Imaging science students benefit from Industrial Associates event

Students in Rochester Institute of Technology’s Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science participated in Industrial Associates at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center on Oct. 19. The event was a chance for students to connect with industry professionals and to hear about trends in the optics industry.

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RIT

Imaging science students present their research and network with industry professionals at the Industrial Associates event held on Oct. 19.

The annual event is hosted by the University of Rochester in collaboration with RIT and Monroe Community College. The day included research presentations, student poster sessions, a company connection showcase, and industry updates. Both formal and informal networking opportunities were available for the 50 RIT students and 50 companies in attendance to form connections.

“Industrial Associates is an important opportunity for our students to meet industry reps and show off their imaging science chops,” said Susan Houde-Walter, director of the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science. “Twenty-five of our students presented posters and talks, and they did RIT proud. We could not be happier with the event.”

Manisha Das Chaity, a third-year Ph.D. student from Bangladesh, appreciated the chance to talk about her recent work that is being funded by NASA. She has been studying the biodiversity of the Greater Cape Floristic Region in South Africa through field sampling and digital imaging and remote sensing image generation (DIRSIG) simulation.

“It’s a nice opportunity to be here to share my work and to get some feedback on it,” said Das Chaity. “And the networking opportunity — it’s an awesome event.”

Second-year imaging science student Cooper White attended and participated in the poster session, sharing his experience working with an autonomous-driving vineyard robot. Since he is newer to the program, he benefitted from learning about where the different areas in imaging science can take him.

“Maybe optics isn’t my field,” said White, who is from Webster, N.Y. “But I get to meet people who may know people in machine learning and semantic segmentation and autonomous driving networks, like I did earlier today. It’s helpful to take all the opportunities you can early on.”

This was the first year RIT participated in Industrial Associates events. The program continues through the weekend with company and student interviews. The collaboration between the schools’ imaging and optics centers allows for the program to grow even bigger in future years with more opportunities for students, faculty, and companies.