Dartmouth Creates Three New Faculty Clusters

Dartmouth received $30 million in gifts to support the creation of three new academic clusters, fulfilling President Phil Hanlon’s goal of launching 10 interdisciplinary clusters by the end of the year. Through faculty collaboration and targeted hiring, clusters will provide the critical mass and spectrum of expertise necessary to shape and advance the understanding of complex problems, emerging issues, and future societal challenges.

Each of the clusters—which will focus on engineering in polar regions, improving cybersecurity, and treating cystic fibrosis—relate to existing fields of study at Dartmouth.

Arctic Engineering in a Period of Climate Change
This academic cluster will focus on the societal and environmental impacts of increased energy production in Arctic regions, an increasingly common practice because of global climate change.

The cluster will expand student and faculty research in cold weather regions, and provide opportunities for collaborating with academic, governmental, and other institutions that focus on this field.

Meeting New Challenges of Cybersecurity
The National Security Agency designated Dartmouth as a Center of Academic Excellence for Information Assurance Research. Further, Dartmouth has received multiple cybersecurity research grants—most recently $925,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy in late 2015 to help develop energy delivery systems that are resistant to cyber-attack for the electric power and oil and gas industries.

The new cybersecurity cluster, funded by an anonymous donor, will examine an emerging digital challenge. “The Internet of Things” is the umbrella term for a rapidly evolving world in which information systems and everyday items are connected to one another. Every year, hundreds of millions of objects with data-collecting sensors, actuators, and microcontrollers—including kitchen appliances, automobiles, and even clothing—are linked to the Internet. However, these items often lack adequate security to protect them from hackers, and their manufacturers frequently do not have the expertise to respond to digital attacks, meaning they are at risk of being hijacked.

Personalized Treatments for Cystic Fibrosis
The overarching goal of this cluster, funded by an anonymous donor, is to increase Dartmouth’s expertise in systems biology, bioinformatics, and microbial pathogenesis in cystic fibrosis.

Because the disease is unique for each patient, there is a growing emphasis on developing innovative, personalized treatments. Dartmouth will create a research program with the goal of developing novel therapeutics for all cystic fibrosis patients and eliminating fungal and bacterial lung infections.