News
Department of Mechanical Engineering

Researchers at RIT are creating a novel sensor system based on the superior design and detection range found on harbor seal whiskers.

Work by Risa Robinson and members of the Respiratory Technologies Laboratory completely shifted how e-cigarette analysis is done and became an industry model. Through this new viewpoint, the team recorded harmful emissions that were not otherwise seen in a lab setting, and this data contributed to FDA policies and regulations about e-cigarette usage today.

The Los Angeles Times features Becki Chernoff '00 (mechanical engineering).

Students in RIT’s Multidisciplinary Senior Design (MSD) program worked on The Overcomer, a patented device being used by children and adults with mobility challenges to play sports at the Special Olympics and in schools, nursing care facilities, sports leagues, and homes around the world.

In a space known for innovative science and technology, Paige Manley '24 (3D digital design) is demonstrating the value of art as an aid to science through opportunities with NASA.

I Run Far interviews Zach Miller '12 (mechanical engineering), an ultrarunner who finished in second place in the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB), a mountain ultramarathon race.

Darcie Jones, a fifth-year mechanical engineering major from Reading, Pa., is this year’s Student Government president, representing more than 19,000 students on RIT’s Henrietta and overseas campuses. There were four sets of candidates this year, the most in recent history. This year’s Student Government vice president is J.T. Lapham, a fourth-year biochemistry major from Queensbury, N.Y.

Qian Xue, associate professor of mechanical engineering in RIT's Kate Gleason College of Engineering and recent NSF CAREER Awardee, is exploring how the varied sizes, shapes, and directions of whiskers on harbor seals can correlate to better sensor technologies. 

RIT’s Launch Initiative won first place in the Space Dynamics Laboratory Payload Challenge this summer in Las Cruces, N.M. They were among nearly 6,000 students from 159 international collegiate teams at the annual competition that challenges students to launch solid, liquid, or hybrid rockets to altitudes of 10,000 and 30,000 feet.

Samantha Sorondo, a fifth-year student in the mechanical and industrial engineering Ph.D. program from San Juan, Puerto Rico, has taken on leadership roles in the graduate student community in addition to her research on metal 3D printing.

Nicole Rotondo ’16 (mechanical engineering) always wanted to be in motorsports. Taking her passion for cars and racing, she built an engineering career that put her on the fast track with Honda’s Performance Development (HPD) team.

The first-of-its-kind technology is opening up new creative possibilities at RIT and beyond — it is working to fuel the future of sustainable manufacturing and even space travel.