News
Michael Buffalin IV

The Floating Pavilion, part of a Floating Garden food forest envisioned by New York-based interdisciplinary artist Mary Mattingly, was created by RIT students.

When Don Pettit, NASA’s most senior astronaut, sought a way to accurately capture his view from the International Space Station, alumnus Peter Blacksberg connected him with Ted Kinsman, associate professor in the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences.

RIT architecture Professor Amanda Reis and students designed and built the ‘Peace Pavilion’ at Bethel Woods for BuildFest 2: Peace Rises.

Making at RIT has hit a new level now that several makerspaces in the Student Hall for Exploration and Development (SHED) have opened to provide students access to equipment and support for classwork, club advancement, and personal projects.

The SHED, touted as the new heartbeat of campus, makes its Imagine RIT debut this year. This multi-use facility embodies RIT's blend of technology, the arts, and design, offering a vibrant hub for creativity, interdisciplinary learning, and innovative performances year-round.

RIT’s makerspace capacity has grown exponentially from a crowded room on the fourth floor in an engineering building to three floors in the centrally located SHED. New last fall, the SHED complex showcases different kinds of making and learning under one roof—in workshops, performing arts spaces, and extra-large classrooms designed for active learning.

Come explore inside the SHED (Student Hall for Exploration and Development) during an open house for the RIT community.

With its five extra-large classrooms, seven makerspaces, performing arts studios, and glass box theater, the $120 million SHED complex is made for a new generation of RIT students who see themselves as makers and doers, performers, and active learners.

Meet Gabe Carson, a third-year computing and information technologies major from Williamsport, Pa., who works at the SHED information booth.

RIT’s Launch Initiative won first place in the Space Dynamics Laboratory Payload Challenge this summer in Las Cruces, N.M. They were among nearly 6,000 students from 159 international collegiate teams at the annual competition that challenges students to launch solid, liquid, or hybrid rockets to altitudes of 10,000 and 30,000 feet.

In only a few weeks, the SHED will open to the RIT community, and Tiffany Brodner is preparing for her new role overseeing the multi-use facility.

Tiffany Brodner was named RIT’s inaugural executive director of the Student Hall for Exploration and Development (SHED), following a national search. She assumed her new position in April. She will work closely with Michael Buffalin IV, who was appointed director of RIT’s makerspace within the SHED.