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Special Issue of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine Focuses on Nanotechnology

A special issue of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine on Nanotechnology (Winter 2004, volume 23) explores a range of current technical issues related to nanotechnology, and their ethical, political, medical, and economic implications. The special issue is guest edited by Edward Woodhouse, associate professor in the Science and Technology Studies Department at Rensselaer.

What is nanotechnology, and what are its implications? If the potentials of nanotechnology are seen simply as the ability to produce new, tiny particles for sunscreens, or better targeted pharmaceuticals, or stain-resistant fabrics, the implications are less worrisome, with normal regulatory or liability mechanisms probably able to address concerns in ways no worse than law and government normally operate.           

IEEE Technology and Society Magazine (www.ieee.org/ssit) is published quarterly by the IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology. The publication serves as a forum for free, informed discussion of all aspects of social implications of technology.

Rensselaer Research Among Top 50 “Outstanding Technology Leadership” Cited by Scientific American

Rensselaer research is among the three path-breaking industrial R&D projects (flexible computer displays, microminiaturized fuel cells for cell phones, and genetically engineered yeast) that were included in the 50 technologies and companies cited by the journal Scientific American for "outstanding technology leadership" in business in 2003-2004. The microminiaturized fuel cells for cell phones, laptop computers, and other portable electronics were produced by a National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Advanced Technology Program (ATP) joint venture of MTI Microfuel Cells Inc. and duPont. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Center for Integrated Electronics and Electronics Manufacturing will work on integrating the system's controls and power conditioning.

Also honored on the “Scientific American 50” list, for work in the robotics field, was Anthony Tether, director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and a 1964 graduate of Rensselaer.