Campus News: Week of September 17, 2001

Research Studies How Activity Affects Aging Bone

Researchers at Rensselaer are conducting bone experiments that could revolutionize the shoe industry and potentially overhaul exercise programs for older people.

With a $238,365 grant from the Whitaker Foundation, Deepak Vashishth, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, and his students are conducting state-of-the-art experiments to replicate conditions of wear and tear on bones to study the impact of aging on fracture characteristics of bone.

Researchers have long established that axial loading, for example the load on bones from standing, can cause bone damage. Vashishth will examine the effects of axial loading combined with torsional loading, a twisting action that occurs when walking or running. This innovative combination will produce a more complete picture of how older bones react to everyday activity as well as to exercise.

Studying how loads affect bone of different ages could lead to new shoe designs that limit the torsional load, especially for older people whose bones are more vulnerable to fracture, said Vashishth. It could also provide more insight into the types of exercises that would have the least damaging effects on older bones. "We also hope to apply our data to predict the failure rate of bone around joint implants, such as hip or knee, which could lead to better implant designs," said Vashishth.

Load data come from the Israeli army, whose soldiers exhibit the highest rate of fatigue fractures in the world, according to Vashishth. The bones for the study are obtained from the National Disease Research Interchange.

Rensselaer Scores Big With U.S. News & World Report Rankings

Rensselaer has many top scores when it comes to rankings issued by the 2002 U.S. News & World Report "Best Colleges" guidebook.

Under the magazine's undergraduate business specialties, Rensselaer's entrepreneurship program at the Lally School of Business and Technology has been ranked 13th in the country.

The annual rankings were released on Sept. 6 and can be found at www.usnews.com. Rensselaer's undergraduate School of Engineering has been ranked 17th in the country by the same publication and places the university among the nation's top 50 universities.

In the magazine's other undergraduate specialties listed online, Rensselaer placed 16th in biomedical engineering, 14th in electrical/electronic/ communications, and 16th in materials engineering. In other undergraduate programs, Rensselaer placed 17th in mechanical engineering (tied with Carnegie Mellon University and Virginia Tech), 18th in industrial/manufacturing engineering, and 24th in civil engineering (tied with Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis, Iowa State University, and University of California-Los Angeles).

Aggressive Hiring Bolsters Faculty

Rensselaer is well on its way to fulfilling many of the goals set forth in the Rensselaer Plan. One key step in this process is the hiring of new faculty. Twenty-two new tenure-track faculty have been hired in the past six months, according to Institute Provost G.P. "Bud" Peterson, with plans to hire an additional 18 in the coming months—three for new posts and 15 to fill positions that will be vacated by retiring faculty.

"There is an excitement and a contagious energy on campus whenever new faculty are added to the mix," Peterson says. "The ever-increasing opportunities for leading-edge, idea-driven research is something we hope will entice new faculty to want to come to Rensselaer."

New hires have been made Institutewide, said Peterson. Sixteen of these are for newly created posts; seven of the new hires are women and five are ethnic minorities.

In addition, searches are under way for a total of six "constellation" in the areas of biotechnology and information technology, with each constellation comprising one senior and two junior faculty members in each areas. Rensselaer hopes to fill all six constellations over the next three years.

"The goals of the Rensselaer Plan are ambitious, and it is heartening to be able to add these wonderful new individuals, with their new ideas, new approaches, and new energy, to our already world-class faculty," Peterson said.

For a list of new faculty, click here.

Lockheed Martin To Host This Year's Archer Leadership Conference

Postponed

The Archer Center for Student Leadership Development will hold its annual leadership conference from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 29, in the Rensselaer Union. This year's conference, sponsored by Lockheed Martin, will center around the theme "Leading Change in a Wide Open World." The conference is open to all undergraduate and graduate students who preregister.
Students will have the opportunity to choose morning and afternoon educational sessions led by key Lockheed Martin employees. Topics range from "Virtual Team Leadership" to "So You Want To Be the Boss" and "Diversity: The Junk in Your Trunk." Additionally, students can play the Lockheed Martin Ethics Challenge Game, which encourages players to examine ethical scenarios and determine the best course of action.

"The Archer Center is so proud of this conference because it offers students the unique opportunity to network with these executives while experiencing leadership training from corporate professionals," says Linda McCloskey, director of the Archer Center.

Past leadership conferences have attracted more than 300 students and have been hosted by corporations such as Lucent, IBM, and General Electric, among others.

Students can register at the Union, room 3702. The event requires a $10 deposit that will be returned at check-in on the day of the event.

Reaching Out to Garden Way Employees

In an effort to help the 550 displaced Garden Way employees find jobs, an on-site job fair was held Sept. 6 at the company's warehouse. Rensselaer was one of 50 area employers chosen to participate in the job fair, which was held exclusively for Garden Way employees.

Rensselaer staff members Cathy Didio, personnel services, Jude Klein, recruiter, and Carlton Sauls, employment manager, took part in the job fair. According to Klein, 43 applications were collected at the event; so far, six interviews have been set up and two people were hired.

The job fair was sponsored by the New York State Department of Labor, Rensselaer County Employment & Training, and the Capital Region Workforce Investment Board

Rensselaer Plan Update: Human Resources

Human Resources (HR) has pledged to create a collaborative partnership with each division to assist in achieving the goals set forth in the Rensselaer Plan. According to Curtis Powell, vice president for human resources, "as Rensselaer moves into the 21st century, the faculty and staff must act together as a community to attain greater prominence and excellence."

Human Resources will provide the strategic focus and develop Institutewide initiatives to assist each division in achieving its commitments to the Rensselaer Plan, according to the HR performance plan.

HR will play an active role in the hiring of faculty "constellations" in the areas of biotechnology and information technology.

HR also will partner with each division to develop a new-employee orientation program that provides an overview of the Institute's mission, vision, values, key initiatives, and standard operating procedures. HR will participate in the review of hiring, tenure, and promotion standards for faculty and will partner with all divisions in developing sound practices in the recruitment, selection, and promotion of staff.

Additional priorities include:

• Reorganize the Division of Human Resources to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of service to faculty and staff.
  

• Develop and implement an Institutewide Performance Management Tool that will define job expectations, set standards of performance, and outline performance improvement measures so that staff will exemplify excellence and commitment. Along these lines, HR also will develop an employee handbook to establish a written standard of behavior and performance. A comprehensive training and staff development program to assist all staff in improving their competencies and skills will be developed.
  

• Review Rensselaer's health and welfare programs, seeking to implement a cost-effective benefits program. According to Powell, Rensselaer has experienced a 40 percent increase in medical costs over the past 4 fiscal years.

"Our vision is that Rensselaer is the employer of choice in the Capital Region," said Powell. "Our mission is to ensure that by enabling people to achieve excellence and job satisfaction in their work environment."