Photo Spotlights

RIT faculty member Thomas Warfield performs during a press conference at the Little Theatre July 12, when more than 500 performances for the 2016 First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival, Sept. 15-24 in downtown Rochester were announced. More than 100 of the performances—including all involving RIT—will be free.

RIT students Bharat Jangir, left, and Anu Sharma meet with Dana Wolcott, lead innovation coach, during the Saunders Summer Start-up Program, an intense summer program aimed at assisting entrepreneurs and innovators in developing their business concepts to a point where they are ready to begin to seek angel investment. The program, hosted by Saunders College of Business and the Simone Center for Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship, includes instruction relevant to startups, such as developing business concepts, customer discovery, business formation, intellectual property and investment capital. Each team receives a stipend, mentoring and coaching, and work space. The program culminates with Investor Day, set for Aug. 10, where each team will pitch its business to a group of investors.

Electrical engineering graduate student Katie Shuttenberg instructs Cooper Eisenstat, an eighth-grader at Pittsford's Barker Road Middle School, during the RIT Kids on Campus’ Circuits and Gears class. The summer workshop, one of many being offered in July and August, provides instruction on circuitry, digital electronics and some basic coding.

Gannett Hall is undergoing changes inside and out. All the windows on the side facing the quad are being replaced. Inside, the second floor will house a 25 seat computer lab, a seminar room and a multimedia lab.

Jason Karol, president of RIT Anglers, does some fishing in a pond at RIT. The club is one of the only student clubs that meets regularly in the summer.

Associate Provost and Golisano Institute for Sustainability Director Nabil Nasr, left, met with Deputy Monroe County Executive Thomas VanStrydonck and Monroe County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo during a campus visit on June 28. Dinolfo and VanStrydonck toured the Golisano Institute for Sustainability, the Brinkman Lab in the Kate Gleason College of Engineering and the Battery Prototyping Center in Institute Hall.

“It’s Time: ExOut Extremism,” a social media campaign created by RIT students, took top prize in a global challenge conducted by the U.S. State Department aimed at finding ways to counter terrorist propaganda online. To reach the finals, held in Washington, D.C., on June 27, RIT outsmarted 56 university teams from around the globe. Team members presenting at the competition were, from left, Adriana Boveda-Lambie, assistant professor of marketing; Margaret Harrington ’16 (photographic sciences) from Tucson, Ariz.; Jessica Kellner ’16 (new media marketing) from Honeoye Falls, N.Y.; Olivia Hauck ’16 (advertising and public relations) from Irondequoit, N.Y.; Kate Sudar ’16 (illustration) from Cleveland, Ohio; and Kailun Jiang ’16 (marketing) from Beijing.

Mike Gulliver from the University of Bristol, England, presented at the 2016 International Conference in Deaf Geographies. More than 30 people participated in the conference, held June 27 and 28, including presenters from Europe. Hosted by the Field School in Deaf Geographies and Department of History in RIT’s College of Liberal Arts, it is believed to be one of only two academic conferences related to Deaf Studies in the U.S. this year. The Field School allows students to engage in research using analytical and theoretical frameworks within human geography, social science research methods and American deaf history.

Constance Steinkuehler, associate professor in digital media at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was the keynote speaker when the Center for Media, Arts, Games, Interaction and Creativity (MAGIC) hosted the 2016 New Media Consortium, June 14-16, at RIT and the Rochester Riverside Convention Center. The conference annually draws hundreds of highly-skilled professionals from universities, colleges, museums and research centers, and stimulates and furthers the exploration and use of new media and technologies for learning and creative expression. Thought leaders within the education industry are encouraged to “push the envelope” and implement cutting-edge technologies and learning approaches. Steinkuehler talked about her research that suggests key advances are needed to help usher in a new golden age of games. She also discussed the intellectual life of commercial entertainment video games, the ways in which the culture of play functions as a critique of schooling, and how games might serve as a vehicle for American domestic policy.

Marcia Trauernicht, manager of digital initiatives and metadata services in The Wallace Center, spoke at the first RIT/RCL Staff Conference, an event to increase collaboration between the library staff of Rochester’s two largest universities. Nearly 80 staff members from RIT's Wallace Center and the River Campus Libraries of the University of Rochester came to RIT June 15. The all-day conference featured lightning talks by various library staff and roundtable discussions. Expert panels also explored the topics of “The Library and Digital Humanities,” “Student Employee Training,” “Academic Integrity Initiatives,” “Special Collections—Supporting Curriculum,” “Community Outreach” and “Useful Online Tools and Apps.”

Doug Botto, team manager and driver of RIT Racing, takes a lap during the 2016 SAE Baja World Challenge June 9-12. This was the sixth time RIT has hosted one of the Society of Automotive Engineers' student design and racing competitions. More than 1,200 student-engineers, who designed and built off-road vehicles, participated in the event that included hill and rock climbs, acceleration and maneuverability challenges and a four-hour endurance race. RIT finished second overall.

The 18th Annual RITirees Picnic honored Fred Bleiler, shown here, and the late William Larsen. Larsen was an associate professor of civil engineering technology and worked on a solar-powered water disinfecting system in Haiti. Bleiler, former director of physical education, developed wellness and fitness programs and was instrumental in the design and planning of the Hale-Andrews Student Life Center.