IT and biotech are among the first-year Institute-wide priorities of The Rensselaer Plan. Initiatives in these areas are intended to leverage the Institute’s existing strength in interdisciplinary studies and existing programs.

“As one of our highest priorities, we will dramatically expand our research enterprise to develop specific focal areas within the disciplines of biotechnology and information technology leveraging our existing strengths,” said President Shirley Ann Jackson last Spring.

Because of its cross-cutting nature, Information Technology, although currently linked with the School of Science, has resisted being linked to any one particular school.

“IT should not be viewed as part of the School of Science or any other school,” said Professor David Spooner.

In Fall ’00, Spooner was named associate dean of information technology.

He believes that “the real strength of the program is that it is interdisciplinary.” He is working to maintain this separation by finding a permanent home for the department. Currently, IT courses are taught in any available room around campus.

Spooner plans to promote graduate education in IT, something that has not been emphasized as much as the IT undergraduate program since its inception.

Currently, the IT department does not have its own Ph.D. program, but instead will publicize existing Ph.D. programs in areas such as computer science and computer and systems engineering as alternatives to a Ph.D. in IT. Sp-ooner would also like to encourage more students to pursue a five-year B.S./M.S. program in IT.

The Biology department, under the aegis of the Biotechnology initiative, is also seeing rapid growth.

“The School of Science has shown strong support for biology,” said Bob Parsons, acting chair of biology. He said this is demonstrated by the new biotechnology initiative.

Construction on the new biotechnology center is slated to begin in May. The center will expand the department significantly and will provide strengths in areas like developmental biology.

The department’s newest degree program, bioinformatics, is graduating its first class this year. The program has proved to be popular, according to Parsons.

In another program supported by the department, the Fresh Water Institute recently acquired a $1.2 million grant for the study of acid rain. There is also an agreement between the Wadsworth Center, a public health laboratory run by the New York Department of Health, and RPI, to collaborate on research and to share facilities. This could lead to graduate students working with Wadsworth faculty.

While many things are happening in other areas of the School of Science, some worry that the initiatives in biotechnology and IT are limiting the development of other programs.

“I support the focus on Biotechnology and IT, but the trouble is in the environment of limited resources; sometimes only the first priorities will be met,” said Bruce Watson, professor of earth and environmental science.

The biggest change in the past year in the earth and environmental science department was the transfer of the environmental science degree from an interdisciplinary program to the earth and environmental science department. The change was done to help staff courses more effectively and should benefit students.

The department, while having very few undergraduates, has a vigorous graduate program. Watson does not foresee any adverse affects to the department due to the change in graduate tuition.

Currently many departments with the School of Science are conducting searches to fulfill department chair vacancies.

The departments of biology, physics, mathematics, and chemistry are all searching for new department heads. Joseph Flaherty, dean of the school of science, says “[Faculty] are anxious to get back to teaching and research.”

The department of computer science is currently in the process of hiring a new chair. An offer has been made and the search is nearly complete, according to Spooner. Carlos Varela was recently hired as an assistant professor. Two professors, Daniel Freedman and Christopher Carothers were awarded NSF Career awards this year, a prestigious award given to young faculty.

The School is also working on an update of its curriculum.

A new interdisciplinary degree program in computational science may be ready for Fall 2003. The program would allow students to combine knowledge in a natural science with skills in computational mathematics and computer science.

Professor Joseph Flaherty moved to the position of dean of science last May. He has been at RPI since 1973.

Dr. Ingred Wilke will be joining the physics department as a professor in the fall. Wilke specializes in terahertz imaging and will aid Dr. Xi-Cheng Zhang in the Terahertz Research Center located on campus. Currently, the center is housed in both the Science Center and the CII, but there are plans to permanently house the center in only the CII.

Dr. Gwo-Ching Wang hopes to encourage more students to enter the field of applied physics. She says that 70 percent of the members of the American Physical Society work as applied physicists and that there is much potential in the field. Wang hopes to have more communication with prospective students and to introduce them to all research areas.

Wang takes great pride in the people who comprise the Physics and Applied Physics department. She believes “with good people you can do everything.” This has been evidenced by the numerous awards given to faculty and students this year.

The vacancy left by Professor Tom Apple when he became dean of graduate education has left chemistry looking for a new chair. Dr. Ronald Bailey assumed the position in September. The undergraduate degree in chemistry saw an increase from 124 to 128 credits this year. There will be a second concentration available in the chemistry degree next year, within the field of biochemistry. It has been approved by the curriculum committee and will be listed in next year’s course catalog.

“We think a fair amount of students will want to take advantage of it,” said Bailey.

The School of Science, while seeing rapid growth in biotechnology and information technology initiatives, is also working to maintain the uniqueness found in other programs as it moves forward.