News by Topic: Community Outreach

The annual festival, now in its 13th year, is a showcase day for RIT. But Imagine RIT isn’t just a one-day celebration. Every day, RIT students, faculty and staff are working to pair technology, art and design in ways that move the world forward.

Rochester, N.Y.’s notable histories as the birthplace of the women’s rights movement and photography will come together for RIT’s Big Shot next month. Organizers of the longtime community photographic project will capture a dramatic nighttime image of the National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House, 17 Madison St., and surrounding neighborhood on March 22.

From furniture and toys that assist children with special needs to car seats that help people with mobility issues enter and exit vehicles safely, cutting-edge technologies designed to enhance accessibility for individuals across a wide range of physical and cognitive challenges will be on display March 17 at the fifth Conference on Effective Access Technology.

Saler, a miniature donkey, received new, 3D-printed shoes this past weekend at Karen and Bob Pinkney’s Wychmere Farms in Ontario, N.Y.  RIT biomedical engineering students were among the unlikely team brought together to help the 9-month-old little donkey whose tendons did not develop properly in his front legs.

dt ogilvie, Distinguished Professor of Urban Entrepreneurship at RIT’s Saunders College of Business, has received the Young Entrepreneurz Solutions Entrepreneurship Service Award for her role in promoting youth entrepreneurship. 

A traveling exhibit that calls upon craft as a creative force in voicing dissent and expressing hope in an era of political disruption is making its first-ever stop at RIT over the next month.

The Mark and Maureen Davitt Graduate Education Endowed Scholarship was established with a $500,000 gift to RIT by Mark and Maureen Davitt to help graduates from the Rochester City School District pursue advanced degrees.

WKBW-TV in Buffalo features a team of RIT students who are collaborating with a school in Niagara Falls, N.Y., to design musical instruments that are easier for students with disabilities to play.

Faculty and staff members at RIT are encouraged to volunteer with Rochester Global Connections, which pairs community members with international students to help them feel more welcome. There are 30 RIT international students currently in the program, but another seven are waiting for a pairing.

Intersections: The RIT Podcast, Ep. 31: A multidisciplinary contingent from RIT is creating design solutions to improve the quality of medical care and education in Central America. Mary Golden, interior design program chair and director of RIT Hope for Honduras, speaks with Christian Perry, a healthcare designer and co-founder of Little Angels of Honduras, about important initiatives to help reduce infant mortality in that region.

Freezin’ for a Reason. That’s the motto of Rochester’s Polar Plunge and now the adopted saying for third-year game design and development student Harry McCardell. He’s ready to represent his fraternity, Phi Sigma Kappa, as president and run into frozen Lake Ontario.

RIT is one of hundreds of universities and organizations across the country involved in National Engineers Week, taking place Feb. 16-22. Events include talks with engineering alumni and open house sessions for K-12 students and families.