George M. Low Center for Industrial Innovation
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The George M. Low Center for Industrial Innovation, otherwise known as the Low Center or CII, is an
industry-funded research Industry funding of academic research in the United States is one of the two major sources of research funding in academia along with government support. Currently, private funding of research accounts for the majority of all research and developm ...
center at
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute () (RPI) is a private research university in Troy, New York, with an additional campus in Hartford, Connecticut. A third campus in Groton, Connecticut closed in 2018. RPI was established in 1824 by Stephen Van ...
in
Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany a ...
, US.


History

The center is named after
George M. Low George Michael Low (born Georg Michael Löw, June 10, 1926 – July 17, 1984) was an administrator at NASA and the 14th president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Low was one of the senior NASA officials who made numerous decisions as ...
, who was an administrator at NASA and President of the institute. With the support of
Eastman Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...
, IBM, Colt Industries and
General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...
, a proposal was made to New York Governor
Hugh Carey Hugh Leo Carey (April 11, 1919 – August 7, 2011) was an American politician and attorney. He was a seven-term U.S. representative from 1961 to 1974 and the 51st governor of New York from 1975 to 1982. He was a member of the Democratic Party. ...
to jointly sponsor a research and teaching center to promote industrial innovation. In July 1982, the State of New York agreed to use Rensselaer as the site for the new center. Construction began during the summer of 1984, and the center was dedicated on May 14, 1987. The CII building is notorious for its tall, hollow center stairwells. In 1992 the self-declared Rensselaer Drop Squad spent most of a semester dropping a series of ever more bizarre items down the 7-story stairwell before they were eventually apprehended. The items included typewriters, 150
McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...
hamburgers, tennis balls and a Christmas tree. Links to chapters, with details. On 29 March 2007, RPI graduate Anson Tripp committed suicide by jumping from the top of one of the stairwells after traveling to RPI from Massachusetts. Wikinews: Body of alumnus found at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York With links to reliable sources. Because of uncertainties surrounding the death, there was a full evacuation of the building and shutdown of all campus activities after his body was found. In August 2008, metal cables were installed in the center of the two main stairwells to prevent objects from falling, most likely in response to this event. Starting in early 2008, planning began on an exterior overhaul, replacing the vast network of faulty bricks that encase the building. Black tarp was placed around part of the building to prevent falling bricks from injuring people below. As of February 2011, work on the north wall of the central tower has been completed, with work beginning on the northern annex section of the building.


Facilities

The nine-story, . building contains an underground high-bay, class 100
clean room A cleanroom or clean room is an engineered space, which maintains a very low concentration of airborne particulates. It is well isolated, well-controlled from contamination, and actively cleansed. Such rooms are commonly needed for scientif ...
, ninety laboratories, ten conference rooms and many offices.


Research Centers in the Low Center

* Center for Integrated Electronics (CIE) ** Within the CIE: ** Center for Advanced Interconnect Systems Technologies (CAIST) ** Center for Broadband Data Transport Science and Technology ** Center for Microcontamination Control ** Center for Power Electronics Systems (CPES) ** The Focus Center - New York, Rensselaer: Interconnections for Gigascale Integration *Advanced Power Device Research Laboratory *Center for Automation Technologies and Systems (CATS) *New York Center for Astrobiology *Center for Terahertz Research *Scientific Computation Research Center *Future Chips Constellation


The George M. Low Gallery

Upon his death, the Low family bequeathed all of Low's awards and memorabilia to the institute, where they are housed in the George M. Low Gallery, a museum on the fourth floor, which is a tribute to George Low, NASA, and the engineers of the Apollo program. It is designed to appear like outer space; darkness contrasts with the lit exhibits, and pictures of astronauts and space are backlit from the outside. Image:RPI CII East Side.jpg, East side of the Low Center Image:CII4.jpg, From the top floor, looking southwest


References


External links and references


RPI Research CentersArticle about the formation of the Low Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:George M. Low Center For Industrial Innovation Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Buildings and structures in Troy, New York