested, revised, and shared on the CIPCE
web site. These mentor teachers then work
with colleagues in their own schools who
are interested in enriching their classroom
experience with robotics activities. “I thought
that only the more tech-savvy students would
be interested,” said one 7th grade math teacher.
“But, much to my delight, I saw that just about
every single student was excited and engaged.”
High School Teachers at Smart Lighting –
Smart Power Curriculum Development Institute
Troy High School Students Creating WInd Energy during an EA visit
Wearing their Rensselaer cherry-red shirts,
Engineering Ambassadors encourage over 3000
students each year to consider careers in science,
technology and engineering.
eng.rpi.edu | 21
/ / S t ude n t s
Nearly three years ago, The School of Engineering launched a new web portal,
Better World Engineering, to showcase our commitment to educating engineers
to design a better world. Today, Better World Engineering pervades nearly
every level of student experience. Here are just a few examples.
Rensselaer Electric Vehicle Team
Competes at Shell Eco-Marathon Americas
In April 2013, a dozen members of the Rensselaer
Electric Vehicle (REV) team travelled to Houston,
Texas to compete in the Shell Eco-Marathon Americas
2013 alongside students from the United States,
Canada, Mexico, and Brazil. The team fielded two
battery-powered cars, placing 12th with their 2013
model and 18th with the 2012 car, of 30 cars in
their category.
Plans called for the new car to be solar-powered but,
according to team president Kristen Sechrest ’13, the
solar cells of their prototype did not produce sufficient
current, something they hope to remedy next year.
The new car performed significantly better than last
year’s car – achieving 94m/kwH versus 56.11m/kwH –
which Sechrest attributed to lower weight and
better aerodynamics.
Competing for the third time in the annual event,
the team had to make some last-minute repairs after
shipping crates failed, and had to finish the 2013 car’s
electrical circuit on site because of parts delays. But
the work paid off when both cars passed inspection,
and best of all, the car’s last run featured its best
performance to date.
Sechrest says the team learned a lot, and is grateful
they were able to bring both cars to Houston. She
said, “We really could not do this without the support
we get from RPI and from our other sponsors.” They
include Lockheed-Martin and Wells Fargo.
22 | Rensselaer Engineering
Design Lab Innovation Helps Disabled
People With Dental Hygiene
Brushing your teeth is critical to preventing
periodontal disease, yet many people with
disabilities find it difficult to use conventional
toothbrushes effectively, and in many cases
must rely on others for assistance. The goal
of an ongoing project of the O.T. Swanson
Multidisciplinary Design Laboratory (Design Lab)
has been to develop a teeth-cleaning system to
address these special needs.
For the past several years, Eric Ledet, associate
professor of biomedical engineering and director
of the Musculoskeletal Mechanics Laboratory, has
worked with the staff and consumers of the Center
for Disability Services in Albany in a partnership
that benefits people with disabilities as well as
Rensselaer engineering students. Past prototypes
include a non-clogging tracheotomy device for
children, a less cumbersome home oxygen delivery
system, a portable feeding pump to allow toddlers
mobility, and an apparatus mitigating poor
oral hygiene.
During the Spring of 2010, a team of biomedical
engineering students developed a system concept
for addressing the issues. Their solution consisted
of a mouthpiece surrounding the teeth with an
array of bristles. This mouthpiece arrangement
was made to attach to an off-the-shelf vibrating
electric toothbrush. Minimal dexterity was
required to operate the device and its test
performances looked promising. Later teams of
Design Lab students took on the challenge to
further optimize the design and developed a novel
brush activation mechanism.
During Spring 2012, with a clear concept vision
in sight, a team of Design Lab students created
a working prototype for demonstration at the
Center. Since then, working with a Dean’s Grant,
the team has worked through several prototypes
and has earned a provisional patent, according to
Design Lab director Mark Steiner. The goal now
is to build approximately 100 units for a more
substantial field test with Center consumers.
“The relationship between the Center for
Disability Services and RPI has allowed our
students to gain a real-world meaningful
experience through this special learning
opportunity,” says Dr. Ledet. “Our students get
a real sense of satisfaction by developing new
technology which enables the Center’s clients to
lead more functional and productive lives. It is a
fruitful relationship on both sides.”
RPI students Alissa Russin (‘13) and Bryan
Carmody (‘13) assist Dr. Dennis Valerio with
initial trial of the prototype toothbrush on
Lauren Williams from the Center for Disability
Services in Albany (seated).
eng.rpi.edu | 23
lessons learned in peru come to troy: Campus Biodigester
After developing a prototype campus biodigester last year,
Engineers for a Sustainable World members will continue
the next phase of the project using compost produced at the
campus greenhouses on Sunset Terrace. The student team,
led by Sam Brown, spent some time to successfully acquire
funding from the Office of the President and the School of
Engineering, and plans to finish construction early in the Fall
2013 semester. The new funds allowed the team to purchase
materials to complete the system to collect the gas produced by
the biodigester.
A biodigester uses anaerobic digestion, in which
microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the
absence of oxygen. The process is used for industrial or domestic
purposes to manage waste and/or to produce fuels, typically
methane gas. Much of the industrial fermentation to produce
food and drink products, as well as home fermentation, uses
anaerobic digestion. Silage, an animal feed, is also produced this
way. Biodigesters decrease organic waste, eliminate pathogens
and malignant bacteria, and produce useable byproducts such as
fertilizer and fuel for energy.
Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW) members Jenny Li, Andrew W. Chung, Sam Brown, and Terrance McGovern showing off the makings of the
ESW Biodigester. A few years ago, ESW members investigated anaerobic digestion to pasteurize milk for farmers in rural Peru. Now they are building
a prototype and testing its performance by converting food waste from the Terra Cafe (a student-led cafe serving local and organic foods) to biogas
and fertilizer.
24 | Rensselaer Engineering
Developing Sustainable Societies
The Rensselaer chapter of
Engineers for a Sustainable
World has a substantial
presence in Ek’Balam, a Mayan
community in Mexico’s Yucatan
Peninsula. The traditional
way of life there is threatened
and the natural resources are
becoming stressed as people leave
agriculture to join the tourism
industry. Rensselaer works in
Ek’Balam with the Albany-based
Foundation for Developing
Sustainable Societies to introduce
technologies that can help boost
the standard of living without
harm to the ground, air,
and water.
To do so, they are retrofitting a
traditional Mayan house with
solar panels, composting toilets,
and stoves that vent smoke
outside. Local residents can view
these fixtures and consider what
might work in their own homes.
Top: (l to r) Terrance McGovern, Javier Camino Allendesalazar,
and Sam Brown. Middle: Alex Allen (photo by Sam Brown)
Bottom: (l to r) Alex Allen and Rosie Rickard
(photo by Sam Brown)
Families have become interested.
People in neighboring villages
are taking note. “We only
installed one solar panel system.
I wouldn’t call it changing the
world on the scale of the World
Bank or anything because it was
so small,” says Sam Brown, a
sophomore electrical engineering
and applied mathematics major
who traveled to Ek’Balam last
summer and is already planning
his next trip. “But it gave you a
feeling for what you can do. I
started wondering what it would
take to help six billion people.”
Brown is interested in finding
alternatives to practices that
pollute. Once, he assumed a
liberal arts college would be the
best route. But at Rensselaer he
has seen that he does not have
to choose between a rigorous
science education and an
education that shapes solutions
to environmental problems.
“Through ESW I have seen how
my programmatic subjects could
be put to use immediately,” says
Brown, who is now the group’s
co-president.
It wasn’t smooth sailing in
Mexico for Brown and fellow
student Liam Moynihan. “The
airline lost our luggage and so
we were missing all the wires we
needed for the solar panel and
lights,” says Moynihan, a physics
major. “After four days we got it
back,” says Brown. “But when we
started installing the solar panel
system there was a problem and
it didn’t work. There were Mayan
construction workers there
working on a house and Liam
and I looked at each other and
we were both very embarrassed.”
They called several professors,
who said it sounded like they
were doing everything properly.
“Then we called Liam’s dad – he’s
an engineer and handyman,”
says Brown. “We described how
we wired it and he asked a few
questions and he finally figured
it out. We saw that if we have a
small problem, there is a way to
solve it.” “Also, you can get
it right 100 times at home but
it still might not work,”
adds Moynihan.
“Engineering is unfairly
characterized as dull and about
big corporations, and ‘big
corporations don’t care about
people, therefore engineers
don’t care about people,’” says
Michael Jensen, a professor in
the mechanical, aerospace, and
nuclear engineering department
who initiated the Rensselaer
ESW chapter and remains the
faculty supervisor. “But the
opposite is true: Engineers are in
the business of trying to do more
with less. With this group, we see
sustainability as one goal, along
with cost and all the other factors
we already consider. For our
engineering students, this is just
adding to their education.”
eng.rpi.edu | 25
Innovation Goes “Vroom”
Auto racing is about innovation, and each year
Rensselaer students collaborate in real-world
experiential learning that goes “vroom.” One of
several Rensselaer automotive clubs, the 2013
Formula Hybrid team had one of its best years,
according to president Sam Putney, a senior in
mechanical engineering (right top).
Innovations to the previous year’s racer ranged
from a new electronics control platform, new
diagnostics and communications systems to
new composite fabrication, mechanical design
and drivetrain innovations. An engineering
capstone project team designed a custom
differential, and the alumni-owned company
Ecovative Design grew mushroom-based
support pads for the driver’s seat (right-bottom,
team member David Golden sits in the car, so
pads can be grown to shape). A parent’s body
shop even gave the frame a professional
paint job.
The team finished 7th in its annual competition
at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in
Loudon, NH, despite problems with a buggy
26 | Rensselaer Engineering
Control Area Network bus, short on memory
to handle all its data. They triumphed by
passing electrical inspection on the first try, a
notoriously difficult task, but were ultimately
sidelined when time ran out to fix a problem
related to the new differential.
“Though we ran into fatal issues at the
competition, this year has actually been one
of the best years for the team,” said Putney.
“We have a higher number of more committed
team members than we’ve ever had. We’re also
working hard to help our younger members
catch up and begin to take over responsibility
of the team.”
Sam Putney’s skills earned him an internship
this fall at Tesla Motors in California. He will
be working on the drivetrain manufacturing
team. “I’m excited. I’ve worked extremely hard
for a long time to get there,” he said. “I’m going
to get to work with a ton of cool stuff. There’s
no doubt that Formula Hybrid is the main
reason I got the job.”
Innovation Goes “Vroom”
New Engineering Students Pledge To “Honor the Code”
Nearly 550 freshman engineering students participated in the
inaugural “Honor the Code” induction event held in August 2013,
as part of Navigating Rensselaer and Beyond (NRB) week. The
induction was the culmination of months of work by the Academic
Integrity Committee chaired by Linda Schadler, associate dean
in the School of Engineering. The committee set out to develop
clear and concise messaging for engineering students, reflecting the
School of Engineering’s academic expectation to have the highest
standards of honesty and integrity.
During the induction, groups of freshman engineering students
cycled through several different activities. They attended the Code
of Academic Integrity and Professional Ethics Induction Ceremony
designed and presented by the Engineering Ambassadors and
Student Advisory Council in the School of Engineering.
They toured the new Student Service Hub, established as a place for
students to get answers to their academic questions.
Then, students signed the Honor the Code banner (above) and
received an Honor the Code pin. The signed banner is on display in
the Ansell Lounge. The event culminated with an ice cream social.
According to Elizabeth Herkenham, outreach director in the School
of Engineering, “Incoming freshmen appreciated the intent of the
program and enjoyed connecting with their classmates during the
ice cream social. Core Engineering plans to make this an annual
event within the NRB program for all incoming freshmen.”
eng.rpi.edu | 27
Promoting Advanced Manufacturing to K-12 Students Using the
LegoTM-based Desktop Micro-factory Concept
A vast majority of American kids in the K-12 demographic are
fascinated with LegoTM toys. A team of Rensselaer students led
by Professor Johnson Samuel are leveraging this fascination, by
promoting advanced manufacturing education/careers through
designing a unique LegoTM-based outreach module, centered on
the concept of desktop micro-factories. David Silverman and
Chris Almodovar (above) have been part of an undergraduate
student team who designed the novel hands-on manufacturing
outreach module for 6-12th grade students. It includes an
interactive 50 minute in-class activity demonstrating micro/
nano-scale manufacturing techniques, using a LegoTM-based
three-axis motion platform. This unique three-axis motion
platform demonstrates both additive and subtractive
28 | Rensselaer Engineering
manufacturing concepts at the micro/nano-scale. Plus, the
platform incorporates a LegoTM NXT controller, providing
motion control over a volume of 10cm x 6cm x 15cm using
stage encoders, with a positional accuracy of 0.35 mm. Then
the manufacturing process gets even sweeter. A battery-operated
icing dispenser with different nozzle geometries is used as the
tooling head to demonstrate additive manufacturing concepts.
With the success of this module, students are now developing
a LegoTM-based micro-milling machine and a metrology unit.
The student teams work closely with the Rensselaer Engineering
Ambassadors program, targeting local student populations.
Ming Ma receives $30,000
for breakthrough research on
LED technology
2013 RENSSELAER STUDENT PRIZE
eng.rpi.edu | 29
Left: Ma’s patent-pending technology,
called GRIN (graded-refractive-index)
LEDs, has demonstrated a light-extraction
efficiency of 70 percent, meaning 70 percent
of light escaped and only 30 percent was
left trapped inside the device.
Right: Ming Ma with his advisor,
Professor E. Fred Schubert.
,.27
rpi.edu/lemelson
Ming Ma has developed a new method to manufacture light-emitting
diodes (LEDs) that are brighter, more energy efficient, and have superior
technical properties than those on the market today. His patent-pending
invention holds the promise of hastening the global adoption of LEDs
and reducing the overall cost and environmental impact of illuminating
our homes and businesses.
For this innovation, Ma, a doctoral student advised by Dr. E. Fred
Schubert, Wellfleet Senior Constellation Professor; Future Chips
Constellation, Department for Electrical, Computer, and Systems
Engineering, has been named the winner of the prestigious 2013
$30,000 Lemelson-Rensselaer Student Prize.
Ma is the seventh recipient of the Lemelson-Rensselaer Student Prize.
First given in 2007, the prize is awarded annually to a Rensselaer senior
or graduate student who has created or improved a product or process,
applied a technology in a new way, redesigned a system, or demonstrated
remarkable inventiveness in other ways.
“Invention is critical to the U.S. economy. It is imperative we instill
a passion for invention in today’s youth, while rewarding those who
are inspiring role models,” said Joshua Schuler, executive director of
the Lemelson-MIT Program. “This year’s Lemelson-MIT Collegiate
Student Prize winners and finalists from the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign prove that inventions and inventive ideas
have the power to impact countless individuals and entire industries for
the better.”
30 | Rensselaer Engineering
Seeking Brighter, Smarter LEDs
Ma’s LED research focuses on improving efficiency and uniformity of
LED lighting. Current generation LEDs only output about 25 percent
of the light they produce. The rest of the light is trapped and eventually
converted to heat because the refractive properties of the LEDs surface.
Ma’s innovation, which almost triples the amount of light output,
was inspired from a naturally occurring phenomena in the earth’s
atmosphere: graded refractivity. Rather than have a fixed refractive
index, the atmosphere—and Ma’s LEDs—have a graded refractive index.
This discrete gradient, five nanolayers of material each with decreasing
refractive indexes, results in much less light being trapped in the LED.
Additionally, Ma’s production process allows for much finer control
over LED emission patterns. By molding the nanolayers like tiny starshaped pillars, the LEDs can achieve a much wider radiation pattern,
resulting in more even lighting in real world use. Ma’s GRIN LEDs “hold
the promise of hastening the widespread adoption of LEDs, reducing
the overall cost, energy consumption, and environmental impact of
illuminating our homes and businesses.” Ma isn’t stopping now, however;
he says he wants to continue “developing products that have a great
impact on the whole of society.”
Finalist Rebecca Wachs Aims
To Personalize Medicine With
Implantable Sensors
Rebecca Wachs has invented a new implantable sensor with the ability
to wirelessly transmit data from the site of a knee replacement, spinal
fusion, or other orthopedic surgery. Simple, robust, and inexpensive to
make, her sensor holds the promise of advancing personalized medicine
by giving doctors an unprecedented wealth of information about how
an individual patient is healing. Wachs’ project is titled “Enabling
Personalized Medicine Through an Elementary and Robust Implantable
Sensor.” Her adviser is Eric Ledet, professor in the Department of
Biomedical Engineering.
Wachs’ patent-pending solution to this challenge was to create a simple,
practical sensor to provide rich, objective data on which to make
diagnoses about surgery sites. She invented a wireless sensor that needs
no battery, no external power, and requires no electronics within the
body. Instead, the sensor is powered by an external device, which is also
used to capture the sensor data.
Measuring only 4 millimeters in diameter and 500 microns thick,
the wireless sensors look like small coils of wire and are attached to
commonly used orthopedic musculoskeletal implants such as rods,
plates, or prostheses. Once in the body as part of the implant, the
sensor can monitor and transmit data about the load, strain, pressure, or
temperature of the healing surgery site. The sensor is scalable, tunable,
and easy to configure so that it may be incorporated into many different
types of implantable orthopedic devices.
Finalist Navid Attary Works
To Make Bridges and Buildings
More Resilient to Earthquakes
Navid Attary has created a seismic protection device to boost the
resiliency of bridges and buildings to earthquakes. His innovation,
which uses a new and novel method to dissipate the destructive forces
of earthquakes, could help save countless lives and prevent billions
of dollars of damage around the world every year. Attary’s project is
titled “A Revolution in Earthquake Protection Devices: Rotation-Based
Mechanical Adaptive Passive Device.” His faculty adviser is Michael
Symans, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering.
Attary’s seismic protection device adapts to different types of movement,
but requires no electricity and no expensive maintenance. He invented a
rotation-based mechanical adaptive passive device, or RB-MAP, which is
comprised of a meticulously engineered collection of gears, pre-torqued
springs, and damping devices that can be installed underneath a bridge or
inside the wall of a building.
Initial testing has shown that Attary’s RB-MAP can reduce the force
in structures during earthquakes by up to 60 percent. Overall, Attary’s
patent-pending technology could open the door to a new generation of
seismic protection devices that help save lives and minimize destruction
during earthquakes.
eng.rpi.edu | 31
Engineering faculty are deeply committed to their scholarship, to mentoring
and guiding our students, and to collective exploration and discovery.
HEre are recent SELECTED faculty awards and news highlights.
/ / F A C U LT Y
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Faculty Early Career Development Award (CAREER) recipients
Liping Huang, Materials
Science and Engineering
With her project “An Elastic
Approach to Strong Glasses,” Huang and her team
are using experimental and
computational approaches
to examine the role of
elasticity in strengthening
glasses. Her work will
provide a better understanding of the behavior
of glass under extreme
conditions and develop
guidelines for the design of
tailored glasses.
Sandipan Mishra,
Mechanical, Aerospace, and
Nuclear Engineering
With his CAREER project
“Multiobjective learning
control strategies for additive manufacturing,” Mishra
aims to develop advanced
sensing and controls
algorithms for improving
precision and reliability of
additive manufacturing
technologies, including
3-D printing.
Thomas Sharkey, Industrial
and Systems Engineering
Leo Wan, Biomedical
Engineering
His project “New Scheduling Models for Supply
Chain Restoration, Construction, and Redesign,”
will provide innovative
optimization models
and algorithms for problems in restoring supply
chains after significant
disruptive events.
His project “Biomechanics of Patterned Epithelial
Chiral Morphogenesis.” will
employ a combination of
micro-fabrication, live cell
imaging, molecular assay,
traction force measurement,
and mathematical modeling
toward his goal of understanding and detailing the
impact of cell mechanics of
“handedness” on development and disease.
SELECTED Faculty Highlights
The prestigious
Faculty Early Career
Development Award
(CAREER) from the
National Science
Foundation (NSF)
is given to faculty
members at the
beginning of their
academic careers and
is one of NSF’s most
competitive awards,
placing emphasis on
high-quality research
and novel education
initiatives.
2012-2013 Rensselaer Awards
»» Michael Amitay was appointed head of the
aerospace program in Mechanical, Aerospace, and
Nuclear Engineering
»» Chris Letchford was named Fellow of the American
Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and Structural
Engineering Institute (SEI)
»» Jerome Fishbach ‘38 Faculty Travel Award:
B. Wayne Bequette, Professor, Chemical and
Biological Engineering
»» Jonathan Dordick was appointed Vice President of
Research at Rensselaer
»» John Wen was appointed Department Head of
Industrial and Systems Engineering
»» Board of Trustees’ Outstanding Teacher Award: Eric
Ledet, Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering
»» Farhan Gandhi was named Fellow of American
Helicopter Society
»» Ganpati Ramanath was named Fellow of the
American Vacuum Society
»» Juergen Hahn was appointed Department Head
of Biomedical Engineering and named Fellow of
American Institute for Medical and Biological
Engineering (AIMBE)
»» Deepak Vashishth was appointed Director of the
Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary
Studies (CBIS)
»» Class of 1951 Outstanding Teaching Award:
Li Emily Liu, Associate Professor, Mechanical,
Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering
»» Jose Holguin-Veras was named a Transportation
Champion of Change by the White House
»» Qiang Ji, was named Fellow of International
Association for Pattern Recognition (IAPR)
32 | Rensselaer Engineering
»» John Wen received the 2013 IEEE Control Systems
Society Transition to Practice Award for “Adaptive
Scanning Optical Microscopes and a high
precision laser scanning system for the electronic
manufacturing industry and for translation of
systems theory to practice”.
»» James M. Tien ‘66 Early Career Award for Faculty:
Matthew Oehlschlaeger, Associate Professor,
Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering
»» Rensselaer Alumni Association Outstanding
Teacher Award: Catalin Picu, Professor,
Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering
»» William H. Wiley 1866 Distinguished Faculty
Award: William A. Wallace, Yamada Corporation
Professor, Industrial and Systems Engineering
Michael S. Shur, Patricia W. and C. Sheldon
Roberts ’48 Professor of Solid State Electronics
in Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering
was Named Jefferson Science Fellow by U.S. Department of State. The Jefferson Science Fellows
Program is designed to further build capacity for
science, technology and engineering expertise
within the U.S. Department of State and U.S.
Agency for International Development (USAID).
Riccardo Bevilacqua, Assistant Professor,
Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering
received the Office of Naval Research (ONR)
Young Investigator Award. Bevilacqua will use
the three-year, $510,000 award to further his
research into creating highly maneuverable
and inexpensive low-orbit satellites for space
weather forecasting.
Leo Wan, Assistant Professor, Biomedical
Engineering has been named a Pew Scholar
in the Biomedical Sciences by The Pew
Charitable Trusts. Wan will use the award to
fund his research on the biomolecular processes
of epithelial cell chirality, and investigate
how organisms adopt consistent left-right
positioning—or “handedness.”
new faculty
Biomedical Engineering
Ge Wang, John A. Clark and
Edward T. Crossan Professor
of Engineering
Civil and Environmental
Engineering
Electrical, Computer, and
Systems Engineering
Materials Science and
Engineering
Mechanical, Aerospace, and
Nuclear Engineering
Victoria Bennett,
Assistant Professor
Meng Wang,
Assistant Professor
Chaitanya Ullal,
Assistant Professor
Aram Chung,
Assistant Professor
Chaired Professorships
Faculty PROMOTIONS
Promoted to Full Professor
Electrical, Computer, and
Systems Engineering
»» Richard Radke
»» Tong Zhang
Industrial and Systems Engineering
»» Mark Embrechts
Biomedical
Engineering
Ge Wang,
John A. Clark
and Edward T.
Crossan Professor
of Engineering
Civil and
Environmental
Engineering
Yuri Gorby,
Howard N. Blitman
’50, P.E. Career
Development
Professorship
Mechanical,
Materials Science
Aerospace, and
and Engineering
Nuclear Engineering
Ganpati Ramanath,
Farhan Gandhi,
John Tod Horton
Rosalind and
’52 Professor
John J. Redfern
of Materials
Jr. ’33 Professor
Engineering
of Engineering
Mechanical, Aerospace, and
Nuclear Engineering
»» Theodorian Borca-Tasciuc
Promoted to Associate Professor
with Tenure
Biomedical Engineering
»» Ryan Gilbert
Chemical and Biological Engineering
»» Peter Tessier
Electrical, Computer, and
Systems Engineering
»» Shayla Sawyer
Mechanical, Aerospace, and
Nuclear Engineering
»» Jie Lian
»» Li Emily Liu
eng.rpi.edu | 33
//ALUMNI
Two engineering alumni were selected for
induction into the Alumni Hall of Fame,
bringing the total membership to 72.
B. Jayant Baliga, Class of 1974 Ph.D., Power Electronics Innovator, and Lewis B. Combs,
Class of 1916, Co-founder of the Seabees, were inducted to The Rensselaer Alumni Hall of Fame
Induction on Friday, October 4, 2013.
2013 School of Engineering
Excellence Awards
School of Engineering Outstanding Professor of
Engineering Award
»» Richard W. Siegel, Robert W. Hunt Professor of
Materials Science and Engineering (above)
School of Engineering Education Innovation Award
»» Cynthia H. Collins, Assistant Professor,
Chemical and Biological Engineering
»» Li Emily Liu, Associate Professor, Mechanical,
Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering
School of Engineering Classroom Excellence Award
»» Catalin R. Picu, Professor, Mechanical, Aerospace,
and Nuclear Engineering
»» Peter M. Tessier, Associate Professor, Chemical and
Biological Engineering
School of Engineering Excellence in Assessment and
Continual Improvement
»» Kurt S. Anderson, Associate Dean and Professor of
Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering
School of Engineering Junior Faculty Research
Excellence Award
»» Jie Lian, Associate Professor, Mechanical,
Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering
School of Engineering Senior Faculty Research Award
»» Jose E. Holguin-Veras, William Howard Hart
Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
»» Birsen Yazici, Professor of Electrical, Computer, and
Systems Engineering
School of Engineering Outstanding Team Award
»» “Seminal Breakthroughs in Thermal Management
and Thermoelectric Energy Conversion
Applications”
Ganpati Ramanath, Professor, Materials Science
and Engineering, Theodorian Borca-Tasciuc,
Professor of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear
Engineering, and Pawel G. Keblinski, Professor of
Materials Science and Engineering
34 | Rensselaer Engineering
B. Jayant Baliga is
an internationally
recognized
expert on power
semiconductor
devices, best known
for his invention of
the insulated gate
bipolar transistor
(IGBT), a powersaving switch
device that has
revolutionized the field of power electronics.
With high efficiency and fast switching, the
energy-saving device controls the flow of
power from an electrical energy source to any
application that needs energy, and is widely used
in transportation, lighting, medicine, defense,
and renewable energy generation systems.
The IGBT, which Baliga developed while
working at General Electric in the 1970s,
is used in an array of products, from cars
and refrigerators to light bulbs, and is a
critical component enabling compact cardiac
defibrillators. The device has saved consumers
trillions of dollars, reduced environmental
pollution, and helps form the basis for the
smart grid.
Lewis B. Combs
was co-creator and
director of World
War II’s legendary
fighting Seabees,
who rapidly built
docks, landing
strips, and other
critical facilities
in every theater of
operation during
the war.
A distinguished naval officer for 31 years as a
leader in the Navy’s Civil Engineer Corps, Rear
Admiral Combs oversaw an unprecedented
construction program to provide the public
works and utilities for Navy operations in the
United States and for a far-flung network of
bases overseas. In 1942, this work included
organization of the Naval Construction
Battalions (CBs), known as the Seabees, an
entirely new branch of the naval service that
expanded to 250,000 by war’s end.
Combs played a major role in the development
of floating dry docks, which enabled the quick
return to battle of impaired ships and saved
many American lives. Upon his retirement
Among his many honors, Baliga was named one from active duty in 1947, he joined the faculty
of “eight heroes of the semiconductor revolution” at Rensselaer, where he served as head of the
civil engineering department for 15 years.
by Scientific American magazine in 1997. He
received the National Medal of Technology and
Innovation in 2010.
IN MEMORIAM
Dr. George S. Ansell ‘54 passed away on Friday, August 30, 2013. Dr. Ansell first arrived at Rensselaer as a
freshman in 1951, earned his bachelor’s degree in metallurgical engineering in 1954 and a master’s degree in
1955. After serving on active duty in the U.S. Navy until 1958, he returned to Rensselaer, earning his Ph.D. in
1960, and joining the faculty of the Institute that same year.
Active in both teaching and research, he was promoted to Professor of Metallurgical Engineering in 1965,
appointed as the Robert W. Hunt Professor in 1967, and became chair of the Materials Division in 1969.
In 1974, he was appointed Dean of Engineering. During his 10-year tenure as dean, the school greatly
expanded its focus on graduate education and research. Engineering enrollment and research funding
flourished under his leadership, and Rensselaer participated successfully in important technological initiatives
in partnership with industry, including interactive computer graphics, advanced manufacturing, and integrated
electronics.
“Dr. Ansell made important, timeless contributions to our beloved Institute. Rensselaer would not be what it is
today without the effort, passion, and intellect of Dr. Ansell,” said Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, President, Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute.
2012 Davies Medal for Engineering Achievement
In honor of one of Rensselaer’s most accomplished, active, and loyal alumni, Clarence E. Davies ’14,
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute established the Davies Medal for Engineering Achievement. On April
22, 2013, Dr. Hugo Ferguson ’56 received the Davies Medal for his development of the Gleeble, and
other products, that helped pioneer the emerging field of process simulations.
About Hugo S. Ferguson ’56
Ferguson grew up on a small dairy farm with
no money available for college. After high
school he joined the U.S. Navy, and as a result
of the G.I. Bill, a small scholarship, and a job,
he was able to put himself through college.
He graduated from Rensselaer in 1956 with a
bachelor’s degree in physics, and without any
debt. He returned to the Institute and earned
his doctoral degree in metallurgy in 1962.
Shortly after graduating with his bachelor’s
degree, Ferguson collaborated with Rensselaer
faculty members Warren Savage and Ernest
Nippes to develop the Gleeble, a powerful
metallurgical simulation system. The Gleeble
enabled researchers, for the first time, to
simulate realistic welding processes in the
laboratory under realistic thermo-mechanical
conditions. The breakthrough served as a
foundation for many key advances in materials
science and engineering and, more broadly,
helped to pioneer the emerging field of
process simulations.
Ferguson founded DSI in Poestenkill, N.Y.,
in 1957, and shortly thereafter developed the
first commercial Gleeble system. The Gleeble
evolved over the years and, in the 1980s,
was re-engineered to incorporate computer
control of testing and data acquisition. The
many products Ferguson brought to market
have revolutionized the welding industry and
enabled new research requiring previously
unattainable time-temperature conditions.
Today, DSI continues to enhance and update
its Gleeble system to incorporate new features
and capabilities. ASTM International, a global
leader in the development global standards for a
range of materials and systems, has created
a broad set of standards for Gleeble specimens
and measurements. Additionally, entire
scientific conferences have been dedicated
to the Gleeble and more than 1,000
published scientific papers are based upon
Gleeble measurements.
Ferguson has received much acclaim for
his development of the Gleeble and for the
economic and technological impact of his work
nationally and internationally. He holds 20
patents and, in 1999, he was elected as a Fellow
of the American Welding Society.
At Rensselaer, Ferguson is a strong supporter
of the student experience and the School
of Engineering. He serves on the Institute’s
Materials Science and Engineering Advisory
Board, and has donated a Gleeble system
(right) to the Department of Materials Science
and Engineering to help students gain a better
understanding of physical simulation and
metallurgical processes.
Listen to the Davies Medal
Presentation with Dr. Ferguson
online at: eng.rpi.edu/davies
,97
eng.rpi.edu | 35
Available Now
The Design of Nanoscale
Polyvalent Therapeutics with Ravi
S. Kane, P. K. Lashmet Professor of
Chemical and Biological Engineering
November 2013
Tissue Engineering and the
Immune System with Mariah Hahn,
Associate Professor, Department of
Biomedical Engineering
March 2014
Electromicrobiology:
A New Frontier in
Interdisciplinary Research with
Yuri Gorby, Howard A. Blitman Chair,
Department of Civil and
Environmental Engineering
Available Now
Graphene-based Lubricants for
High-Performance Micro-machining
Applications with Johnson Samuel,
Assistant Professor, Mechanical, Aerospace
and Nuclear Engineering
Available Now
Graphene: Properties, Synthesis, and
Applications with Nikhil A. Koratkar,
John A. Clark and Edward T. Crossan
Chair and Professor, Mechanical, Aerospace,
and Nuclear Engineering and Materials
Science and Engineering
January 2014
The Electron Microscope:
Three Important Techniques
with Daniel J. Lewis, Associate
Professor, Department of Materials
Science and Engineering
May 2014
Network Improvisation in
Emergency Response: An
Application to Debris Removal
Operations with David Mendonça,
Associate Professor, Department of
Industrial and Systems Engineering