Photo Spotlights

RIT hosted the GENIUS Olympiad, an international high school project competition focused on environmental issues, in the Gordon Field House and Activities Center on June 12. More than 1,000 high school students from 33 states and 64 countries presented projects to judges in several categories including science, writing, business, robotics, music, short film, coding, and art. More than 2,400 proposals were submitted for the 2024 competition, yielding 727 selected projects. In addition, international students who achieve certain levels at the competition may be eligible for annual scholarships if they attend RIT. The competition, which was founded in 2011, is organized by Terra Science and Education and RIT.

RIT’s annual Retiree Luncheon was held in the Gordon Field House and Activities Center on June 5. The complimentary event featured a buffet, program, and awards ceremony, as well as the opportunity for university retirees to reconnect.

RIT employees helped clean up Mount Hope Cemetery on May 23 as part of United Way Day of Caring. Day of Caring is the largest community-wide volunteer event across the Rochester region.

Sustainable systems master’s graduate Mandlaenkosi Mthetwa, left, and data sciences master’s graduate Elham Babur, right, jump for joy upon completing their degrees.

Four honorary degrees were conferred during the Academic Convocation ceremony on May 10. Among those recognized was Sanjay Mehrotra, president and chief executive officer at Micron Technology. He received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters. Pictured, from left to right, are RIT Provost Prabu David, Mehrotra, and RIT Board of Trustees Chairman Jeff Harris.

Maddie Tlachac, an environmental, health and safety management graduate, receives her blanket from Kendall Scott, director of the Native American Future Stewards Program. The annual blanket ceremony is a way to share blessings of warmth, connection, and community and is a long-standing tradition. The event was held on May 3 as part of graduation activities at RIT.

About 170 members from the RIT community, mostly students, helped construct wooden frames for a Habitat for Humanity home to be built on Parsells Avenue in Rochester. It is the seventh year, and seventh home, RIT students have helped build for the organization. The event was part of SpringFest.

Pranjal Sawai, center, an MFA student in visual communication design, won first place for her visual exhibit at the RIT Graduate Showcase on April 11. Her work is a reinterpretation of Panchatantra, or Indian animal fables. Sawai was inspired by traditional Indian shadow puppetry and western typography. She learned about typography while studying under RIT Assistant Professor Anne Jordan.

RIT’s Celebration of Teaching and Scholarship was held in Ingle Auditorium on April 10. The annual ceremony recognizes outstanding faculty, staff, and students for their excellence in innovation, teaching, and developing the next generation of leaders. A complete list of honorees is on the Celebration of Teaching and Scholarship webpage.

Students, faculty, and staff stepped out for the total solar eclipse on April 8. In addition to viewing the eclipse, the RIT community enjoyed Eclipse Fest activities on campus including glow dodgeball, a neon dance party, and space-themed food.

Gaining clinical work experience is important to undergraduates like Sway Issifou, right, first-year biomedical sciences major from Bronx, N.Y., who dreams of going to medical school. She met representatives from local hospitals, nursing homes, and other medical providers during the RIT College of Health Sciences and Technology’s first-ever Clinical Connections Fair held on March 27. “It gave me an introduction to networking and to a variety of healthcare occupations in and around Rochester,” Issifou said.

Adheesh Ankolekar, left, plays a mridangam during an awareness in music master class in the SHED with noted tabla musician Sandeep Das, who is an artist-in-residence at RIT this week with his band. Das adjusts the microphone as he mentions the importance of sound and microphone distance.