Environmental Studies and Sustainability News

When his brother’s horse died suddenly from colic in 2013, Michael Schab ’09 (computer engineering) saw an opportunity to create something that would prevent other equestrians from losing their beloved animals to this preventable affliction.

If the old saying, “couples who play together stay together” is true, Jon Podeszek ’10, ’12 MS and Danielle Furman Podeszek ’11 have it made. The two are ultramarathoners who spend their free time training to run 50-plus-mile races.

Meet Kyle Sayers ’99 (civil engineering technology), the College of Engineering Technology 2019 Distinguished Alumnus.

NPR features a story by WXXI in which Karl Korfmacher, a professor of environmental science, discusses how asphalt creates “urban heat islands” and how vegetation can combat the effects of heat waves.

As part of a growing trend in enriching engineering education, RIT has approved a new course in soft skills for engineers. The one-credit elective course, originally piloted in the last academic year, has been approved as a credit-bearing option for students in RIT’s College of Engineering Technology and will begin in September.

The University of Michigan-Ann Arbor took first place overall at the 2019 Baja SAE Rochester challenge, an international student-design competition that challenges students to apply classroom knowledge with real-world applications. RIT placed 10th overall among 100 collegiate race teams that took on a daunting motor cross field and four challenging days of competition.

RIT Racing and teams from Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico, Canada, India and the United States will field race cars, built by student-engineers, and test them on a track that will challenge not only the durability of the cars but the problem-solving capabilities of the teams during the 2019 Baja SAE Rochester World Challenge June 6-9.

Advanced degree candidates were honored by the Golisano Institute for Sustainability during commencement ceremonies in May.

Samuel Lum found several things in common with his faculty mentor, Robert Osgood, including excitement about research and a project that could save lives. Lum’s background in mechanical engineering technology and Osgood’s microbiology expertise in studying biofilms would be the kind of multidisciplinary approach that could lead to identifying the genes most likely responsible for hospital-associated catheter infections.

Teams from universities in the United States as well as Canada, India, Mexico, Brazil and Venezuela will compete for the Mike Schmidt Iron Team Trophy, an award given to the overall season champion. More than 1,300 student-engineers, who designed and built off-road vehicles, are expected for the event that will consist of hill and rock climbs, acceleration and maneuverability challenges and a four-hour endurance race.

WXXI reports on RIT’s work on the Global Urban Evolution Project.

RIT environmental science students turned some heads when they stopped to pick white clover plants near a gas station along New York State Route 33A in October. But little did onlookers know that they were helping to conduct the largest evolution study outside of human genomics.