A defining --and extraordinary -- quality of Princeton University is its ability to combine the best aspects of a liberal arts college with those of a major research university. These ideals may seem at odds within a single institution, but the two big news stories on the next pages show how wonderful and vital the connections between research and teaching can be -- how solving pressing societal problems and educating leaders go hand-in-hand.
Archive – August 2008
Princeton University is the lead institution for a new $10 million National Science Foundation grant that will fund research on "intractability" -- a concept that has profound implications for a broad range of fields, from e-commerce to quantum computing.
For several decades, archaeologists in Greece have been painstakingly attempting to reconstruct wall paintings that hold valuable clues to the ancient culture of Thera, an island civilization that was buried under volcanic ash more than 3,500 years ago. This Herculean task -- more than a century of further work at the current rate -- soon may get much easier, thanks to an automated system developed by a team of Princeton University computer scientists working in collaboration with archaeologists
The American Institute of Chemical Engineers has selected Pablo Debenedetti to receive the 2008 William H. Walker Award for Excellence in Contributions to Chemical Engineering Literature.
Through a partnership with Princeton engineers, children who once lived in refugee camps are learning about science and engineering as they design clay water filters and solar energy cookers. Addressing problems of clean water and affordable energy that they experienced first hand, the students also are gaining insights into the higher education process in the United States.
Szymon Rusinkiewicz, David Dobkin, Tim Weyrich, and Benedict Brown explain "virtual archaeologist" software they invented to help streamline the painstaking process of reconstructed ancient wall paintings.
