News Stories

The public will soon get its first glimpse at images from the most powerful observational instrument ever made. NASA will reveal the James Webb Space Telescope’s first images and spectra on July 12. RIT faculty closely involved with JWST will make media appearances to explain the significance of this momentous scientific achievement.

WXXI talks to Grover Swartzlander, professor in the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science, about the Diffractive Solar Sailing project.

For the first time since the start of the pandemic, RIT’s Center for Urban Entrepreneurship is once again hosting its Business Pitch competition, open to all businesses operating within Monroe County. The winner will be awarded $25,000.

Research at RIT into new energy-efficient materials for computing could improve the bottleneck that often occurs when retrieving large amounts of data, hindering processing throughput and energy efficiency.

New Scientist talks to Jeyhan Kartaltepe, assistant professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy, about the James Webb Space Telescope's first scientific images. (This content requires a subscription to view.)

NASA announced new funding for a project led by RIT alumni, faculty, and students that could power spacecraft to orbit the sun’s poles for the first time. The NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program will provide funding to the Diffractive Solar Sailing project led by Amber Dubill ’20, ’20 MS of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

In response to requests from students, RIT is adding more all-gender bathrooms and locker areas across campus. And soon, people of all genders can be using the same bathrooms at the same time, as RIT plans to incorporate all-gender bathrooms in some buildings, which will provide privacy in stalls, with common areas to wash hands.

Essay by Jacqueline Mozrall, dean of Saunders College of Business, published in the Rochester Business Journal.

Dean Sophia Maggelakis will be leaving RIT to become the senior vice president for academic affairs and provost at Wentworth Institute of Technology. Maggelakis joined RIT as an assistant professor in 1990, became head of the School of Mathematical Sciences in 2001, and became dean of the College of Science in 2010.

Jonathan Hopkins, a beloved member of the interpreting team for the College of Art and Design, has retired. But many others know Hopkins from his work as an interpreter for a wide range of activities at RIT including sports games and practices, stage performances, Native American events, and art classroom sessions.

Risa Robinson was appointed to the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee. Robinson, department head of mechanical engineering in RIT’s Kate Gleason College of Engineering, brings extensive research in the area of fluid dynamics, particle inhalation and toxicological effects of various tobacco products and nicotine delivery devices.

RIT has launched a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in new media design at its RIT Croatia Zagreb campus. Enrollment is currently underway and the first cohort of students will begin its studies in the multidisciplinary degree program this fall.