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Environmental Sustainability, Health and Safety BS

Janet Hackman, a third-year economics and environmental sustainability, health and safety major from Rockville, Md., is the team manager of the RIT Electric Vehicle Team, a collegiate electric motorcycle racing team founded in 2012.

RIT is reimplementing its policy against the use of packaged water, beginning April 1, when university funds may no longer be used to purchase still, unflavored, or packaged water. The policy applies to all single-serve water regardless of container material, size, event type, and method of purchase.

RIT was recently awarded $2 million as part of the Biden Administration’s “Investing in America” program to focus on creating jobs in the high-demand areas of infrastructure and transportation.

Natali Valdez, assistant professor at Purdue University and Presidential Fellow at Yale University, will visit RIT to share her research on social and political factors surrounding maternal medical policy as the featured speaker for the 2023 Eugene H. Fram Signature Lecture in Critical Thinking.

Jennifer Schneider, a faculty-researcher at RIT and expert in hazardous materials and community resilience, recently joined two national organizations to investigate and guide improved standards for use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and technologies. 

A team of researchers from RIT was recently awarded a grant to develop curricular modules on infrastructure improvement and resilience that introduce students to public and private sector standards, including industry standards.

TikTok has become one of the most popular social media apps to hit the market in a decade. Billions of social media users have found both community and entertainment in the vertical short videos that are central to TikTok’s format. With a combined nearly 1 million followers and 25 million “likes” between them, four RIT alumni are establishing themselves as social media influencers.

All eyes were on international pharmaceutical giant Pfizer this past year as it raced to produce needed COVID-19 vaccines. Staff across the company—including Christopher Vollaro ’21 MS—played a role in the development and distribution process.

More than a dozen RIT administrators and staff members have met regularly to discuss ways to help keep campus open as safely as possible as more is learned about COVID-19. To provide a student perspective, Griffin Warntz is serving on RIT’s Spring Planning Task Force.

RIT recently received a grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop course modules that will provide students with guidelines and best practices in standards information toward helping organizations manage crisis situations.

Professors Clyde Hull and Eric Williams measure plastic waste in Trinidad and Tobago in an attempt to manage the problem of plastic pollution. 

Five alumni from RIT’s College of Engineering Technology were honored with Rising Star awards during a campus reception last month. Given to alumni who graduated from CET within the past five to 10 years, the awardees were recognized for outstanding achievements early in their careers, for significant public service contributions and in helping to advance the careers of new professionals.