Rensselaer’s School of Engineering is committed to technological excellence in integrating research and education and in educating for career success.

Outstanding leadership in innovative and progressive education is a Rensselaer hallmark. Rensselaer is renowned for producing visionary and versatile technological leaders with a superior reputation for their global impact. Solidly endowed with the fundamentals of math, science, and engineering as well as invaluable research, communication, and entrepreneurial expertise, Rensselaer engineering graduates demonstrate an exceptional propensity for practical application of their knowledge. In addition, the inclusion of a strong humanities and social sciences component within this broad education and a full spectrum of activities, both in and out of the classroom, enhance human relations skills and generate a commitment to ethical behavior and social responsibility.

Highly cognizant of the constant evolution in the field of engineering, Rensselaer is dedicated to continually enhancing and revitalizing its curricula and facilities. Evidence of this dedication is its initiatives in such emerging fields as information technology and biotechnology. Among these are the impending construction of a new biotechnology and interdisciplinary research building, the ongoing attraction of leaders in these fields to our already excellent engineering faculty, and the development of expanded opportunities for research within these and other developing fields at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.

Key to promoting such new initiatives, as well as enhancing traditional disciplines, is Rensselaer’s world-class faculty, most of whom hold the highest attainable degree in their fields. In addition to being actively engaged in research and teaching, most also keep their finger on the pulse of the world through consulting or entrepreneurial endeavors.

Especially appealing to Rensselaer’s exceptional faculty and students alike are its superlative laboratories and facilities. These include studio classrooms that, in addition to being equipped with highly advanced interactive learning tools, provide the small comfortable environment that enhances the School of Engineering’s personalized approach to teaching, maximizing interaction with professors, and encouraging hands-on, collaborative projects.

Initiatives in mobile computing and interactive delivery are also features that characterize Rensselaer engineering programs from those at other universities. As noted in the Educational Programs and Resources section of this catalog, the Institute mandated that all undergraduate students have laptop computers by the fall of 2002. This mandate was issued in recognition that the entire world is moving in the direction of near constant computer access. In addition, the program supports the interactive delivery initiative, in which lectures are combined with recitation, modeling, simulation, and laboratory exercises. Unlike the traditional professor-centered straight lecture format, interactive delivery centers on the students and allows them to interact with each other as well as the instructor. Through these new programs, students experience greater freedom, are no longer tied to a desk for their computing needs, and are prepared for what they will find in the real world.

Teamwork is yet another aspect of real-world engineering that Rensselaer cultivates through both its coursework and facilities. A prime example is the Institute’s 11,000 square-foot O.T. Swanson Multidisciplinary Design Laboratory (MDL). This distinctive, first-class facility consists of a state-of-the-art design space, rapid prototyping and fabrication space, and a system integration space. Here, students work in cross-disciplinary teams on a variety of industry- and service organization-sponsored and entrepreneurial projects, all with practical and real-life applications.

Augmenting the course experience for both undergraduate and graduate students is access to numerous research centers and computing resources. These include one of the largest Class 100 clean room facilities on an academic campus, a 100-ton-g centrifuge, a linear accelerator (LINAC), the Advanced Manufacturing Laboratories, and the student-faculty shop. Engineering students use extensive interactive workstation facilities for studies in computer-aided design, analysis, and/or manufacturing. Taught and researched in the clean rooms are integrated circuit and interconnect technology. The centrifuge is used for geotechnical research and is a state-of-the-art facility. The manufacturing laboratories provide students an opportunity to design and manufacture their own product.

Other specialized and more disciplinary-oriented facilities include laboratories in areas such as fluidization, heat transfer, biochemical engineering, biomedical engineering, structures, earthquake engineering, image processing, plasma dynamics, mechatronics, microelectronics, microwaves, electron optics, electrical machines, electron microscopy and materials characterization, subsonic and supersonic flow, tribology, viscoelasticity, two-phase flow, mass spectrometry, and ion physics.

Sponsoring both undergraduate and graduate research are a variety of government (federal and state) agencies as well as private industries. As a result of focusing research on topics of significant commercial interest, Rensselaer, in relation to other major university engineering programs, has one of the largest fractions of support from private industry.

Rensselaer offers research opportunities in major interdisciplinary research centers, which primarily involve School of Engineering faculty and students. Among these centers are the Center for Advanced Technology (CAT), the Center for Integrated Electronics (CIE), The Center for Nanotechnology Research, and the Scientific Computation Research Center (SCOREC). These centers are interdisciplinary, so that center projects include students from each of several curricula. For example, in the CIE, students from many departments (e.g., Physics; Materials Science and Engineering; Mechanical, Aerospace; and Nuclear Engineering; Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering; Chemical Engineering; and Civil and Environmental) are members of teams that conduct government- and industry-supported basic and applied research.

Projects currently under way include multilevel interconnects, chemical-mechanical polishing, polymers for interlevel dielectrics, compound semiconductors, and wireless manufacturing programs that employ flexible technologies and organizations, as well as improved communications to help solve manufacturing problems. Also world-renowned is SCOREC’s simulation-based engineering approach in which state-of-the-art computers and numerical models are applied to problems of great societal need.

In addition to the major Institute centers, the School of Engineering conducts research in its own multidisciplinary centers. These include the Center for Composite Materials and Structures, the Center for Infrastructure and Transportation Studies, the Center for Image Processing Research, and the Center for Multiphase Research. At the department level, the School offers seven additional centers: the Bioseparations Research Center, the Center for Services Research and Education, the Agile Manufacturing Research Center, and the Statistical Consulting Research Center, the Center for Glass Science and Technology, the Geotechnical Centrifuge Research Center, and the Flexible Manufacturing Center. Substantial Rensselaer research is also conducted outside these major centers, some involving multiuniversity collaboration. These research centers complement the following seven academic departments: Biomedical Engineering; Chemical Engineering; Civil and Environmental Engineering; Decision Sciences and Engineering Systems; Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering; Materials Science and Engineering; and Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering.

All departments offer both undergraduate and graduate curricula and degree programs in their fields. The School of Engineering also grants degrees in Engineering Science in which the student pursues a more customized plan of study.

Degrees Offered and Associated Departments

 Overview of Undergraduate Educational Programs

 Overview of Graduate Educational Programs

 Biomedical Engineering

 Chemical Engineering

 Civil and Environmental Engineering

 Decision Sciences and Engineering Systems

 Electrical, Computer and Systems Engineering

 Materials Science and Engineering

 Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering

 Engineering at Hartford

 Interdisciplinary Programs and Research

 Center for Composite Materials and Structures

 Center for Image Processing Research

 Center for Infrastructure and Transportation Studies

 Center for Multiphase Research

 Center for Next Generation Video

 Center for Subsurface Sensing and Imaging Systems

 School of Engineering Course Descriptions