Research News

Marty Pietras '17 (3D Digital Design) is a 3D materials artist for Sony, where he textures environments for PlayStation game titles.

RIT students discovered lost text on 15th-century manuscript leaves using an imaging system they developed as freshmen. By using ultraviolet-fluorescence imaging, the students revealed that a manuscript leaf held in RIT’s Cary Graphic Arts Collection was actually a palimpsest, a manuscript on parchment with multiple layers of writing.

RIT enjoyed yet another strong performance this week at the 2020 SMPTE awards, an annual celebration recognizing business, technical, and creative leaders and students who have made substantial contributions to the ongoing advancement of media and entertainment technology.

David Borkholder, Linwei Wang, Caroline Easton, and Adam Smith, part of RIT's Personalized Healthcare Technology signature research initiative, recently won a Catalyst Award from the National Academy of Medicine for their project, “Improving Health for the Aging through Daily Vital Signs Monitoring.”

Toilet seats with high-tech sensors might be the non-invasive technology of the future that could help reduce hospital return rates of individuals with heart disease. A joint project by researchers at RIT and the University of Rochester Medical Center will determine if in-home monitoring can successfully record vital signs and reduce risk and costly re-hospitalization rates for people with heart failure. The five-year, $2.9 million venture is funded by the National Institutes of Health.

The Vignelli Center for Design Studies joined Google Arts & Culture as a partner, making hundreds of high-resolution artifacts from its archives available to an online audience.

Linwei Wang has been named the new director of the Personalized Healthcare Technology signature research initiative at RIT, and Adam Smith has been named Creative Director, a new position with the group.

Political cartoons from Rochester, N.Y., newspapers from the early 20th century are the focus of a virtual exhibit hosted by RIT Libraries’ Archives Collections and explores three timely topics—voting rights to epidemics and economic uncertainty. The virtual exhibit opening takes place Oct. 7.

Shea McCombs and Jeff Stewart will present a behind-the-scenes look at the recent release of Activision’s Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 + 2, as part of the kickoff lecture at 2 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24. The remastered game has been garnering outstanding reviews from critics and players alike.

The Image Permanence Institute at RIT has received a grant award from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for an unprecedented research project designed to identify the most cost-efficient and environmentally responsible methods of preparing paper-based collection objects for transit and display while maintaining preservation standards.

The unexpected transition to remote learning during the spring semester challenged faculty across RIT to experiment, create, and deploy new methods of instruction to ensure student success. As the university gears up for in-person and online classes—or a combination of both—faculty members are applying a wide range of lessons learned from the spring to keep academic momentum moving forward in the fall.

Jennifer Whitlock shared artifacts from and information about the Vignelli Center's archives as part of the Design Educators Typography Intensive, hosted by the Hoffmitz Milken Center for Typography.