Imagine RIT set for Saturday, rain or shine

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A. Sue Weisler

Some 30,000 people are expected on the RIT campus May 3 for Imagine RIT: Innovation and Creativity Festival.

Kick off the beloved Rochester festival season in the best way imaginable.

Mark your calendars for Saturday, May 3, and the 2014 Imagine RIT: Innovation and Creativity Festival.

The nationally acclaimed festival, now in its seventh year, returns with more than 350 examples of innovation and creativity, all showcased through interactive exhibitions, demonstrations and live performances.

This year’s highlights include:

• Dr. Destler’s E-Vehicle Autocross, a pre-festival event, in which teams race vehicles they have designed and constructed for speed and maneuverability. The race begins at 9 a.m. (one hour before festival exhibits open) in parking lot G. Winners could receive $1,000 or a banjo from the prized collection of RIT President Bill Destler.
• A robotic s’more maker that allows visitors to select from a menu that customizes their chocolate marshmallow treat.
• A system that can help drivers avoid collisions by detecting and communicating the location and severity of road hazards in their path.
• A talk on creative thinking and the process of user experience design by Michael Gough, vice president of Experience Design and Creativity at Adobe and the leader of Adobe’s Experience Design (XD) Team, an internal design practice focusing on the next generation of digitally enabled experiences.

More than 30,000 people are expected to visit the RIT campus for the event, which runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. A variety of food, entertainment and children’s activities combine to make the event a fun, family-friendly environment.

Time Warner Cable’s Connect a Million Minds is the Premier Sponsor of Imagine RIT. Gold Sponsors are Democrat and Chronicle Media Group and Xerox Corp; Rochester General Health Systems is the Silver Sponsor.

Festival admission is free, and parking is available on the RIT campus. There is also free shuttle service offered from Monroe Community College. Visitors can go to the festival’s Plan Your Day website to view exhibits.