Alumni News

Toilet seats with high-tech sensors might be the non-invasive technology of the future that could help reduce hospital return rates of individuals with heart disease. A joint project by researchers at RIT and the University of Rochester Medical Center will determine if in-home monitoring can successfully record vital signs and reduce risk and costly re-hospitalization rates for people with heart failure. The five-year, $2.9 million venture is funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Mona Harrington ’08 MS (professional studies) was appointed executive director of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) in June 2020. As leader of the EAC, Harrington has revamped the agency and spearheaded a series of initiatives to ensure COVID-19 and cybersecurity challenges don’t harm the election process.

Political cartoons from Rochester, N.Y., newspapers from the early 20th century are the focus of a virtual exhibit hosted by RIT Libraries’ Archives Collections and explores three timely topics—voting rights to epidemics and economic uncertainty. The virtual exhibit opening takes place Oct. 7.

While this year’s Brick City Weekend events had to be planned with COVID-19 precautions, there still are plenty of free activities students on campus can enjoy this week.

Spectrum News features George Zheng ’15 (mechanical engineering technology), co-founder of Leep Foods.

The Division of Development and Alumni Relations will become the Division of University Advancement, highlighting its focus on advancing the university’s mission.

Two companies associated with RIT’s Venture Creations technology business incubator have advanced to the round two finals of the Grow-NY competition. Grow-NY is a food innovation and agriculture technology business challenge focused on enhancing the emerging food, beverage and agriculture innovation cluster in Central New York, the Finger Lakes, and Southern Tier regions.

RIT unveiled a new sculpture of Frederick Douglass and a display of four cultural flags in the university’s Student Alumni Union. The sculpture was commissioned in celebration of the 50th anniversary of RIT’s Black Awareness Coordinating Committee, and the Haudenosaunee flag, the Black Lives Matter flag, the Rainbow or Pride flag, and the Sign Union Flag serve as a visual marker of RIT's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

RIT recently presented a $45,000 voluntary donation to the Henrietta Fire District, an annual contribution to recognize the service coverage of the university provided by the fire department.

RIT is preserving a rare collection of Hebrew wood types used by the Jewish-American press at the turn of the 20th century. RIT Cary Graphic Arts will print, digitize, and publish its collection of 30 different wood types of the Hebrew alphabet with a grant from the Rochester Area Community Foundation’s Historic Preservation, Restoration, and Literature Fund. 

RIT alumnus Susan Foley ’73 ’79 (business administration, MBA) used her decades-long experience to compile a book of blog articles, Intrapreneurs: Who, What, How and Why, that explores who intrapreneurs are and why they are often considered to be the “squeaky wheels” in organizations. 

The RIT graduate behind the popular card game Exploding Kittens will be the RIT Alumni Association Distinguished Speaker next month. Elan Lee ’98 (computer science) will lead a Zoom webinar at 1 p.m. on Oct. 24 during Tiger Alumni Week on Oct. 19-25. The week allows alumni to participate virtually in Brick City events, including interactive programs and reunions.