Information Technology and Web Science at RPI

Dear ITWS Community, Please join us for a Town Hall-style discussion with Professor Peter Fox, a candidate for the position of ITWS Program Director.  Peter will make a short presentation and we will have a discussion afterwards.  We will ask for your written feedback on the candidate at that time. It is important that as many members of the ITWS Community as possible participate in this process, so I hope to see students, staff and faculty there!   Here are the details: When: Wednesday, August 29th Room:  Lally 104  Time:  10 – 11 All are welcome! See you soon, -Laurie

Touchdown! by  MARY MARTIALAY  on  AUGUST 6, 2012 At 1:32 a.m. Eastern time, the NASA rover  Curiosity  safely touched down on the surface of Mars after a journey of more than 300 million miles and a harrowing descent from orbit, complete with parachutes, rockets, and the perilous ”sky crane manuever.” As a member of the science team for Curiosity,  Rensselaer Dean of Science Laurie Leshin traveled to California for the landing, and is currently at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory helping to analyze data from the rover. An opinion piece Leshin wrote about the importance of the mission, and the hope that it will engage young people in the pursuit of math and science,  appeared in Sunday’s edition of the Albany  Times Union . Before she left, I had a chance to speak with Dean Leshin about the mission and her work as a member of the science team: What’s the Curiosity mission all about? Curiosity is all about ...

Ranking Based on Surveys of Engineers, Professionals, and Entrepreneurs Working at Technology Companies Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute  has been named one of the top engineering schools in the world. Industry-focused website Business Insider ranked Rensselaer fourth on its list of “World's Best Engineering Schools.” The rankings were based on surveys of engineers, professionals, and entrepreneurs working at technology companies. “Rensselaer’s engineering programs are held in very high esteem among the academic and scientific communities. We have long been recognized for the quality of our academic programs, the unique experiences we afford our students, and the ability of our graduates to make significant contributions early in their careers. This latest ranking provides clear evidence of the value placed on our world-class engineering programs by the companies that hire our graduate...

How to Land a Technology Job on Wall Street: Inside an Elite Wall Street IT Education Capital markets firms are recruiting graduates from the top schools in computer science and other majors to train the next generation of IT talent. Tags:   Sapient Global Markets ,  Campus Recruiting ,  Steve Rubinow ,  FX Alliance ,  Blackstone Group ,  Bill Murphy , Building IT Skills , By  Ivy Schmerken @ischmerken MAY 31, 2012 Share on email Despite the view that the U.S. economy is sluggish and it's hard for new college graduates to get a job, financial services firms are hiring. In fact, top Wall Street companies are reaching out to the elite colleges in a huge way to bring in the best and brightest graduates whom they can groom to fit their cultures. How to Climb the Wall Street Corporate IT Ladder How to Manage Millennials: Harnessing Their Adaptability, Flexibility and Connectivity Campus recruiting at the top universities i...

Thank you to all the students, faculty and advisory board members for making this years workshop a great success!   Special Thanks for Lynn Andrea Stein, from Olin College, for coming to RPI to run our annual workshop.  Students and instructors had a great discussion regarding the curriculum and the laboratory space.    Abstract : The IT and Web Science (ITWS) Program has inaugurated a new interdisciplinary undergraduate laboratory and project space designed to cultivate undergraduate research. The space is open not just to ITWS students, but all undergraduates, as well as graduate students and faculty members interested in engaging in highly interdisciplinary work that involves some IT or web science component. Our intent for this  space is to foster guided research through a suite of faculty-defined projects that intersect with faculty research interests. The purpose of this workshop, which may be conducted in the form of a minor charette, will be to gene...

Every year the ITWS program takes its students to New York City to network with alumni and visit their companies. This year, we went to Capital IQ, Knewton, the 9-11 Memorial, and the trip ended with a reception at Red's (right under the RPI designed Brooklyn Bridge.)

In 2011 the idea of having a space for ITWS students to collaborate on different projects had begun to form. Through the work of the students, faculty, and staff, along with resources from the ITWS Advisory Board, that idea has now grown to become a place where ideas get created, fostered, and turned into something that students can call their own.