Photo Spotlights

Purdue University engineering dean Leah Jamieson is the first recipient of the Kate Gleason Medal for Engineering Education. Prior to receiving the medal, she toured several of the labs in the engineering college, including the Brinkman Lab, with Professor Denis Cormier. The medal was designed by Cormier and 3D printed. It is being given by RIT’s Kate Gleason College of Engineering to acknowledge the influential role academic leaders like Jamieson play in creating the engineers of the future.

Jennifer Lesser Henley, director of security operations at Facebook, discussed the state of cybersecurity as part of the Golisano Dean’s Lecture Series on April 23.

Serial IT entrepreneur John Smith has been named recipient of the 2015 Herbert W. Vanden Brul Entrepreneurial Award by RIT’s Saunders College of Business. He was honored at a luncheon at Oak Hill Country Club on April 21. Smith, who has a deep-seated “family-first” focus, has launched more than 20 companies in Rochester over the past four decades—including JTS Computer Services, Brite Computers, Solu Technology Partners, StormFRog, CloudDOCX and Dealer DOCX.

RIT’s Saunders College of Business announces the Daniel D. Tessoni Endowed Chair in Accounting to honor the esteemed assistant professor of accounting who has served as a member of the faculty since 1974. Tessoni is an astute practitioner of the art of accounting both in the classroom and in his role as a practicing CPA, as well as a board member for several corporations including Genesee Regional Bank, International Textile Group and Western New York Energy LLC. During his 40 years at RIT, he has touched the lives of literally thousands of students and actively stays in touch to provide, advice, counsel and encouragement.

Climate scientist and activist James Hansen talked to the RIT community on April 21 about sea level rise and superstorms, and the dangers of global warming. Hansen, a former director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, testified in 1988 before Congress about fossil fuels and carbon dioxide emissions contributing to the greenhouse effect. He was in Rochester for a public presentation, sponsored by the Sierra Club Rochester Regional Group, RIT and other local organizations.

Melquea Smith, left, of Syracuse, and Brittany Landry of Herkimer, N.Y., attended Tora-Con 2015 at RIT on Saturday. More than 2,500 anime enthusiasts attended the two-day event, which featured discussion panels, celebrity appearances, a concert, live action performances and countless costumed characters. The 11th annual event was put on by RIT’s Student Anime Club.

About 400 designers and coders came to RIT April 18-19 for the first BrickHack hackathon. The 24-hour competition allows computer programmers and others involved in software development, including graphic designers, project managers and interface designers, to build and create projects from the ground up. The hackathon also featured talks, a Humans vs. Zombies mini game and a hacking fair, to show off what people created. Here, from left, RIT students Osamu Fujimoto and Felipe Petroski were joined by Bryan Ngadimin, a computer science graduate from the University of Rochester.

The Deaf Fashion Designer Association, in collaboration with Tiger’s Next Top Model, presented “Fashion of the Future,” a runway show and exhibition displaying the work of three NTID students. The April 17 event at Dyer Arts Center featured designs from students Ray Ramirez, Sammi Shupe and Brent Aguilar.

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand announced new legislation at RIT on Friday to bolster manufacturing education at universities and train the workforce to meet the growing demands of the 21st century manufacturing sector. Gillibrand introduced “The Manufacturing Universities Act of 2015,” a bipartisan bill that would designate 25 universities “Manufacturing Universities” and provide schools with incentives to better align their educational offerings with the needs of modern manufacturers. The legislation will provide qualifying universities grants of $5 million per year, for a four-year period, that will help universities enhance their engineering programs to emphasize manufacturing skills, incentivize partnerships with local manufacturers, increase internship and cooperative education opportunities for students, and help more recent graduates launch new manufacturing businesses.

The 2014-2015 Outstanding Undergraduate Scholars were celebrated with a reception and awards ceremony April 16. In order to receive the scholars designation, students must have earned a GPA of 3.85 and completed more than two-thirds of the credit hours required for a bachelor’s degree. Selection is also based on factors complementing their academic achievement, including creative work, independent research and community service. More than 100 students were honored at the event.

NASA Astronaut Don Pettit highlights his photography taken in space while aboard the International Space Station. Pettit, who spoke to a packed audience in Webb Auditorium on April 13, spent 370 days in space, orbiting the Earth more than 3,000 times while traveling 82 million miles. The space traveler has also taken nearly a half-million photos to capture the awe of his journeys.

NASA Astronaut Donald Pettit toured RIT Tuesday to learn more about the university’s capabilities in photography, imaging science and science. Here, Pettit, on right, meets with Professor Don Figer, director of RIT’s Center for Detectors. Student researchers in the Center for Detectors later showed off their work to Pettit. Pettit traveled to RIT to help solve a problem. Digital cameras on the International Space Station are subject to repeated cosmic ray strikes that permanently affect the registering of light levels and degrade cameras, sensors and the images. The students’ solutions will ultimately extend the life of onboard space cameras and help recover thousands of damaged photos for NASA.