RIB

New chair named

A new professor and chair for the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology was hired this past June. Linda McGown, a professor at Duke University for 17 years, and past director of graduate studies for Duke’s chemistry department, will be working with the department to further advance research and education, especially for biotechnological applications.

McGown received her B.S. in chemistry from the SUNY Buffalo and her doctorate in chemistry from the University of Washington. While chemistry is her main focus, McGown is involved with spectroscopy as well. In her career so far, she has published over one hundred journal articles and recieved the Gold Medal Award from the New York Section of the Society for Applied Spectroscopy. McGown currently serves on the editorial boards of Spectroscopy, Instrumentation Science and Technology, and Applied Spectroscopy.

Forums, talks planned

October 14 marks the beginning of a four-part series of forums hosted by the Union. Topics to be covered include strange sciences, UFOs, mythbusters, and the mob.

Peter Von Puttkamer will begin the series with his talk on “Weird Science.” His lecture will be held on Thursday October 14 at 7:30 pm in DCC 308. Von Puttkamer has traveled the world in order to discover and capture on film odd inventors and science on the edge.

Robert Hastings will continue the series on Tuesday, October 26. His discussion, “UFO: The Hidden History,” will offer insights on exposed government files and witness accounts of sightings. Hastings’ presentation will take place at 7:30 pm in DCC 324.

“An Evening With the Mythbusters” will be presented on Thursday November 18 at 7:30 p.m. This film is a part of the Discovery Channel’s series “Mythbusters,” a show that disproves common myths using science.

Albert DeMeo will conclude the four-part series with his presentation of “For the Sins of My Father: A Mafia Killer, His Son and the Legacy of a Mob Life.” This will take place on Thursday, February 10 at 7:30 p.m. in DCC 308.

Free tickets are available for RPI students, faculty, and staff with the presentation of an RPI ID at the Rensselaer Union Administration and Student Activities Office starting October 4 for the October lectures and November 1 for the “Mythbusters” lecture.

Troy’s tax rates rise

Mayor Harry Tutunjian’s first budget will end up costing the average Troy homeowner an extra $95 a year. His $50.1 million budget includes a 6.5 percent tax rate increase as well as a five percent water rate increase, and has placed $4.2 million in state aid for distressed cities into the general fund..

In the past, Tutunjian, former president of the City Council, always fought to make the previous mayor hold off on such decisions as tax increases and reallocation of money aids from their original intended uses. This year, however, the mayor of Troy has proposed the 6.5 percent tax increase.

Tutunjian’s plan will also result in a job cut including increased lay-offs for part-time workers. Positions such as the deputy mayor for constituent relations, treasurer, water maintenance foreman, and civil engineer will be eliminated. Only the first of those positions, however, is currently filled. Jim Walsh, who presently fills this position, has stepped down voluntarily.

A series of meetings to discuss the budget have been scheduled. A public hearing will take place at 7:30 pm on November 9 in the City Council Chamber in City Hall. Voting will take place at 7:00 pm on November 30.

Fellowship granted

One of the 120 Homeland Security Fellowship from the American Association for the Advancement of Science awarded this year was presented to Thomas Triscari Jr. ’76. A professor in the Lally School of Management and Technology, Triscari will be working in the Directorate for Science and Technology in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for the next year.

Triscari’s research focuses mainly on the improvement of information and decision processes in complex organizations. He specializes in the development and implementation of information technology systems and worked as a visiting scientist with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory in 2002.

Of the departments available for fellowship winners to take part in, Triscari chose to participate in the Critical Infrastructure Portfolio, a part of the Office of Research and Development. His fellowship, which started in September, will continue until August 31, 2005.

Tech conference held

The Desmond Hotel in Albany played host to over 150 people from the United States, England, Ireland, Germany, and Canada who participated in the conference “Emerging Issues in Technology Transfer.” This conference was sponsored by RPI’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship, and the Technology Transfer Society.

According to the director of Rensselaer’s Office of Technology Commercialization, Charles Rancourt ’70, the main focus of this conference was to discuss the challenges that lie in transporting technology from the lab to the creation of products and services in the marketplace. Other topics covered included the role of entrepreneurship in technology transfer, evaluation methods and practices, marketing issues, patent donations, and technology transfer at federal laboratories.

Keynote speakers included Thomas Allen, professor of management and engineering systems at MIT, and Dr. Russell Bessette, executive director of the New York State Office of Science, Technology, and Academic Research.