Pumpkin Chunkin' 2007
This Fall, as a part of the Brick City Weekend activities, our Freshmen Seminar students, working in teams, build apparatuses to launch small pumpkins at a distant target. The event took place Saturday, October 6th. Footage from the event can be seen on R-News here as the distance champs demonstrate their launcher.

In past years, the excitement has been shown on Rochester-area television newscasts. Click below to see last year's footage from SportsZone.

CIMS Tech Girls 2007
On July 30, the Packaging Science Materials lab was filled with middle school girls learning all about plastics. They were there as part of the “Tech Girlz” summer camp. Tech Girlz is a camp for deaf and hard of hearing middle school aged girls put on by NTID. The students learned the science behind plastics and the advantages and disadvantages of using plastics to make products used in everyday life. The girls went through rotating centers with 3 experiments related to plastics.

Asst Professor Betsy Dell of the MMET department led the session. Leslie Gregg, MMET Lab Manager, and Lori Rosario, MMET 5th year student, assisted by leading experiments.

Freshman Orientation 2005
Every year RIT faculty and staff put in a huge effort over eight days to make sure the incoming freshmen feel welcome and they are in position to do as well as possible in their first year at RIT. One of those orientation days is spent in their home department (the one with the program in which they were admitted). Besides meeting the faculty, staff and their advisor, the freshmen work in small teams in a fun competition. In 2005 the competition was to use an allotted amount of paper and white glue to build a beverage can support. The team which could support the most beverage cans was the winner. As is usually the case the best solutions were not the most obvious. However best of all the students got to know each other and have a fun day in some great weather.

RIT Hosts Mini Baja East Competition
The MMET/PS Department is home to the RIT MiniBaja Team. May 5-7, 2005 RIT was host to the East regional competition. A record 61 teams from US, Canada and Brazil showed up for perfect weather. The machines were roaring and the sun was shining. After the static tests at the RIT Gordon Field House, the Palmyra Motocross track was the site of the endurance race --including the famous east water leg. Everyone had a super time at a great event!

Realizing Our Ideas
In early January, as a late Christmas present from RIT, the MMET/PS department received a new Dimension 3D Printer. This machine enables students, once they have created a 3-D CAD model of a new product design, to have a physical full-size 3-D model of that product created directly, right in the computer lab!

New Combined BS/MS Program to start in Fall 2005
Students registered in the department's mechanical engineering technology, manufacturing engineering technology, and electrical/mechanical engineering technology BS programs will be eligible to enter into a combined BS/MS program if they have a 3.2 average or better after completing at least 60 quarter credit hours (with the last 30 being at RIT). With early co-op assignments and double-counting 16 quarter credit hours towards both degrees, most students should be able to fully complete the requirements for both the BS and MS degrees within 5 years, never taking more than 18 hours per quarter. For our more academically capable students this is great news since the regular BS program, with the co-op time factored in, also takes 5 years. Students with the Department's MS in Manufacturing and Mechanical Systems Integration have been getting great positions in many industries across the county. Employers are very anxious to hire our MS graduates so this makes a great investment for those willing to put in a little more school work each quarter.