Photo Spotlights

Summer Start Up Program works with student entrepreneurs to help them accelerate the development of their business concepts. The program is sponsored by the E. Philip Saunders College of Business and the Simone Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

RIT’s fourth annual Graduate Research and Creativity Symposium evolved into a regional symposium this year. Graduate students from RIT’s nine colleges along with students from University of Rochester, Nazareth College, University at Buffalo and Syracuse University presented their research on July 17. In addition to the oral presentations, there were poster and interactive presentations. Here, RIT student Alexander Grier presents his poster, “A Database of Predicted Structural Motifs.”

Caroline DeLong, RIT assistant professor of psychology in the College of Liberal Arts, works with Catina Wright, a zookeeper at Rochester’s Seneca Park Zoo, to study object perception in river otters. DeLong’s research in this area began with marine mammals—namely dolphins and whales—and now involves other aquatic animals including goldfish and otters.

Members of the University of Michigan’s solar-car team inspect one of their vehicles in preparation for the 2012 American Solar Challenge, “Eight States in Eight Days.” The collegiate design competition and race, featuring a 1,600-mile route bordering the Great Lakes, launched from RIT. For the full story, go to American Solar Car Challenge Launches ‘Eight States in Eight Days’ Race.

RIT students have partnered with residents in Rochester’s Marketview Heights neighborhood to create several gardens throughout the community. Through the University/Community Partnerships program in the College of Liberal Arts, RIT students educate neighborhood children about proper nutrition, where their food comes from, the benefits of growing their own food, and musical and artistic expression in the garden. In addition, all of the food cultivated in the garden is free to community residents.

Many of RIT’s international students enroll in classes organized by the English Language Center, established in 1979. The center teaches classes at the beginner, intermediate and advanced levels in grammar, reading, writing, conversation and vocabulary. Students can also choose from a variety of electives including American culture, business communication, writing research papers, presentation skills, understanding academic lectures and pronunciation. Here, students participate in the Listening and Discussion class taught by instructor Nicole Martello. To read a story about RIT’s global community, go to www.rit.edu/news/story.php?id=49182.

Abdul Syed, a doctoral candidate in the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science, won the Best Student Paper award at the International Conference on Geographical Object-based Image Analysis in Rio de Janeiro, held May 7-9. To read more, go to www.rit.edu/news/story.php?id=49175.

Data-center cooling technology developed by OptiCool Technologies was recently installed in the Center for Computational Relativity and Gravitation. The technology, which uses an oil-free, pumped refrigerant and a modular cooling-unit design that increases cooling capacity and decreases overall energy, has saved RIT more than $30,000. OptiCool is a start-up company that recently graduated from RIT’s Clean Energy Incubator. RG&E recognized RIT’s achievement at a news conference on June 29. Above, David Brown, director of technical solutions with OptiCool, discusses some of the equipment.

Graduate student Alexandra Artusio-Glimpse recently won a prestigious award from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program. The fellowship provides her with a three-year, $30,000 annual stipend in support of her project “Optical Lift: Innovating Devices that Fly by Light.” Artusio-Glimpse is a graduate student in the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science and works closely with Grover Swartzlander, joint associate professor of imaging science and physics.

Go to www.rit.edu/news/story.php?id=49219 to read more.

Annie McKee, the best-selling author and Fortune 500 executive-leadership coach, gives advice and encouragement as keynote speaker of the second annual RIT Women’s Leadership Conference, “Breakthrough Leadership—It’s Personal,” hosted on June 19 at RIT. McKee teaches the importance of compassion and emotional intelligence to becoming a breakthrough leader.

More than 80 graduate students at RIT Dubai received master’s degrees last week in the United Arab Emirates. Sheikh Khaled Bin Zayed bin Saqer Al Nahyan, chairman of the RIT Dubai board, said: “We are happy to share the joy of the graduates. Each one of them has earned their degrees through perseverance and hard work. This is also a proud moment for us at RIT Dubai for having delivered our third batch of graduates. With the skills gained, we are confident that the students will put their learning to good practice and add value to their working environment.” RIT Dubai began offering graduate degree programs in 2008 in engineering, computing, business and service leadership. RIT Dubai also now offers bachelor degrees in marketing, management, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. To learn more, go to www.rit.edu/dubai.

The university held its 14th annual RITirees Picnic in the Gordon Field House on June 13. The picnic honored all RIT retirees and welcomed a new class of retirees from 2012. The 2012 “RITirees Award” honored retired faculty member William Keyser from the School for American Crafts and retired staff member Linda Sallade, shown here, from Student Affairs.