Showcasing Excellence: RIT-Rochester Prep High School Students Present Research | March 2022

The research topics may seem complex to some, but that’s not the case for one group of local high school students.

More than a dozen Rochester Preparatory High School students easily explained their work during the RIT-RPHS Partnership Capstone Showcase last month in Wegmans Theater in MAGIC Spell Studios.

The partnership was founded in 2013. It gives students, starting in the 9^th grade, an opportunity to experience life on a college campus. In the spring of their junior year, those who are eligible are able to choose a capstone area in which to conduct research in the fall with RIT professors and teaching assistants.

This year 15 students worked on a variety of projects: 3-D Printing for Microfluidic Device Fabrication, Photojournalism: Youth and Mental Health, Computational Studies of Materials and Isolation and Detection of Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria on the RIT Campus.

Working with them in the Kate Gleason College of Engineering: Professors Ke Du, Poornima Padmanabhan and Obioma Uche with Teaching Assistants Chad Tenpas, Natalie Buchanan and Micah Sidorick. From the College of Art and Design, Professor Josh Meltzer with Teaching Assistant Maya Giron and Professor André Hudson and Teaching Assistant Anutthaman Parthasarathy from the  College of Science.

Following their presentations, students answered audience questions on what they learned. One said, “You can get mad when there are errors in your data, but I learned science is a lot of work and it requires time and patience.”

Another said, “This program gives you a better view of what college will be like in the fall semester.”

Kit Mayberry, senior advisor for Student Diversity, Outreach, Enrollment and Retention has guided the RIT-RPHS Partnership since its inception. She says the program helps pave the way for college success.

 “We defuse and demystify the alien landscape of college.” She added, “The partnership was never meant to be a recruitment tool for RIT. We never anticipated out of four graduating RIT-Rochester Prep classes, 26 students would have enrolled at RIT.”

Learn more about the RIT-RPHS Partnership here click here

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