News
Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Ph.D.

Brian Landi and Katie McConky have been named department heads of the chemical engineering and industrial and systems engineering programs in the college. Both bring extensive teaching, research, and company experience to the academic leadership positions in the engineering college.

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.

Next-generation manufacturing tools provide engineering students hands-on experience with the equipment used in real-life production processes.

RIT will confer a record 69 Ph.D. degrees during commencement May 12, marking a 53 percent increase from last year.

Prosthetic devices can be symbolic of loss or they can represent challenges being overcome. Jade Myers’ focus on designing prosthetics for individuals who have lost limbs is a way to give them the second chance that can make all the difference in the world.

Will Zhang, assistant professor in industrial and systems engineering at the Rochester Institute of Technology talks about immersive technology on The Peggy Smedley Show. He says immersive technologies include several technologies such as AR (augmented reality), VR (virtual reality), XR (extended reality), and the metaverse—and discusses the connections between each and how they are different.

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.

Dr. Dennis Cormier, Earl W. Brinkman professor in the department of industrial and systems engineering, recently discussed 3D printing, what it is, how it works, how it is used, and how it should be used on the Peggy Smedley podcast. He says everyone is familiar with printing—3D printing builds up thickness, which is the third dimension.

Adam Foster, a Ph.D. student in mechanical and industrial engineering from Villennes-sur-Seine, France, is a team member on PrisAM, a student-owned business.

Ph.D. student Jade Myers, who uses 3D print technology to develop upper and lower limb prostheses for amputees, was a top three winner of the nTopology-EOS 2022 Responsible Part Challenge, an international design competition.

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.

RIT’s strategic plan calls for adding six to 12 new Ph.D. programs and conferring 50 doctoral degrees every year by 2025. The university already reached the latter goal with 51 Ph.D. degrees conferred in the 2020-2021 academic year.