Photo Spotlights

Twenty newly accepted deaf and hard-of-hearing students with little or no prior skills in American Sign Language arrived on campus August 6 for the New Signers Program, a one-week immersion program where students learn basic sign skills and get an introduction to Deaf culture.

Nearly 220 deaf and hard-of-hearing students arrived on campus on Aug. 12 to attend the Summer Vestibule Program, an orientation program for RIT/NTID students. The bulk of RIT’s incoming first-year students arrive on Aug. 19.

Watch for deer, foxes and other wildlife in the woods and trails surrounding the RIT campus. Drive carefully, slow down and scan the forested areas near roads to avoid any collisions.

More than 400 guests attended the 23rd annual RIT Undergraduate Research Symposium, with a chance to view and listen to more than 160 presentations from students. Scott Eisele, left, a second-year mechanical engineering student, described his project “A More Robust RC Plane for Tethered Flight” to Caleb and Floyd Kofahl. Caleb Kofahl, a fourth-year College of Science student, presented in the afternoon. His father, right, and other family members drove in from Geneva, N.Y., for the event.

Dhireesha Kudithipudi, associate professor of computer engineering in RIT’s Kate Gleason College of Engineering, and doctoral student Cory Merkel, are working toward a new generation of computing systems inspired by the operating principles of the human brain. The two are part of an interdisciplinary team that includes neuroscientists to develop the building blocks for future neuromorphic processors.

RIT students get to experience entrepreneurship firsthand at Saunders Summer Startup—a small-business launchpad where young innovators with bright ideas form interdisciplinary teams to start real companies. Established in 2011, RIT’s joint initiative between the Albert J. Simone Center for Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Saunders College of Business is an accelerated 10-week commitment that requires student teams to work full time on their businesses over the summer. The program culminates in an “Investor Night” from 6 to 10 p.m. Aug. 13 at RIT’s Student Innovation Hall.

African-American, Latino and Native American seventh-, eighth- and ninth-grade students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing came to RIT July 25-27 for Steps to Success. At this weekend mini-camp, students enjoyed hands-on, career-related activities, met fellow students from other states and made new friends.

Deaf and hard-of-hearing high school students from all over the country arrived on campus July 19 for the Explore Your Future summer camp. A week on campus gives them the opportunity to get a taste of college life, sample possible careers and make new friends.

Deaf and hard-of-hearing high school students from all over the country arrived on campus July 19 for the Explore Your Future summer camp. A week on campus gives them the opportunity to get a taste of college life, sample possible careers and make new friends.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce Jay Williams listens as Michael Haselkorn, a senior staff engineer at Golisano Institute for Sustainability, explains material evaluation and product design in manufacturing parts. Williams toured RIT on July 24 to review federal investments made to RIT for economic development projects ranging from the Center for Urban Entrepreneurship to the Food Cluster Initiative hosted at Golisano Institute for Sustainability.

New York state has a rich history of innovation, and it was on display at the recent FLIP: Finger Lakes Interactive Play mobile app launch and demonstration on July 17. The app was designed and developed by a multidisciplinary team from RIT and with regional partners on the Finger Lakes Pathway Through History working group as well as the Empire State Regional Economic Development Council. One of the project managers, Rick Lagiewski, a faculty member in RIT’s School of International Hospitality and Service Innovation, talked about the features of the app that highlights 12 regional historic sites. Read more about the mobile app and the regional historic sites at rit.edu/news/story.php?id=50861.

Robert F. Panara, much beloved professor emeritus, author, poet, historian and international authority on deaf figures in literature, and the National Technical Institute for the Deaf’s first deaf professor, died July 20. He was 94 years old. Mr. Panara, who was the first deaf person to earn an academic teaching position after graduating from New York School for the Deaf in White Plains, N.Y., and the first deaf person to earn a master’s degree in English from New York University, retired from NTID in 1987. Upon his retirement, the college named its theater after him and created a scholarship fund in his honor. To read more, go to rit.edu/news/story.php?id=50879.