University News

A program called “momentum” designed for students at RIT to develop their leadership skills while actively working to address community challenges has gained momentum, in part, due to a $250,000 donation to expand the program next semester.

A team from RIT and the Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomía (IAR) upgraded two radio telescopes in Argentina that lay dormant for 15 years in order to study pulsars, rapidly rotating neutron stars with intense magnetic fields that emit notably in radio wavelengths. The project is outlined in a new paper published in Astronomy and Astrophysics.

RIT’s Air Force ROTC detachment honored Col. Andrew “Doc” Dougherty during a ceremony on Dec. 6 for his distinguished service and his role in establishing the Air Force ROTC program at RIT in 1981.

RIT is among the colleges and universities from 20 states that are participating in the Degrees When Due initiative, which aims to reach the nearly 4 million near-completers and uncredentialled completers in the United States who stopped college for financial reasons, family obligations or a variety of other reasons. By joining the initiative, RIT will learn best practices in degree reclamation and provide targeted support while re-engaging students who have paused, or “stopped out,” their studies.

To help students relax during finals week, Wallace Library is hosting a therapy-dog event from 3 to 4:30 p.m. today. The pup visits have become a regular occurrence on campus. After attending a session, film and animation student Victoria Sebastian made preparing a dog for pet therapy the focus of a class project this fall.

WITR-FM (89.7) presents Ask Munson, featuring RIT’s president taking listener questions live at 1 p.m. Dec. 11.

The National Science Foundation awarded RIT’s College of Engineering Technology nearly $1 million to fund 36 scholarships for economically disadvantaged, academically talented students and to develop faculty programming to improve engineering technology education.

The coaster contest was a thrill ride for RIT’s Theme Park Enthusiasts student group at the annual Ryerson Invitational Thrill Design Competition. For the second time since the competition began, the club won first place overall at the competition.