Research News

A record 15 students participated in fall research projects thanks to support from the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) and Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement programs.

Several School of Physics and Astronomy faculty secured large grants as principal investigators during a banner summer.

Researchers have used pulsar measurements to help uncover new information about the density of dark matter in our home galaxy. In a new study led by RIT Associate Professor Sukanya Chakrabarti, researchers have now obtained the first direct measurement of the average acceleration taking place within the Milky Way.

Michael Zemcov, assistant professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy, is part of the Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) mission, which will let scientists learn about the formation of galaxies and search for life-sustaining molecules in the clouds of material where stars and planets form.

WXXI’s “Connections” program features Roger Easton, professor in the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science; Lisa Enochs, second-year student double majoring in motion picture science and imaging science; and Zoë LaLena, second-year imaging science student.

While the scientific community grapples with the loss of the Arecibo radio telescope, astronomers who recently revived a long-dormant radio telescope array in Argentina hope it can help modestly compensate for the work Arecibo did in pulsar timing.

Imaging scientists at RIT have several new projects in the works to improve the way waveform LiDAR can be used to study forests. LiDAR currently does a good job of outlining the top portion of forests, but by using a more complex form of LiDAR, it can reveal much more detail about what lies beneath the forest canopy’s surface.

CIO Magazine mentions Manuela Campanelli, professor in the School of Mathematical Sciences, and her work with the TACC Frontera supercomputer.

Professor Seth Hubbard is an expert in designing, growing, and fabricating solar cells and said that if the cost of these highly efficient solar cells can be reduced enough, they could be used to help devices ranging from smartphones to drones to cars.

RIT is developing saliva testing protocols for campus as part of its plan to monitor the prevalence of the SARS-CoV2 virus, the causative agent of COVID-19. Development of the testing process will be done by André Hudson and Julie Thomas, both faculty-researchers in the Thomas H. Gosnell School of Life Sciences.

RIT students discovered lost text on 15th-century manuscript leaves using an imaging system they developed as freshmen. By using ultraviolet-fluorescence imaging, the students revealed that a manuscript leaf held in RIT’s Cary Graphic Arts Collection was actually a palimpsest, a manuscript on parchment with multiple layers of writing.

Three researchers, including RIT Associate Professor Ben Zwickl, suggested steps that need to be taken in a new paper in Physical Review Physics Education Research after interviewing managers at more than 20 quantum technology companies across the U.S.