Research Centers

Center for Future Energy Systems

Mission
The mission of the Center for Future Energy Systems is to benefit the energy industry of New York State by focusing on research and development, technology transfer, economic development, workforce training, and entrepreneurial support.

Vision
The vision of the Center for Future Energy Systems is to:

• Make New York State the world leader in the new industrial revolution based on renewable energy and energy conversion systems
• Play a pivotal role in helping New York meet its goal of >25% of power generation through renewable energy sources by 2012
• Nurture and translate New York’s technical leadership in energy to jobs through commercialization in intimate partnership with New York companies

Director:
Phone: (518) 276-6754
Mailing Address:
Low Center for Industrial Innovation
rm: 8015
110 8th Street
Troy, New York 12180
Center website: http://www.rpi.edu/dept/cfes/

Center for Integrated Electronics

The Center for Integrated Electronics, Electronics Manufacturing, and Electronic Media (CIE) was created to carry out industry-oriented research in electronics design and manufacturing, on-chip interconnect, and the development and utilization of electronic media. It is an umbrella organization hosting interdisciplinary microelectronics research.

Other Centers within CIE include:

• Center for Advanced Interconnect Sciences and Technology>
• Focus Center--New York, Rensselaer: Interconnections for Gigascale Integration>
• Center for Power Electronics Systems>
• Center for Broadband Data Transport Science and Technology

CIE emphasizes all aspects of integrated electronics and electronics manufacturing (from the chip-board-system levels) and now adds the application of electronics to create interactive learning materials which will revolutionize the way technology is used at all levels - from young child to senior citizen.

Director:
Phone: (518) 276-6724
Fax: (518) 276-2990
Mailing Address:
Low Center for Industrial Innovation
rm: CII 9015
110 8th Street
Troy, New York 12180
Center website: http://www.rpi.edu/dept/cie/

Computational Center for Nanotechnology Innovations (CCNI)

The nanoelectronics industry is reaching physical limits and the technical and cost constraints are limiting growth.

At the same time advances in bio- and nano-technology, as well as experimental and simulation science are expanding our understanding of processes from the atomic scale. However, engineering practice has lagged behind and does not offer the ability to take advantage of this new understanding.

To address these needs Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, International Business Machines (IBM), and New York state have joined together to establish a unique research and computational center to provide leadership in nanotechnology modeling and simulation.

This center will focus on reducing time and costs associated with design to manufacturing and producing new integrated predictive design tools for nano-scale devices. This center will complement other regional strengths in physical device research and development in nanoelectronics.

Director:
Phone: 518-276-6795
Mailing Address:
Rensselaer Technology Park
rm: --
100 Jordan Road
Troy, New York 12180
Center website: http://www.rpi.edu/research/ccni/index.html

Engineering Research Center for Smart Lighting

The Engineering Research Center for Smart Lighting will be the only NSF engineering research center based in New York state. Funded by the NSF, industry, New York state, and led by Rensselaer with partners Boston University and the University of New Mexico, the Smart Lighting Center will investigate and develop light-emitting diode (LED) technologies that could one day change the way we illuminate our world. Along with significant energy savings for lighting homes and offices, these technologies will open doors to a diverse spectrum of new applications impacting everything from biotechnology and transportation to computer networking and displays.

Director: E. Fred Schubert
Phone: (518) 276-6000
Mailing Address:
Jonsson Engineering Center
rm: --
110 8th Street
Troy, New York 12180
Center website: http://smartlighting.rpi.edu/

Multiscale Science and Engineering Center

Multiscale science and engineering has hit a wall. Rensselaer has the resources to break through it. That has led to the creation of the Institute's newest center. Nearly 60 Rensselaer faculty have expressed their eagerness to participate in the Multiscale Science and Engineering Center (MSEC), which opened October 31, 2006. They bring with them a vast array of specialties - from multiscale mathematics to nanocomposites to flow control for aircraft and earthquake engineering - all of which could benefit profoundly from advances in the field.

Director:
Phone: (518) 276-6191
Fax: (518) 276-4833
Mailing Address:
Low Center for Industrial Innovation
rm: CII 4042
110 8th Street
Troy, New York 12180
Center website: http://msec.rpi.edu/

National Science Foundation Center for Directed Assembly of Nanostructures

The mission of the Center is to integrate research, education, and technology dissemination, and serve as a national resource for fundamental knowledge and applications, in directed assembly of nanostructures.

The Center will:

1. Combine computational design with experimentation to discover novel pathways to assemble functional multiscale nanostructures with junctions and interfaces between structurally, dimensionally, and compositionally different nanoscale building blocks
2. Excite and educate a diverse cadre of students of all ages from K-12 through postdoctorate in nanoscale science and engineering
3. Work hand-in-hand with industry to develop nanotechnology for the benefit of society
   

Director: Richard W. Siegel
Phone: (518) 276-8846
Mailing Address:
Materials Research Center
rm: MRC 218
110 8th Street
Troy, New York 12180
Center website: http://www.rpi.edu/dept/nsec/

Rensselaer Nanotechnology Center

The Rensselaer Nanotechnology Center brings together a diverse group of scientists and engineers who are manipulating the structure of materials on the atomic and molecular scale to alter their most basic properties.

Researchers and their students are learning to produce nanomaterials in controlled ways, to incorporate them into unique polymer and ceramic composites, and to assemble them into complex structures that are expected to revolutionize almost every aspect of life, including electronics, medicine, communications, and transportation. The Center receives more than $5 million a year in outside funding from federal and state agencies and industry and includes the National Science Foundation Center for Directed Assembly of Nanostructures.

Ordinarily, materials are made up of atomic clusters that range from microns (millionths of meters) to millimeters (thousandths of meters) in diameter. Nanomaterials are chemically the same as their ordinary counterparts, but the clusters are thousands of times smaller, measuring from 1 to 100 nanometers (billionths of meters). A human hair about 50 microns wide would be 1,000 times fatter than a 50-nanometer particle of material. At these sizes, fundamental mechanical, optical, chemical, electrical, and magnetic properties change. Seashells, bones, and teeth are examples of naturally occurring nanomaterials. In the last 20 years, researchers have begun to create their own nanomaterials, which already are widely used for sunscreens, cosmetics, catalysts, and other products.

Director:
Phone: (518) 276-8846
Fax: (518) 276-6540
Mailing Address:
Materials Research Center
rm: MRC 218
110 8th Street
Troy, New York 12180
Center website: http://www.rpi.edu/dept/nsec/

Scientific Computation Research Center

The Scientific Computation Research Center (SCOREC) is a focal point for cutting-edge development of advanced computational techniques.

The center's main goal is to develop reliable simulation technologies for engineers, scientists, medical professionals, and other practitioners. These advancements enable experts in their fields to employ, appraise, and evaluate the behavior of physical, chemical, and biological systems of interest. SCOREC scientists are developing multiscale modeling methods, adaptive simulation methods for reliable solutions, and computational technologies that provide an efficient and extensible software environment. They also are supporting simulation system construction and validation for application areas as they are developed.

The center's 14 core faculty represent six academic departments and include Rensselaer's chair of the biomedical engineering department, the dean of the School of Science, and several editors of distinguished journals. There are 10 researchers professionals and approximate 50 graduate students working in the center.

Director:
Phone: (518) 276-6795
Mailing Address:
Low Center for Industrial Innovation
rm: 7011
110 8th Street
Troy, New York 12180
Center website: http://www.scorec.rpi.edu/

The Focus Center: Interconnections for Gigascale Integration

The Focus Center - New York, Rensselaer is part of the SIA/DARPA driven Focus Center Research Program (FCRP). The FCRP plans a number of distributed, multi-university based centers, each of which will focus on one aspect of microelectronics. These centers are being established by MARCO, a wholly owned subsidiary of the SRC, and DARPA.

FC-NY, RPI is part of the 'IFC' or Interconnect Focus Center: Interconnections for Gigascale Integration, that focuses on interconnects. The IFC officially started in October of 1998, and is headquartered at Georgia Institute of Technology. Other universities involved in the IFC, in addition to Rensselaer, include Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, State University of New York at Albany, and the University of California, Los Angeles. The New York universities form the FC-NY, which is headquartered at SUNY Albany.

Director:
Phone: 518-276-8676
Mailing Address:
Low Center for Industrial Innovation
rm: 6015
110 8th Street
Troy, New York 12180
Center website: http://www.rpi.edu/dept/cie/fc-ny/