Photo Spotlights

Students from RIT’s School of Communication and NTID met with former CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien before her keynote presentation at the Expressions of Kings Legacy celebration on Jan. 29. The undergraduate and graduate students discussed trends in journalism today, including diversity and the media. Each year, keynote-guests are invited to spend time in a class setting with RIT students as part of the overall Expressions event.

Former CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien was the keynote speaker for the annual Expressions of King’s Legacy celebration on Jan. 29. She spoke to a large audience from the campus and local area about diversity and media.

Minoru Yoshida ’04, ’08 credits RIT/NTID with giving him the experience to land a job as a grant officer with The Nippon Foundation of Japan. He screens applications for grants, primarily for international disability projects as well as deafness-related projects in Japan.

Biomedical engineering student Alexandra LaLonde introduces fluid and electrical impulses onto a micro-device situated on a portable microscope. Under the guidance of professor Blanca Lapizco-Encinas, who finds great value in incorporating undergraduate students in research, the two are working together to develop microfluidic systems and techniques to separate, screen and analyze biological cells, as seen in the computer image. This is what a student-centered research university looks like under RIT’s new Strategic Plan as more undergraduates, like LaLonde, are immersed in lab experiences, collaborating with graduate students and post-doctoral scientists, and being mentored by faculty like Lapizco-Encinas. To read more, go to www.rit.edu/news/athenaeum_story.php?id=51140.

Matt Schwartz (foreground) an engineering supervisor with Bendix, demonstrates one of the brake system instruments in the new Knorr-Bremse North America Mechatronics Laboratory, located in RIT’s Kate Gleason College of Engineering. Just behind him is co-worker and RIT engineering alumnus Tim Spath ’11. Both were part of the first class of students in the new mechatronics engineering certificate program, developed by the engineering college, Bendix and New York Air Brakes. The 1,000 square-foot lab, dedicated on Jan. 23, is equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation for commercial automotive and rail safety technologies including vibration, pneumatic controls and valve control software.

Fourth-year College of Imaging Arts and Sciences student CiCi Turner lent a helping hand at the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley as part of an RIT Residence Life staff program to give back in the Rochester area. The student staff came back from intersession early to take part in professional development and one day was devoted to volunteering. Staff volunteered at 11 organizations, including Foodlink and Hope Lodge, on Jan. 21.

The RIT women’s basketball team regularly volunteers at School 35 in the Rochester City School District to teach a group of 20 sixth-grade girls about proper nutrition and exercise. The after-school program, Ladies Attaining Self-Sufficiency (LASS), is designed to support and strengthen pre-teens in life skills and character building. Here, Aicha Decius participates in an activity with the team.

Rachel Toor, author, professor and columnist for The Chronicle of Higher Education, was the keynote speaker for “Publishing Without Perishing,” an all-day intersession symposium held Jan. 15 at RIT. The event was sponsored by RIT Press and The Wallace Center.

Professor Judy Porter’s Criminology and Social Justice class was offered during intersession Jan. 5-23. Eight field trips, guest speakers and classroom work provided a broad base to explore social justice. The class visited Partners in Restorative Initiatives on Jan. 12. There, students participated in a peace circle training, where conversations and viewpoints were encouraged.

Physician assistant professor Nancy Valentage observes Jesslyn Doody’s examination techniques on fellow fourth-year student Margaret Kolb. The class of 2016 is the first to go through the five-year BS/MS degree and represents a new phase of the physician assistant program at RIT. To read more, go to www.rit.edu/news/story.php?id=51113.

Hundreds of RIT students gather Wednesday evenings to learn some sign language in the No Voice Zone at the Student Development Center. All students are welcomed, regardless of how much sign language they know. Many attend because they want to be able to better communicate with the more than 1,200 deaf and hard-of-hearing students on campus. Read more about the No Voice Zone in Athenaeum.

Yeliz Okdem Ates, a graduate student in ceramics from Turkey, puts some finishing touches on her sculptural pieces. RIT’s MFA in ceramics and ceramic sculpture focuses on intellectual and artistic development through an intensive teaching of the aesthetics and techniques of ceramic design.