William Luddy Jr., professor in the Lally School of Management and Technology at Rensselaer at Hartford and a member of the U.S. Delegation to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), recently participated in the UNCITRAL Working Group on E-Commerce at the United Nations headquarters in New York. This group has been consulting on the development of a new international instrument that would enable electronic commercial transactions and examining ways in which many international treaties could be harmonized to enhance global e-commerce. UNCITRAL, established by the UN General Assembly in 1966, is the core legal body of the United Nations in the field of international trade law. Its mandate is to further the progressive harmonization and unification of the law of international trade. 8/11/03

James Watt, professor and chair of language, literature, and communication, has been re-appointed to a three-year term as external evaluator of the graduate program in New Media at the City University of Hong Kong. He will review the program annually and conduct one on-site visit during the three-year term. 8/11/03

The men’s lacrosse program has been honored by U.S. Lacrosse with the Jim Adams Sportsmanship Award. This honor is bestowed on a team that displays the best sportsmanship in collegiate lacrosse as voted on by the Lacrosse Officials Association. This is the first time that Rensselaer has received this honor. 8/11/03

B. Wayne Bequette, professor and acting chair of chemical and biological engineering, was the general chair of the 2003 American Control Conference (ACC) held June 4-6 in Denver. This annual series of conferences brings together researchers and practitioners working on automation and control topics, from all engineering disciplines. This year, 947 papers were presented in 159 technical sessions, with topics ranging from micro/nano systems to large-scale power transmission networks. In addition, a workshop for high school teachers was held, to give attention to the importance of control systems technology and provide motivating examples of interdisciplinary work in this area. For more information, see the conference Web site at: http://acc2003.me.berkeley.edu/. 7/28/03

John Harrington, dean of humanities and social sciences, recently gave an invited lecture on Euro-American literary relations at the annual meeting of the International Association for the Study of Irish Literature in Hungary and a post-performance public interview with the Irish playwright Dermot Bolger in the Vig Mozi Theatre in city of Debrecen. His trip included visits to the universities of Limerick and Liverpool to lay the foundations for student exchange programs. 7/28/03

Sheppard Joel Salon, professor of electrical, computer, and systems engineering, has received the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Nikola Tesla award for “pioneering and outstanding contributions to transient finite element computation of electric machines couple to electronic circuits, and to electro-mechanical devices.” Salon has been a fellow of the IEEE since 1994. The IEEE Nikola Tesla Award was established in 1975 and is presented each year to an individual or group of individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the generation and utilization of electric power. The award is named in honor of Nikola Tesla, an electrical engineer, a distinguished Yugoslav-American inventor, and a pioneer in many fields, who is most renowned for the development of the coil that bears his name and for the a-c induction motor. 7/28/03

Burt Swersey, lecturer in mechanical, aerospace, nuclear engineering, and William Foley, clinical associate professor of decision sciences and engineering systems, attended the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) in Nashville where they presented a paper titled “Teaching Innovation and Entrepreneurship Through Design in Inventor’s Studio.” 7/28/03

The Chapel + Cultural Center at Rensselaer was honored as "Best Multi-Arts Venue" in Metroland's “Best Of the Capital Region 2003” issue. To read the blurb, go to http://www.metroland.net/guides/best_of_2003/arts_entertainment.html. 7/28/03

The Men’s and Women’s Swimming Teams have been recognized by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) as Academic All-American Swimming Teams for the winter/spring 2003 semester. To qualify for the honor, the grade point average of the entire swimming and diving squad must average at least 2.8 on a 4.0 scale. Several team members also were recognized as Academic All-Americans or Honorable Mention Academic All-Americans. 7/28/03