Photo Spotlights

One of the entrances to the St. Louis Zoo is now home to "Animals Always," a 130-feet long, 36-feet high sculpture created by internationally renowned sculptor and RIT artist-in-residence Albert Paley. A 2-ton rhinoceros, elephants, birds and snakes, are just some of the 60 animals that make up the sculpture. Comprised of 1,300 elements, it is the world’s largest public zoo sculpture and Paley’s first-ever representational work.

Ezenwa “Nelson” Oparah, an electrical engineering technology student in the College of Applied Science and Technology and a marine reservist, was rewarded for both his military service and academic success during a June 9 ceremony. Anne Barton of the National Student Loan Program and Jeffrey Kaye of the New York state Division of Veteran’s Affairs presented Oparah with a $500 scholarship.

Rochester Institute of Technology teamed with the Center For Missing & Exploited Children’s New York branch to host the conference “Keeping Children Safe: In a Changing Online World” June 8 in Ingle Auditorium. Professors Sam McQuade and Jennifer Schneider were among the presenters who aimed to help the nearly 300 law enforcement officials and educators in attendance combat the growing threat posed by cybercrime.

Invited guests enjoyed a pre-grand opening celebration at the New York Wine & Culinary Center, in Canandaigua, June 16. The 19,500- square-foot facility, celebrating New York food, wines and agriculture, is expected to draw tens of thousands of visitors annually to the Finger Lakes region. RIT’s School of Hospitality and Service Management leads the center’s educational component as part of a consortium that also includes Constellation Brands, Wegmans and the New York Wine & Grape Foundation. Programs for the general public include “culinary classrooms” with guest chefs, hands-on educational classes on food, cheese and wine, “culinary kids” classes, wine tastings, tours and more. For more information, visit www.nywcc.com.

The steering wheel of the Etta Belle, which sank in Lake Ontario in 1873. The vessel was discovered two years ago by a team including RIT alumnus Dan Scoville '05. Scoville will return to the lake this summer with an underwater remote-operated vehicle—built by a team of RIT engineering majors—in search of other shipwrecks. Read the News & Events story.

Environmental science professor John Waud (right) and colleague Omar Gordilla band a large oriole in Chiapas, Mexico, as part of a larger effort to monitor the forest and restore the watershed. Read the News & Events story.

Marc Baumbach (left), Kyle Shank and Matt Kent, all software engineering undergraduate students, are on the fast track: the creation of their open-source software project RadRails has led to accolades, awards and 10 job offers. Read the News & Events story and visit www.radrails.org.

Ben Savory, owner of Savory Blends and an entrepreneurship student in the College of Business, shows off his juice bar in the Student Life Center. Read the full story in News & Events.

Bill Johnson Jr. teaches a class on Introduction to Public Policy at RIT. Johnson, the former mayor of Rochester, joined RIT in January as a distinguished professor of public policy in the College of Liberal Arts, after serving three terms and 12 years in office. He began teaching in the spring quarter. Read the full story in News & Events.

Students in Marty Gordon's machine design class built pedal-powered brick bashing machines as part of their final project. A "Brick Bash" took the place of their final exam on May 23, as students were graded on the design and efficiency of their machines.

Tim Gottschall, third-year fine arts studio major designed a “vest for personal space” for the annual show, 3D Extravaganza. This year’s theme, Safe: Design over Fear, was modeled after a recent exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. Students were required to design and construct a portable costume addressing a personal fear. Gottschall’s vest, designed to keep people from invading his personal space, was made out of mouse pads, ear plugs and wire. More than 150 students in the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences participated in the sixth annual event.

RIT President Albert Simone (left) begins the Chase Corporate Challenge in the company of RIT team captain Peter Haggerty. Simone finished the 3.5-mile course in 34 minutes. More than 9,400 runners and walkers participated in the June 1 race, which took place on the RIT campus for the third consecutive year. RIT fielded a team of 158.