Message from Dean Shekhar Garde
“As the new Dean of Engineering I am pleased to present the Spring/Summer 2015 issue of the School of Engineering magazine. The magazine provides a window into the many exciting activities in both education and research that make the School of Engineering at Rensselaer truly an intellectually vibrant place. Rensselaer has a long history and excellent reputation in technological education. Our faculty are leading many initiatives that will collectively define the modern engineering education for the 21st century and place the school at the forefront of it. Such education will include, for example, organic integration of new technology into classrooms, more effective ways of delivering content, access to maker-tinker-inventor spaces for students, as well as exposure to new ideas and cultures through study-abroad and other experiences. As you read the magazine, I hope you will get a sense for some of these activities. I expect to report much more on this front in the coming year. The magazine focuses on many examples of truly interdisciplinary research activities that are fundamentally changing the way we think about human health, well-being, productivity, and safety. You will notice articles on research that spans a spectrum from the molecular to the human level, combining advanced computation with state-of-the-art experimentation. This research is addressing a range of important challenges, from diagnosis of birth defects, development of artificial pancreas to fight type-1 diabetes, and 3D printing of human skin, to using advanced computation and virtual reality to train surgeons in virtual surgery environments. The magazine also highlights activities at the intersection of advanced materials and lighting happening in our Smart Lighting Engineering Research Center. And finally, I hope you will take note of our growing strength in the (bio) imaging area in the article on omni tomography. As we look forward to celebrating the 200th anniversary of Rensselaer in 2024, we in the School of Engineering are proud of our illustrious history and our strong reputation. We are also proud to be an important part of the transformation that is happening on the Rensselaer campus with exceptional new faculty and growing body of outstanding students. We thank you for your continued support of Rensselaer and invite you to visit us to experience the transformation first hand!”