Photo Spotlights

Byron Conn, a fourth-year furniture design student in the School for American Crafts, enjoys some downtime on one of his creations inside the woodworking shop. To read more about Conn, go to www.rit.edu/news/athenaeum_story.php?id=50029.

Tae (Tom) Oh, an associate professor of information sciences and technologies, is creating a “Smart Cane” that uses directional force vibrations to allow deaf-blind persons to easily guide themselves through their environment.

Siddharth Khullar will be the graduate speaker at the RIT academic convocation and the College of Science graduate delegate. Stefi Baum, director of the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science, has been a mentor through Khullar’s doctoral studies in imaging science.

Linda Gottermeier, an associate professor/rehabilitative audiologist in NTID’s Communications Studies & Services Department, is a 2013 recipient of the Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teaching.

Students in the School for American Crafts showcased their projects during the annual “Walkthrough” on May 13. “Walkthrough” is a SAC tradition that began more than 25 years ago based on touring the school’s ceramics, glass, furniture design, metals and jewelry design studios to view work created by RIT students. Faculty, students and friends can experience the entirety of the school in a way not possible during the normal day-to-day activities.

Christina Goudreau caught the teaching bug as an undergraduate and never waivered from her chosen career path. “I’ve never had a job in the real world,” says the associate professor of chemistry in the College of Science and a winner of a 2013 Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teaching. “I went to college and then I went to graduate school and then I came here. I never left academia. I always say maybe I’ll get a real job when I retire.”

Gary Behm, now director of the Center on Access Technology’s Innovation Lab at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, is testing materials to create a see-through facemask that can be used in clean rooms and hospitals.

Ivona Bezáková enjoys looking at math as a problem-solving tool for programing and algorithmic thinking. The associate professor of computer science in RIT’s B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences and winner of a 2013 Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teaching believes that anyone can understand the mathematical foundations of computer science. “Many people will tell you that they were bad at math in high school and will never be any good at it,” she says. “I have never been willing to accept that, because often times you just need to look at it from another viewpoint.”

Bill McDermott, center, Co-CEO of SAP, renews his former Xerox-Rochester ties as keynote speaker for the Executive Leaders Network Luncheon on May 8, hosted by RIT’s Saunders College and sponsored by Toshiba Business Solutions.

Bill McDermott, Co-CEO of SAP, renews his former Xerox-Rochester ties as keynote speaker for the Executive Leaders Network Luncheon on May 8, hosted by RIT’s Saunders College and sponsored by Toshiba Business Solutions.

Kelly Martin, assistant professor of communication in RIT’s College of Liberal Arts, is the 2013 recipient of the Richard and Virginia Eisenhart Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. The award is given to faculty who have taught three years or less and who foster excellence in teaching and leadership in the campus community. Martin, who came to RIT in 2011, says, “I always encourage my students to take advantage of every opportunity and build experiences.”

Professor Carl Salvaggio and his son, Phil, a doctoral student in imaging science, built a digital music player for their car because they could. They programmed a Raspberry Pi electronic interface—a $35 general-purpose computer the size of a deck of cards—to play a random selection of their favorite music from a thumb drive.