Sept. 15, 2003

Raj Bawa ’87, adjunct assistant professor in the School of Science, presented two papers at the prestigious World Nano-Economic Congress, held Sept. 8-10 in Washington, D.C. Other speakers at the conference included Richard E. Smalley (Rice University) and David L. Tennenhouse (INTEL Corporation). Bawa is an expert in the business of nanotechnology. His research explores patent and business trends in nanotech-related inventions. In addition to his position at Rensselaer, Bawa is president of Bawa Biotechnology Consulting, LLC, in Arlington, Va. Bawa will speak at an Oct. 23 “Biotechnology: Innovation, Opportunity, and Commercialization” symposium at the Heffner Alumni House. 9/15/03

Aparna Gupta, assistant professor of decision sciences and and engineering systems, is among 83 of the nation's top young engineers who have been selected to participate in the National Academy of Engineering's (NAE) ninth annual Frontiers of Engineering symposium. The three-day event will bring together engineers age 30 to 45 who are performing leading-edge engineering research and technical work. The participants — from industry, academia, and government — were nominated by fellow engineers or organizations and chosen from a field of nearly 170 applicants. “This century’s great achievements will involve the marriage of seemingly unrelated disciplines, like bioengineering and computer science,” said National Academy of Engineering President William A. Wulf. “It is gatherings like Frontiers of Engineering, which forge relationships among the brightest young engineers in a diverse range of fields, where future innovations will be initiated.” The symposium will be held Sept. 18-20 at the National Academies' Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center in Irvine, Calif., and will explore topics in environmental engineering, nanotechnology, counterterrorism technologies and infrastructure protection, and biomolecular computing. 9/15/03

Achille Messac, associate professor of mechanical, aerospace, and nuclear engineering, has been invited to join the Editorial Advisory Board of the Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization Journal of the International Society of Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization. 9/15/03

Cynthia Smith, assistant dean in the Office of the First-Year Experience, was honored for her involvement with campus blood drives by the American Red Cross on Sept. 5, when the “Save A Life Tour” (SALT) 2003 visited campus. Rensselaer has hosted 46 blood drives and collected 3,581 units of blood over the last five years. “The American Red Cross’s decision to bring the SALT museum to Rensselaer is testament to the students, faculty, and staff who continuously step forward to give the gift of life to others,” said Smith. Community leaders Kathleen Jimino, Rensselaer County executive, and Pratima Kunchala, transfusion services director at Albany Memorial Hospital, also spoke at the event. 9/15/03