News by Topic: Community Outreach

Meet Gabe Carson, a third-year computing and information technologies major from Williamsport, Pa., who works at the SHED information booth.

The DeafTEC program at RIT’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf has received a renewal grant for $1.6 million to continue its work serving as a resource for high schools and community colleges that educate deaf and hard-of-hearing students in STEM-related programs and for employers hiring deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals. 

Students in RIT’s Multidisciplinary Senior Design (MSD) program worked on The Overcomer, a patented device being used by children and adults with mobility challenges to play sports at the Special Olympics and in schools, nursing care facilities, sports leagues, and homes around the world.

The Battery Prototyping Center at RIT was awarded nearly $2.2 million through the Empire State Development Grants program to expand its facility. Upgrades and expansion of the center will nearly double its current space, add new equipment, and increase training capacity in the areas of lithium-ion battery research, manufacturing, and development.

As a recipient of the NSF CyberCorps Scholarship for Service (SFS), fifth-year student Jaime Campanelli has dedicated herself to educating the public about cybersecurity. Students in the CyberCorps SFS program work for the U.S. government in information protection and assurance roles following their graduation.

The low-cost multispectral imaging system MISHA, or the Multispectral Imaging System for Historical Artifacts, was developed by RIT experts to uncover object details that aren’t visible to the naked eye.

The New York State Pollution Prevention Institute has announced selections for its 2023-2024 Community Grants Program. The program provides nonprofit organizations, academic institutions, and local governments both financial and technical assistance for projects that promote and implement pollution-prevention practices at the community level.

Fifth-generation apple farmer Jamie Sonneville understands the stresses that come with predicting revenue in the agriculture industry. That’s why Sonneville built an intuitive labor management software tool. Her company, Agri-Trak, is part of RIT’s Venture Creations business incubator.

RIT is receiving $500,000 from the Google Cybersecurity Clinics Fund to train new cybersecurity professionals, while providing services for public good at the same time. The funding from Google.org, the company’s philanthropic arm, is part of a $20 million collaboration with the Consortium of Cybersecurity Clinics that Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, announced in June.

For nearly a decade, RIT audiologist Catherine Clark has been volunteering in Ethiopia, providing essential services to the country’s deaf and hard-of-hearing children. As a result of her efforts, Clark was recognized recently with the naming of a new audiology lab in her honor.

Many creators are hesitant to embrace artificial intelligence (AI) as part of the artistic process. Opting to dive in head first, industrial designers Juan Noguera and Paolo Cardini are interested in the new technology’s potential to provide more autonomy for traditional artisans across the globe.

WHEC-TV talks to Donna Burnette, executive director of RIT K-12 University Center, about the center's move to downtown Rochester.