Rensselaer Delegation Participates in World Economic Forum

President Shirley Ann Jackson and Professor Jonathan Dordick led a team of Rensselaer academic leaders invited to speak at the World Economic Forum on Sept. 14 in Tianjin, China.

With a focus on sparking and fostering sustainable innovation,
President Jackson offered guidance to young scientists exploring
how to build successful business-university partnerships.

Dordick, director of the Rensselaer Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies and the Howard P. Isermann Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, led a session titled “Rensselaer IdeasLab: Engineering Our Sustainable Future.” In addition to his specific comments on “Biocatalysis for Our Sustainable Future,” Dordick was joined by:

Angel Garcia, senior constellation professor in biocomputation and bioinformatics, and professor of physics, applied physics, and astronomy. He spoke about “Deciphering Biological Functions Through Computation.”

Ravi Kane, P.K. Lashmet Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering. He spoke about “Bio-Inspired Therapeutics.”

K.V. Lakshmi, assistant professor of chemistry and chemical biology. She spoke about “Bio-Inspired Solar Energy.”

With a focus on sparking and fostering sustainable innovation, President Jackson offered guidance to young scientists exploring how to build successful business-university partnerships; she moderated a session on “Next-Generation Infrastructure,” examining trends related to technology, economics, and sustainability in multiple sectors, from transportation to information technology to urban environments; and she engaged as a discussion leader in a session titled “What If the United States Remains in a Jobless Recovery in 2011?”

Introduced in 2007, the “Summer Davos” program was hosted in partnership with the government of the People’s Republic of China. More than 1,300 participants from 85 countries took part in discussions from Sept. 13-15 in Tianjin, held under the theme “Driving Growth through Sustainability.”