News by Topic: Creativity And Innovation

A heart monitoring solution developed in a Rochester Institute of Technology engineering lab is helping to provide individuals with early signs of COVID-19 symptoms during the 2020 crisis.

RIT is leading an effort involving local companies and healthcare experts to produce a prototype ventilator designed to help meet the continuing surge of respiratory cases as a result of the coronavirus.

Two companies associated with RIT’s Venture Creations business incubator are playing significant roles in the COVID-19 response. Potsdam Sensors Corp. has ramped up production of its technology that helps keep the air cleaner and safer in hospitals. And Turbett Surgical is donating bacterial filtration material ideal for facemasks for second-line workers.

Many RIT faculty, students, staff and alumni are among the collaborations here and across the nation, providing expertise to improve or create much-needed equipment and protective gear for medical personnel fighting the Coronavirus.

Intersections: The RIT Podcast, Ep. 34: Studying history is more than poring over textbooks and old documents. History Professor Richard Newman and humanities Professor Lisa Hermsen talk about place-based learning, which gets students into the community to experience where the history happened.

Entrepreneur Reuben Zielinski ’85 (electrical engineering) ’96 (EMBA) believes that generating a great idea is actually the easiest part of the product development process. The hardest part? Convincing other people that what you have is a great idea and getting them to buy what you have developed.

Charles Gaines ’67 MFA (art and design) made his name working outside of the boundaries of traditional western art practices. Now, he’s on a list of artistic legends as the 60th recipient of the Edward MacDowell Medal.

Jordan Darling’s career has soared as rapidly as the sleek watercraft he designs. The vice president of Nikola Powersports was named one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30, the prestigious designation given annually to top entrepreneurial talent in the United States and Canada.

Many RIT alumni have tapped into the craft-beer boom that has swept across the country in the past 10 years.

The LiveAbility Lab is a partnership between RIT and the Al Sigl Community of Agencies, a collaborative network of organizations in Rochester that serves children and adults with special needs. The lab, which is located on Al Sigl’s Wolk Campus, opened in 2018. The goal is to develop a pipeline of accessible technology projects that are conceived at RIT and take root at the LiveAbility Lab on their way to development in the marketplace. 

Intersections: The RIT Podcast, Ep. 33: Community partnerships are one way RIT provides its students with experiential learning opportunities. James Winebrake, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, and Juilee Decker, associate professor of museum studies, talk about a unique partnership between the college and one of the Finger Lakes Region’s cultural gems, the Genesee Country Village & Museum.

The New York Times talks to Nabil Nasr, associate provost and founding director of the Golisano Institute for Sustainability, and Michael Thurston, research faculty in the Golisano Institute for Sustainability, about remanufacturing and privacy concerns.