News Stories

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a group of RIT students with a unique opportunity to express themselves. Missing the expanse of his dance studio at RIT, Thomas Warfield challenged his 43 dance students to stretch their bodies—and minds—using small spaces in their homes. The resulting submissions included routines performed inside closets, on treadmills, and in bathtubs.

Intersections: The RIT Podcast, Ep. 35: It’s been said that diversity happens when people of different backgrounds share space in a community, but inclusion only happens when they spend quality time together. Taj Smith, director of diversity education, talks with Stephanie Rankin, director of foundation relations, about her participation in the Breaking Bread program.

Relay For Life was preparing for its eighth year to benefit the American Cancer Society when the COVID-19 pandemic forced organizers to change plans. So instead of nearly 1,000 people participating in a 12-hour walking marathon in the Gordon Field House, this year’s Relay For Life will be a five-day online event that will provide entertainment, donation challenges, celebrations of life and more.

Essay by Madeline Gibbs, a fourth-year dietetics and nutrition student, published on OrleansHub.com.

The American Council on Education has named Robin Cass of RIT’s College of Art and Design an ACE Fellow for academic year 2020-21. Following her nomination by RIT President David Munson and a rigorous application process, Cass was among 38 Fellows selected this year.

Ke Du and Blanca Lapizco-Encinas, both faculty-researchers in RIT’s Kate Gleason College of Engineering, worked with an international team to collaborate on the design of a next-generation miniature lab device that uses magnetic nano-beads to isolate minute bacterial particles that cause diseases. This new technology improves how clinicians isolate drug-resistant strains of bacterial infections and difficult-to-detect micro-particles such as those making up Ebola and coronaviruses.

RIT students are encouraged to make sure they are counted in the 2020 Census, even though they may currently be scattered across the country. Every 10 years, the U.S. counts everyone living in the country, including college students, to help ensure that communities across the nation receive their fair share of federal funding and are appropriately represented for the next decade.

Alumnus Christian Rahl ’13 (applied networking and systems administration) knows a little bit about social distancing. He’s stationed at a National Science Foundation site at the South Pole, working as a senior network engineer.

The Community Grants Program is part of the NYSP2I’s ongoing efforts to continue improving the health and environmental quality of New York state. Eligible applicants are invited to apply for funding to support community-based projects that promote public awareness, understanding and implementation of pollution-prevention practices

Mehdi Mirakhorli, an assistant professor of software engineering, has earned a prestigious National Science Foundation award to develop new technologies that can make software architecture design more intuitive, particularity for novice programmers and new learners.

Nick Giordano, who graduated from RIT in 2016 with a degree in management information systems, has created a website template that helps communities track and manage the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Emily Mahoney, a third-year chemistry student from Cazenovia, N.Y., is one of 396 students nationwide named 2020-2021 Goldwater Scholars. The award is based on academic merit and research experience, and virtually all intend to obtain a Ph.D. as their highest degree.