RIT Digital Arts and Animation Competition for Deaf and Hard-Of-Hearing Students Winners Announced

Rochester Institute of Technology has announced the winners of the university’s first national Digital Arts and Animation Competition for high school students with hearing loss.

Nearly 70 students submitted projects to compete in one of seven different categories, including mixed digital media, photo illustration, Web page design, graphic media, 3-D animation, interactive media, and free-hand art in digital form.

Five first place winners were chosen; each received a plaque and $250.

Eliazar Salazar, a senior at Robert E. Lee High School in South Houston, Texas, won for his photo illustration, “The Coke Can.”

Brienna Herold, a freshman at Spring Valley High School in Spring Valley, Wisc., won the mixed digital media category for her project, “Time Runs Like Leaves Fall.”

Michael A. Hoyt, a senior at Washington School for the Deaf in Kalama, Wash., took first place for his 3-D animation project, “The Worm Street.”

Michelle Chung, a sophomore at E. C. Drury School for the Deaf in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, won the free-hand art in digital form category for her project, “The Meaning of Life.”

Warrance Yu, of Markham, Ontario, Canada, a junior at E.C. Drury School for the Deaf, won the graphic media category with his “Destruction” project.

Participants, accompanied by parents and teachers, attended the Deaf Film Festival, campus tours, and various social receptions.

Rochester Institute of Technology is internationally recognized as being a leader in computing, engineering, imaging technology, fine and applied arts, and for providing unparalleled support services for students with hearing loss. RIT is home to the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, where more than 1,100 students with hearing loss from around the world study, live, and socialize with 14,400 hearing students on RIT’s Rochester, N.Y., campus. U.S. News and World Report has consistently ranked RIT among the nation’s leading comprehensive universities.

Web address: www.rit.edu/NTID.

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