News

All current RIT graduate students are invited to pit their problem-solving skills against each other in a university-wide competition. The Office of Graduate Education is holding online semifinals for the Graduate 3-Minute Presentation Competition. Contestants are asked to address a societal problem in a three-minute YouTube video, using their research, thesis or project, or creative work.

RIT is among 15 colleges and universities that have joined the Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN), a program of the think-tank New America. The network unites colleges and universities committed to building the field of public interest technology and growing a new generation of civic-minded technologists.

Friday’s celebration of the Class of 2020 certainly cannot replace the atmosphere of a traditional commencement, which RIT plans to host on campus when it’s deemed safe. But many of graduates say they won’t let the pandemic, or the circumstances surrounding the virtual celebration, define them or their feelings about their time at RIT. (Pictured: Bradley Speck, who will finish his classes online this summer, has a job waiting for him at GE Aviation in Cincinnati, where he completed four co-ops.)

The Rochester Beacon talks to Thérèse Hannigan, director of RIT Online, and Mike Strobert, lecturer in the School of Design, about the transition to remote learning.

Alyssa Owens is contributing new ways to diagnose breast cancer and Poornima Kalyanram has discovered how fluorescent molecules might help to identify diseased cells. Karen Soule and Fatemeh Shah-Mohammadi are part of breakthrough work in developing carbon nanotubes and cognitive radio networks—advances in technology that will power tomorrow’s electronic devices. All four are on track to graduate with a Ph.D. in engineering.

Morgan Mistysyn, who will graduate this May with a Master of Engineering in engineering management and a bachelor’s in industrial engineering, is the recipient of this year's Outstanding Graduate Woman Award for her leadership role in the RIT chapter of Engineers for a Sustainable World.

RIT scientists have developed the first three-dimensional mass estimate to show where microplastic pollution is collecting in Lake Erie. The study examines nine different types of polymers that are believed to account for 75 percent of the world’s plastic waste.

Registration is open for RIT's first set of summer sessions that will be offered in an online format. The goals are for students to continue making progress toward their degrees, earn additional credit hours to catch up or get ahead, or explore interests outside of their majors.

In an unprecedented decision, Saunders College of Business is now accepting applications for fall 2020 graduate education without standardized tests, including Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) and Graduate Record Examinations (GRE). The decision was made to benefit graduate school applicants facing uncertainty created by COVID-19 and the closure of standardized testing centers.

RIT graduate programs are among the best in the nation, according to the U.S. News annual statistical survey of graduate programs. RIT master’s degree programs in engineering, business and fine arts feature in the U.S. News & World Report 2021 edition of Best Graduate Schools, released in March, including the first specialty ranking of the university’s business analytics master’s program.

Entrepreneur Reuben Zielinski ’85 (electrical engineering) ’96 (EMBA) believes that generating a great idea is actually the easiest part of the product development process. The hardest part? Convincing other people that what you have is a great idea and getting them to buy what you have developed.

Charles Gaines ’67 MFA (art and design) made his name working outside of the boundaries of traditional western art practices. Now, he’s on a list of artistic legends as the 60th recipient of the Edward MacDowell Medal.