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NON PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID RENSSELAER Alumni Magazine | Fall 2018 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute POLYTECHNIC 110 8th Street INSTITUTE Troy, NY 12180-3590 CURTIS R. PRIEM EXPERIMENTAL MEDIA AND PERFORMING ARTS CENTER AT RENSSELAER EMPAC.RPI.EDU CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF EXPERIMENTAL MEDIA AND PERFORMING ARTS SNAPSHOTS FROM EXPANDING EXPERIMENTS WITH THE OPENING OF THE CURTIS R. PRIEM EXPERIMENTAL MEDIA AND PERFORMING ARTS CENTER ON OCTOBER 3, 2008, RENSSELAER OPENED THE DOORS TO A THE STUDIOS DATA DIMENSIONS IN TIME NEW ERA OF CROSS-DISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AND PRODUCTION AT THE CONFLUENCE OF ART, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY. ON THE COVER: Researchers at Rensselaer are perfecting network analysis, a powerful data science technique that makes it possible to identify common ground in complex datasets. www.rpi.edu/magazine VICE PRESIDENT FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS AND EXTERNAL RELATIONS Richie Hunter ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS Pamela Smith MANAGING EDITOR Tracey Leibach ALUMNI NEWS EDITOR Meg Gallien CONTRIBUTORS Ellen Johnston Mary Martialay Josh Potter PHOTOGRAPHERS & ILLUSTRATORS New research improves nature’s tools for digesting plastic. See page 22. Martin Benjamin Ray Felix Mark McCarty FEATURES Kris Qua DESIGN 24 Snapshots From the Studios Lauren Marchese With a broad and interdisciplinary approach to education, the School of Architecture is Wendy Wineriter Jim Beneduci preparing its students to design a better future. 32 Experiments in Time Since the ribbon cutting for the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts MOVING? Center on Oct. 3, 2008, EMPAC has helped forge a new paradigm for cross-disciplinary Update your address via email at alum. research and production on campus while positioning Rensselaer as a major player in the [email protected], or write to: Rensselaer international art world. Mag azine, Office of Strategic Communications and External Relations, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12180, or call (518) 276-2800. 38 Expanding Data Dimensions Rensselaer (ISSN 0898-1442) is Researchers at Rensselaer are perfecting network analysis, a powerful data science published by the Office of Strategic technique that makes it possible to identify common ground in complex datasets. Communications and External Relations, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12180-3590. Periodicals postage is paid at Troy, N.Y., and DEPARTMENTS additional mailing offices. Postmaster: send address changes to Rensselaer, 110 Eighth Street, Troy, NY 4 President’s View 6 At Rensselaer 44 Class Notes 12180-3590. Rensselaer Polytechnic Signs of success. Making a Difference 8 In Memoriam 63 Insti tute is an equal opportunity/ affirmative action institution. Milestones 23 Mark McCarty 5 Mail 64 One Last Thing Opinions expressed in these pages do not 42 Staying Connected necessarily reflect the views of the editors Keeping current. Commemorating a or the policies of the Institute. ©2018 Paying it forward. landmark speech. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. SNAPSHOT Coming Soon: Panera! RENSSELAER DINING SERVICES CONTINUOUSLY looks for ways to expand and update its offerings. This summer, the kitchen inside the Student Union McNeil Room was completely gutted in preparation for bringing in a Panera Bread restaurant. Opening this fall, the facility will be a fully functioning Panera with the traditional Panera menu, including the full bakery lineup, with all breads and bakery items baked on-site, as well as soups and sandwiches. The location will be open seven days a week from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Panera has been one of the most successful restaurant companies in history. What started as one 400-square- foot cookie store in Boston has grown to a system with over 2,000 units, approximately $5 billion in system- wide sales, and over 100,000 associates. n Mark McCarty 2 RENSSELAER/FALL 2018 RENSSELAER/FALL 2018 3 PRESIDENT’S VIEW • SHIRLEY ANN JACKSON, PH.D. MAIL [email protected] Signs of Success Keeping Current Transformative Campaign provides opportunities for sharing Institute progress with alumni and alumnae Since the launch of our capital campaign, Transformative: To stay on the leading edge in education as well as research, we I am so proud to receive the alumni Class Notes Connections Campaign for Global Change, I, along with leaders from across are adding to our academic offerings in emerging fields. We have magazine as a graduate of RPI. It is In my senior year in the Greene Building the Institute, have been traveling across the country and around a new Bachelor of Science in Music program that began this fall, important for us to keep current with I realized, as an architectural student, I Because the world to engage with the Rensselaer community. We have as well as a new focus on Quantitative Health Economics in our the institution’s strategic initiatives and was a complete flop. But what could I hosted events in New York City, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Economics Department. We are developing a new Bachelor of remain involved with its faculty and do? If I switched to civil engineering, the Every Day Matters Boston, Sarasota, Fort Meyers, West Palm Beach, and Miami. Science program in the Lally School in Quantitative Finance and students. list of makeup courses would be so long Internationally, we have visited with our alumni and alumnae in Analytics; and in the School of Science, a new program of study in The publication is expertly designed, my G.I. Bill time could run out. Then I We have launched a new blog Dubai and Zurich. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. and its content is always inspiring! It is might have no degree of any kind. called Every Day Matters, where We have had the great pleasure of Overall, we engage our students with the high quality I suggest to my alumni we’ll share the voices of students, talking about how we are educating a revolutionary pedagogy that includes relationships with UCONN and CCSU faculty, staff, and alumni who the next generation of technological the gamification of courses, immersive as a model. are making a difference. We will leaders, as well as changing the world experiences, and interaction with Be proud of your teamwork and present posts on world-changing through our research and pedagogy. artificially intelligent characters. achievements. research, ground-breaking The signs of success are As we do all of this, we encourage innovations, and creative solutions everywhere at Rensselaer. We had the new ways of seeing and thinking that Barbara Vallera ’82 that push boundaries every day to greatest number of applicants for our cross fields. Recently, we launched an Ellington, Connecticut make our world better. freshman class in history—20,403—a initiative that received a great deal of 5 percent increase over the record- attention around the nation—a “data We hope you will follow us and breaking number of applications we dexterity” requirement to ensure that all Forward Momentum join the movement. received last year. We have admitted undergraduates learn how to use diverse RPI is a far cry from the Institute that everydaymatters.rpi.edu the strongest (SAT: 1409) and the datasets to define and solve complex my father, Frederick W. Schwartz, Class George Johns ’49, whose class note in the Spring 2018 issue prompted most diverse class in our history. problems. In addition, an initiative of 1905 (later professor of chemistry, this response from Robert Alexander We derive this strength from we have created, titled Art_X, which 1913-1948), graduated from in 1905; or ’49, is shown with classmates Jack a strong vision for ourselves that focuses on the art in and of science, where I earned my two degrees in 1944 Buckley, Ed MacDuff, Bob Jaros, and inspires Rensselaer students, faculty, and the science in and of art, also and 1948. I am very happy to have my their dates celebrating graduation and staff alike. We operate within the encourages creativity across disciplines, grandson-in-law, Matthew Romanowicz, night at the Crooked Lake House. We’d love to hear paradigm of “The New Polytechnic,” and domains. attending with a double major in from you! in which we continue to educate To ready Rensselaer, the oldest electrical engineering and mechanical So I soldiered on through to my B. of technological research university in the engineering and doing extremely well. Arch. degree. It took over 20 years after To provide space for as many nation, for global leadership in the 21st Keep up the forward momentum. century, we have begun a billion-dollar capital leaving RPI that included domestic and letters as possible, we often “...we engage our students with a revolutionary overseas engineering experience and two must edit them for length. campaign—Transformative: Campaign for Richard Schwartz ’44 advanced degrees before I became a pedagogy that includes the gamification of courses, Global Change—which has three pillars: Peru, New York Address correspondence to: The first is increasing student financial professor in civil engineering at Rensselaer Magazine, Strategic immersive experiences, and interaction with California State University at Long aid and enhancing the remarkable student Communications and External experience at Rensselaer. The cost of the Funding the Future Beach. I want George Johns (Class of ’49 artificially intelligent characters.” Relations, Rensselaer Polytechnic education we offer—world-class, immersive, I appreciate the ideals raised in this Notes, Spring 2018) to know that I still Institute, Troy, NY 12180; — PRESIDENT SHIRLEY ANN JACKSON and experiential—means that our ability to article by the President (“Preparing for have a soft spot in my heart for offer financial aid must bridge the cost gap for Our Third Century,” Spring 2018). I architecture! email to [email protected]; or many students. agree that more funding can help bring call (518) 276-6531. our students for deep foundational knowledge in their chosen Our second pillar focuses on our faculty.

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