School of Arts & Sciences Newsletter: November 2019

Dean's Message

Welcome to the first issue of the e-newsletter for the Clarkson University School of Arts & Sciences. We intend to send this out twice a year to update our friends and alumni on what’s happening in the School. A lot is going on!

I should start out by introducing myself: I’m Chuck Thorpe, and I’m starting my eighth year at Clarkson and third as Dean of SA&S. I have the best job in the University! If I have a science question, I can talk to folks in biology, chemistry, physics, psychology, math and computer science. If I’m curious about medicine, I can consult with our graduate health sciences faculty in occupational therapy, physical therapy and physician assistant studies. I love to listen to the discussions in humanities and social sciences, and I always admire the work coming out of our newly renamed Department of Communications, Media and Design. We’re proud of the students on campus and from our sister universities in the Army and Air Force ROTC programs.

We’ve been busy! Over the last year, we awarded 403 degrees for August 2018, December 2018 and May 2019 graduations — 100 of these were graduate degrees and 303 undergraduate degrees. Next year’s first-year class is up 18% — it’s great to see the interest in our majors. We’ve upgraded labs, added majors and started planning for the long-awaited upgrade and expansion of the Science Center.

We can only pick a few samples of our news for each issue; we hope you’ll look at our webpages or contact us if you want more information. In our first online issue, we’re featuring four very different aspects of our School: ROTC activities, a robotics lab, a rising superstar researcher and professor and a lecture series celebrating our location in the North County.

Terascale All-Sensing Research Studio (TARS) at Clarkson University

At the Terascale All-Sensing Research Studio (TARS) at Clarkson University, co-directors Professors Sean Banerjee and Natasha Banerjee research human-driven artificial intelligence using capture and analysis of dense multi-person interactions in online and real-world environments. Professors Sean and Natasha Banerjee are currently constructing one of the world’s largest multi-modal multi-view capture facility, consisting of 240 high-speed color cameras, 16 depth cameras, 16 microphones, 16 thermal cameras and 100 force plates.

Clarkson's ROTC programs hosted blackhawk helicopters for a training

Helicopters on the Lawn!

One of the most visible, not to mention loudest, events in the School of Arts & Sciences this last year was the arrival of the Black Hawk helicopter from Fort Drum for our Army ROTC. (While the cadets of the Golden Knight Battalion come from Clarkson and from our sister schools in the St. Lawrence Valley, we are proud to house them administratively in Arts & Sciences, along with the Air Force ROTC group.) The video below captures some of the excitement of the day. Storyboarding is the reporting format cadets learn to use for their activities. ROTC has promised rides to the President and the Dean next time!

Watch the Video of Helicopters on the Lawn

North of the Adirondacks

What is the most exciting aspect of living in the North Country? Or, what are you interested in learning about the region?

Clarkson’s location in Potsdam, New York, can be viewed as a drawback —you may have noticed that it can be a little challenging to get here, and spring can be a long time coming.

But our location can also be one of our greatest assets, with lots to learn here!

Clarkson Adirondack Semester Cascade Lake

Clarkson University Assistant Professor of Physics Jan Scrimgeour uses the inverted optical microscope to visualize living cells and cell culture. He helped write the Optical Society's new educational poster series in celebration of the 2015 International Year of Light.

Jan Scrimgeour Awarded over $500K NSF CAREER grant

Clarkson University Assistant Professor of Physics Jan Scrimgeour was recently awarded a CAREER grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for $541,591.

The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program is a Foundation-wide activity that offers the National Science Foundation's most prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.