Photo Spotlights

Ask Jamie Wratten, a fourth-year mathematics student, about his thoughts on education and he’ll tell you that it’s not all about the classroom or the lab. A desire to volunteer and gain new experiences led him to orphanages in India where he spent the last two summers teaching children English and mathematics, and reshaping his own worldview. Wratten will graduate this spring with his bachelor’s degree in mathematics.

Venture Creations, RIT’s business incubator, facilitates the growth of businesses in the Rochester area. Sweetwater Energy is a Venture Creations company that produces liquid feedstock for ethanol producers.

Upgrading and improving the “Wandering Campus Ambassador” took the collective expertise of students from mechanical, electrical and computer engineering as well as peers from industrial design. The robotic system and its intricate mechanical elements were on display at the multidisciplinary senior design presentations in the Kate Gleason College of Engineering on Feb. 18. The device is designed to move around campus to not only generate interest in robotics but to raise awareness about self-sustaining energy platforms. The project, sponsored by the RIT Provost’s Learning Innovations Grant, focused on upgraded solar collectors and improved mechanical components.

Fernando Naveda is charting a course for RIT’s conversion to semesters starting Aug. 26, 2013. The appointed calendar conversion director says questions from members of the campus community remain among his priorities.

“Algae—as a renewable feedstock—grow a lot quicker than crops of corn or soybeans,” says Eric Lannan, right, who is working on his master’s degree in mechanical engineering. “It’s a more continuous source that could offset 50 percent of our total gas use for equipment that uses diesel.” Lannan and Jeff Lodge, left, associate professor of biological sciences, are developing biodiesel from microalgae grown in wastewater. They’ve moved their research out of the lab and to Environmental Energy Technologies Inc. on Brighton-Henrietta Townline Road, where they’ve scaled up production from 30 to 100 gallons, with Lannan’s thesis advisor Ali Ogut, professor of mechanical engineering and president and CTO of EET.

Design experts deliberated over chair prototypes designed by industrial design students as part of a juried competition Feb. 10 in collaboration with Wilsonart International. The students were required to use Wilsonart laminate in their chair designs. Jurors pictured from left to right are Wendell Castle, RIT artist-in-residence and furniture designer; Ron Labaco, senior curator at the Museum of Arts and Design; Grace Jeffers, project manager for the Wilsonart Challenge; and Allan Chochinov, editor-in-chief of Core 77. Jurors selected six student designs, including Dan Kestler’s design (foreground) which conjoins two Adirondack chairs, to be featured at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York City in May.

Barnes & Noble @ RIT hosted a meet and greet with the RIT men’s hockey team to benefit the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Rochester on Feb. 12. The event included a silent auction of RIT hockey memorabilia, donations for a team photo for the players to sign, giveaways and snacks. The total raised was $1,000.

Jan van Aardt, associate professor in the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science, discussed the impact of RIT research following last year’s earthquake in Haiti. During the annual Principal Investigators Reception, hosted by Sponsored Research Services on Feb. 11, van Aardt addressed how RIT’s thermal imaging expertise provided relief and recovery agencies with critical insights needed to manage the earthquake’s aftermath.

Students from RIT’s Pathways to Service Learning course teamed up with the American Red Cross to host a blood drive Feb. 11 in the Fireside Lounge. Pathways is part of the First-Year Enrichment curriculum and provides students with a choice of themes—leadership, service or innovation and creativity—that highlight concepts related to long-term success.

The RIT/NTID Dance Company, one of few troupes worldwide that features both deaf and hearing dancers, presents “Danser et Voler”: to dance and to fly, conceived, directed and choreographed by Thomas Warfield. “Danser et Voler” will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 10-12 at Panara Theatre on the RIT campus, with a matinee performance at 2 p.m. Feb. 13. Tickets are $5 (students/seniors) and $7 (all others).

The RIT/NTID Dance Company, one of few troupes worldwide that features both deaf and hearing dancers, presents “Danser et Voler”: to dance and to fly, conceived, directed and choreographed by Thomas Warfield. “Danser et Voler” will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 10–12 at Panara Theatre on the RIT campus, with a matinee performance at 2 p.m. Feb. 13. Tickets are $5 (students/seniors) and $7 (all others).

RIT’s Student Government hosted a Super Bowl Extravaganza party in the Gordon Field House on Feb. 6.