News by Topic: Interdisciplinary Studies

Students across the country, including four from RIT, came together last weekend to explore the question ‘what do we want our future to look like?’ during the Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities (a2ru) Emerging Creatives Student Summit.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has extended through nearly all facets of society and everyday life since March 2020. In the summer of 2022, Anthony Jimenez, assistant professor in RIT’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology and trained medical sociologist, began to explore the specific impacts faced by regional healthcare practitioners. 

Professor Ernest Fokoue from RIT’s School of Mathematical Sciences is teaming up with the Rochester Police Department (RPD) to use statistical machine learning to analyze body-worn camera footage and help improve police training.

From fireworks to woodburning to modeling fire behavior, Jenna Sjunneson McDanold’s love of fire has fueled her growth as an artist and a mathematician. As part of her studies as mathematical modeling Ph.D. student, Sjunneson McDanold has been working at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. 

Nearly 70 different RIT student teams and clubs are poised to move into the Student Hall for Exploration and Development (SHED) this summer in preparation for the building’s official opening in the fall semester.

An interdisciplinary pair of RIT students is headed to Bethesda, Md., to participate in the 2023 Lockheed Martin Ethics in Engineering Case Competition. Emma Nastro, a third-year museum studies student, and Lee Sortore, a fifth-year mechanical engineering student, will represent RIT at the competition, which is held Feb. 27 through March 1 at the Lockheed Martin Center for Leadership Excellence. This is the first time an RIT team has competed in this competition.

RIT recently became a partner in the SUPREME Center (Superior Energy-efficient Materials and Devices), a new $34 million research center based at Cornell University. The center will focus on development of energy-efficient semiconductor materials and technologies.

Birders everywhere owe a debt of gratitude to a U.S. senator and Connecticut governor who stood up for wildlife in the early 20th century and saved billions of birds from slaughter.

Hanif Rahbari, an assistant professor of computing security, was awarded a National Science Foundation CAREER Award to make connected vehicles more reliable and secure against quantum attacks.

While the pressure to publish starts early in an academic’s career, RIT doctoral student Israa Thiab has a strategy to get the work done without the anxiety. Thiab, a student in the Golisano Institute for Sustainability, is working on her first journal article, using techniques she learned at a writing retreat sponsored by RIT’s Graduate School.

Hot Wheelz Racing is going solar. Shifting gears from a Formula-style racecar to building a 16-foot solar vehicle, the team is preparing for its first Sun Grand Prix taking place this summer in Kansas.

Plastic pollutants, the coronavirus, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, the strength of nanowires, and why freshly cut grass smells the way it does—these are some of the topics students from Rochester Prep High School explored during a mentorship program with RIT faculty. They shared their projects and new perspectives during the RIT-Rochester Prep Capstone Showcase held Feb. 6 at RIT.