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Fellows Weekly Lunch 6/22

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 06/28/2010 - 11:59

Last Tuesday, the summer research fellows entertained their first guest speaker, Michael Summers, at the weekly lunch. Summers was the CEO of several companies early in his career, and has now taken a higher role in aiding a broad range of companies with his group: Cody Ventures. After an energizing auditory introduction, he introduced several of his larger and current ventures, including Quintel – an antenna manufacturing company specializing in innovative ways of increasing signal throughput, range and versatility. With Quintel, he demonstrated the iterative process of innovation, showing how antennas kept getting smaller and more powerful as the version number went up.

Summers brought along Andre Cote, CEO of Omni-ID . Omni-ID has made great strides in the land of RFID (Radio frequency identification) tags. With Omni-ID Summers stressed the importance of diverging multidisciplinary teams, explaining how a biologist, and two RF experts had together unraveled a problem plaguing the RF industry.

Michael Summers and Fellow Corey Mack

Summers ended his presentation with advice to follow one's passion. He stated “You must follow your passion. Only those with a passion for their work will reach the top of their field.”

Amidst lunch after the presentation, Summers mingled with the fellows to discuss their business plans and hear about their research projects.

Next week, guest speaker David Child, the inventor of Tectonic Toys, will present on the application of these "toys" for everything from education to disaster relief.

Summer Projects Photos

Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 06/26/2010 - 12:08

QianYi Lau Li has been taking great photos of Summer Research and Innovation activities.

Here is

QianYi's photos on Flickr

Fearless Leader Strides to the Future

Open Video Chat Unveiled at NTID Technology Symposium

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 06/21/2010 - 20:02

OVC Screenshot

FOSS@RIT has been hard at work since March, researching and developing Open Video Chat (OVC). OVC is a prototype for the XO 1.5 Laptop sponsored by PEN-International. The student team developed their prototype with advice and mentorship from leaders of the Open Source Community such as Sugar Labs, Red Hat, and the OLPC Project. While the team has been pre-viewing their research on the Northeast Barcamp Circuit (BarcampBOS, BarcampROC) the RIT Conference Scene (ImagineRIT,FOSScon), June 22nd marks it's official presentation by it's sponsors at the NTID Technology Symposium. A paper on OVC's development will be presented to an audience of representatives from all around the world. OVC is also being demonstrated at a conference table throughout the event.

Making it all visible and making the connections.

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 06/07/2010 - 19:10

Summer 2010, here we come!

I have to say, the buzz around here is scary.

Metaphorically and literally, this is our biggest challenge:  making it all visible and making the connections.

Its a great challenge to have.

RITpedia WikiThon Results

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 06/01/2010 - 02:41

After much deliberation, The CSI Storytellers Team has selected the recipients of the first ever, Wikithon awards.

The Award Categories for the RITpedia WikiThon 2010:

RITpedia would like to thank all those who took part in the RITpedia WikiThon and encourages the RIT community (students, faculty, and alumni) to visit RITpedia at www.rit.edu/ritpedia and edit!

The view from the virtual innovation center

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 05/12/2010 - 10:32

University News covers a spectacular project involving our own Mitch Rosen and Brandon May, as well as Jeff Pelz (Center for Imaging Science), and the University of Rochester.   If you missed it at ImagineRIT, you should also come by to see the augmented reality iPad app Mitch and Brandon are developing for viewing their imagery.  Almost like being there...but without the funny the hats.

A group of students from the University of Rochester wear eye trackers while exploring Badwater Basin in California’s Death Valley National Park. Scientists from RIT and UR are teaming up to learn how beginning geologists gain expertise in the field and whether the experience can be simulated through virtual field trips
A group of students from the University of Rochester wear eye trackers while exploring Badwater Basin in California’s Death Valley National Park. Scientists from RIT and UR are teaming up to learn how beginning geologists gain expertise in the field and whether the experience can be simulated through virtual field trips.
Photo by Jeff Pelz
    ...The National Science Foundation funded the five-year joint project between RIT and University of Rochester to explore how novice geologists learn in the field and how their learning experience might translate to the classroom. Through the use of eye-tracking analysis and the capture of ultra-high resolution imagery, the project aims to improve the training of future geoscientists and create interest in a field experiencing low enrollment despite international concern about energy resources, climate change, earthquakes and volcanic hazards.

     

    The project introduces a new way to explore differences between novices and experts, and how people absorb information from their surroundings. For RIT, the study also represents an early collaborative effort involving the Center for Student Innovation.UR cognitive scientist Robert Jacobs, who leads the overall project, tapped his RIT colleagues Pelz and Mitchell Rosen, research professor in the Center for Student Innovation, to provide the technological component of the study. RIT, which received nearly half of the $2 million NSF grant, is conducting the eye tracking and analysis, and the audio and visual capture of the natural scenery.
    ...
    “Much of the captured imagery is really breathtaking,” Rosen continues. “Our goal was to bring back vistas that include the visual cues that geologists use out in the field to interpret geological history. With the latest high-resolution imaging combined with the mobile and computing capacity, even battery capacity—everything has come together to allow us to go out and capture these fabulous scenes from remote geological sites and present them back here as if you were actually there yourself.”

Full story at http://www.rit.edu/news/?v=47600

Sustainability Room alive at Imagine RIT

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 05/11/2010 - 16:22

SDC11275b

The Center for Student Innovation’s Sustainability Room was alive and kicking at this year’s Imagine RIT Innovation Festival, and that was just the plants!  Visitors had a chance to see a fully functional and displayable table-top “Bubbleponic” Garden as well as an entire segment of the Center’s high-window circle providing sunlight for six 13-foot-tall operational Vertical Farming units.  They could also learn more about the active Biogenic Air Filtration station, observe an automatic plant watering device, and interact with the Center’s ongoing Trash Reuse and Recycle exhibit.  In addition, they could look at a half-size working model of a Vertical Farm as well as other designs produced by the Center’s Innovations in Vertical Farming class.  Most of these are part of continuing projects at the Center that interested students can participate in or expand upon.  Design drawings and instructions on how to build your own Vertical Farm, Biogenic Air Filtration station and Bubble Garden will follow soon on this website.

Artech Opening Friday Night!

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 05/11/2010 - 09:46

Don't miss the Rochester Artech exhibitions! Certificates will be presented to all winners at the opening reception at RIT's Center for Student Innovation on Friday, May 14.

Come view printed pieces, animations, videos, and more created by high school students, college students, and professional artists from across the Greater Rochester area.

Friday, May 14 - Sunday, May 23
Center for Student Innovation at RIT
Reception: Friday, May 14, 6pm - 8pm

Thursday, June 10 - Saturday, June 26
Gallery r Reception: June 11, 7pm-9:30pm

Deep Dive Summer Incubator Camp

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 05/10/2010 - 19:31

Do you have an idea for a product that you've been looking for an opportunity to develop?  Wondering how you go from ideation to protecting your idea to actually prototyping your product?

Check this out:


The program is designed for rising 3rd year students and above, though exceptions can be made based upon extraordinary achievement and/or professor permission.

Our vision is not to deliver the course material in typical classroom fashion but in a just-in-time and experiential fashion.

(In a typical French class, if you say "pass the salt" grammatically and you get an A.  In France, you get the salt" --B.F. Skinner)

For more information contact Jon.Schull@rit.edu or Carl Lundgren (calite@rit.edu).
To register, contact Julia Lisuzzo jmlwml@rit.edu 585-475-2363

Walter Bender of MIT visits Lab for Technological Literacy in CSI

Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 05/08/2010 - 13:19

Walter Bender visited us this month.

Walter's blogged about his visit (below). Nice to see the impact we're having add to the impact he's having!

 Dogi (Stefan Unterhauser), Adam Holt, and I were in Rochester this
week for a series of events at RIT: the OLPC Users Group Meeting; the
Dean's Lecture Series (I talked about why learning is so important;
[http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/6561388 video]); and the Imagine RIT
Innovation Festival. Our host was Stephen Jacobs. We spent some
quality time with his students, whom are in project teams, developing
two Sugar Activities: OVC (a video chat system being developed in
collaboration with the National Institute for the Deaf), and Fortune
Hunter, an adventure game geared towards 4th Grade mathematics. The
great thing about the program at RIT is the way in which the student
projects are being integrated into the global Sugar initative. I've
asked Steve to share his "secret sauce" with other universities so
that the model can spread.
One concrete outcome of the visit is the establishment of a Sugar
"Story Team". Remy D of the RIT Storytelling Team has volunteered to
lead the effort. Another tangible outcome is that three of the servers
donated to Sugar Labs from the Wikipedia Foundation have a new home at
RIT. Dogi worked with Steve's students to bring them up to speed on
how to maintain the servers.
http://lists.sugarlabs.org/archive/sugar-devel/2010-May/023676.html

 


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