The Academic Minute for 2022.07.18-2022.07.22

The Academic Minute from 07.18 – 07.22

Monday, July 18th
Benjamin Weissman – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Emoji: Language or Communication?
Benjamin Weissman is a leading expert in the field of emoji. Weissman’s research focuses on meaning in conversation from a cognitive and linguistic perspective. With a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Dr. Weissman has conducted research at the intersections of pragmatics, psycholinguistics, and experimental linguistics.

Tuesday, July 19th
Robert Karlicek – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Light Sculpting
Robert F. Karlicek, Jr. is a leading expert in the LED industry. Prior to joining RPI, he spent over 30 years in industrial research and R&D management positions with corporations including AT&T Bell Labs, EMCORE, General Electric, Gore Photonics, Microsemi, Luminus Devices and SolidUV. His technical experience includes epitaxial growth of high performance LEDs and lasers, advanced device fabrication and high power LED packaging, thermal management, control systems design and applications research in solid state lighting as well as other novel LED uses such as IR and UV LED applications, wireless communications using lighting (LiFi) and advanced LED display applications.

Wednesday, July 20th
Susan Smith – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Informed Consent of University Student Athletes
Susan Smith is a philosopher who works in bioethics, research ethics, and the philosophy of race. Her current research explores the ethical issues related to genetic testing and, specifically, informed consent.  She is part of an interdisciplinary study of the ethics of genetic testing and student-athletes in the NCAA.

Thursday, July 21st
Shan Yu – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Are Money-Back Guarantee Programs by IVF Clinics Marketing Gimmicks?
Dr. Yu’s research interests primarily focus on using empirical models to examine how marketers utilize varied marketing strategies to help consumers make more informed decisions in numerous marketing domains such as healthcare, social media, entertainment, and high technology B2B. In particular, she utilizes information economics theories to analyze the determinants, mechanisms, and implications of marketing practices such as money-back guarantees, medical crowdfunding design, new product development, and technology licensing contract designs.

Friday, July 22nd
Daniel Walczyk – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
A Sustainable Approach to Manufacturing Advanced Composite Materials as Part of a Renewable Resource Economy
Daniel Walczyk is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the Manufacturing Innovation Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, and a registered Professional Engineer in New York State. He has multiple degrees including a Ph.D. from MIT (1995), M.S. from Rensselaer (1991), and B.S. from Syracuse University (1986), all in mechanical engineering. Prior to the start of his academic career in 1996, Dr. Walczyk worked as a Postdoctoral Associate at the Technical University at Aachen in Germany (1995) through a DAAD Research Grant, and for seven years in industry as a mechanical engineer, primarily with GE. He has received several professional awards including a NSF CAREER Award (1998), Loctite Corporation Faculty Fellow (1998), Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (1999), SAE Teetor Educational Award (2000), and Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (2011). His research focuses on the development of new manufacturing processes for U.S. industry. For the last 15 years, he has focused primarily on manufacturing of sustainable engineering materials.