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

Afina Lupulescu, research associate professor of materials science and engineering and project director, and Martin Glicksman ’57, professor of materials science and engineering, have received a three-year NSF educational grant for $255,000 to develop a series of module sets for general use that parallel and amplify texts and notes already established for Diffusion in Solids, Kinetics, Solidification, and Crystal Growth — materials courses within Rensselaer’s School of Engineering. The proposed effort consists of three one-year phases: Phase A, to create modules and original exercises that reflect Rensselaer’s approach to the subject of undergraduate kinetics in materials. Phase B, the Co-PI's will add content to the basic kinetics modules, including development of original Java applets, as well as integration of available movies and programs from Internet sources. Under Phase C, modules will be developed for the subjects of solidification and crystal growth. All of the modules will be accessible free of charge on the Rensselaer Materials Science & Engineering public Web site, and as free CD-ROMs upon written request. 7/14/03

Tatiana Russell '03 won first place in the “most artistic imaging” category of the second annual Cornell University Microscopy Image Competition. Her image was a “lone SiC Coated Carbon Fiber.” Russell joins Nagesh Rao as the second Rensselaer winner of this contest, which is sponsored by the Cornell University Student Chapter of the Materials Research Society. Winners received a digital camera. 7/14/03

Michael Danchak, clinical professor of computer science, has been awarded a 2003 WebCT Exemplary Course Award for his fall 2002 course, Graphical User Interface (GUI) Building. The honor is one of only six awarded in 2003 to institutions in Canada, United States, and the United Kingdom. Exemplary Courses will be highlighted with a link on the WebCT Web site, and will be showcased in association with IMPACT 2003: the fifth annual WebCT User Conference, July 14-18 in San Diego. A plaque will also be awarded. GUI Building was developed by a course development team consisting of Danchak; course developer Marie-Pierre Huguet; production coordinator Kevin Foster; student services coordinator Brian Gabriel; technical coordinator Tim Robichaud; and student assistant Craig Patik. The course was delivered in an online conferencing mode, which combines asynchronous and synchronous elements to facilitate faculty-student interaction and student-student interaction. The class was made up of Troy and Hartford campus students, as well as distributed students nationwide. 7/14/03

Rensselaer was well represented at the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Annual Conference in Nashville, Tenn. (June 22-25). President Shirley Ann Jackson led off the proceedings with the main plenary talk, “Changes and Challenges in Engineering Education.”

Lester Gerhardt, associate dean of engineering, facilitated “Presentation Tips,” which was part of a workshop titled Tips for Writing, Reviewing, and Presenting an ASEE Paper. Gerhardt also presented a paper “Study Abroad: Impact on Engineering Careers” along with D. Joseph Mook of the University of Buffalo, SUNY and Susannah Spodek of the Institute of International Education .

George List, professor and department head of civil and environmental engineering, and graduate student Stacy Eisenman’s “The Admiral Combs Design Retreat” was part of a technical session. In addition, their paper “Hands on Experiences in Civil Engineering” was included in the ASEE multimedia session along with Don Millard’s “Electronic Media to Enhance Electrical Engineering Education.”

The session Teaching Teaming Skills Through Design included a paper “Incorporating Leadership Training in a Sophomore Engineering Design Course” by associate professor of mechanical engineering Deborah Kaminski and members of the Archer Leadership Center: Linda McCloskey, director, Christine Allard, senior educator, and Jane Reel, former senior educator.

Douglas Baxter, director of the Engineering Core curriculum, and graduate student Michael Guerci’s paper “Automating an Introductory Computer Aided Design Course to Improve Student Evaluation” was featured in the Assessment of Graphics Programs session.

Russell Kraft, senior research scientist in electrical computer and systems engineering, and Ismail Fidan’s (Tennessee Tech University) paper “The Development of a Computer-Aided Process Planning Tool for Electronics Manufacturing Education” was part of the New Approaches in Engineering Curriculum session. 7/14/03