Research

Bringing dedicated, high-level support to the research enterprise was one of President Jackson’s earliest initiatives. Arthur Sanderson, a member of the Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering faculty since 1987, was appointed to a newly created position of vice president for research in April 2000 to bring focus and increase the research endeavor.

Confronting Sanderson first was the essential task of defining specific areas within biotechnology and information technology (IT) where Rensselaer would “place its bets” in term of research investment. By last January, internal teams, assisted by external experts, had defined focal areas where Rensselaer’s existing expertise would intersect with rich fields of inquiry with great potential for advancing knowledge. Aiding in this exercise were such prominent scholars as Professor Larry Smarr, former director of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and George Whitesides, of Harvard.

Each constellation will comprise a senior faculty member with a distinguished record of research and a proven track record in obtaining research funding. This proven leader will serve to attract the junior faculty and graduate students who will constitute a critical mass sufficient to build a credible research presence for Rensselaer in each of the focal areas.

Recruitment already has begun with the formation of search committees, advertising in the major scientific journals, and the go-ahead from the Rensselaer Board of Trustees to hire additional faculty in advance of fund raising. Nobel Laureate Joshua Lederberg, president emeritus of Rockefeller University, served as an external consultant.

Integral to this strategy is the physical infrastructure that provides the state-of-the-art research facilities needed to attract the highest caliber faculty.

The 200,000-square-foot biotechnology and interdisciplinary studies center, to be sited on 15th Street and adjacent to the Low Center for Industrial Innovation, will house approximately 430 faculty, students, and staff. The design contract has been awarded to two Pennsylvania architectural firms renowned for their experience in biotechnology design—Burt Hill Kosar Rittelmann of Butler, and Bohlin Cywinski Jackson of Pittsburgh. The joint venture includes several Rensselaer alumni: Dick Rittelmann ’60, principal-in-charge; Peter Bohlin ’58, design architect; Jon Jackson ’73, lead architect; as well as Harry Gordon ’73 and Michael Maiese ’90.

“This is a partnership that’s worked together before on major projects including the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon,” says Alan Balfour, dean of architecture. “Bohlin is one of the most gifted designers in the nation—perhaps best known for the Bill Gates house. Rittelmann is a research architect whose knowledge of biotechnology equipment probably outstretches that of anyone on our campus.” Ground breaking is anticipated for spring of 2002.