Latest Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Stories
University of Missouri and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Honored for Transformation of Spend Management Practices through a More Strategic Approach to Procurement CARY, N.C., April 29 /PRNewswire/ -- SciQuest, Inc., is proud to announce that two of the company's customers have been honored with the National Association of Educational Procurement (NAEP) 2009 Excellence in Procurement Award for their vision and leadership transforming the procurement operations at their universities into...
The speed at which heat moves between two materials touching each other is a potent indicator of how strongly they are bonded to each other, according to a new study by researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.Additionally, the study shows that this flow of heat from one material to another, in this case one solid and one liquid, can be dramatically altered by "painting" a thin atomic layer between materials. Changing the interface fundamentally changes the way the...
New research finding could lead to more durable aircraft, automotive componentsA new research discovery at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute could lead to tougher, more durable composite frames for aircraft, watercraft, and automobiles. Epoxy composites are increasingly being incorporated into the design of new jets, planes, and other vehicles. Composite material frames are extremely lightweight, which lowers the overall weight of the vehicle and boosts fuel efficiency. The downside is that...
A new study answers a key question at the very heart of nanotechnology: Why are nanorods so small?Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have discovered the origins of nanorod diameter, demonstrating that the competition and collaboration among various mechanisms of atomic transport hold the key to nanorod size. The researchers say it is the first study to identify the fundamental reasons why nearly all nanorods have a diameter on the order of 100 nanometers."Scientists have been...
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new technique for growing slimmer copper nanorods, a key step for advancing integrated 3-D chip technology.These thinner copper nanorods fuse together, or anneal, at about 300 degrees Celsius. This relatively low annealing temperature could make the nanorods ideal for use in heat-sensitive nanoelectronics, particularly for "gluing" together the stacked components of 3-D computer chips."When fabricating and assembling 3-D chips,...
Researchers "tune" graphene's properties by growing it on different surfacesResearchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have discovered a new method for controlling the nature of graphene, bringing academia and industry potentially one step closer to realizing the mass production of graphene-based nanoelectronics.Graphene, a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon, was discovered in 2004 and is considered a potential heir to copper and silicon as the fundamental building blocks of nanoelectronics....
Two children have a seizure. One child never has another seizure. Twenty years later, the other child has a series of seizures and is diagnosed with epilepsy. A study being led by researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is looking at what could possibly happen in the development of these two children that would lead to such extreme variations in their neurologic health.The findings reveal that genetic predisposition, coupled with the occurrence of a patient's first seizures, could set...
The Southern Star Observation Wheel, a giant Australian Ferris wheel patterned on the London Eye, opened for business Saturday. The wheel, in the Docklands section of Melbourne, has 21 glass capsules, giving riders a comprehensive view, The Age reported. At the top of the wheel, they will be almost 400 feet in the air. Reporters got the first rides when the wheel started turning at 1 p.m. They were followed by winners of a competition. By the end of the afternoon, anyone willing to pony up...
Special energy issue of Optics Express describes 'coming revolution' in LED lightingA revolution in energy-efficient, environmentally-sound, and powerfully-flexible lighting is coming to businesses and homes, according to a paper in latest special energy issue of Optics Express, the Optical Society's (OSA) open-access journal.The paper envisions the future of lighting -- a future with widespread use of light emitting diodes (LEDs), which offer a number of obvious and subtle advantages over...
A team of researchers has set out to calculate the power of a dolphin's thrust by using digital video and millions of tiny bubbles.In 1936, zoologist James Gray estimated that the drag dolphins must overcome to swim faster than 20 miles an hour. Gray said dolphins lacked the muscles to swim so fast, and yet they did. This is known as Gray's Paradox. Over the decades, scientists have found flaws in Gray's work, and most biologists have rejected his theory."There is no paradox. The...
