Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, or RPI, is a large university in Troy, New York, near Albany, founded in 1824 by Stephen Van Rensselaer. It is the oldest civilian technological university in the English-speaking world.

Areas of Research and Development

Rensselaer has established five areas of research as institute priorities, specifically: biotechnology, information technology, nanotechnology, microelectronics, and modeling and simulation. Advances in these fields have the potential to effect dramatic transformations in 21st century society.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In addition, RPI is home to the United States' first on-campus high-tech business incubator. One of the largest companies to have originated in the incubator is MapInfo, a major publisher of mapping and geographic information systems software which is still headquartered in Troy, NY. Another incubator success is Vicarious Visions, a well known maker of video games.

Related Topics:
United States - MapInfo - Vicarious Visions

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

RPI is also the professional home of David Musser, one of the primary inventors of the C++ Standard Template Libraryhttp://www.cs.rpi.edu/~musser/.

Related Topics:
David Musser - C++ - Standard Template Library

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Some examples of well-known researchers:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Pulickel Ajayan - nanotechnology, specifically carbon nanotubes
• Jonathan Dordick - biochemical engineering
• Ivar Giaever ('64) - Nobel Laureate 1973, physics professor emeritus
• Bruce Watson http://www.rpi.edu/~watsoe/ - deep-Earth geochemistry

More detail can be obtained at RPI's Research siteResearch Priorities

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

or on RPI's News & Information site

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

http://www.rpi.edu/news

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~