Photo Spotlights

About 300 people filled Sustainability Institute Hall April 12 to mark the dedication of the innovative “green” home of the Golisano Institute for Sustainability. In addition to remarks from federal and state government officials and industry executives, the event featured tours of the “living laboratory.”

Nabil Nasr’s dream was to open RIT’s first living lab, a building filled with cutting-edge technology that serves as a classroom and inspires students. Nasr, assistant provost and director of Golisano Institute for Sustainability, other RIT officials and special guests dedicated the building Friday. Cutting-edge “green” technology has been incorporated into every inch of the 84,000-square-foot building, from the solar panels on the soaring canopy to the 38-foot-tall green wall near the building’s entrance.

More than 80 middle school students from 13 states and Canada participated in RIT’s seventh annual Math Competition for Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing, competing in tasks that tested their speed and accuracy, teamwork and math skills. The competition took place April 5-7.

Chelsea Bailey, a third-year Ph.D. candidate in sustainability, is researching greener ways to recycle lithium-ion batteries discarded after use in electric vehicles and consumer electronics.

Stephanie Rankin ’08 (marketing), right, and Danielle Raymo, an alumna of SUNY Brockport, founded Rochester Brainery as a place to make learning fun, affordable and accessible. Situated in a 1,600 square foot location in Rochester’s Village Gate complex, Rochester Brainery has two classrooms, which are available for classes as well as meetings, parties and other gatherings. Classes typically range from $15-$30 and cover a vast array of topics, from how to brew kombucha tea, to diet tips, to web design.

Michael Ruhling, professor of performing arts/music in the College of Liberal Arts, conducts at a rehearsal.

More than 60 people signed up to have their heads shaved on April 4 to benefit St. Baldrick’s Foundation, which raises funds and awareness for childhood cancer. Here, RIT students Ashley Gast and Ethan Young participated.

Lynn Fuller, left, professor in microelectronic engineering, greets visitors to the clean room April 5. Stephanie Bolster, ’00, at right, an adjunct professor in microelectronics, introduced her three children to the Semiconductor and Microsystems Fabrication Laboratory.

Rosalind Picard, founder and director of the Affective Computing Research Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Laboratory, met with RIT doctoral students in computing and information sciences on April 4. She delivered a speech as part of RIT’s new lecture series—“Where Text and Code Collide: The Digital Humanities Distinguished Speaker Series.” Picard’s research is dedicated to making intangible emotions measureable through “wearable technology” and novel techniques—with applications from autism communication to human-computer interaction. For people with autism, or others who have difficulty expressing and interpreting their emotions, Picard’s innovative new tools may be the answer to unlocking rich emotional insight.

More than 50 students from across the country participated in the eighth annual RIT National Science Fair for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students at NTID on March 23. The science fair promotes interest in technology, science, engineering and math to middle and high school students who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Dyer Arts Center presents “Time & Again, Photography by Tom Policano.” The gallery at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf will highlight more than 150 of Policano’s images through April 24.

Allison Conte collaborated with Don Figer, director of the Center for Detectors in the College of Science, to design signage for the suite on the third floor of Engineering Hall. Conte is in her third year of the graphic design program in the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences. To read more, go to http://www.rit.edu/news/story.php?id=49893.