News by Topic: Doing Good

Steven Day, professor of biomedical engineering at RIT, and Majed Refaai, from the University of Rochester, applied to the U.S. Patent Office this past April for a new blood typing device that can assist trauma patients prior to blood transfusions.

RIT’s summer day camp programs offer young learners a foray into astrophysics, cybersecurity, energy and the environment, and college readiness. While RIT’s regular in-person Camp Tiger is on hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic, RIT’s K-12 University Center is providing select programs via a secure virtual platform through RIT’s Innovative Learning Institute.

Professor Bob Barbato joined RIT in 1979. Since then, he has taught courses in leadership, entrepreneurship, and business ethics in more than seven countries–first taking his wife and kids with him to Ethiopia on a Fulbright scholarship, and then to RIT’s international campuses in Kosovo, Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Beijing, and Dubai.

Almost everyone looks up to RIT’s Head Women’s Basketball Coach Amy Reed, not just because she is 6’ 3’’, but because of her work promoting greater awareness about gender diversity and inclusion. As a result, Reed has been named recipient of the 2021 Edwina Award, which is given to a faculty or staff member for significant contributions to enhance gender diversity and inclusiveness at RIT.

Essay by Kristen Shinohara and Garreth Tigwell, assistant professors of computing and information sciences, published by The Conversation.

WHEC-TV talks to David Borkholder, professor in the Kate Gleason College of Engineering and co-founder and head of research and development at Casana.

Chiara Young, a fifth-year biomedical engineering graduate from Sherman, N.Y., received the 2021 Distinguished Lee Scholar award from the Patrick P. Lee Foundation. Young, who graduated in May, was presented with the award based on her integrity, leadership, and service to others. RIT has been a partner school of the Lee Foundation since fall 2019.

RIT students have had a banner year in securing awards from the prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Program. RIT has a record four Fulbright finalists plus three alternates for the 2021-2022 academic year.

Ashley Tucker, a graduating senior majoring in biomedical sciences and biology, will travel to Nigeria at the end of the summer on a Fulbright Research award. Tucker will work with a malaria research group at University of Ibadan College of Medicine. Her research will help improve the rapid diagnostic testing for the deadly tropical disease.

Tyler Pugeda, a master’s student with concentrations in cell biology and healthcare entrepreneurship in RIT’s School of Individualized Study, will travel to Germany in September to fulfill the requirements of his Fulbright Research award. Using post-mortem human brains afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease, Pugeda will investigate treatments to slow the progression of neurodegenerative diseases, like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Hira Abid crossed continents to come to RIT. The chemical engineering student from Pakistan will make another global connection when she begins graduate school in Turkey as one of RIT’s newest Fulbright awardees.

RIT students Emily Wilson and Teresa Symons are co-recipients of the Outstanding Graduate Woman Achievement Award for their dedication and leadership on RIT’s Graduate Student Advisory Council. Wilson and Symons are Ph.D. students in the astrophysical sciences and technology program in the School of Physics and Astronomy and co-chairs of the Graduate Student Advisory Council.