News
Microsystems Engineering Ph.D.

Intelligent power and sensing technology corporation onsemi announced funding to Kate Gleason College of Engineering to support educational programming and research in advancing today’s semiconductor industry.

RIT is growing its Ph.D. offerings, adding one new program in the fall of 2023 and two in 2024. This fall, Saunders College of Business will offer a Ph.D. in business administration. In 2024, the College of Liberal Arts will introduce a new doctoral degree in cognitive science and the College of Science will launch a Ph.D. in physics.

RIT is building upon its successful history of semiconductor development and research through an expansion to its cleanroom facility with help from New York state.

RIT will receive $2 million from the U.S. Department of Commerce to update and expand its Semiconductor Fabrication Lab to accommodate research in semiconductor technologies and prepare the workforce for the growing domestic microelectronics manufacturing industry. The funding was included as part of the fiscal year 2023 omnibus funding package.

Microsystems engineering Ph.D. student Katelynn Fleming is hard at work making new discoveries on the moon. But her ultimate goal is to use technology to help all of us on Earth. Fleming recently won a 2022 NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunity (NSTGRO) award and will work at NASA centers as part of the visiting technologist experiences.

RIT will begin offering two new Ph.D. programs beginning in the fall of 2023: business administration and cognitive science. Today, RIT enrolls 300 students in 11 Ph.D. programs.

On June 16, five business technology start-up companies graduated from RIT’s Venture Creations business incubator with a commitment to continuing to engage local and regional suppliers, expand labor forces locally and nationally, and impact the regional economy.

Supply chain disruptions and a strong demand for consumer electronics during the pandemic led to a global chip shortage. The shortage has highlighted the need to strengthen the domestic semiconductor industry and has put a new emphasis on microelectronic engineering education.

Ryan Bowen BS ’08, MS ’13, Ph.D. ’16 is chief technology officer at NRGXP and is being honored by the Graduate School.

Research findings and signs of computer chip industry demands were the top subjects at the 40th Annual Microelectronic Engineering Conference April 8 at RIT. With indications of growth and novel functions being developed, there were also discussions of the pressing need for even more skilled workers in the field to sustain that expected growth.

RIT’s team will develop the technology needed for a point-of-care diagnostics system built on integrated photonics. Capable of accurate detection of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, the new system could reduce the need for expensive equipment and specialized expertise to better inform care decisions in underserved, resource-limited communities.

Two member companies at RIT’s Venture Creations business incubator are continuing their upward trajectory with the help of two multimillion-dollar investments: Casana, a healthcare technology firm that is reinventing in-home health monitoring, and Owl Autonomous Imaging (Owl AI), which is developing monocular 3D thermal imaging and ranging solutions for automotive active safety systems.