Photo Spotlights

The RIT women’s basketball team won its first conference title in the 30-year history of the program with an 85-72 win over Clarkson University in the Liberty League Tournament championship on Saturday at Clark Gymnasium. With the win, RIT secures the automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament. It will be the first time in program history the Tigers will appear in the NCAA Tournament. To read the game coverage, go to ritathletics.com.

The RIT men’s hockey team participates in a rigorous strengthening and conditioning program twice a week. The exercises also help to prevent injury.

Justin Hamilton, left, and Chris Stern, alumni of RIT’s civil engineering program and owners of the No. 1 company in Rochester’s Top 100 Companies of 2016, were featured as “Innovators & Entrepreneurs,” one of several alumni sessions that took place during National Engineers Week, Feb. 20-25 at RIT. Their construction management firm Hamilton Stern Construction LLC, was recognized this fall as one of the fastest growing private companies in the area, according to the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce. RIT was one of hundreds of universities, corporations and government agencies involved in the national Engineers Week program to recognize engineers’ contributions to society and to increase understanding of, and interest in, engineering and technology careers. Events for the week at RIT were planned by students, faculty and staff from the Kate Gleason College of Engineering, College of Applied Science and Technology and the B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences.

Visiting artist Bryan Czibesz built a 3D ceramic printer with students this week. He gave a lecture and several demonstrations on ways to use the technology in ceramic art and design, in combination with traditional methods or alone. The machine will remain at RIT for students to experiment with. Czibesz is assistant professor of art in ceramics at SUNY New Paltz.

NTID celebrated Black History Month Feb. 22 with a presentation by Melanie Funchess, director of community engagement at the Mental Health Association in Rochester.

Steven Abitz, additive technology leader at GE Healthcare, gave the keynote speech for the Melbert B. Cary Jr. Distinguished Professor speaker and luncheon, as part of RIT’s Graduate Education Week Feb. 22. The week culminates with the ninth annual Graduate Research Symposium and Showcase Feb. 24 in CIMS 2120-2140. View the schedule here: http://bit.ly/2kPPajs

Student leaders of WOCHA—Women of Color Honor and Ambition—welcomed Rebecca Johnson on Feb. 20 for Motivational Mondays, a regular program highlighting women of diverse backgrounds in leadership roles. Johnson, psychologist and associate of the university, shared personal stories and advice. Motivational Mondays are organized by WOCHA and open to the campus community.

Sid Jadeja (center), an RIT industrial and systems engineering graduate student from India, explains the workings of an assembly line to Nazya McCray (left) and Jared Shelton, (right), as they work in the Toyota Production Systems Lab in the Kate Gleason College of Engineering. The visiting students are ninth-graders in the Rochester Central School District and part of RIT’s Gaining Early Awareness & Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) to help students decide which college majors and careers they may be interested in.

Actor and comedian T.J. Miller performed in the Gordon Field House Feb. 18. He was the featured entertainer for FreeezeFest 2017.

Left, Kaityln Seamans, a second-year psychology major from Philadelphia, Pa., pulls a tire with her teammate Amanda Hughes, a fourth-year criminal justice major from Brockport, N.Y. The students participated in FreezeFest’s Winter Warrior, a 12-part obstacle course to test strength, conditioning and teamwork. Proceeds go to Veterans Outreach of Rochester. The event is sponsored by Phi Kappa Psi and Sigma Chi.

Roman Yampolskiy ’04 (computer science) was one of three “difference makers” in the Artificial Intelligence community who spoke to students, faculty and staff about the future of AI as part of RIT’s Move 78 Retreat. The associate professor of computer engineering and computer science at the University of Louisville is one of the top researchers in AI safety and cybersecurity. More than 200 campus participants attended the retreat to learn more about AI, neuromorphic computing, machine learning and cognitive technologies in an effort to shape what RIT’s role could be in these exciting, emerging fields.

RIT President Bill Destler and Rebecca Johnson performed “Songs for the Journey” on Thursday as part of this year’s FreezeFest. The concert was the result of a student-led petition. For a schedule of all FreezeFest events, go to rit.edu/studentaffairs/campuslife/freezefest.