News by Topic: Entrepreneurship

Saunders College of Business will honor the Gueldenpfennig family for their dedication as alumni and longtime RIT supporters—who turned REDCOM Laboratories Inc. into one of the world’s leading suppliers of secure and reliable communications solutions—with the 2022 Phil Saunders Cornerstone of Philanthropy Award during this year’s Brick City Homecoming & Family Weekend.

Eleven RIT alumni have been awarded Distinguished Alumni Awards for the 2022-2023 year. It is the highest award an RIT college can bestow upon its alumni and recognizes alumni who have performed at the highest levels of their profession or who have contributed to the advancement and leadership of civic, philanthropic, or service organizations. The 2022-2023 recipients will be honored during presentations throughout the academic year.

Peter Hogya, a computer science major in RIT’s Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences, was honored with the Herbert W. Vanden Brul Student Entrepreneurial Award at last week’s Vanden Brul Entrepreneurial Award Luncheon at Genesee Valley Club in Rochester.

Adam Foster, a Ph.D. student in mechanical and industrial engineering from Villennes-sur-Seine, France, is a team member on PrisAM, a student-owned business.

In a move to further enhance an already robust innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem, RIT is partnering with the NSF’s I-Corps Hub: Interior Northeast Region. RIT will join a consortium of 10 renowned regional colleges and universities that will utilize $15 million in NSF funding over the next five years to implement and execute a cohesive innovation ecosystem that delivers inclusive models of education and workforce training.

RIT is among the nation’s “Most Trusted Universities” in a recent nationwide survey conducted by decision intelligence company Morning Consult, which defined trust as the belief in an institution “to do the right thing.” RIT ranks No. 37 in public trust among the top 135 doctoral research universities featured in the U.S. News & World Report's 2022 Best National University Rankings.

Susan R. Holliday ’85 (MBA), who led the turnaround and growth of the Rochester Business Journal during nearly three decades as president, publisher, and owner, has been named the 2022 recipient of the Herbert W. Vanden Brul Entrepreneurial Award, presented by Saunders College of Business.

Local entrepreneurs Jnicolle Glover and Charletta Broome are still on cloud nine after walking away as the top prize winners of RIT’s Center for Urban Entrepreneurship ROC the Pitch competition.

Fox Rochester talks to Ebony Miller-Wesley, director of RIT’s Center for Urban Entrepreneurship, about the center's ROC the Pitch business competition.

Rochester Beacon profiles Token, a Rochester-based company launched by RIT graduates in 2015 and currently chaired by Kevin Surace ’85 (electrical engineering technology).

RIT students participated in this summer’s Studio930 design consultancy, an interdisciplinary studio that focuses on the development of assistive healthcare solutions by leveraging the use of technology, art, and design. The 10-week long summer experience concluded with a student exhibition inside RIT’s LiveAbility Lab, a close partnership between RIT and the Al Sigl Community of Agencies. 

Beth Buehler, a graduate of Livonia High School, and Cody Rae Ziefel, a Dansville High School graduate, are recipients of this year’s annual E. Philip Saunders Endowed Business Scholarship. The students have been accepted at RIT’s Saunders College of Business, where they will begin classes on Aug. 22.