News by Topic: Community Outreach

Entrepreneur David Rodriguez ’92 (MBA) is doing his part to provide new clean energy solutions to the nearly 3.4 million residents of Puerto Rico who live in the constant presence of destructive tropical storms and hurricanes.

When he was in high school, Josh Geise, a fifth-year computing security student, was involved in a program that donated refurbished computers to local families. To continue his work in computer refurbishment and help increase computer accessibility in the Rochester area, Geise and friend Brian Martens ’18 started their own nonprofit organization that donates refurbished computers to people in need.

A Rochester Institute of Technology graduating student leader who has been engaged in public service, Student Government and environmental stewardship, and a dedicated administrator who helped expand RIT’s global presence as well as being an active community volunteer locally and in Haiti, have been named winners of this year’s Alfred L. Davis Distinguished Public Service Awards.

More than 100 RIT students were honored Thursday as Outstanding Undergraduate Scholars. The students were also able to invite the high school or community college teacher that made the most impact on their education.

In 2015, the Genesee Country Village & Museum stopped firing cannons during Civil War reenactments in the historic village because the black powder charges appeared to be damaging windows and buildings. To help reintroduce cannon fire, four fifth-year engineering students are identifying the cause of the damage and creating a best practices procedure to protect the buildings while maintaining authenticity.

Michael Brown, an assistant professor in Rochester Institute of Technology’s Department of History, is the 2018-19 recipient of the Richard and Virginia Eisenhart Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, recognizing exceptional performance in the classroom and a commitment to student learning. He will be recognized with a dinner on April 16 and participate as a member of the platform party for the university’s academic convocation on May 10.

More than 40 RIT students spent a week during Alternative Spring Break clearing hundreds of pounds of trash from beaches, painting school buildings and preventing erosion while providing a habitat for oysters.

RIT alumni and long-time supporters of FIRST Robotics, Dan Schneiderman and Joe Kessler, were recognized as the 2019 Regional as Volunteers of the Year during the FIRST Robotics Finger Lakes Regional competition March 15 and 16. Both were honored for their contributions to the organization and the regional competition, serving in a variety of roles from advocates and team mentors to field judging, set up and match coordination. 

Women are the subject of less than 30 percent of biographies on Wikipedia, and RIT Libraries is seeking the community’s help to improve gender equity on the internet’s leading source of information.

High school juniors in the Rochester City School District are learning about careers in the law through a mock trial tournament sponsored by RIT and attorneys from the Rochester community.

Saunders College of Business hosts the 10th annual Power Your Potential Women’s Conference, which celebrates National Women’s Month and invites area businesswomen to gain insights from their peers and engage in educational activities geared toward helping women succeed.

Rochester Red Wings baseball, in partnership with RIT’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf and Rochester School for the Deaf, will host the first Deaf Culture Day at Frontier Field on Sunday, April 28.