News
Prof. Sawyer received her B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Hampton University in 2003 and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer in 2006. Her research focuses on developing fundamental understanding and processes for hybrid inorganic/organic materials for optoelectronic devices and sensors. Her recent research on sensor development to better understand the harmful algal blooms was featured here.
In the annual FIRST Robotics Competition, teams of high school students will spend several weeks designing and building a robot to address a specific challenge. This year's challenge focuses on transportation with the goal to "reimagine the future of safe, high-speed travel, and lightning-fast deliveries to propel the next evolution of transportation forward."
A grant from the National Science Foundation will allow Shayla Sawyer, a professor in the Department of Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Rick Relyea, a professor of biological sciences at Rensselaer, to better understand the growing problem of harmful algal blooms (HABs).
Martin A. Schmidt ’81, Ph.D., has been named the 19th President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) by the Rensselaer Board of Trustees. Dr. Schmidt, currently Provost at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), will assume office at the nation’s oldest and one of the world’s most renowned technological research universities on July 1, 2022.
Dr. Schmidt will succeed Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, who has led an extraordinary transformation of Rensselaer since 1999. She earlier had announced that she will step down as Rensselaer’s 18th President on June 30, 2022.
The ECSE community mourns the long time ECSE technical staff member Steve Dombrowski, who passed away on November 11, 2021. The obituary can be found here: https://www.hansfuneralhome.com/steven-j-dombrowski/.
It is with tremendous sadness that we share the news that long time ECSE lab and classroom manager Jerry Dziuba passed away peacefully on October 28, 2021. Jerry was with Rensselaer and ECSE for 47 years. He was dedicated, capable, helpful, and generous – a true pillar of ECSE. His obituary may be found at New Comer Family Obituaries - Jerry Dziuba 1951 - 2021 - New Comer Cremations & Funerals.
Brennan Loder, an undergraduate student in Electrical Engineering (Class of 2022), interned in Data Analytics. He analyzed spectrograms from previous data that Dominion Energy had collected over the past 3 years, focusing on the interaction between hydropower and solar power in the grid. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Loder’s internship was all working from home, which he said taught him to be a part of a remote team, and continued to foster his time management and organization skills.
Prof. Shur is the Patricia and Sheldon Roberts Professor of Solid State Electronics and Professor of Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and co-founder, President and CEO of Electronics of the Future, Inc. He was also a co-founder and Vice-President of Sensor Electronics Technology, Inc. (a leading producer of deep ultraviolet LEDs) and founder of co-founder of several other startups, including Electronics of the Future, Inc. Dr.
For power system operators, it is difficult to identify location of forced or poorly damped oscillations as they are caused by equipment malfunction or improper tuning of equipment, both of which are not represented in the simulation models. If a resonance with the natural oscillations of the system takes place and the oscillations are not mitigated, such an event can cause equipment damage or a blackout of a part of the system.
ECSE Professor Michael Shur has been elected a Fellow of the Institute of Physics. Fellow of the Institute of Physics (FInstP) is the highest level of membership attainable within IOP and is for those with a degree in physics or related subject (or equivalent knowledge gained in the workplace) and who have made a significant impact on their sector.
On being elected, Professor Shur said, “I am very grateful to our Department, to my students and my colleagues for their support and encouragement during these difficult and uncertain times.”