Discovery, Innovation, and Imagination at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Researchers at the Center for Architecture Science and Ecology (CASE) are tackling the problem of sustainable design and building efficiency from all angles, from advanced systems controls and solar harvesting to heliotropism and hydroponic air purification. It’s all very interdisciplinary, and a fascinating look into the behind-the-scenes reality of building design. As someone who is completely unversed in the world and language of architecture, scanning the different projects listed on the CASE site made me appreciate all of the intricacies and systems-within-systems involved in design, and recognize that conventional architecture is still a ways away from weaving efficiency and sustainability into its conventions.

By his own accounts, professor Tim Wei is not exactly the world’s strongest swimmer. “I’m pretty good at not drowning,” he’s told me.

But when it comes to the flow mechanics aspects of swimming, he’s the Michael Phelps of the academic research crowd.

Along with helping the U.S. Olympic swimmers shave a few seconds off their lap time, Wei has done some fascinating research that – for all intents and purposes – solves the 70-year-old mystery of Gray’s Paradox.

The paradox, observed in the days of yore by Sir Gray, was that dolphins can swim faster than their physiology allows. Because his tests showed that dolphins simply aren’t strong enough to swim faster than 20 mph, but he observed them doing so, Sir Gray posited that the skin of the squeaky sea mammals must have some special, nuanced hydrophobic properties that allow them to glide effortlessly through the water. Sir Gray was on to something, but after 75 years, new technology - pioneered by Wei - has finally advanced to the point where the paradox could be fully explained.

Here’s a very nice segment from KBS ‘s Science Café (which is the South Korean equivalent of PBS’s Nova) that aired recently, where they interview Wei about his research. (You can’t see me, but I was in the room when they were filming.)

I recently met with professor Mark Steiner for a tour of The Design Lab, and was mightily impressed by what I saw: lab benches covered with machine parts and components; one-of-a-kind device prototypes, white boards with scribbled equations and observations; and – less surprisingly – student engineers hard at work.

Here’s how it works. Primarily occupied by sophomores and seniors, the students work in teams to design or refine products and devices for real-world companies and organizations. Research and development can be hugely expensive, and there are many companies who recognize the value of handing off a particularly tricky or stubborn engineering challenge to a team of eager, innovative students. It’s also excellent resume fodder for students, as most of the companies who partner with the Design Lab are names that you would definitely recognize.

Here’s a wonderful image from the lab of professor Joel Plawsky. What you see is the spontaneous buckling of a thin tantalum (Ta) film deposited atop a nanoporous xerogel. Read more about this research here.

Web scientists at Rensselaer believe that a revolution in the age-old scientific process is at our fingertips.

Interdisciplinary research has become a prerequisite to even be considered for most major research funding. But, despite the increased collaboration across disciplines, data remains highly specialized and inaccessible. This keeps the scientific process moving at a crawl. To build on the data of another scientist, the original results often need to be painstakingly recreated before the work of answering any new questions can even begin. This process also prevents anyone without a Ph.D. from getting involved in the real scientific process.

Our triad of web gurus in the Tetherless World Research Constellation are looking to move the discoveries in the laboratory to the World Wide Web. This triad includes data scientist Peter Fox, semantic ontology expert Deborah McGuiness, and Semantic Web creator James Hendler.

A few weeks ago, a group of researchers remotely and successfully operated different high-tech surgical robots from a variety of locations around the world. Rensselaer professor Suvranu De is part of this team, which is sowing the seeds of one day allowing a doctor in New York, for example, to perform complicated surgery on a patient in Seattle, Vienna, Perth, or anywhere else. This is a big deal.

Here’s the official report of what transpired:

In a 24-hour period, each participating group connected over the Internet and controlled robots at different locations. The tests performed demonstrated how a wide variety of robot and controller designs can seamlessly interoperate, allowing researchers to work together easily and more efficiently. In addition, the demonstration evaluated the feasibility of robotic manipulation from multiple sites, and was conducted to measure time and performance for evaluating laparoscopic surgical skills.

In these days of MMORPGs, Xbox Live, and Second Life, the idea of doctors using technology to perform telesurgical procedures may not initially sound very impressive. But think about it: we’re talking about surgery. Initially it will be minimally-invasive laparoscopic surgery, but this is still – categorically and unquestionably – a far more nuanced, intricate, and dynamic endeavor than slaying monsters in World of Warcraft. Surgery of any kind is serious business.

There’s an excellent story in the Journal of Commerce about professor Jose Holguin-Veras’ research into using financial incentives as a way to convince Manhattan businesses to accept deliveries in the evening and overnight. Shifting even a small percentage of delivery truck traffic from business hours to the night, his research posits, should help noticeably alleviate downtown New York’s infamous congestion and boost its economic performance. It’s simple really: less trucks on the road leaves more room for taxis, shoppers, and tourists.

This is a wonderful example of the breadth and depth of civil engineering. Not only do civil engineers build bridges, strengthen buildings against earthquakes, build better dams and levees, and design highways, they also strive toward better and more efficient use of infrastructure and resources.

Say what you want about the “ivory towers” of universities – reducing traffic jams is something that almost anyone, anywhere can rally behind and appreciate. Along with lowering the collective blood pressure of commuters everywhere, less traffic means quicker trips, less fuel consumption, and, in turn, lower greenhouse gas emissions. Everybody wins.

A recent study by professors Mark Changizi  and Marc Destefano was featured by the Discovery Channel program Daily Planet, and received a glowing endorsement from show co-host Jay Ingram:

“I love this idea. It connects two things you’d never think of connecting and that makes it cool - and even awesome.”

Sadly, the site does not allow its videos to be embedded elsewhere, so the best I can do is give you the link:

Click on this image to see the video clip

After the short commercial, scroll ahead to 7 min 30 sec into the video for the segment on Changizi and Destefano’s work.

Professors George Xu and Suvranu De have been working together for some time, pairing their talent toward the shared goal of making fake medical patients more real.

There’s an easy way to explain the complex work they do: People breathe, and when we breathe our internal organs shift around a bit. Xu and De want to program a computer to accurately and reliably recreate this process.

This organ movement is a huge disadvantage for doctors who are administering radiation treatment to patients suffering from different types of cancerous tumors. Conventional medical equipment can be carefully calibrated to focus radiation on a specific spot inside the body, but the technology is not yet robust enough to refine its movements to account for the shifting of internal organs as a patient breathes.

Think of it this way. While it’s fairly easy to thread a needle, imagine trying to thread a needle that is being held by someone else – and that person has a shaky hand. Now imagine threading that needle could be a life-or-death situation.