Pittsford Resident Named Associate Dean of RIT Computing College

Pittsford resident Roger Gaborski has been named associate dean for graduate studies and research in the B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences (GCCIS), and director of the Laboratory for Applied Computing (LAC), Rochester Institute of Technology. GCCIS Dean Jorge Díaz-Herrera announced Gaborski’s new roles as part of the college’s growth.

"Roger brings a mix of in-depth research and industry experience that will greatly contribute to our goals," says Díaz-Herrera. "He will investigate new graduate-study possibilities such as Ph.D. programs and foster projects that will integrate areas of our college as well as other RIT disciplines like imaging science and nanotechnology."

His new roles well suit Gaborski’s background and interests. Steeped in areas such as artificial intelligence, computer vision, medical imaging and neural networks, he is also an RIT faculty member in computer science and imaging science.

Gaborski, a former Eastman Kodak Co. senior research associate, National Security Agency senior electrical engineer, and pollution researcher for Calspan, has led teams in developing technologies and fostered numerous collaborative endeavors with both universities and industry.

"I welcome the opportunity to help develop RIT’s world-class reputation in applied research, through new graduate studies and the LAC," says Gaborski. The LAC—designed for industry partnerships in real-world problem solving and applications development—houses a new Linux computer cluster for bioinformatics acquired through an IBM grant. LAC served as the launch pad for a Xerox/RIT Web site offering trial software applications. Other partners have included Hewlett Packard, Cisco and Sun.

Gaborski’s plans for the LAC focus on several levels: providing a stimulating, collaborative environment for GCCIS students and faculty; fostering inter-college projects such as scientific information systems, bioinformatics and intelligent systems, i.e. a biologically inspired computer vision system; and teaming with other universities to obtain sustained funding from government agencies and industry.

A lifelong innovator, Gaborski was issued 24 patents as inventor or co-inventor and has more than 40 published works. Recent consulting projects focused on computer vision, machine learning, image understanding and neural networks with Kodak, PSC, the RIT Research Corp. and Recon/ Optical. He holds a B.S. and M.S. from State University of New York at Buffalo and a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, all in electrical engineering.

Gaborski resides in Pittsford with his wife and children.

RIT’s B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences (GCCIS) was founded in 2001 by a $14 million gift from Paychex founder and CEO Tom Golisano. GCCIS enrolls 3,000 students in a first-ever comprehensive offering of software engineering, computer science and information technology degree programs.

The new college is moving into a 177,000-square-foot state-of-the art building this spring. An official opening celebration and tours event is set for May 2, 2003.