Photo Spotlights

Cornel West, professor, author, musician and philosopher, spoke with a group of students before giving his keynote address at the 30th annual Expressions of King’s Legacy Celebration on Jan. 23. West, professor of philosophy and Christian practices at Union Theological Seminary, often speaks of the King legacy and social justice.

RIT’s College of Liberal Arts hosted its annual Major, Minor and Concentration Fair Jan. 20 in Clark Gym. RIT students met with Liberal Arts faculty members to learn about the more than 40 minors and concentrations. Students were also treated to free pizza and door prizes for their participation.

Some of RIT’s newer research participants are getting a helping hand. The Office of the Vice President for Research has awarded more than a dozen seed-funding grants of $5,000 each to support proposed research initiatives. The awards result from the faculty members’ participation in the annual Grant Writers’ Boot Camp program. Recipients of this year’s seed funding awards include (top row from left) Hans Schmitthenner, Hinda Mandell, Ivan Puchades, Wei Le, (bottom from left) Jennifer Adams, Susan Lane-Outlaw, Christine Monikowski and Patricia Taboada-Serrano. They’re joined by David Bond, director of Sponsored Research Service (bottom right).

Michael Ruhling, associate professor of fine arts/music and conductor of the RIT Orchestra, leads a rehearsal. Students from a variety of majors participate in the orchestra and take it for course credit. The group’s winter concert, with the Rochester Medical Orchestra, is Feb. 25 at the Hochstein School of Music Performance Hall, 50 N. Plymouth Ave., Rochester.

Mike Every’s fascination with the physics of spinning liquids has given his career an early start. The second-year physics major discovered a way to centrifugally cast telescope mirrors and caught the attention of an astronomer at California Polytechnic. Every was invited to present his research at a conference in Hawaii, Jan. 20-22, and to contribute to a book being written about the subject.

Gallery r’s Invitational Exhibit of faculty and students from the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences opened Jan. 12 and is on view through Feb. 19. Gallery r is located at 100 College St. in Rochester and will be participating in the First Friday openings on Feb. 3.

Sam Campanaro ’57 (illustrative photography) is best known for this famous photograph 15 Babies, which he shot in 1983 for a Kodak Colorama campaign. Here, Campanaro points to his grandson, who was one of the models for the shot. Campanaro worked for Eastman Kodak Co. for 42 years and continues to make pictures today.

John Eades ’93 (industrial design) opened a sandal factory in Geneva, N.Y. Vere Sandal Co. opened in August 2010 and is one of only a few companies making sandals in the United States. Read more about Eades in RIT: The University Magazine.

Student entrepreneurs and innovators from around the country collaborated on ideas to bring potential earth-saving technologies and products into the marketplace. RIT’s Center for Student Innovation hosted the Sustainable University IdeaLab workshop Jan. 4-8. Led by the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance, students learned how to develop and commercialize products and innovations that address sustainability issues. Student teams with the best ideas may receive seed grants up to $1,000.

Tony Zanni ’07 (graphic design) is the creative partner at Dock 2 Letterpress, a commercial letterpress business in Webster, N.Y.

David Eckler ’83 (printing management) is the owner of Dock 2 Letterpress, a commercial letterpress business in Webster, N.Y.

New faculty member Michael Schrlau joined the Kate Gleason College of Engineering this fall and has been working to balance classroom activities, research and department tasks. He talked to undergraduate engineering students about his research about unique strategies using nanotubes to study cells, tissue and larger biological systems.