Photo Spotlights

Assistant Director for Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution Colette Shaw, center, led a group at the final Gray Matter discussion for the semester. Gray Matter is a discussion series designed to promote critical exploration of provocative topics related to higher education and the RIT campus community. The topic was “Mental Health in the New Millennium. Does Everyone Just Need to Toughen Up?”. Since 1949, May has been Mental Health Awareness Month in the United States.

A dedicated leader of numerous charities and nonprofit organizations and a student with a passion for mentoring his peers have won this year’s Alfred L. Davis Distinguished Public Service Awards, presented on May 10. James Watters, RIT’s senior vice president of Finance and Administration and treasurer, received the 2017 Four Presidents Distinguished Public Service Award. Wilson Darko, a fifth-year electrical engineering technology student from Bronx, N.Y., received the 2017 Bruce R. James Award. From left are James Macchiano, selection committee chairperson; Watters; Darko; RIT President Bill Destler; and Steven Morse, selection committee chairperson.

Kelly Hurlburt, a fourth-year new media design student from Webster, N.Y., tested out a virtual reality unit at Global Village Plaza as part of the RIT 360 Project. The RIT community got to experience the sights, sounds and flavors of RIT’s campuses abroad, including China, Croatia, Dubai and Kosovo, with Google Cardboard virtual reality headsets, music by WITR-FM and food by Brick City Catering.

From left, Rebecca Johnson, President Bill Destler and Board of Trustees Chair Christine Whitman stand in front of the newly named Destler-Johnson Quad, near Louise Slaughter Hall and Sustainability Institute Hall. President Destler is retiring June 30 after a decade of service to the university.

Nathan Stevens, a fifth-year computer science major from Seneca Castle, N.Y., accepted the top prize in the student category for the first-ever New York State Game Development Challenge at The Strong in Rochester on May 8. Stevens and his team, which includes Michael Ray, a third-year game design and development major from Bronx, N.Y., and Stephanie Stoner, a third-year 3D digital design student from Lakeland, N.Y., won $12,000 for their video game Kingdom of the Tao. In addition, two RIT alumni—Evan Anthony and Jeremy Abel, both 2010 graduates of the new media design and imaging program—won first place in the indie developer category for their game Genesis Noir. The money is to be used to aid in the development and production of their games, and winners will also be included in an on-site incubator at one of New York State’s Digital Gaming Hub sites at RIT, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute or New York University. The challenge was an initiative supported by Empire State Development.

Christye Sisson, associate professor and program chair in the photographic sciences department, and students from the Photo Science Club, photographed hundreds of eyes at the Imagine RIT: Innovation and Creativity Festival on May 6. Their set-up, in the Gordon Field House, had a line of people all day to get close-ups of their irises.

Helen Snell, a fourth-year illustration major from Frederick, Md., makes a cast of a visitor’s face at Imagine RIT: Innovation and Creativity Festival on May 6. Festival-goers had their faces cast to be made into masks at the “Prosthetics to Special Effects: Life Mask Creation” area in the Gordon Field House. Completed facial prosthetics were on display to demonstrate the process.

From left, Mechanical Engineering Professor Alan Nye celebrates with Lynn Bishop ’93 (mechanical engineering) after RIT Formula Racing unveiled two racecars at Imagine RIT. The racecars, one a traditional gasoline-powered model and the other an all-electric vehicle, will compete this season. One of the highlights of the parade of performance vehicles was the unveiling of F1, the original car from the 1991-92 season. Refurbished by Salvatore Fava ’16 (mechanical engineering), it was driven by Bishop, founder and first project manager of the team.

Step Afrika! performed at RIT May 4. The group, founded in 1994 as the first professional company dedicated to the tradition of stepping, is one of the top 10 African American dance companies in the United States and tours internationally.

RIT/NTID hosted the annual Student Research Fair April 28 in Rosica hall. Here, Austin Gehret, left, instructional/support faculty Science and Mathematics at RIT/NTID learns about a research project from Amy Jade Johnson, center, a biomedical science major from Austin, Texas, and James Brunner, right, an electrical/mechanical engineering technology major from Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

Josh Meltzer, assistant professor in photojournalism, hangs frames for the “What We Do” exhibit. The work of RIT photojournalism students was judged in the RIT Chapter of the National Press Photographers Association’s 16th annual “What We Do” competition. The winners’ work is on exhibit 5–9 p.m. May 5 at Booksmart Studios at 250 N. Goodman St. in Rochester.

Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Heath Boice-Pardee spoke about his career path as part of the First Talk speaker series May 3. He shared personal stories about growing up and how he achieved his dreams in his talk “Dare to Dream”.