Photo Spotlights

John Eades ’93 (industrial design) opened a sandal factory in Geneva, N.Y. Vere Sandal Co. opened in August 2010 and is one of only a few companies making sandals in the United States. Read more about Eades in RIT: The University Magazine.

Student entrepreneurs and innovators from around the country collaborated on ideas to bring potential earth-saving technologies and products into the marketplace. RIT’s Center for Student Innovation hosted the Sustainable University IdeaLab workshop Jan. 4-8. Led by the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance, students learned how to develop and commercialize products and innovations that address sustainability issues. Student teams with the best ideas may receive seed grants up to $1,000.

David Eckler ’83 (printing management) is the owner of Dock 2 Letterpress, a commercial letterpress business in Webster, N.Y.

Tony Zanni ’07 (graphic design) is the creative partner at Dock 2 Letterpress, a commercial letterpress business in Webster, N.Y.

New faculty member Michael Schrlau joined the Kate Gleason College of Engineering this fall and has been working to balance classroom activities, research and department tasks. He talked to undergraduate engineering students about his research about unique strategies using nanotubes to study cells, tissue and larger biological systems.

Josh Turner, left, technology director of Kosovo Wind Gardens, works on a mold for a turbine blade in RIT’s composites lab. Turner is receiving assistance on the product from Rob Aldi, a graduate student in manufacturing and mechanical systems integration. Kosovo Wind Gardens is a venture that plans to construct and sell wind turbines to individual homes, businesses and farms in the vast rural areas of Kosovo.

Imaging science graduate student Kelly Canham used spectral imaging equipment last December in Oaxaca, Mexico, to support Professor Bill Middleton’s archeological research. Canham won the use of a spectralradiometer through the Alexander Goetz Instrument Program, along with David Messinger in the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science and Middleton in the College of Liberal Arts.

Dr. Daniel Ornt joined RIT Dec. 1 as vice president and dean of the Institute of Health Sciences and Technology. He heads the institute’s three components: RIT’s ninth college, the College of Health Sciences and Technology, the Health Sciences Research Center and the Health Sciences Outreach Center. Ornt was formerly vice dean for education and academic affairs at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

Lisa Hermsen, associate professor of English and department chairperson in RIT’s College of Liberal Arts, recently published a book on the history of mania and mental illness.

Attendees at the Finance and Administration holiday breakfast Dec. 19 admired and photographed the gingerbread houses on display. Each dining area created a gingerbread house for a competition this year.

Teaching continues for engineering faculty Michael Schrlau, left, even after his Heat Transfer class has ended. Undergraduate mechanical engineering students gather at his office to discuss homework, class concepts and projects. Schrlau started his first year at RIT this past fall after working as a research assistant professor at Drexel University, where he developed devices for intracellular probing, imaging and spectroscopy.

Gabriella Ramos hands over a collection of handmade scarves as part of a donation to the Rush-Henrietta Area Food Terminal’s Holiday Food Basket program. Ramos is enrolled in the Urban Poverty class in RIT’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology.