Meeting our faculty: Prof. Keller

Kenneth Keller is SAIS Bologna's director and also teaches "Science, Technology and International Affairs". Prof. Keller is proof that many roads can lead to SAIS. Who would have thought a chemical engineer could blaze a trail in international relations?

Your degrees?
AB, liberal arts, Columbia University
BS, chemical engineering, Columbia University
MSE, chemical engineering, Johns Hopkins
PhD, chemical engineering, Johns Hopkins

Where have you taught?
University of Minnesota (Chemical Engineering; Biomedical Engineering; Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs)
Princeton University (Woodrow Wilson School of Public Affairs)
Johns Hopkins University (SAIS) - I've taught at SAIS Bologna for six years, first on a sabbatical leave from the University of Minnesota (2003-2004) and then during my term as Director (which started in 2006).

Links to a recent article and a speech:
http://www.springerlink.com/content/f27701444u9771r1/
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160791X06000169

Anything special about SAIS Bologna?
What's special about SAIS is SAIS Bologna -- the fact that students, over two years, one in Bologna and one in Washington, see international affairs from two different perspectives, an extraordinary and unique learning experience.

Anything special about Bologna?
What's special about Bologna is its perfect blendings: a medieval city with a vibrant modern life; a small city with the culture and lifestyle of a large city; an Italian "non-touristy" city with the art, music, architecture and spectacular food of the best tourist destinations; a city at the cross-roads of northern Italy with its own well-developed sense of community.

Your favorite book?
My favorite book is Anthony Trollope's "Barchester Towers", but I would be hard pressed to turn my back on any other of Trollope's novels -- or George Eliot's -- or a long list of 19th century English writers.

Technology and Int'l Relations: Not Such Strange Bedfellows

SAIS Bologna's curriculum has changed over the years, evolving as it should. International relations are in constant flux. And while our program does not shift with every passing breeze, it keeps up with the times.

Who would have thought, when SAIS was founded more than six decades ago, that technology would soon play such an important role in shaping relations among nation states?

For that matter, how could an engineer become director of SAIS Bologna? Prof. Kenneth Keller, who has a Ph.D in chemical engineering, will be glad to answer that.

Martin Ross, who recently graduated from SAIS Bologna, took Prof. Keller's "Science, Technology & International Relations" class last year.

What is the course all about?

"This course examines how advances in science and technology as well as the dynamics of technological development affect relations among nations in matters such as autonomy, national security, relative economic strength, environmental protection, cultural identity and international cooperation. It illustrates these effects with examples from the current international scene, and it considers various approaches to negotiating international agreements in areas affected by these science and technology considerations."

I asked Martin, who comes from Canada, what the course meant to him.

"I have been interested for many years in the technical side of what to do when the existing IP address space runs out," he said.

Martin receiving his prize at graduation

"Luckily the course gave me the opportunity to explore the policy and political aspects relating to Internet governance in a much more detailed manner than I was able to previously.  The paper was especially timely as the first public large scale purchase of IP addresses by Microsoft from the defunct Nortel occurred a few months after I wrote the paper. The uptake towards the next generation of the Internet protocol continues to be slow and several auction internet sites have already sprung up."

Our readers have already seen award-winning papers by Christina Politi and Annabel Lee. Here is a paper that Martin submitted in Prof. Keller's class and which won him, too, a C. Grove Haines prize for academic excellence at graduation in May.

Nelson Graves

Team Algaebus - out of the box and out of the classroom

Tired of hearing us say that SAIS is an experience both inside and outside the classroom? Bear with us and consider this example of student activity.

Nicolò Lanciotti, Andrew Orihuela and Michael Volpe recently participated in a global competition sponsored by Airbus. Part of the airline's efforts to develop a greener future for aviation, the "Fly Your Ideas" challenge drew entries from 2,600 students from 75 countries.

Participants chasing the €30,000 first prize were encouraged to propose an idea related to one stage of the aircraft's life: design, supply chain, manufacturing, aircraft operations or aircraft disposal.

You'll have to watch the short video below to learn the details of the SAIS Bologna students' project. To whet your curiosity: think algae, biofuel, cosmetics, fishmeal and Omega-3.

Orihuela, Volpe and Lanciotti

Mentored by SAIS Bologna Director Ken Keller and assisted by engineer Luca Perletta, the three MA candidates focused on creating a cost-effective and marketable idea. They made it to the second round, where the number of participating teams was whittled down to 80 from more than 300.

"I was able to integrate the project to some of the courses I am taking. It was a great way to use the efforts put into the project in class," said Volpe, a U.S. citizen.

The fledgling engineers said one of the biggest challenges was finding time outside of class. They had to consider the project from the standpoint of an investor and then market their idea. "I highly recommend this experience, although it was time-consuming," said Orihuela, also from the United States.

Lanciotti, from Italy, edited the video. Volpe contributed the drawings. We'll let you guess who did the voice-over.

Amina Abdiuahab