Newsmakers

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Rebekah Walker, digital humanities and social sciences librarian, presented “Comics in the Archives: Digital Approaches to the April 1956 Newsstand” at the New York Digital Humanities Symposium on Dec. 1.

Manlu Liu, associate professor of management information systems and accounting, won a best paper award at the SIGBPS conference in December for the research paper “Diffusion of Innovation in Accounting: How have the Big Four been Adopting Blockchain Technology,” co-authored by Shoufan Qiu, a computational finance graduate student.

Rajendra K. Raj, professor of computer science, was invited to serve on “The Whole Child Community Conversation” panel at the Fairport Central School District on Nov. 29. The panel discussed shaping the future of the district and how partnering closely with local universities can improve the quality of education.

Shawn Liu, a fifth-year BS/MS game design and development major, designed the game Hostile User Interface, which was released on the Steam platform Dec. 15. The game has also been accepted into the Experimental Gameplay Workshop at the 2019 Game Developers Conference in March.

Blanca Lapizco-Encinas, associate professor of biomedical engineering, was invited to present a distinguished lecture during the Graduate Luncheon at the 2018 National Convention of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) Nov. 7–11 in Cleveland.

David E. Narváez, a computing and information sciences Ph.D. student, is an author of the paper “Very Hard Electoral Control Problems,” which has been accepted for presentation at the 33rd AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI-19). The paper is coauthored by Zack Fitzsimmons ’17 Ph.D. (computing and information sciences), adviser Edith Hemaspaandra, and Alexander Hoover ’18 (computer science).

Taejoong “Tijay” Chung, assistant professor of computer science, received the 2019 Applied Networking Research Prize for the paper “Understanding the Role of Registrars in DNSSEC Deployment.” The award recognizes the best new ideas in networking.

Blanca Lapizco-Encinas, associate professor of biomedical engineering, assumed the position of editor-in-chief for the Americas of the journal Electrophoresis in January.

Josh Thorson, assistant professor in the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences, served as video designer for a new rendition of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!, which ran at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn, N.Y. through November 2018. The musical was named Time’s No. 1 play or musical for 2018, and one of the best stage performances of the year by The New York Times.

Caroline Snyder, emeritus professor and former chair of the Department of Science, Technology and Society, was honored with the 2018 Distinguished Service Award at the Sierra Club Award Ceremony in Denver, Colo., last fall. She shares the award with David Lewis, research director for the Focus for Health Foundation. They were both granted this award for their research on the long-term harm caused by biosolids as fertilizer for food and forage.

Daniel Wysocki, an astrophysical sciences and technology Ph.D. student, presented a poster on behalf of the LIGO and Virgo collaboration about properties of the observed black hole population at the Joint Science-Space Institute Gravitational Wave Physics and Astronomy Workshop at the University of Maryland on Dec. 1. Wysocki is one of more than 1,000 authors, including others from RIT, on the corresponding paper published online on Dec. 3.

Christine Keiner, associate professor in the Department of Science, Technology, and Society; the Department of History; and the environmental science program, was unanimously awarded The Mendelssohn Prize for the best article published in the Journal of the History of Biology in the preceding three years for her essay, “A Two-Ocean Bouillabaisse: Science, Politics, and the Central American Sea-Level Canal Controversy.”

Sydney VanWinkle, a fourth-year environmental science student, was awarded a scholarship from the Wildlife Habitat Council to attend its annual Conservation Conference in Baltimore Nov. 13-14. At the conference, VanWinkle participated in professional development related to enhancing corporate social responsibility and innovative use of corporate lands for social and environmental benefits.

Andreia Cadar, a third-year biotechnology and molecular bioscience student, is third author on a recent publication in Microbiology Resource Announcements. She did this research work during an internship at Princeton University.

Alla Bailey, principal lecturer, and Gerald Takacs, professor, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, presented the “Clean Energy Generation Using Fuel Cells” summer camp for high school students, which was funded by the Constellation E2 Energy to Educate grant program. RIT’s program was featured in a promotional video by Constellation and was displayed at the November 2018 Science Teachers Association of New York State (STANYS) Conference.

Sukanya Chakrabarti, assistant professor of physics in the College of Science, is the lead coordinator of the program “Dynamical Models for Stars and Gas in Galaxies in the Gaia Era,” held at the University of California Santa Barbara Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics from March 4 to May 10. Participating researchers will study galactic formation and evolution using data collected by Gaia, a European Space Agency space observatory. The program will bring together researchers who study spiral structure and bars, gas dynamics, satellites and their tidal streams, and dark matter halos in controlled and cosmological simulations.

Matt Huenerfauth, professor of information sciences and technologies, won the 2018 ACM SIGACCESS Best Paper award for “Modeling the Speed and Timing of American Sign Language to Generate Realistic Animations” at the ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility Oct. 22 in Ireland. Co-authors for the research paper include Ph.D. students Larwan Berke and Sushant Kafle, as well as human computer interaction master’s student Peter Yeung.

Matthew Seita, Khaled Albusays and Sushant Kafle, computing and information sciences Ph.D. students; Michael Stinson, NTID professor; and Matt Huenerfauth, GCCIS professor, presented “Behavioral Changes in Speakers who are Automatically Captioned in Meetings with Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing Peers” at the ACM SIGACCESS Conference.

Kristen Shinohara, assistant professor of information sciences and technologies, presented “Incorporating Social Factors in Accessible Design,” along with University of Washington professors Jacob Wobbrock and Wanda Pratt, at the ACM SIGACCESS Conference.

Robert Teese, professor of physics, received the Homer L. Dodge Citation for Distinguished Service to the American Association of Physics Teachers in Houston, Texas, Jan. 12–15. He created the LivePhoto Physics project for introductory courses and interactive videos for physics and biology courses. The award is named in honor of the association’s founder.

David Munson, RIT president, recently received the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. The award is presented to an Eagle Scout for distinguished service in his profession and to his community for a period of at least 25 years after attaining the level of Eagle Scout. Munson earned his Eagle Scout in the late 1960s after creating a large map for his public service project that featured The Circleville Pumpkin Show. The festival is held each fall in the small city located in central Ohio. The four-day event, which today draws nearly 400,000 visitors annually, is considered to be the biggest festival in the nation dedicated to pumpkins.

Chelsea Petree, director, Parent and Family Programs, was selected president-elect for the national organization AHEPPP-Family Engagement in Higher Education, supporting professionals who work with families of college students. She will serve in this role for two years and then take over as president in January 2021.

Stephen Kronenberger, a third-year chemical engineering and applied mathematics student, won third place in the Student Paper category for his paper, “Applications of Asymptotic Approximants to Fluid Equations of State,” at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers national conference Oct. 28-Nov. 2 in Pittsburgh. He qualifies for the national competition.

Evan Zachary ’18 won a national Student Sustainability Leadership award while an undergraduate in the environmental sustainability health and safety management program in the College of Engineering Technology for “Recovery and Reuse; On-Campus and Off!” The award was part of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s ongoing recognition of outstanding student leaders in colleges and universities.

Deborah Stendardi, vice president, Government and Community Relations, received a 2018 ICON Honors award from the Rochester Business Journal. The award recognizes business leaders over the age of 60 who have had notable success and demonstrate strong leadership both within their field and in service to the community.

Brandon Hayes and Matt Rolleston, microelectronic engineering students, and Austin Hayes, James Krisher and Alexander Ferreira, mechanical engineering students, won the Best Young Engineers Paper for “Pulsatory Mixing of Laminar Flow Using Bubble-Driven Micro-Pumps” as part of the ASME Fluid Engineering Division at the International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition in Pittsburgh, Nov. 9-15.

William LaRose, Brady Smith, Syed Zamin, Michael Salvatori, Dan Carpenter and Cole Depuy, civil engineering technology undergraduate students, took first place in the preconstruction category of the 29th Annual ASC Region 1 Student Competition 2018 in Albany, N.Y., Nov. 8-10. Four of RIT’s construction management teams competed in the event in which students prepare and are judged on real-world construction project designs.

Bryan Blakeslee, a computer engineering graduate student, won Best Paper at the 2018 IEEE Western NY Image and Signal Processing Workshop on Oct. 5 for “Faster Art-CNN: An Extremely Fast Style Transfer Network.”

David Edborg, patrol major for RIT Public Safety, set a world record at the 2018 World Association of Benchers and Deadlifters (WABDL) World’s Deadlift Competition Nov. 14 in Las Vegas. Representing RIT, he had an opening attempt of 205 kg/451.7 lbs. in the 58-62 age, 198-pound law/fire division (double-ply suit category). He finished second overall in his division and also achieved his 14th New York state record.

J A Stephen Viggiano, assistant professor of photographic sciences, presented “Calculation of Scalars in Neugebauer-Like Models. II: Final Scalar Function is Copula” at the IS&T Color and Imaging Conference Nov. 12-16 in Vancouver. The paper is also published in the September-October issue of the Journal of Imaging Science and Technology.

Michael Murdoch, assistant professor of color science, received a service award from the Society for Imaging Science and Technology for his leadership as the general chair for CIC25 in Lillehammer, Norway. The award was presented at the IS&T Color and Imaging Conference.

Lili Zhang, a color science Ph.D. student, and faculty adviser Michael Murdoch won the “Cactus Award,” an audience-choice best poster award, for their paper titled “Color Matching Criteria in Augmented Reality” at the IS&T Color and Imaging Conference. The full paper was published in the Journal of Perceptual Imaging.

James Hall, executive director of the School of Individualized Study and dean of University Studies, presented “Intellectual Roots of Individualized Higher Education” Nov. 7 at Fulbright University Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City.

Mark Fairchild, professor and director of the color science program and Munsell Color Science Laboratory, presented an invited talk on the color appearance of wine titled “One Wine Many Colors” at the IS&T Color and Imaging Conference Nov. 12-16 in Vancouver.

Fu Jiang, a color science Ph.D. student, was voted first runner-up for “Best Student Paper” for his paper on “Estimation of HDR WCG Display Color Gamut Volume” at the IS&T Color and Imaging Conference in Vancouver. His co-authors were Mark Fairchild, director of the program, and Kenichiro Masaoka from the research sponsor, NHK-Japan.

James Hall, executive director of the School of Individualized Study and dean of University Studies, presented “MicroMasters Programs, Two Years On,” in a panel on the success and learnings from creating MicroMasters offerings, Nov. 15 at the 2018 edX Global Forum in Boston. Hall was also one of the four conveners of the “Micromasters Community of Practice” meeting.

Thérèse Hannigan, director of RIT Online, presented “De-Mystifying Marketing: Best Practices and Examples of Partner Marketing” Nov. 15 at the 2018 edX Global Forum in Boston.

Sophia Maggelakis, dean, College of Science, accepted the Rochester Museum and Science Center’s STEM Higher Education Award on behalf of the Women in Science (WISe) group she founded at RIT. The award recognized WISe for its innovate approach to inspiring students to understand, appreciate and apply science, technology, engineering and mathematics at the university level. The awards ceremony was held Nov. 13.

Kaitlin Stack Whitney, visiting assistant professor in the science, technology and society department and the environmental sciences program, presented as part of an invited symposium on mentoring undergraduates in community participatory research at the Entomology Society of America/Entomology Society of British Columbia joint meeting in Vancouver on Nov. 13.

The College of Science Student Advisory Board hosted a speed networking brunch for faculty, alumni and students during RIT’s Brick City Homecoming on Oct. 20. The third annual event helps connect the College of Science community. Members of the board include Dominique Caldwell, second-year applied statistics and actuarial science major from Lockport, N.Y.; Emalee Wrightstone, second-year biotechnology and molecular bioscience major from Etters, Pa.; Emily Mahoney, second-year chemistry major from Cazenovia, N.Y.; Jeremy Kane, fourth-year biotechnology and molecular bioscience major from Thousand Oaks, Calif.; Lauren Trumpore, second-year biotechnology and molecular bioscience major from Warren, N.J.; Aleea Wrightstone, first-year biochemistry major from Etters, Pa.; Kayleigh Brookhouser, first-year applied statistics and actuarial science major from Phoenixville, Pa.; Maria Portie, first-year chemistry major from Tulle, France; Remi Schneider, first-year physics major from Valatie, N.Y.; and Chi Nguyen, astrophysical sciences and technology Ph.D. student from Binh Duong Province, Vietnam.

Robyn Dean, assistant professor in the American Sign Language and Interpreting Education department, and Robert Pollard, professor and associate dean of research at NTID, co-authored a chapter on the topic of ethics in signed language interpreting in a textbook designed to be used in interpreter education programs across the U.S.

Jonathan Weissman, senior lecturer in the Department of Computing Security, was a top 10 finalist for the edX Prize for Exceptional Contributions in Online Teaching and Learning, for his courses in the Cybersecurity MicroMasters program. The prize celebrates the contributions and innovations of MOOC teachers in the edX community.

Dangerous Signs, a performance group created at NTID, won the Best Local Theater category in City Newspaper’s Best of Rochester competition for its spring production of Little Shop of Horrors at the Multi-Use Cultural Community Center. Directed by Luane Davis Haggerty, principal lecturer in the cultural and creative studies department at NTID, the musical was performed simultaneously in American Sign Language and spoken/sung word.

RIT’s Field Hockey Club team won the New York State Club Field Hockey League in Buffalo on Nov. 3. It had been five years since the co-ed team won its first trophy, according to coach Kévin Le Blévec, lecturer in French.

Carlos Lousto, professor in the School of Mathematical Sciences, won the American Physical Society’s Edward A. Bouchet Award, which recognizes a distinguished minority physicist who has made significant contributions to physics research and the advancement of underrepresented minority scientists. Lousto’s research was instrumental in the breakthrough detection of gravitational waves produced by merging black holes.

Jonathan Schroeder, the William A. Kern Professor in Communications, presented his new book, August Strindberg and Visual Culture, at a book launch at the Stockholm School of Economics Center for Art, Business and Culture in Stockholm, Sweden, on Oct. 30.

Anne Marie Canale and Cheryl Herdklotz, faculty development research consultants in RIT’s Innovative Learning Institute, presented “Success After Tenure: Lessons in Engaging Mid-Career Faculty” as part of a webinar hosted by the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) at the Harvard Graduate School of Education on Oct. 26.

Frances Andreu, digital initiatives librarian, participated in a panel discussion called “Using Ethics to Bridge Evidence and Mission” at the 2018 Open Access Symposium at Stony Brook University on Oct. 26.

Josh Owen, professor and director, industrial design, has his SOS Stool designed for Casamania featured in Kanal-Centre Pompidou’s exhibition titled, “Red and White.” The exhibition, displayed at the Citroën garage in Brussels, commemorates major moments in design history from the 1960s to the present. The exhibition runs through the end of 2018.

Christye Sisson, associate professor, school director of the photographic sciences program and the Ronald and Mabel Francis Endowed Professor, delivered lectures on digital imaging and tele-ophthalmology at the Ophthalmic Photographers’ Society 49th Annual Program, held Oct. 26-29 in Chicago.

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