News by Topic: Student Experience

KayLee Steiner knows her way around a research laboratory. Her extensive undergraduate research experience made her an appealing candidate when she began applying to Ph.D. programs. After receiving offers from top-notch graduate programs including Duke, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and others, she will pursue her Ph.D. at Vanderbilt University’s School of Medicine.

Just because computing security student Jack McKenna is graduating, that doesn’t mean he’s going to stop learning. In his new job as a cybersecurity researcher at MITRE, McKenna, will constantly be on the lookout for new ways to use computing security techniques in order to help strengthen the nation’s cyber defenses.

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.

A multidisciplinary team of first-year students has been working to develop an imaging system that can reveal information hidden in historical documents for their Innovative Freshmen Experience project-based course. But with the shift to remote classes, the students left campus with the device nearly complete. Although disappointed, they shifted focus to the opportunities the new situation would create.

Jeanne Christman thinks classrooms should be noisy. The more conversations between students and faculty, the more success she believes students will have in understanding and applying engineering and computing concepts. That approach to helping students understand and use today’s engineering concepts was one of the reasons Christman was honored with the 2019-20 Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teaching.

Students on RIT’s international campuses in Dubai, Kosovo and Croatia became united during this time of social distancing for an online Global Campus Session, organized by the Student Government presidents of each campus.

Peter Cinibulk was praised by staff leadership for his combination of outstanding service to the program and his peers, his strong academic achievements and participation in, and contributions to, extracurricular activities both on and off campus.

As students at RIT have successfully transitioned to temporary online learning as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, they’ve also found ways of connecting with their peers to continue their interests with clubs, organizations and performing arts.

RIT Archives is documenting the COVID-19 moment and its impact on the RIT community by collecting personal reflections of the pandemic. The “RIT Pandemic Journals” is meant to be a repository for RIT students, faculty, staff and alumni who are processing their response to the crisis in creative ways.

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.

During this time of COVID-19, the Wellness division of RIT Student Affairs remains a resource for undergraduate and graduate students seeking health care, mental health counseling, nutrition advice or guidance for navigating personal matters. While the delivery process looks different than before the pandemic, the level of care is the same.

Members of RIT’s Center for Public Safety Initiatives are doing their part to help combat the opioid epidemic by determining the effectiveness of a dependency treatment program offered to inmates at the Monroe County Jail.