2000 College Delegates

Each college selected one undergraduate student representative (Applied Science and Technology has two) to be part of the academic convocation on Friday. The college delegates, carrying their college banners, are part of the platform party. During the symbolic conferral of degrees, they accept the degrees on behalf of their colleges' graduates.

On Saturday the delegates will speak during their individual college graduation ceremony. The delegates, chosen for their overall personal achievement, are students who have demonstrated the ideals of RIT including, but not limited to, academic achievement. President Albert Simone selected the student speaker, Amotz Zakai, from among the undergraduate college delegates.

College of Applied Science and Technology

Danielle Bessette, a BS/MS computer science major from Pawcatuck, Conn., is the recipient of an RIT Alumni Scholarship and RIT Presidential Scholarship. Bessette has had co-op experience at Rochester Instrument Systems as a software engineer, designing and programming software to control and monitor electrical power meters in Visual C++; at Pfizer Inc., Groton, Conn., as an intranet programmer, developing a program to manage users' account administration via a standard Web browser; and at RIT as a systems programmer. She also is a computer science lab instructor and, with a graduate assistantship from RIT as an assistant system administrator, she maintained system software and application software and assisted with network maintenance. Bessette has accepted a full-time job at Adobe Systems in Seattle.

Matthew Sommerfield, a computer integrated manufacturing engineering technology major from Toledo, Ohio, is a Nathaniel Rochester Society Scholar, the recipient of a 1999 RIT Outstanding Undergraduate Scholarship Award and a Society
of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) Education Foundation Scholarship. He is chairman of the SME student chapter, was project manager for RIT's first-place entry in the SME National Robotics Contest, and a member of the Tau Alpha Pi National Honor Society of Engineering Technology. On co-op Sommerfield worked at Annapolis Micro Systems Inc., Annapolis, Md., as a manufacturing engineer for a cutting-edge designer and manufacturer of high-speed reconfigurable computing engines; C-MAC Microcircuits Inc., West Palm Beach, Fla., as a process engineer; and Southco Inc., Honeoye Falls, N.Y., in engineering. He also had a summer internship
at Ingersoll-Rand, Fluid Products Division. After graduation, Sommerfield plans to obtain a full-time job in automation or robotics and eventually start his own business.

Nathaniel Swart, an information technology major from Frewsburg, N.Y., is the recipient of the 1998-99 Internet Marketing and Advertising Association Information Technology Student of the Year Scholarship and the RIT Quality Cup Scholarship. He is president of the Information Technology Student Organization and was the organizer of Information Technology Expo '98. He has had co-op experience at IBM in Burlington, Vt., working in the information property area with inventors, engineers, and lawyers; and Eastman Kodak Co. in Rochester, in the Intranet Services Group responsible for internal sites and databases. Swart is a lab instructor/course developer/grader for RIT and was a member of the RIT Singers and
a resident adviser. After graduation, he plans to work at Kodak in Rochester.

Simona Farac, a hotel-resort management major in RIT's American College of Management and Technology in Dubrovnik, Croatia, returned to Croatia after completing high school in Sydney, Australia. Over the past two years she has excelled in the classroom and recently received a scholarship from the Rebuild Dubrovnik Fund. After graduation, Farac hopes to attend Zagreb University in Croatia and pursue her passion for mathematics.

College of Business

Ryan Bonvillian, MBA, concentrating in marketing, from Canandaigua, N.Y., is the recipient of a graduate assistantship from the College of Business, providing technical and administrative support to the Executive MBA program. Bonvillian has had co-op experience at Xerox Corp., Xerox Business Services, as a full-time marketing program analyst, responsible for the development and launch of senior-level management report generation for the sales force automation software tool X-Sellerator. At Xerox he also created the first productivity enhancing, Web-based management reporting tool in the division. At Bowling Green State University, where he received a bachelor's degree in environmental science, Bonvillian interned with the U.S. Forest Service, Rio Grande National Forest, Silverthread Interpretive Center, South Fork, Colo., as the assistant to the director of marketing. After graduation, he plans to begin a sales career with a local company.

Satnam Sohal, a finance major from New Delhi, India, is the recipient of a Davis Scholarship for International Students, an RIT College of Business Scholarship, a Davis Scholarship for Leadership, and Nathaniel Rochester Society Scholarship. Sohal is president of RIT's Global Union, a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma National Honor Society and former Student Government Senator of the Year in 1998-99. He has had co-op experience at Salomon Smith Barney, Pittsford, N.Y., as an investment coordinator handling client portfolios and analyzing financial markets and economic statistics, and at Groupe Greens, New Delhi, India, as an accounting manager. Sohal also has worked for the National Technical Institute for the Deaf's support team as a student assistant and notetaker. After graduation, he plans to enter the financial world to gain experience before starting his MBA.

College of Science

Marianne Lazzaro, a physician assistant major from Whitesboro, N.Y., is the recipient of an RIT Alumni Scholarship, Nathaniel Rochester Society Scholar Award, a Rochester Regional Physician Assistant Senior Scholarship and is a member of the Golden Key National Honor Society. Lazzaro is a member of the College of Science Student Advisory Board, Physician Assistant Student Association, the RIT Philharmonic Orchestra and RIT Ballet Company. She has completed 10 clinical rotations in such areas as psychiatry, orthopedic surgery, pediatric oncology, intensive care, emergency medicine, obstetrics/gynecology, and endocrinology. Lazzaro has been a student ambassador for the physician assistant program and volunteers for the American Diabetes Association. After graduation, she hopes to pursue a career in internal medicine or endocrinology. She is applying to Yale University for a physician assistant residency in pediatric medicine.

National Technical Institute for the Deaf

Julia Bohl, an office technology major from Otsego, Mich., is the recipient of a Jean Smith Memorial Fund Panara Scholarship and a Citicorp/Citibank Scholarship. She is an active member of the Sigma Sigma Sigma Sorority. Bohl gained work experience while on co-op at Perrigo Co. in Allegan, Mich. as an administrative assistant. She also has worked for NTID's Admissions Office as a student assistant and tour guide, and as an office technology lab assistant for NTID's business occupations department. Bohl plans to return to RIT in the fall to focus on an AAS degree.

College of Liberal Arts

Adam Histed, a criminal justice major from Angelica, N.Y., is the recipient of an RIT Outstanding Undergraduate Scholarship Award, Alfred L. Davis Award, Richard B. Lewis Award, RIT/USA Today Quality Cup Award, Golden Key National Honor Society Junior Scholar Award, and Nathaniel Rochester Society Award. He has been the secretary for the Golden Key National Honor Society, president of the Criminal Justice Student Association, vice-president of RIT's Pre-Law Association, student justice for RIT's Institute Board of Appeals, a member of the RIT Pre-law Journal Review Committee and a member of the RIT Singers. He completed an internship as a consumer frauds representative with the New York State Attorney General's Office, Bureau of Consumer Frauds and Protection, providing assistance and guidance to consumers through volunteer mediation procedures. Histed also has been a research assistant to the chair of RIT's criminal justice department, and a resident adviser. He plans to attend graduate school.

College of Imaging Arts and Sciences

Amotz Zakai, a film and video major from Jerusalem, Israel, is the recipient of the Norman A. Miles Award, H. Preston Herring Award for Outstanding Service, Alfred and Ruby Davis Leadership Award, NTID Foundation Scholarship, RIT Alumni Scholarship, Recognition-of-Achievement Resident Adviser Leadership Award, and Henry and Mary Kearse Student Honor Award. A photographer for the college paper, he has received a Kodak Filmmaker Grant and a Chester W. Brinks Film Scholarship. Amotz was a member of the USA Today All-USA College Academic Team, a Nathaniel Rochester Society Scholar, All-American Scholar for the U.S. Achievement Academy, a member of the Golden Key National Honor Society and the National Residence Hall Honorary Society. He has completed an internship at Pearl Productions and Rose Films Inc., in Rochester, involved in directing, cinematography, and editing. After graduation, Zakai hopes to attend graduate school in the Peter Stark Producing Program at the University of Southern California.

Kate Gleason College of Engineering

Bret Oltmans, a BS/MS mechanical engineering major from Quarryville, Pa., is the recipient of an Outstanding American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Member Scholarship. He is president of the RIT Chapter of ASME, a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers, Pi Tau Sigma and Tau Beta Phi. He has had co-op experience at Peco Nuclear (Peco Energy) in Delta, Pa., as a junior technical assistant; New Venture Gear/New Process Gear in Syracuse, N.Y., as a competitive analyst; and at AstroPower Inc., in Newark, Del., in production engineering. Oltmans also has worked as an energy assistant for RIT's Physical Plant. After graduation, he plans to obtain industry experience while taking night classes. He would eventually like to pursue either an MBA or a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering.