News by Topic: Interdisciplinary Studies

Three student teams showed what technology, the arts, and design means at RIT. They designed technology to help astronauts keep physically fit in space, incorporated virtual reality to enhance signing and captioning support for the Deaf, and built a modern sculpture of the human body made of computers.

What started with a go-cart at Imagine RIT: Creativity and Innovation Festival morphed into an all-electric race car when Hot Wheelz began 10 years ago. On April 24, current team members and alumni will celebrate a milestone anniversary and take the next lap in its history showcasing plans for a new competition solar car.

A total of 272 exhibits varying from robots, virtual reality games, molten glass demonstrations, scavenger hunts, and performing arts are planned for this year’s Imagine RIT: Creativity and Innovation Festival from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on April 23. 

The TAD Competition features 22 projects developed by current RIT students that have the potential to enrich many disciplines and expand the boundaries of technology, the arts, and design.

After going virtual for 2021, the Imagine RIT: Creativity and Innovation Festival is back in person and virtually, planned from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 23, on the RIT campus in Henrietta and online at the Imagine RIT website.

Walking into the extra-large classrooms in the Student Hall for Exploration and Development (the SHED) will be a new experience for students and faculty alike when the multi-use complex opens its doors in fall 2023. Faculty can preview the new learning environment during the 2022-2023 academic year by teaching in a large-capacity learning space designed to simulate the new active learning spaces in the SHED.

The course Honors Science and the Law: Biological, Ethical and Legal Perspectives emphasizes how science permeates the profession of law and concludes with a mock trial, giving students the opportunity to use scientific evidence like cell phone triangulation, medical assessments, and crash reconstruction in the context of a real case.

RIT is creating a School of Performing Arts to offer additional creative opportunities for thousands of students who wish to pursue their passions in performance while majoring in a range of other fields. The new school will be housed within RIT’s College of Liberal Arts beginning July 1, and a national search is underway for a director. 

Leigh Rubin, the syndicated “Rubes” cartoonist and RIT’s “cartoonist-in-residence” returns to the campus in person after a two-year virtual residency due to the pandemic. He’ll be speaking with students and offering a presentation and Q and A session, “Imagination through the eyes of RIT Cartoonist-in-Residence Leigh Rubin,” on April 19.

From robot waiters to river otters, RIT’s Graduate Showcase will cover a wide variety of topics representing graduate scholarship from the university’s Henrietta and global campuses. The symposium, held April 7, will feature oral presentations in the morning and poster presentations, demonstrations, and visual exhibitions in the afternoon.

RIT will highlight graduate student scholarship during the 14th annual Graduate Education Week and Showcase, April 4–8. The theme of this year’s symposium is “Redefining Possibilities–Graduate Students on the Move.”

RIT’s team will develop the technology needed for a point-of-care diagnostics system built on integrated photonics. Capable of accurate detection of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, the new system could reduce the need for expensive equipment and specialized expertise to better inform care decisions in underserved, resource-limited communities.