Alumni News

RIT’s Venture Creations business incubator has resumed operations as part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s reopening plan. Under New York state guidelines, Venture Creations staff, resident clients and resident graduate companies must provide administrators with a COVID-19 safe operation plan.

RIT alumna and Hard Rock International's VP of IT, Applications and Strategy, Wendy Mertz, will step into the vice president position for Hospitality Technology Next Generation (HTNG) following the retirement of Page Petry, chief IT officer, Americas, Marriott International.

US Black Engineer features Clayton Turner ’90 (electrical engineering), director of NASA Langley Research Center, who received the Black Engineer of the Year (BEYA) STEM Award.

A graphic designer and scholar from Tel Aviv has joined RIT to curate archived material that belonged to the designer who created the first Hebrew typeface family. Shani Avni is the Ismar David Visiting Assistant Curator at RIT’s Cary Graphic Arts Collection.

As businesses look to reopen and jumpstart the COVID-19 stalled economy, RIT alumnus Jim Swift finds himself a much sought-after adviser. Swift ’88 is president and chief executive officer of Cortera, a national business intelligence company that is providing analytics on an estimated $1.5 trillion annual business-to-business transactions — data that businesses need to determine their future.

RIT is hosting an online interfaith vigil titled “Calls for Justice at RIT” at 7 p.m. June 5 in response to the killing of George Floyd and the subsequent demonstrations against the systemic racism and police brutality that continue to affect black and brown people across the U.S.

Moguldom Nation talks with Michee Smith '03 (computer science), a security and privacy product manager at Google, about data privacy, her professional journey and inclusion in tech.

Mohammed Mostajo-Radji ’11 (biotechnology) was appointed as Bolivia’s first ambassador for science, technology and innovation in February. He is typically based out of Silicon Valley, helping to encourage technology investment in Bolivia. But on March 19 he flew back home at the request of Bolivia’s interim president, Jeanine Áñez, to help coordinate his country’s efforts to combat COVID-19’s spread.

RIT and SUNY ESF researchers received a patent for green wall technology that will provide craft breweries cost-effective and sustainable options for wastewater treatment.

Founded by a group of RIT Alumni, the grassroots organization looks to put homemade masks and other protective equipment in the hands of Western New York front line workers.

A game design and development company, a mobile app that identifies resources for mental health support, software that monitors power line losses and line health, and a company developing an affordable wind turbine for building rooftops are the newest members of RIT’s Venture Creations technology business incubator.

RIT plays a starring role in the April virtual wedding of Zahal Kohistani ’15 and former Tiger Thomas Doolittle. The couple met while they were students living in Global Village. Their first date was at SpringFest. They got engaged in front of Salsarita’s. They celebrated their engagement at the Joseph M. Lobozzo Alumni House. And they were married on Zoom by Kelly Redder, executive director of the Lobozzo Alumni House.