The shirts were ironed and the shoes were shined all in preparation for Friday, September 25—the morning of the career fair. After countless info sessions, résumé critiques, and mock interviews, the students of RPI were ready in their best business attire. Upon entering the Mueller Center gym, the temperature rises by several degrees and the line of vision is disturbed by a condensed sea of people. Companies including Google, General Electric, Amazon, Cisco Systems, and Boeing were present. There were over 200 companies that participated in this two-day career fair—165 on Friday and 70 on Saturday. According to Arjun Sharma ’16, co-director of the team that managed the 37th Annual NSBE/SHPE Career Fair, there is a recruiting committee that handles the invitations of the companies. However, due to the long-standing reputation of RPI’s career fair, many simply register themselves. Along with pertinent facts, Sharma also shared his thoughts on the career fair: “It is a great experience. This is just a very well put-together career fair, and this year, our recruiting committee has worked really hard to get together a lot of different types of companies, not just engineering firms, but a lot of business firms for the new majors we have at this school. Business, analytics, more tech companies, and start-ups as well. It’s become very diverse over the years.” Read more...

In light of Reunion & Homecoming, The Poly has opted to take this moment to make mention of some of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni who give us the ability to hyper-inflate our school-wide ego every once in a while. The annual homecoming game gives us an opportunity to focus on the people and achievements that have given RPI an exceptional reputation, and The Poly Editorial Board feels it’s important to tip our hats in their direction every once in a while. Read more...

Last Friday, September 25, was Troy Night Out—sure, the town is quaint and there’s a lot to do there, but that happens once a month. I was going somewhere even more special. I was attending Rensselaer Outing Club’s traditional first trip of the year to Lake George, which is appropriately dubbed as “Fall Lake George.” For this trip, ROC rents an entire island (it’s called Turtle Island, how cool is that?) and allows participants free reign. Read more...

RPI built a four-touchdown lead in the first half at rival Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Worcester battled back, scoring three touchdowns in the second half. But it was too little, too late for the other Engineers as Rensselaer ran the clock out on their comeback and emerged victorious, 28-21. Read more...

NASA released a paper in Nature Geoscience on Monday, September 28, detailing the discovery of liquid water flowing on the surface of present-day Mars, though calling it flowing water is a bit of a misnomer. Read more...

I’m back again! For those that don’t know, I was Acting Editor in Chief last fall semester and helped direct the organization into a more active position in the community. As of two weeks ago, I was officially elected to the position of Editor in Chief of The Polytechnic and I’m still running a tight ship with new additions to our motley crew. Read more...

Hailing from Patterson, NJ, Trap&B artist Willie Maxwell, more famously known by his stage name Fetty Wap, released his self-titled debut studio album Fetty Wap on Friday. His first single “Trap Queen” dropped in early 2014, but didn’t become popular until nearly three months after its music video was uploaded to YouTube in November 2014. This song led to his meteoric rise and following three singles, for a total of four songs that hit top 33 in Billboard’s Hot 100 chart; this hasn’t happened since a certain English rock band hit America in the 1960s. Read more...

The RPI women’s ice hockey team competed against the University of Montreal this past Saturday at the Houston Field House. Although things were relatively quiet in the first period, by the time the second one rolled around, things started to speed up. Read more...

On Thursday, September 24, at 8 pm, the Executive Board meeting was called into order. After greetings to the E-board members and guests, Martha McElligott was invited to begin her presentation. McElligott is part of the financial team that covers the budget for Rensselaer Union clubs and oversees the training of clubs in terms of how to use and request finances. In her presentation, she demonstrated how to navigate the Union website in order to find the financial section. She also detailed the different forms necessary for a club’s finances to run smoothly, such as the Club Purchasing Bid Sheet, RCS Guest Account, Reimbursement Form, Student Payroll Authorization, and Union Purchase Requisition Form. These are all available online at the Union website. Read more...

“Mom, dad, can you buy me a selfie stick, a portable charger, and a new phone case?” is the question likely asked by many young teenagers today. Many companies are on the rise selling cell phone accessories because of the increase in popularity of cell phones, and the great shift towards technology over the last decade. Technology is advancing at a speed that is becoming quite difficult to keep up with. For example, I wonder how many typical people in society understand how a cell phone works in general. Not many would probably be able to answer this, besides noting it makes phone calls, surfs the web, and sends text messages; but how it really works, is the real question. Read more...

Ryan Murphy is undoubtedly a genius when it comes to creating amazing television series. Nip/Tuck, Glee, and American Horror Story are some of the best series I’ve watched. The newest Murphy series, co-created with Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan, Scream Queens, promises to offer a death in every episode, while also providing comedic relief. The pilot episode premiered this past Tuesday night, and it was a bloody mess. Read more...

RPI men’s soccer played a pair of road games last weekend, one at Bard College on Saturday and another at Babson College on Sunday. After scoring multiple goals in six of the first seven games of the season, the Engineers offense cooled off, managing just one score in each game. This effort was enough to keep the undefeated season intact though, as Rensselaer shut out Bard 1-0 and tied with Babson to improve to an overall record of 8-0-1. Read more...

Surrounded by a slew of cameras and reporters, Volkswagen’s newly-appointed Chief Executive Officer, Matthias Müller, took the stage to present his upcoming plans for the Wolfsburg, Germany, corporation on Friday. Müller announced his desire to make Volkswagen “an even stronger company,” but has assumed the role amidst one of the brand’s largest scandals to date. Read more...

Hey RPI Students,

I hope you all found paths to professional success at the Career Fair! Thank you to all of the students who put in the time and effort to make such a huge event possible! For everyone else, be sure to follow up with any companies that took an interest in you. Don’t let the opportunity go to waste! Read more...

The Captain Lawrence brewing company is based out of Elmsford, NY. Since its founding in 2006 by University of California, Davis brewing science graduate Scott Vaccaro, the company has won four craft brew awards and enjoys a wide selection of craft brews. As a nod to the coming fall season, Dan and I decided to review Captain Lawrence’s Pumpkin Ale. Read more...

Friday, September 25

Sage Aveue
Injury: Rensselaer County reported that a student had passed out three times at a house on Sage Avenue. When Troy Fire Department and Troy Police Department responded to the scene, the student was conscious but not alert and that there was no evidence pointing to alcohol or drugs being involved. The student was transported to Samaritan Hospital, and the Dean of Students Office and the Department of Public Safety were notified. Read more...

Hi RPI!

It seems like we’re in the thick of it now, with career planning and classes coming full force, but fear not, the semester will slip away before you know it! I wanted to take a moment to thank all those who volunteered their time to make this career fair a successful one. I know one of the things that drew me to RPI when applying was the heavy campus recruiting from companies. I couldn’t be happier to see the tradition alive and well. For those of you that attended the event, I’m sure you’re knee deep in applications to companies and searching for more. I know I’ve lost count of my own “apply online” ventures at this point. Stay hungry! There is a world of opportunity out there just waiting for you to take it on. Remember to leverage your resources whenever possible. Joblink and the Center for Career and Professional Development have a constant supply of information about upcoming recruitment events and a variety of workshops, from Resumania to mock interviews. Stop down on the Darrin Communications Center second floor to learn to present yourself at your best. Read more...

Airplane! is a movie that I can watch time and time again and find it funny each viewing. Simply put, it is a spoof of the domestic American air travel experience. It’s funny to note how the jokes hit on the realities of air travel, despite the fact the movie was made almost two decades before 9/11 permanently altered air travel. For instance, the spoof of airport gate security resembles the true state of modern TSA security that in the 1980s was only a pipe dream. However, the days of smoking on airplanes are long gone, so the smoking ticket gag loses some meaning looking back from a modern perspective. I hate to explain jokes, because in the process they inevitably stop being funny, but I can say that anyone who has been on an airplane can identify with them. No aspect of typical airport and airline operations go without a cruel mockery being made of them. Read more...

Some of the best advice that I can give you during your time at Rensselaer is to “get involved.” You won’t regret it. Whether you’re a freshman or a graduate student, it’s never too late. RPI is fantastic at giving you one of the best opportunities in the country for a great education, but that’s only part of the equation. Read more...