Science and Math News

RIT students have never had as many ways to pursue their love of performing arts than they do now. From scholarships, new clubs and classes, private music lessons, community partnerships, and exciting new venues being built on campus, performing arts for RIT students is literally becoming a show stopper.

Growing up in a family of teachers, Nidhi Baindur has valued education from a very young age. Baindur, a second-year computational mathematics major from the island nation of Mauritius, is well on her way to helping others as just the second RIT recipient of the Newman Civic Fellowship, which recognizes and supports community-committed students who are change-makers and public problem solvers.

New machine learning techniques developed by scientists at Rochester Institute of Technology are revealing important information about how pulsars—rapidly rotating neutron stars—behave. In a new study published by Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, the researchers outlined their new techniques and how they applied to study Vela, the brightest radio pulsar in the sky.

In 2001, the dot-com bubble was bursting and investors had lost confidence in internet companies. Twenty years later, data has become a new currency, and people can access just about anything from their smartphones. Throughout all these changes, Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences has evolved into the largest college at RIT, with more than 4,600 students this year. Since its creation 20 years ago, GCCIS has awarded more than 14,000 degrees—in a growing number of computing disciplines.

All eyes were on international pharmaceutical giant Pfizer this past year as it raced to produce needed COVID-19 vaccines. Staff across the company—including Christopher Vollaro ’21 MS—played a role in the development and distribution process.

The Baileys, an RIT legacy family, have dreamed of opening a restaurant in the Rochester area for more than 11 years. In 2020, when their youngest child graduated from high school, they decided it was finally time.

Associate Professor Travis Desell's drone data management business, Airtonomy, was awarded the $1 million grand prize at the GENIUS NY international accelerator competition.

The sixth annual event featured presentations on the latest virtual, augmented and mixed reality technologies that are driving various fields, from health care to theater to education. 

Attitudes about the COVID-19 vaccine, how sleep and age can affect memory, and how bodily secretions impact wounds are just three of the varied subjects to be discussed Saturday at the Honors Research and Creativity Symposium.

Serena Tramm and Mike Ortiz are pursuing their studies in astrophysics and have been working alongside Michael Zemcov, assistant professor in RIT’s School of Physics and Astronomy. Together, the team conducted an experiment that resulted in traveling to New Mexico’s White Sands Missile Range for the first CIBER-2 launch earlier this year.

Alumni Brandy ’08 and Luiz ’07 Freitas, founding members of RIT’s Sentinel Society, are proud that they are able to give back to the university community that means so much to them. Each year, the generosity and impact of donors are honored during RIT’s Day of Thanks. Today, all RIT donors will be sent a “thank you” video message, and faculty and staff donors are encouraged to visit the Student Alumni Union until 1:30 p.m. to pick up a special chocolate bar.

Spectrum News talks to Callie Babbitt, professor of sustainability, and Diana Rodriguez Alberto, a sustainability Ph.D. student, about their research on reducing food waste.