Research News

Researchers at RIT and the University of Rochester discovered an alternative to successfully purify biological particles to better understand how cells communicate with one another.

Nathaniel Barlow, associate professor in RIT’s School of Mathematical Sciences, and Steven Weinstein, head of RIT’s Department of Chemical Engineering, outline a solution to the SIR epidemic model, which is commonly used to predict how many people are susceptible to, infected by, and recovered from viral epidemics, in a study published in Physica D: Nonlinear Phenomena.

A team of RIT researchers will explore how tiny particles of plastic pollution are impacting Lake Ontario thanks to new funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The multidisciplinary group will examine how microplastics are transported and transformed in the lake, where they ultimately end up and what effects they have on the ecosystem.

RIT honored its 2020 class of Distinguished Faculty—Manuela Campanelli, Satish Kandlikar and James Perkins. The Distinguished Professor designation is given to tenured faculty who have shown continued excellence over their careers in teaching, scholarly contributions, lasting contributions in creative and professional work and service to both the university and community.

Alyssa Owens is contributing new ways to diagnose breast cancer and Poornima Kalyanram has discovered how fluorescent molecules might help to identify diseased cells. Karen Soule and Fatemeh Shah-Mohammadi are part of breakthrough work in developing carbon nanotubes and cognitive radio networks—advances in technology that will power tomorrow’s electronic devices. All four are on track to graduate with a Ph.D. in engineering.

Ke Du and Blanca Lapizco-Encinas, both faculty-researchers in RIT’s Kate Gleason College of Engineering, worked with an international team to collaborate on the design of a next-generation miniature lab device that uses magnetic nano-beads to isolate minute bacterial particles that cause diseases. This new technology improves how clinicians isolate drug-resistant strains of bacterial infections and difficult-to-detect micro-particles such as those making up Ebola and coronaviruses.

A heart monitoring solution developed in a Rochester Institute of Technology engineering lab is helping to provide individuals with early signs of COVID-19 symptoms during the 2020 crisis.

Researchers from RIT’s Future Photon Initiative, in collaboration with the Air Force Research Laboratory, have produced the Department of Defense’s first-ever fully integrated quantum photonics wafer.

The LiveAbility Lab is a partnership between RIT and the Al Sigl Community of Agencies, a collaborative network of organizations in Rochester that serves children and adults with special needs. The lab, which is located on Al Sigl’s Wolk Campus, opened in 2018. The goal is to develop a pipeline of accessible technology projects that are conceived at RIT and take root at the LiveAbility Lab on their way to development in the marketplace. 

Gears make the industrial world go ’round. And RIT engineering faculty and doctoral students are working to keep them moving efficiently.

RIT's Thermal Analysis and Microfluidics Lab is celebrating 30 years of contributing to the fields of fuel cells, microfluidic systems and infrared imaging.

From furniture and toys that assist children with special needs to car seats that help people with mobility issues enter and exit vehicles safely, cutting-edge technologies designed to enhance accessibility for individuals across a wide range of physical and cognitive challenges will be on display March 17 at the fifth Conference on Effective Access Technology.