Information Technology and Web Science at RPI

Hi everyone! My name is Lindsay Poirier, and I love Africa! I should explain. About a year and half ago, I had an epiphany. I want to go to Africa. It was strange. I had never wanted to go to Africa before; I had never even thought of it. It was just this random urge that overcame me. I was signed up with a volunteer program by the end of the following day. Since that fateful night, I have spent two of my winter breaks providing care and education for the orphans at Living Water Children Centre (LWCC) in Arusha, Tanzania. As a volunteer, I had the opportunity to immerse myself in the Tanzanian culture – eating the way they eat, sleeping the way they sleep, commuting the way they commute, living the way they live, and so on. Have you ever heard the term ‘culture shock’? Well, it’s real. When I landed in Tanzania for the first time, I could only think about how beautiful everything was. It looked exactly like the National Geographic pictures and travel documentaries.

Gilbert and Hendler Selected as 2011 AAAS Fellows  Two members of the Rensselaer science faculty have been selected as fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Susan Gilbert, professor and head of biology, and James Hendler, senior constellation professor in the Tetherless World Constellation and head of the information technology and web science program, are two of the 539 newly selected AAAS fellows. They were recognized for their efforts to advance science or its applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished, according to AAAS. The announcement was made in the Dec. 23, 2011, issue of the journal  Science . “Professors Hendler and Gilbert represent two of the strongest and most innovative minds in higher education.” —President Shirley Ann Jackson In the announcement, AAAS cites Gilbert for distinguished contributions to our mechanistic understanding of microtubule-dependent molecular motor ATPases involved in cell motility.

Last summer Lorena worked as an IT Business Analyst Intern for the Cisco LatAm Regional IT Team in San Hose, California.  She continued working as an intern part time when she returned to school in Fall 2011.   Congratulations to Lorena Valentin for winning the Cisco Team Spotlight   award at the CITS (Connected IT Services) Quarterly FY’12 Q2 All Hands meeting.  The award was presented by the V.P. of Information Technology, Guillermo Diaz in San Jose, CA on January 19, 2012. The project that received the award was started and organized by her Fall 2011 MITR team Effective Solutions, included Bill Wenrich, Steve DiPalermo, Michael Villeneuve, and Lorena.  It was supported, implemented and completed by the Latin America IT team (also known as LatAm IT) composed of Diego Barrozo, Yandhira Rosillo, Sandra Fiorentini and Director Ileana Rivera. Lorena will be joining Cisco full time after her graduation this May as an IT Business Analyst - CANSAC Business Relationship Manager for