News

By Debjani Ray-Majumder, Ph.D. candidate of decision science and engineering systems

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute President Shirley Ann Jackson today announced the launch of the Rensselaer Institute for Data, Artificial Intelligence, and Computing (DAIC).

The City of Cohoes, N.Y. announced on May 3, 2022 that National Grid committing $750,000 in economic development funding to advance their model Municipal Floating Solar Demonstration project. The National Grid grant builds on the foundational $3 million federal investment in this first-of-its-kind in the country floating solar project, secured by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Congressman Paul Tonko in March.

Whether a transformer catches fire in a power grid, a species disappears from an ecosystem, or water floods a city street, many systems can absorb a certain amount of disruption. But how badly does a single failure weaken the network?

A predictive model of a polarized group, similar to the current U.S. Senate, demonstrates that when an outside threat – like war or a pandemic – fails to unite the group, the divide may be irreversible through democratic means.