News
Department of Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology

Microsystems engineering Ph.D. student Evan Manfreda-Schulz ’20 (physics) accomplished something many academic researchers aim for when his first paper was published on the cover of Optica Quantum.

Orlando Ortiz took over as the RIT Alumni Association president in January, an association with which he has been a member of for 10 years. He is also active with RIT’s Lambda Alpha Upsilon Fraternity Inc. and is a mentor with RIT’s Men of Color, Honor, and Ambition (MOCHA) program.

Making at RIT has hit a new level now that several makerspaces in the Student Hall for Exploration and Development (SHED) have opened to provide students access to equipment and support for classwork, club advancement, and personal projects.

At RIT, robots are learning to read the room—especially rooms with humans. Improved communication between robots and people is part of the human-centered philosophy that anchors much of RIT’s work in robotics.

Since 2002, more than 1,200 students have gained valuable experience creating a multimedia production ensemble with RIT Sports Network.

Betsy Dell, professor in the College of Engineering Technology, and Makini Beck, assistant professor in the College of Liberal Arts and the School of Individualized Study, are leading a National Science Foundation-funded project to support minoritized women students in STEM through a co-mentoring network.

Twelve technical specialists from L3Harris are part of a high-tech workforce development pilot program at Rochester Institute of Technology learning how to build the “brains” inside electronic devices. This first cohort of students is part of the region’s broader economic development initiatives to expand industries such as advanced manufacturing.

Calvary Robotics recently donated more than $250,000 in funding and expertise to support the growing robotics programs in RIT's College of Engineering Technology.

RIT’s VEX Robotics team placed 10th overall among 96 collegiate teams in the recent VEX Robotics World Championships in Dallas. Closing a strong 2023 season, the team was also recognized for excellence in technical designs and the overall quality of its program.

Jennifer O’Neil enjoys thermodynamic memes, powerplants, and Marvel Comic heroes, especially Iron Man, and she has found ways to connect all of them for her engineering technology classes. She makes these connections through activities that bring to life complex topics that solidify learning for her students.

Pete Van Camp played detective before he acted as a manufacturing engineer for his graduate capstone project. His project involved upgrading a Fanuc industrial robot, which had been sitting idle for a short time in the Fabrication and Robotics Lab located in RIT’s College of Engineering Technology. Limited documentation about functions, missing cables and components, and fewer technical people from the company to provide service support were just a few of the barriers Van Camp encountered as he began.

Nearly 70 different RIT student teams and clubs are poised to move into the Student Hall for Exploration and Development (SHED) this summer in preparation for the building’s official opening in the fall semester.