Alumni News

NASA mentions Joel Kastner, professor in the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science and School of Physics and Astronomy, and alumnus David Principe '10 Ph.D. (astrophysical science and technology) for being part of a team that observed an X-ray flare from a very young star using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory.

RIT is hosting a virtual event to raise money for the COVID-19 Emergency Fund, Division of Diversity and Inclusion General Support Fund, and other funds that directly impact students. "Tigers Helping Tigers: An Event to Move Students Forward" will include pre-recorded performances from RIT students and student groups and will be streamed online.

Years of expertise as an emergency manager and volunteer firefighter and EMT has allowed RIT alumnus Christopher Tarantino ’13 (business administration) to develop his training and consulting company. And as a result of COVID-19, his company is helping those in private and public sectors create plans to mitigate this public health crisis.

RIT’s Venture Creations business incubator has resumed operations as part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s reopening plan. Under New York state guidelines, Venture Creations staff, resident clients and resident graduate companies must provide administrators with a COVID-19 safe operation plan.

RIT alumna and Hard Rock International's VP of IT, Applications and Strategy, Wendy Mertz, will step into the vice president position for Hospitality Technology Next Generation (HTNG) following the retirement of Page Petry, chief IT officer, Americas, Marriott International.

US Black Engineer features Clayton Turner ’90 (electrical engineering), director of NASA Langley Research Center, who received the Black Engineer of the Year (BEYA) STEM Award.

A graphic designer and scholar from Tel Aviv has joined RIT to curate archived material that belonged to the designer who created the first Hebrew typeface family. Shani Avni is the Ismar David Visiting Assistant Curator at RIT’s Cary Graphic Arts Collection.

As businesses look to reopen and jumpstart the COVID-19 stalled economy, RIT alumnus Jim Swift finds himself a much sought-after adviser. Swift ’88 is president and chief executive officer of Cortera, a national business intelligence company that is providing analytics on an estimated $1.5 trillion annual business-to-business transactions — data that businesses need to determine their future.

RIT is hosting an online interfaith vigil titled “Calls for Justice at RIT” at 7 p.m. June 5 in response to the killing of George Floyd and the subsequent demonstrations against the systemic racism and police brutality that continue to affect black and brown people across the U.S.

Moguldom Nation talks with Michee Smith '03 (computer science), a security and privacy product manager at Google, about data privacy, her professional journey and inclusion in tech.

Mohammed Mostajo-Radji ’11 (biotechnology) was appointed as Bolivia’s first ambassador for science, technology and innovation in February. He is typically based out of Silicon Valley, helping to encourage technology investment in Bolivia. But on March 19 he flew back home at the request of Bolivia’s interim president, Jeanine Áñez, to help coordinate his country’s efforts to combat COVID-19’s spread.

RIT and SUNY ESF researchers received a patent for green wall technology that will provide craft breweries cost-effective and sustainable options for wastewater treatment.