News

RIT is one of 14 universities from around the globe that have collectively been awarded $12.5 million from the National Science Foundation to launch a new Biology Integration Institute. It will focus on better understanding ecosystem and climate interactions—like the thawing of the Arctic permafrost—and how they can alter everything from the landscape to greenhouse gases.

The National Science Foundation awarded RIT’s College of Science a three-year, $587,000 Building Capacity in STEM Education Research grant. The grant is part of a $1 million collaborative project that aims to extend the impact of the Professional development for Emerging Education Researchers (PEER) field school model to hundreds of emerging education researchers.

Niantic has donated $400,000 to create a new research lab at RIT that’s focused on location-based games. In the Niantic x RIT Geo Games and Media Research Lab, researchers will work to better understand how people interact with location-based games and how they can be used for good.

Barbara Birkett and Gregory D’Amico were appointed to two of the Department of Graphic Media Science and Technology’s prestigious endowed professorships this fall. Birkett assumes the role of the Paul and Louise Miller Endowed Professorship. D’Amico will serve as the Gravure Endowed Professor.

A health care approach centered on integrating mind-body well-being in all aspects of traditional medicine is the focus of a new book by Dr. Laurence Sugarman, research professor in RIT’s biomedical sciences program.

Nishant Malik, assistant professor in RIT’s School of Mathematical Sciences, has developed a mathematical method that shows how shifting monsoon patterns led to the demise of the Indus Valley Civilization, a Bronze Age civilization contemporary to Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt.

ArcWatch features two projects at RIT that teach disaster management and resilience skills.

RIT engineering professor Iris Rivero will be part of the newest class of the Executive Leadership in Academic Technology, Engineering and Science, also known as ELATES. The national program based at Drexel University is intended to prepare senior women faculty into leadership roles within their respective institutions.

Natural gas-hydrates—crystalline compounds of gas molecules—are found in permafrost and marine sediments. While these gas hydrates can be used as alternative energy resources, they also pose a danger in terms of global warming. RIT researchers Patricia Taboada-Serrano and Yali Zhang developed a comprehensive model to better validate location of gas-hydrate deposits in marine sediments.

As part of a new $20 million National Science Foundation grant, RIT computer science professor Richard Zanibbi is using artificial intelligence to accelerate experimentation in chemistry, including finding more efficient ways to create solar cells.

Quartz talks to Rick Lagiewski, assistant professor in the Department of International Hospitality and Service Innovation, about the roles of hotels in emergency management.

Computer Science faculty members Minseok Kwon and M. Mustafa Rafique have received a best paper award in IEEE Cluster 2020 together with Krishna Neupane (GCCIS PhD student), and John Marshall (Cisco Systems and RIT alumnus). IEEE Cluster is a major international conference for sharing technical accomplishments in the field of cluster computing as well as the use of cluster systems for scientific and commercial applications.