Home Page

Welcome to RIT’s 33rd Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium!

This year’s Undergraduate Research Symposium is occurring at quite a momentous time in the research trajectory of RIT. For the first time in our history, this fiscal year RIT has eclipsed the $100M in sponsored research awards. This included new record totals for the National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, and the Department of Health and Human Services which contains our National Institutes for Health. Congratulations to all the faculty, students, and staff who worked so hard on the success research proposals that led to these new records.

Research is on the rise at RIT and a big part of that is the contribution of our undergraduate researchers. It shouldn’t be surprising that this year we have received over 150 abstracts in-person undergraduate student presentations. The fact that these contributions contain representation from every college and institute on campus which speaks to how broad our research activities have become. For many of our authors, this symposium will serve as the first public presentation of their research. This is a big reason why this symposium continues to be a hallmark of the RIT undergraduate student experience.

I would like to send along my personal congratulations to all of the students presenting today and extend a special thanks to all the faculty mentors for their dedication to cultivating the next generation of RIT critical thinkers and innovators.

I would also like to personally thank Dr. Roberta Benedict who will be delivering our keynote address. Roberta is currently a Research Scientist at Cellec Technologies in Henrietta, NY and a three-time RIT alum! Roberta is an expert on the development of lithium ion batteries. Before joining Cellec Tech, Roberta was a post-doc at Stonybrook University and worked at both Brockport Research Institute and Eastman Kodak.  

Finally, I do want to express my sincere gratitude to all the faculty and staff who have worked so diligently to organize this wonderful event. I am tremendously grateful for their hard work and dedication.

Here’s to a great 33rd Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium!

Ryne Raffaelle
Vice President for Research and Associate Provost