Forever a Team Star Runner’S Brain Injury Inspires Teammates from 30 Years Ago— and a New Coast- To-Coast Journey

The University Magazine Winter 2013-14

Forever a Team Star runner’s brain injury inspires teammates from 30 years ago— and a new coast- to-coast journey

Shedding light on Earth-like planets Search for perfect snowflake ends under microscope

RIT: The University Magazine Executive Editors Deborah M. Stendardi, Government and Community Relations Bob Finnerty ’07, University News Services Editor Mindy Mozer, University News Services Photo by Elizabeth Lamark/RIT Production Services Production Lamark/RIT Photo by Elizabeth Contributing Editors Student Adam Munich won the Engibous Prize at the Texas Instruments Analog Design Contest. Lisa Cauda, Development and Alumni Relations Kelly Redder, Alumni Relations FROM THE PRESIDENT Craig Smith, Development Cindy Sobieraj, Development and Alumni Relations Alumni Relations Staff Skunk works and a strategic plan Art Director Jeff Arbegast ’93, University Publications Designers: University Publications Student Adam Munich has truly been a These interesting predicaments and Alexander Gartley ’07 pain. In his first year at RIT, he got into opportunities will increase as our national Photographer trouble for cracking our IT security systems and global visibility continues to rise. Yet we A. Sue Weisler ’93, University News Services just to show us how easy they were to break have more to accomplish to accelerate our Writers: University News Services into. He also took on several self-directed momentum. What will it take to get there? Scott Bureau ’11 Michelle Cometa ’00 engineering projects in our various labs We need to continue on our path to extend Susan Gawlowicz ’95 and shops by mostly breaking our rules our geographic reach in our recruitment of Rich Kiley and borrowing material and equipment the most talented students, faculty and staff. Greg Livadas Vienna McGrain ’12 wherever he could find them. We must continue to grow our reputation Marcia Morphy One of his projects was an advanced Tes- as a place where innovation, creativity and Ellen Rosen la coil, which he wanted to demonstrate at entrepreneurship flourish. We must con- Copy Editor our Imagine RIT: Innovation and Creativity tinue our efforts to diversify our student, Marie Lang, University News Services Festival. But since it operated at a high volt- faculty and staff populations and tap NTID’s Multimedia Producer age, we told him he could not turn it on for presence on our campus. We must continue David Wivell, University News Services safety reasons. I guess we showed him! to get RIT’s name out there across the coun- Print Production Brenda Monahan, University Publications Well, actually, he showed us. His Tesla try and around the world. We must continue University News Services coil won the Engibous Prize at the Texas In- to be seen as a place where students and 132 Lomb Memorial Drive struments Analog Design Contest and Sum- parents get a real return on their invest- Rochester, NY 14623-5608 mit in Dallas this summer, taking home the ment. And we must continue to develop Voice: 585-475-5064 Fax: 585-475-5097 grand prize of $10,000. The awards panel at as a place where the best and brightest Email: [email protected] TI was astonished at both the sophistication come to find their futures. Office of Alumni Relations of his design and the innovation he showed So what is next? The university’s leader- Crossroads 41 Lomb Memorial Drive in actually producing a working model. ship will soon begin a new strategic plan- Rochester, NY 14623-5603 Voice: 585-475-ALUM, Toll Free: 866-RIT-ALUM And they were even more astonished to ning process. RIT’s current plan will end in TTY: 585-475-2764, Fax: 585-475-5308 learn that he just finished his freshman year. 2015 and it is vital to our continued success Email: [email protected] Adam has quite honestly attributed a fair that we smoothly transition to a solid plan Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, amount of his success to his quiet circum- for the next decade. I am excited to be part New York, publishes The University Magazine. vention of our various rules and regulations. of charting the course for RIT’s next decade RIT does not discriminate. RIT promotes and values diversity within its workforce and provides equal I think in the wake of this experience we and look forward to active participation opportunity to all qualified individuals regardless need to be willing to ask ourselves whether from the campus community, our alumni of race, color, creed, age, marital status, sex, gender, we are getting in the way of talented students and our many donors and friends. religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, veteran status, or dis- like Adam or recognizing their potential Cordially yours, ability. and finding ways to support them. As a result, I have asked Adam to work with us to Vol.15, No.3, 104M-P1512-11/2013-LANE-JSA help create a kind of student “skunk works” Printer: The Lane Press; Burlington, Vermont © 2013 Rochester Institute of Technology or “hacker space” that would support Bill Destler, President All rights reserved student-directed projects more effectively. www.rit.edu/president

2 | WINTER 2011-12 The University Magazine Winter 2013-14 18 A devastating brain injury slowed down photographer and runner Brian Nice ’84, but he stayed in Departments life’s race and finished a new cross- country journey with support from 2 Letters his teammates from 30 years ago. 4 On Campus 6 About Students 26 Tiger Talk 34 Year in Review 36 Alumni Activities 38 Class Notes

Other Features

8 New partnership RIT, Uncommon Schools developing charter high school.

10 World stage Engineering professor Mustafa Abushagur is helping to reshape Libya’s future.

16 Building cameras for space Researchers are advancing imaging 14 detectors for NASA space missions. The search for a perfect snowflake ends under 24 Brick City Homecoming the microscope. See photos of highlights from the weekend.

30 Clean start in new career RIT roommates reunite to form new business.

Cover Former cross country runner Brian Nice recreated the historic 1979 coast-to-coast relay, this time photographing the American landscape to show that people with traumatic brain injuries can still do what they love. Items on the cover belong to members of the 1979 relay team. (Photo by A. Sue Weisler, photo illustration by Jeff Arbegast) 28 Graduates pour their Find the free RIT: The University Magazine App in hearts into a new the App Store, Amazon Appstore and Google Play brewery in Kosovo. for the iPad, iPhone, Kindle Fire and Nexus 7. Letters

Thank you, graphic design from Roger Remington better office systems. I currently operate to design flip cards for office copiers, user one of the most successful Drama Kids R. Roger Remington interfaces for networked office equipment International franchises in the United States, Roger Remington spring- and worldwide networked multifunction here in Rochester, where our motto is boarded my design career products and services. I draw upon the “Drama Develops Kids.” Just like good 26 years ago, when he design education I received at RIT on a design, drama develops great self-expression challenged me in my daily basis and am constantly asking the skills in individuals and builds curiosity and senior design project and question that I heard often in RIT design imagination in the communities we serve. subsequently recommend- critiques, “How could this solution or Thank you again, Roger Remington and ed me to Xerox Corp. upon system be improved?” RIT, for providing me the design foundation R. Roger Remington graduation from RIT. I used design language to bring out upon which to ask questions and spark I was hired as a graphic the best in customers, product designers, imaginations to inspire the next generation designer in Xerox’s Industrial Design/Human anthropologists, ethnographers and mech of great people in Rochester! Interface department. I used the principles of anical and software engineers to create Pamela Spiteri ’87 (graphic design)

Professor inspired Every dollar counts, Possibilities endless photographer parent says for math majors It’s wonderful how one little sentence at As a parent of a current RIT student, I enjoy Wonderful to see the article about math the bottom of a page can trigger memories! reading about what’s happening on campus education. Page 22 of the (Fall 2013) RIT magazine through The University Magazine. I started One thing you failed to point out in asked, “Was there a faculty member who reading the Fall 2013 issue, and stopped the sidebar is the other paths math majors made a difference in your life?” at Page 2. What caught my eye was the pursue. As anyone who studies math realizes, Indeed, there were many great faculty Development Office’s ad. the skills of “math majors” permeate practi- members in the photography department I read the numbers on giving and I was cally (and depending upon whom you query) who both inspired and trained, but the one like, “Really? That’s all?” Honestly, I was every walk of life. person who made the greatest influence on amazed that only 6,781 alumni out of over I continued on into medicine, specifically my life was not involved in photography. 111,000 give annually—6 percent. Then I the sub-specialty of neonatal critical care. During the winter quarter of 1969, go on to read they encourage even small This field blends the liberal arts and math- I enrolled in the elective public speaking. donations, like $5, and it was déjà vu for me. ematical arts perfectly. And with electronic I’m afraid that after nearly 45 years, I do I did not go to RIT, but to a small liberal arts medical records overtaking the medical not remember details about the instructor. college, and this was something I also would society, a mathematically trained, logically (I believe his name was Mr. Gray or maybe tell my classmates when I was doing giving minded individual has a tremendous advan- Mr. Grey.) He kept the class energetic 30-ish years ago. tage. And that doesn’t even include the need and interesting at all times—much the Everyone thinks that they have to make to be facile with numbers, equations and same as a good speech. a huge gift to make a difference, and that’s the pure act of decision making ... call it a As a result of that class, and his inspiration, not true. Every dollar counts. If every one of different branch of game theory. I have been able to speak before groups, those 104,000 left gave just $5, that’s another So please let the math majors know that large and small, with ease and confidence. half a million in RIT’s coffers. More scholar- the possibilities are endless. Math is the basis Techniques learned for organizing my ship money. More campus enhancements. for life. thoughts in preparation for speaking are More visiting professors. More abroad Dr. Joseph A. Vitterito II ’86 (applied mathematics) equally useful in the field of writing, which opportunities. And more than that, the became a major part of my professional life. numbers that give to a university impact So, to this fine gentleman go my everlast- corporate giving to the university. We welcome letters on subjects covered in ing thanks. His teaching was the foundation Corporations and foundations that are the magazine and of broad interest to our for a great deal of enjoyment in my life. looking at investing in higher education readers. We edit for space, clarity and style. W.K. (Bill) Longcor ’69 (professional photography) really do want to know that the alumni Send email to [email protected] or write support their school. So whether you to The University Magazine, University News Editor’s note: Email us at [email protected] give $5; $5,000; or $5,000,000, just the Services, Rochester Institute of Technology, if you know this professor. (A man named fact that you gave is important. 132 Lomb Memorial Drive—Brown Hall, Ralph Gray taught at RIT from 1949-1976.) Ann Ruhman, parent to Geoffrey Webster ’15 Rochester, NY 14623.

2 | WINTER 2013-14 Terri Standish-Kuon ’88 (professional and technical communication) is a public affairs strategist, higher education advocate, nonprofit Expert Advice executive, entrepreneurship researcher and educator. She serves as vice president, communications and administration, for the Albany, with Terri Standish-Kuon ’88 N.Y.-based Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities. She has a Ph.D. in management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Six ways to be a better communicator Like a tune-up for your car, or an annual physical, it’s good to pause every so often for a check-up of your communication habits. Communication is all about exchanging information and building relationships. It’s so natural to us as humans, we often do not take time to think about how and why we communicate, and how we could do so in more effective ways. Whether you are an entrepreneur hunting for capital for a new venture, or a parent working on homework with a child, or a new employee sharing ideas with office colleagues, these six tips should help you communicate more effectively.

1 Remember to listen. 3 Decide how you want to communicate. Apple’s Word of the Day screensaver are As I set out to write these tips, I Communication takes many forms: painless ways to find new words.) reached out to fellow communication pro- non-verbal expressions and body language, In the age of 140 characters and SMS or gram alumni for their input. I asked what formal or informal writing, the spoken word, “txt” English, I still have Strunk and White’s they wanted to be reminded about, and what and even pictures, charts or other graphic Elements of Style and Zinsser’s On Writing communication ills they hoped to avoid. depictions (think “USA Today Snapshots” Well within arm’s reach of my office computer. You will see their advice sprinkled in below. and the burgeoning number of infographics). Filled with worthwhile reminders, these clas- I asked this community of the Department You may have heard Canadian scholar sics are just two resources. Alternatively, try of Communication’s early alumni because H. Marshall McLuhan’s admonition that the “Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for listening matters. Ask yourself about your “The medium is the message.” It is a help- Better Writing” podcasts for helpful hints. You audience. What is their frame of reference? ful reminder that how you choose to deliver may recall others. For example, Josh Weinberg Age, gender and culture—among a host of a message will affect how that message is ’89 (PTC) quickly replied to my post with this other factors—influence how someone will understood. tip: “Get rid of jargon. Spell out acronyms on understand and interpret what you are trying first use. Assume the audience knows nothing to communicate. Knowing whom you want 4 Tell a story. about the subject you are communicating to reach will help you decide what and how One of my favorite bits of advice came about—even if they are supposed to be in you need to say, write or do. from a colleague who was a magazine editor. that industry.” No child, he recounted, ever crawled up onto In one-on-one conversations and while 2 Know what you want to communicate. a lap and said, “Read me an article.” Instead, giving speeches, be aware of your body lan- Be clear in your own mind. Think about we all know that familiar refrain, “Tell me a guage and strive for meaningful eye contact. what you want to share or convey so your s t or y.” Made to Stick authors Chip and Dan Remember the power of your voice; use your thoughts are organized and coherent. If you Heath fill the 300+ pages of their 2008 best- full range to match the situation. do not understand seller with examples of the power of storytell- your point of ing (together with simplicity, unexpectedness, 6 Proofread. Prune. Ask for feedback. view, others concreteness, credibility and emotions) in Hear what you say. Read what you will not making ideas compelling and memorable. write. Review what you are about to post. either. If you can communicate more directly, with 5 Read widely. Write well. Speak directly. less clutter, do it. What’s more, “remember Read fiction and non-fiction, in print the noise, that between sender and receiver. and online. You will learn and Always take into account the noise,” cautions you will come in contact Kerry Levison Johnson ’91 (PTC). So-called with a wider vocabu- “noise” is all the things that “change, distort lary. Using the right and affect the intended message.” word is powerful, Above all, remember that we communicate so actively seek to to share our perspective, and to foster our grow the number connections with others. As Ray Vallese ’89 of words you know. (PTC) points out, “Have fun with it. If you are (Word geeks like too tense and too determined to rattle off your me will tell you, message no matter what, that’s how you’ll a dictionary app come off. Relax, take your time, and interact on your phone or like a person, not a machine.”

WINTER 2013-14 | 3 On Campus

NOTEBOOK New alumni president Ricardo Venegas ’92 (finance) was installed as the 52nd Alumni Association Board President in July. His focus for the board during his two- year term will be on getting students to view themselves as alumni before they graduate to ensure that they maintain a relationship with the university after completing their studies. For more about Venegas, go to http:// bit.ly/16Zcg4U or scan. Photo by Mark Benjamin Photo by Mark A ribbon-cutting ceremony for Sebastian and Lenore Rosica Hall was held during Brick City Homecoming & Family Weekend.

Rosica Hall celebrates innovation and research

There’s more than brick and glass to will benefit generations of deaf and ers and scholars. Sebastian and Lenore Rosica Hall, hard-of-hearing people.” • Research on Employment and Zagreb campus moves the newest structure on the RIT Some space has intentionally not Adapting to Change Center for Students at RIT’s campus. The $8 million, two-story, been filled yet to make room for fu- Studies on Career Success, which American College 23,000-square-foot building is ture research projects. But research studies employment and career of Management and devoted to innovation and research centers and labs already active in success for deaf and hard-of- Technology campus for students, faculty and staff of the the building include: hearing people. in Zagreb, Croatia, are National Technical Institute for the • DeafTEC, formed in 2011 with • The Deaf Studies Laboratory, enjoying a new home Deaf and RIT. a National Science Foundation which studies the cognitive, lan- this academic year. The design of the building was grant to create a National Center guage and psychosocial aspects of ACMT opened done with the intention to make of Excellence as a resource for the deaf experience and provides 13,000 square feet of it deaf-friendly, incorporating a schools around the country that structured mentoring experiences new space as part of a maximum use of natural light, open educate students in science, tech- for future deaf scientists. new commercial and line-of-sight paths, safety features nology, engineering and math. The second floor of the building residential development such as strobe lights, and minimiz- • The Research Center for Teach- houses the Imaginarium, where in Novi (New) Zagreb, ing vibrations from the building’s ing and Learning, where diverse faculty and students will gather to an expanding area in air conditioning and heating units. teams of faculty and students develop creative and innovative the capital city. The “Rosica Hall is basically a conduct research that will ideas. A meditation garden is on Zagreb campus first sandbox where center-based improve deaf education, expose the first floor with native plants opened in 2011 in space research can take place,” says NTID students to research practice and that provide a common area where rented from Croatian President Gerry Buckley. “It will prepare a future generation of people can sit and think in peace. Catholic University. be the hub for important work that RIT/NTID educational research- Greg Livadas

4 | WINTER 2013-14 Tigers to play hockey games outside NOTEBOOK Tops for quality The RIT men’s and women’s hockey The festival begins with a regular community events. RIT is recognized in teams will play outdoor games at season American Hockey League “We are absolutely thrilled to be several categories for Rochester’s Frontier Field as part of game at Frontier Field between part of this wonderful community educational quality a doubleheader on Dec. 14. the Rochester Americans event,” says RIT Executive Director and value in the 2014 The women will play and the Lake Erie of Athletics Lou Spiotti. “I speak edition of U.S. News Clarkson University Monsters. for all of our coaches and student- & World Report Best at 12:05 p.m., while As part of the athletes when I say that RIT is Colleges. the men will play event at Frontier proud to provide quality collegiate RIT ranked seventh Niagara University Field, which is hockey to our fans, alumni and in the “Best Regional at 7:05 p.m. Tickets home to Triple- the Rochester community.” Universities (North)” for the men’s game A baseball’s This season is the 46th and category. RIT also are $25, $15 and Rochester Red final season for the Tigers at received the second $10. The women’s Wings of the Ritter Arena. highest peer assessment tickets will be $10 International The teams will move into the score, which is a survey general admission. League, the down- 4,500-seat Gene Polisseni Center of presidents, provosts The RIT games will be town ballpark will also in time for the 2014-15 season. and deans from other part of a 10-day festival from Dec. host several Section V high school To learn more about the arena, universities judging 13 to Dec. 22, serving as a celebra- hockey games, an alumni game go to rit.edu/powerplay. To learn a school’s academic tion of hockey played outdoors in featuring former players from the more about Frozen Frontier, go to excellence. downtown Rochester. Amerks and Buffalo Sabres and www.frozenfrontier2013.com. Hall of fame The dean of Saunders College of Business, dt ogilvie, has been inducted into The PhD Project Hall of Fame. phi-lan-thro-py: The PhD Project, an award-winning Tigers who give to RIT. Every year. program to increase diversity in management, established the Hall of Fame in 2011. Did you know that only 6,781 RIT alumni—out of more than 111,000—are donors? That’s around 6%. A year! The nationwide average is 16% among Best value higher education private institutions. RIT ranks among the Tigers…your alma mater needs you. Your gift—even $5—is more than a country’s best values in private colleges, source of support for RIT. It’s a vote of confidence in the university and in according to Kiplinger’s your own degree. Show that you believe in RIT. Make a gift today! Personal Finance. rit.edu/makeagift Kiplinger’s annual list ranks 100 private Make it happen . . . together as one universities and 100 liberal arts colleges. RIT ranked 67th Rochester Institute of Technology / 585.475.5500 / 800.477.0376 / [email protected] on the list of private Find us on Facebook.com/RIT.Alumni Follow us on Twitter @RIT_Alumni universities. The full list is available online at www.kiplinger.com/ links/college.

WINTER 2013-14 | 5 About Students

Fashion Week features RIT jewelers Ten graduate and senior metalcrafts and The students also watched their jewelry go jewelry design students created pieces that down the runway at a show emceed by Tommy were featured at Fashion Week of Rochester Lee of the band Mötley Crüe. Two students, in October. Sarah Fairbank and Senam Akorli, also Organizers approached Len Urso, a profes- modeled some of the jewelry they created. sor in the School for American Crafts, about Fairbank is a fourth-year jewelry design getting students involved for the first time this student who makes pieces that stand out by year. Urso saw it as an opportunity to help incorporating elements such as fur and students who have an interest in designing feathers into her work. One of the pieces she fashion and apparel make connections. designed for Fashion Week is an artistic take “I consider several of these talented students on a pair of wings that developed out of a free to be emerging, cutting-edge professionals in form sketch she did last year. “I’m not afraid jewelry and fashion design,” he says. to make something louder or more intense Fashion Week is a five-day event featuring than what I originally had in mind,” she says. Rochester-based retailers, boutiques, salons, Fairbank is also a professional model in musicians and other artists in runway shows New York City, often spending weekends and and other fashion-related events. school breaks there to work. She has modeled RIT students displayed their work in an for designers such as Angela Friedman, Dareen Photo by A. Sue Weisler Sue Photo by A. Students Senam Akorli, left, and Sarah Fairbank upscale VIP showroom, where they were able Hakim and Muehleder. made jewelry for Fashion Week of Rochester. to design and plan the layout of the space. Akorli is a Ghana native and second-

BY THE NUMBERS 10,826 26,772 CAMPUS Cookies sold at Artesano Bakery & Café Cups of coffee poured last year at Beanz, which is in the Student Alumni Union last year. near the residence halls. SNACKING

6 | WINTER 2013-14 More than 1,800 participants raised about $13,200 at Mud Tug, the tug-of-war tournament on Sept. 28. Zeta Tau Alpha sorority and Phi Kappa Psi fraternity host the event each fall to raise money for Hillside Family of Agencies.

Photo by David Beyerlein Serenading the crowd year graduate student in the jewelry design program. Her work for Fashion Week showed traditional aspects of her culture while also employing copper, brass, feathers and precious stones. Akorli says she likes her pieces to make people think. “I give names to each of my pieces to give them a more symbolic meaning,” she says. Prior to RIT, Akorli was a finalist in the Miss Ghana competition in 2008. While in Ghana, she worked for a modeling company. Fashion Week was her first modeling debut in America. “The benefit to our students is clearly allowing them to perform in front of a live and sophisticated fashion audience,” Urso says. “Organization, communication, display, time effectiveness and all those fundamental skill sets required with these experiences put Weisler Sue Photo by A. students to a real test.” RIT was part of more than 20 performances and exhibits at the second annual First Niagara Rochester Krista Bellardo ’14 Fringe Festival. The Ukulele Club performs above during the 10-day festival.

4,656 5,868 1,758 Gallons of ice cream scooped at Breakfast sandwiches served last Pounds of Jelly Belly jelly beans sold Gracie’s dining hall last year. year at The College Grind on the last year at Bytes in the Student Alumni east side of campus. Union.

WINTER 2013-14 | 7 A B

Download The University Magazine app to see a video. D

A Jaisha Jackson, a fifth- C The new charter high school grader at Rochester Prep, will be for students who are learns multiplication tables. already enrolled in Uncom- RIT is partnering with the mon's four Rochester Prep charter management organiza- schools, such as fifth-grader tion Uncommon Schools to Davin Stevens. develop a charter high school. D Discipline is a focus of the B Sixth-grader Joshua curriculum at all Rochester Moorer raises his hand during Prep schools. This includes class. Rochester Prep schools wearing uniforms and walking currently have about 1,000 in lines between classes. students in grades kindergarten through 8.

Photos by A. Sue Weisler 8 | WINTER 2013-14 Giving Rochester students a head start RIT, Uncommon Schools develop charter high school Photos by A. Sue Weisler Sue Photos by A. Fifth-grader Taylor Lenear practices her SLANT. When College reminders are in every corner of Rochester Prep Ronald Zarrella, an RIT trustee, is funding RIT's contri- Rochester Prep teachers ask students to SLANT, they schools. A goal of the new partnership is for students to butions to the partnership. Zarrella for years has been Sit up, Listen, Ask and Answer, Nod and Track. not only attend college but to complete college. involved in programs that promote STEM education.

he days in which universities can sit facilities. RIT students could serve as tutors approached Uncommon officials about idly by and hope that the country’s and mentors and faculty would be encour- collaborating on the creation of a high urban school problems solve them- aged to advise charter school staff on the school, they knew it was a perfect match. selvesT are over, says RIT President Bill Destler. latest developments in their fields. “Rochester Prep has made a commitment That’s why RIT is partnering with Uncom- “It’s a bit of an unusual partnership,” to hundreds of families to get our students mon Schools, an award-winning charter Destler says. “RIT does not have a school to and through college,” Phillips says. “This school manager, to develop a charter high of education so this isn’t a lab school for partnership, which gives our students early school in Rochester next year. students to study to become teachers.” access to college, helps us make good on “The goal of this program is not just The partnership was made possible that promise.” to encourage more students to pursue a by a donation from longtime RIT trustee Destler says the university will continue college-ready high school education and Ronald L. Zarrella, who is funding RIT’s its commitment to affiliations already graduate from high school,” Destler says. contributions to the partnership. established with the Rochester City School “Our ultimate goal is to graduate these Zarrella, former chairman and CEO District, including its Rochester City Scholars kids from four-year colleges.” of Bausch & Lomb, has been involved in scholarships and Middle College readiness The school will open next fall with a programs that promote STEM education, skills programs. 60-student ninth-grade class, growing by including serving on the national board Although it’s rare for universities to 2018 to about 500 students in grades 9 of FIRST Robotics for 15 years and as a collaborate or establish charter schools, through 12.The location of the school has co-founder of Finger Lakes FIRST Robotics. there are other models. The Preuss School not yet been determined. Charter schools Zarrella says he had been talking with UCSD, on the University of California, are publicly funded so students do not pay Destler about starting a charter STEM high San Diego campus, is a charter middle tuition to attend, but the schools operate school with RIT for several years. After visit- and high school for low-income, highly independently from local school boards. ing other successful charter schools around motivated students who strive to be the The high school will be the fifth Rochester the country, he learned the importance of first in their families to graduate from school operated by Uncommon Schools, getting involved with an accomplished college, says Principal Scott Barton. which currently manages 38 schools in five charter school operator. The school opened in 1999 and at least cities. It will serve students already enrolled Uncommon Schools has been recognized 90 percent of each graduating class has been in Uncommon’s four Rochester Prep schools, as one of the top charter school manage- consistently accepted to four-year colleges which have about 1,000 students in grades ment organizations in the nation, recently and universities. The class of 2013 was the kindergarten through 8. receiving the Broad Prize for Public Charter first to have a 100 percent acceptance rate. While the high school curriculum will Schools. More than 78 percent of its students Rochester Prep parent Mia Marbury focus on the fundamentals for college suc- are low income and 98 percent are African- likes that the new high school will emphasize cess, the partnership will provide students American or Hispanic. Across Rochester not only college readiness but also college additional exposure to courses and careers Prep schools, 84 percent of students were completion. “They’ll get to interact with in the STEM fields of science, technology, eligible for free and reduced price lunch college students and experience college life,” engineering and mathematics. in 2012-2013, the latest figures available. she says. “It will give them the sense that The students will have access to the Josh Phillips, managing director of they can graduate from college.” university’s classrooms, laboratories and Uncommon Rochester, says that when RIT Mindy Mozer

WINTER 2013-14 | 9 Mustafa Abushagur shared his lifetime of advocating for Libya at the 2013 TED Global conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, June 10-14. TED is a nonprofit organization that hosts international leaders for talks about “Ideas Worth Spreading.” Presenters are asked to give “the talk of a lifetime in 18 minutes.”

Photo by James Duncan Davidson 10 | WINTER 2013-14 INFLUENCING A CHANGING WORLD Engineering professor takes his place on the world stage reshaping Libya’s future

ustafa Abushagur was just a young man when he left his country and his family in the late 1970s, dissat- Misfied with the direction Libya was taking. Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi was attempting to control citizens within the country by imprisonment and public hang- ings—and outside the country through a campaign to assassinate Libyan dissidents living abroad. More than 30 years would pass before Abushagur could return. In that time, the professor of electrical engineering in RIT’s Kate Gleason College of Engineering and former president of RIT Dubai saw personal, photo Provided academic and business successes. Officials in 2008 sign the agreement to establish RIT Dubai. From left, Mustafa Abushagur; the late Mike Morley, for- He would use lessons from those successes mer chairman of the RIT Board of Trustees; His Highness Sheikh Nahayan bin Mubarak al Nahayan, minister for higher to become part of his country’s history as its education and scientific research; His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman of Dubai Silicon Oasis first elected prime minister. Although he’d Authority; Bill Destler, RIT president; Mohammed Al Zarooni, vice chairman and CEO of Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority. be prime minister for only a short time, Abushagur made an impact and continues to help reshape Libya’s future. But even though he was living in the United And my family understood that,” he says. Wherever he’s been in his distinguished States, he continued participating in the op- He began teaching at the University of career, Abushagur has found a way to build position group. In 1981, his name was placed Rochester in 1984 and a year later joined what had not been there before—programs, on Libya’s most wanted list for his activities. the University of Alabama-Huntsville, where colleges, a sense of community—and now, Under torture, many individuals confessed he’d spend 17 years as a professor of electrical a new foundation for his homeland. to crimes against the government that they and computer engineering and professor of did not commit, and Abushagur’s name was optical science. Difficult decisions mentioned in some of these confessions. As an early innovator in micro-photonic Throughout high school and into college in “My best friend ever, we went to school devices and optical communications, he the early 1970s, Abushagur watched Libya together from fifth grade to college, was created one of the first optical engineering become more restricted. tortured and killed in prison,” he says. degree programs in the country and formed Libya was a monarchy until Gadhafi “And the problem was, those that were in two optical-networking companies, Photro- deposed King Idris in 1969. Gadhafi’s con- the government, they were my colleagues, nix and LiquidLight Inc. trolling grip tightened around the country my classmates in high school.” This work brought him to RIT in 2002, almost immediately, and a military presence The confessions brought problems for where he established the microsystems engi- soon became as prominent as the Greco-Ro- Abushagur and his family. Authorities ques- neering doctoral degree program. This, too, man ruins across the countryside. In a public tioned them and confiscated their passports. would be the first of its kind in the nation. speech shortly after taking power, Gadhafi Abushagur was torn between supporting the Abushagur set the foundation for the sophis- stated that Libya needed national unity free opposition and worrying about family mem- ticated research in optical signal processing, of party activities, and that those engaged in bers who remained in Libya. nanotechnology and micro-photonic devices these activities were committing treason. Abushagur had returned to Libya between that continues at RIT today. Opposition groups formed, several on terms at Caltech, once in 1977 to get married, Students from around the world have come university campuses, and Abushagur became and then again in 1980. During the latter for the program—several because of Abushagur. involved while he attended the University of visit, it would take more than a month for Abdelsalam Aboketaf is nearly the same Tripoli. He joined the National Front for the him to get an exit visa arranged. age now as Abushagur was when he left Salvation of Libya and participated in public It was the last time he saw the Libya of Libya. He, too, began studies in Libya and protests challenging the government’s poli- his youth. traveled abroad for graduate school. cies, and he opposed a dictator who favored “I was looking for admission for master’s a privileged few, he says. Journey to RIT studies in electrical engineering. I sent him Abushagur graduated from the university Politics were set aside temporarily. Abush- an email, asking about RIT and the pro- in 1974 with a degree in electrical engineer- agur and his wife, Fatma, began their family. grams,” says Aboketaf ’09, ’13 (electrical ing, and the following year he enrolled at Keeping them safe would be difficult, but engineering, microsystems). “I got an imme- California Institute of Technology to pursue “at the same time, it was fundamental; we diate response from him welcoming me. He a master’s degree and doctorate. needed to stand for the rights of our people. helped me get admission and picked me up

WINTER 2013-14 | 11 from the Rochester airport in 2007 when like the Founding Fathers.” I first came here. Since then he has become In May 2011, Abushagur returned to my close friend.” Libya during the revolution. The eastern part Aboketaf continued his studies, and like of the country was liberated first, and the his friend and mentor, intends to return to National Transitional Council was formed. Libya to be part of its rebuilding process. It also marked the return of many émigrés About that same time, RIT began a global like Abushagur. push to establish a satellite college in Dubai. “When I flew to Benghazi representing Negotiating that would take a leader with Tripoli, that was the first time I had been business acumen, academic experience and back to Libya in 30 years—and I went back an ability to connect two diverse cultures. to a liberated country,” he says. “It was an RIT Provost Jeremy Haefner says the overwhelming feeling. I was so happy to see international connections Abushagur it, but at the same time I was saddened be- developed as an engineer made RIT cause I had seen the 40 years of destruction.” Dubai a reality. Yet, what he also saw was a country that “He believed this was a real opportunity, wanted change and people who wanted to and he was aware of the role that we needed influence that change. New political parties to play in setting up a program of the highest were formed where once they were not caliber, and what Dubai leaders needed to get allowed and elections took place in 2012. out of this relationship as well,” Haefner says. The General National Congress opened RIT Dubai was established in 2008, sup- voting for the new prime minister on Sept. ported by its government and accredited 13. By midday, Abushagur was one of several by its Ministry of Higher Education. leaders tied for the position. In a run off, Abushagur was named president and he was elected by two votes. helped establish both undergraduate and “That was a really happy moment for graduate programs. me and my colleagues, too,” Aboketaf “He is very internationally savvy,” says recalled as he and his classmates watched Haefner. “The way he brought this relation- the election on Libyan television from one ship to RIT, he was working in a country of the engineering college’s labs. “Everybody that was not his home country, but he knew was excited watching him. Libya changed Weisler Sue Photo by A. enough of the culture to be able to navigate after this revolution specifically in the way Mustafa Abushagur visited RIT and the Kate Gleason some very tricky waters for us. And one does people think freely and are open-minded.” College of Engineering this fall. Abushagur, who remains not get those savvy skills without having a lot Abushagur’s victory was short-lived but part of the RIT family on extended leave, hopes to one of experience along the way.” significant. day establish stronger relationships between Libyan Abushagur was committed to RIT Dubai, “It was still a difficult time to form a universities and universities around the world. but he also kept in touch with colleagues as government, and in the end, the two largest a revolution was growing in Libya. Within parties decided to vote me out after four three years of setting the foundation for RIT weeks because I would not yield to their Dubai, he would be considering another life demands to form a government based As its chairman, he oversees research and change. on regional and party quotas,” he says. policy analysis about economic, social and “I knew the challenges, but at the same cultural developments in the country that From academia to politics time, when I spoke prior to the election, has an abundance of resources, including Gadhafi was overthrown in 2011. One of I outlined so many things to be done, the a youthful population and vast oil reserves Abushagur’s contemporaries, Abdulrahim people appreciated that. Many said, ‘Today that can be the cornerstone of a new Libya. El-Keib, was selected to lead the transitional you have lost the vote of congress, but you Abushagur lives in Libya but regularly government, and Abushagur was asked to have gained the vote of the people.’” visits the United States and Rochester for assume the role of deputy prime minister. Abushagur’s priorities as prime minister business and for family. “I could not say no,” Abushagur says. “I included strengthening the private sector, The youngest of his five children, Noor, is consulted with colleagues about leaving RIT continuing political reforms, elevating the a second-year international business student Dubai. They were very supportive. They educational system and keeping citizens safe. in RIT’s Saunders College of Business. thought this was far more important to do.” Ironically, after he was removed as prime He also remains a part of the RIT family Haefner agreed but also acknowledged minister and Ali Zeidan was installed in his on extended leave. He hopes to one day some concern for his colleague’s physical place, the magazine Foreign Policy remarked establish stronger relationships between safety and an unexpected mix of emotions. that Zeidan followed Abushagur’s example by Libyan universities and universities around “To have that clarity about what he is do- offering a similar make-up of representatives the world, such as RIT. ing in his life, he’s a good role model for all and many of the same initiatives, “daring Abushagur is setting an example of of us, particularly our students,” says Haef- congress to reject a second prime minister.” someone who left his country but never ner. “I think deep down, perhaps some of us It’s been two years since the Libyan Revo- abandoned it. harbor a bit of envy for him only in the sense lution unfolded. Much remains to be settled “He’s a citizen of the world,” Haefner says. that here is a patriot, here is someone who in the country. “And we certainly haven’t heard the end of has such an extreme passion for his home- Abushagur and several colleagues him as a player and a builder.” land, the mission he was on. Here’s someone established the Libyan Policy Institute. Michelle Cometa ’00

12 | WINTER 2013-14 THIS HOLIDAY GIFT COMES COMPLETE WITH CAROLERS.

GIVE THE GIFT OF HOCKEY, and the best seat in the house is yours. When you give a gift of $1,000 to the Tiger Power Play Campaign, we’ll mount a permanent, personalized plaque on the seat of your choice in the new Gene Polisseni Center. What a great way to permanently recognize all the Tiger fans on your holiday shopping list—plus, your gift will be tax-deductible.

Visit rit.edu/powerplay to learn more about our seat-naming campaign and how you can give Tiger Hockey an assist. Are two snowflakes alike? According to Kenneth Libbrecht, a professor of physics at California Institute of Technology whose most recent research has focused on the structure of snowflakes, it is extremely unlikely that two complex snowflakes will look exactly alike. “It’s so extremely unlikely, in fact, that even if you looked at every snowflake ever made you would not find any exact duplicates,” Libbrecht writes. “The number of possible ways of making a complex snowflake is staggeringly large.” Therefore, Libbrecht concludes, it’s unlikely that any two complex snow crystals, out of all those made over the entire history of the planet, have ever looked completely alike.

Snowflake photos by Michael Peres 14 | WINTER 2013-14 Search for perfect snowflake ends under microscope

RIT Professor Michael the process can be maddening. “But it’s so Peres still vividly much fun at the same time.” recalls driving home a While taking pictures of snowflakes is decade ago one cold, anything but an exact science—there are snowy night after a tons of variables such as temperature, wind conversation with one conditions and condensation of the flake— of his excited students. he has developed some relatively basic Emily Marshall, approaches using common equipment a student in his bio- and practical approaches. medical photographic Photographing snowflakes can usually Michael Peres communications be accomplished best at temperatures well program, had rushed back to campus after below freezing. “I’ve had my best experiences attending an exhibit at the Buffalo Museum between 16 and 20 degrees,” he says. “That of Science featuring the work of Wilson means you’re going to be bone-chilling cold.” “Snowflake” Bentley. The Vermont farmer, Peres says black velvet is ideal for enabling after years of trial and error, became the first easy identification of the best flakes and it person to photograph a single snow crystal also provides easy lifting of snow crystals. in 1885. Demonstrating the meticulous nature of “Emily wondered if we could somehow the work, he often uses a sewing needle carry on Bentley’s work and approached me taped to the end of a pencil to elevate flakes about us taking similar pictures here at RIT,” for closer inspection. recalls Peres, associate chair of the School of Using the needle, he carefully lifts the Photographic Arts and Sciences and former ice crystal and transfers it to a glass slide. chair of the biomedical photographic com- Snowflakes come in many sizes. Peres says munications program. “I said we didn’t have using a simple microscope can achieve just the right equipment. Here I was telling one the right magnification. of my excited students what could not be And while there are no easy ways to done and I felt terrible.” connect a compact digital camera to a But after thinking more about it, Peres microscope, the RIT professor says it’s decided to give it a try. possible to make microphotographs using In the 10 years since that drive home, Peres, a cell phone or digital camera. fellow RIT professor Ted Kinsman and an eager “Whatever you use, be sure to trigger the band of photography students such as Mar- camera using a self-timer,” Peres says with a shall ’04 have been seen scurrying around big smile. “When you’re cold, you’ll abso- campus—or outside the garage of Peres’ lutely introduce shake into the image.” Brighton, N.Y., home, where he has created a Peres often uses a fiber-optic light to “microclimate” ideal for snowflake catching. supplement the microscope’s built-in They carry pieces of black velvet draped illumination, creating images with over trays, desperately looking to delicately fascinating internal reflections. snatch the perfect snowflake to photograph “Last year I took a photo of one I like under a microscope within scant seconds. to call ‘the epic flake,’” he says. “Perfectly The images of these dazzling snowflakes symmetrical in every way. My best ever.” have not gone unnoticed. Last winter, the Patience is also a key ingredient. director of photography at The Weather The ideal flakes were slow coming in the Channel came across Peres’ photos on early years, Peres says, but now he averages Facebook and worked with the RIT professor 15 great shots a winter. to post them for enjoyment worldwide. For her part, Marshall is thrilled that “I was really intrigued by the process he the tradition she helped start a decade ago uses to make them and I thought our website continues with zeal today. visitors would be, too,” says Robert Johnson “I love winter and snow and have always ’94 (photo illustration). “I am always search- had an affinity for snowflakes,” says Marshall, ing the Web looking for photographic ways who turned her love for the season into a for our visitors—and what we call ‘weather business by starting a boutique winter-hat enthusiasts’—to engage in our content. company in Aspen, Colo. “Seeing the first These scientific and beautifully intricate snowflake photomicrographs at the Bentley photos were both stunning and unique.” exhibit—and then later under my own micro- Peres says enthusiasm is imperative for scope—is an experience I will never forget.” finding “scope worthy” snowflakes because Rich Kiley

WINTER 2013-14 | 15 Download The University Magazine app to see a video of Figer's research.

Don Figer established the Center for Detectors as an academic research center within the College of Science in 2010. The center has received more than $11 million in funding. Shedding light on Earth-like planets RIT advances imaging detector technologies

The road trip to Boston took months to plan. scale that begins with radial waves and ends Space Science Fellowship in support of her By September, the scientists and engineers with gamma waves. Imaging detectors collect doctoral research comparing and contrasting at RIT’s Center for Detectors were ready. They the notes, or packets of light, and record the three different single-photon technologies. loaded equipment worth nearly a million dol- radiation in signals that scientists read like They promise a level of sensitivity that will lars into the back of a rented truck and left for sheet music to gain new understanding of pave the way for the next generation of satel- Massachusetts General Hospital to “borrow” astronomical objects. The pressure is on for lites and imaging detectors to peer deeper into the particle accelerator at the Francis H. Burr imaging technologies that can withstand the space than today’s instruments. Proton Therapy Center. radiation in space and collect more photons Imaging detectors are cameras that read During the week, the proton beam chan- with less interference. Future space missions signals in the electromagnetic spectrum. They nels energy from atoms to destroy cancer cells depend on detectors to sharpen the focus and provide a way to follow photons through the in patients; on the weekends, the accelerator widen the view and to record the symphony of universe, to look down at Earth or deep into doubles as a radiation source for simulating the early universe without static. our bodies. The light-sensitive material at the the effects of the harsh atmosphere in space “Light is mysterious,” says Kim Kolb ’08, heart of the device determines which wave- on astronomical instruments. RIT engineer ’11 (microelectronic engineering, imaging lengths can be read. Brandon Hanold had booked the facility for science), a Ph.D. student in RIT’s Chester The silicon detectors the RIT team tested the weekend of Sept. 7 and 8 to irradiate and F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science. “In at Massachusetts General capture light in the test three detectors RIT and Massachusetts In- astronomy, photons come from a star. The optical wavelength. stitute of Technology are developing for NASA star tells us about our universe—how far the “Silicon has a sensitivity range very similar exoplanet missions, or the hunt for Earth-like light traveled to get here, how far back in to the human eye, mostly in the visible spec- planets beyond the Milky Way Galaxy. space we’re looking, how stars form and die, trum,” Kolb explains. “Infrared detectors can It’s all about the photon. These elementary how planets form. It’s not that we need that ‘see’ photons at lower energies than the human particles are units of light that emit radia- information tomorrow, but it tells us about eye is capable of seeing because a longer wave- tion across the electromagnetic spectrum. how our universe works.” length equals lower energy. Going the other Photons are like musical notes on a universal This fall, Kolb won a NASA Earth and way on the spectrum, ultraviolet and X-ray

16 | WINTER 2013-14 digital—not analog—design that records each APDSs, circumvents read noise through a Geiger-mode avalanche photodiodes, or GM- sensor.the The detector technology,known as ference that muddies as photons signal the hit is itsbeam solution to “read noise,” inter the path inthe placed of hospital’s the proton Massachusetts General. to accelerator, aparticle such as one the at built for spaceapplications requires access clock.the The next step in testing detectors detector can two take to three weeks around for possible spaceapplications. and technology the requires radiation testing NASA’s Exoplanet Mission program leverages Thirty Meterbased grantTelescope. A from detector for technology future the ground- Laboratory to advance optical and infrared Center for Detectors and MIT’s Lincoln collaborationtion the funded RIT’s between wafer substrates. format infrared detectors grown on silicon to assess and advance “family” anew of large- collaborating with Raytheon Vision Systems James Webb Space Telescope and is currently capture state the of intricate the hardware. softwarethat Figer spent 10 yearsperfecting tors. Customized equipment and automated worldin the intesting that detec- specializes Center for Detectors. His lab is one of few the Laboratory, says Don Figer, director of RIT’s steps to make by scientists at MIT’s Lincoln Massachusetts took afew hundred General forhigh our eyesto see.” detectors ‘see’ photons that have energies too the Center for Detectors, prepare to test grown oneofthedetectors onsilicon wafer substrates. Kolb,Kim aPh.Dstudent intheChester F. CarlsonCenter for ImagingScience, andBrandon Hanold, anengineerin The hallmark the of technology Hanold Characterizing parameters the of asingle GordonThe Betty and Moore Founda- The center conducted testing for the ofEach three the detectors tested at

- 10 times the expected dose for dose a typical expected the 10 times years inspace. in steps simulating up to approximately 100 TherapyCenter, irradiatedsensorsthey the for maximum exposure. adewar,called outfittedwith window aside container onecase inavacuum-sealed failed) ible with hospital’s the accelerator. particle aradiation-testingdesigned program compat- parison. RITengineers Hanold and Joong Lee data baseline forcollected post-radiation com- characterized and calibrated detectors the and bonds, tiny little dots, one pixel.” per connected through indiumelectrically bump reads it out is silicon. And two the layers are detector is silicon“The theand circuit that sensitive material; silicon. case, inthis “It’s circuit the that reads pixels.” also those delivered to detector the material,” Figer says. controls voltages the and that signals are contains readout the electronics. comprised of One two component parts. world.”the arethesays. “They only onesthem like in and larger single photon detectors,” Figer thatnology could revolutionize astronomy. photodiodes are asingle photon detector tech- source of noise is ahuge deal,” Kolb says. or a“1”(photon). “Eliminating an entire photon-detection with cycle a“0”(no photon) “The detectors “The were incrementallygiven Working with scientists at Burr Proton the threethe The detectors secured team (in Before leaving for Boston, Kolb tested, is silicon “This on silicon,” Figersays. The part theother detectorof the light-is “It’s almost like acomputer chip that The detectorwiththe ungainly name is the firstis better making “This step in Imaging arrays of Geiger-mode avalanche

power ofthelargest telescopes. ground- andspace-based This could detector oneday quadruplethecollecting doing what it to takes advance technology.” radiation“This testing is another example of expand futurewill discoveries,” Figer says. ing edge the of what is possible inways that of planet the or safety the of anation. sensing applications that monitor health the ofmethods biomedical imaging to remote explorationfrom benefits, holds new societal more photon, one more of light.” bead might difference the certain be is. Being of one body. Aphoton can tell you where cancer the we can detectors use to into look human the says. “In biomedical imaging, for instance, a grant insupport of that goal,” specific Kolb radiationthe testing Ididon of is them part missions, detectors specific though these and sensors we develop doesn’t end at exoplanet internal feedback, photon inthe detectors. confirmed an increase in “afterpulsing,”or charge created Kolb within devices. the also dark higher tocurrent, see—a orexpected radiation damage.” in how architecture device this holds up to indestructible,” Kolb says. “We’re interested reached asettling point. testing two weeks later as radiation the during first the 24 hours. She continued radiation and doses monitored decay the damaged. while function repaired. They be must robust enough to Hanold says. mission lifetime of an instrument inspace,” “Center for Detectors researchers are push- Detector advanced technology for scientific scope the of “The applications for the Testing hasthe confirmed “noise” she “The goal is somethingto goal make that’s“The Kolb tested detectors the inbetween Instruments inspacecannot easily be WINTER 2013-14 |17 Susan GawlowiczSusan ’95

Photos by A. Sue Weisler

FOREVER A TEAM A devastating brain injury slowed down photographer and runner Brian Nice, but he stayed in life’s race and finished a new cross-country journey with support from his RIT teammates from 30 years ago.

still do what they love. “Anyone who is a good friend of his— we all glean a lot of inner strength from him,” says Don Campbell ’81 (mechanical engineering). “He hasn’t given up. If anything, he is making the most out of this and he is trying to do as much as he can, living life to the fullest.” B. Nice When a new runner joined Coach Todd’s cross country team, he was given a nickname, usually by an upperclassman. Campbell was called “D. Campbell” when teammates discovered that label on his running clothes. He had transferred to RIT from Alfred State College in 1978. A year later, freshman Nice showed up on campus for pre-season and needed a place to sleep before the dorms opened. He moved

RIT Archive Collections RIT Archive into a Rustic Village apartment with Camp- Brian Nice, at left, was part of the team that ran across the country in 1979 to celebrate RIT’s 150th anniversary. bell and Bob Perkins ’81 (retail). Stenciled The team stopped at the U.S. Capitol and met with RIT and congressional leaders. Teammates, counterclockwise on his footlocker was “B. Nice.” from bottom left, are Tony DeSimone, Tim Ferris, Coach Peter Todd, Rick Letarte, Nice, Mark Blesch, “That of course became his nickname,” Don Campbell, Bob Donnelly, Al Willett, Bob Perkins, Mike Massare and Tony Machulskis (hidden). Campbell says, adding that both were later shortened. “To this day I call him B and he calls me D.” Brian Nice was at the height of his career. For robbed him of many of his basic motor skills. Even though Campbell was a few years 25 years, the 1984 photography graduate had Over the last four years, he’s had to relearn older, the future engineer and the photo been shooting fashion for magazines such as the simplest things—how to breathe, how to grapher with somewhat opposite personalities Elle, Madame Figaro and Cosmopolitan and swallow, how to talk. became fast friends. Perkins, known as ad campaigns for L’Oreal, Oil of Olay and What has helped Nice through his strug- “Perk” to his teammates, says it helped Givenchy. gle, he says, are the friends he made—and the that they were both handsome and attracted His book of portraits depicting celebrities lessons he learned—while an RIT under the attention of pretty girls on campus. with their dogs was set to come out in a few graduate. Topping that list of friends are his Their bond grew stronger that Novem- months. He was living in a dream home he cross country and track teammates, some of ber when Campbell and Nice were part of a helped build that was steps from the ocean whom he ran with in the historic 1979 coast- 12-man team tapped by Coach Todd to run on the south shore of Long Island, and in his to-coast relay, and their coach, Peter Todd. across the country. Perkins also participated free time he was an avid surfer, wind surfer “When you get sick like this, you need in the run, which was organized to celebrate and runner. friends to help you through it,” Nice says. RIT’s 150th anniversary. But his fast-paced world ground to a “I’ve got a good team.” Only seven student cross country runners halt on Aug. 18, 2009. The teammates say Nice—just like in were invited to be part of the group, and Nice was working in Manhattan on a college—is the giver in the relationship, the Nice was the only freshman. Coach Todd, photo shoot when he suddenly became same fun-loving guy who comes up with called “The General” by his runners, and four violently ill. He was rushed to the hospital, unexpected ways to express his creativity. alumni made up the rest. where doctors discovered that a birth defect, One of those ways involved a trip this fall The men took turns running two-mile a malformation on his brain stem, was caus- inspired by RIT’s 1979 relay to show that legs, one at a time, 24 hours a day, seven days ing devastating internal bleeding that quickly people with traumatic brain injuries can a week. When they weren’t running, they

18 | WINTER 2013-14

Brian Nice ’84 enjoys spending time at the Therapeutic Equestrian Center in Cold Spring, N.Y. The center was built and is run by Nice’s sister, Leslie Nice Heanue ’84, ’85 (graphic design, business administration). The center offers physical, occupational and speech therapy to people with disabilities. Nice is pictured with his mother, Sandra.

Photo by A. Sue Weisler WINTER 2013-14 | 19 slept or drove Todd’s Chrysler New Yorker and the Winnebago that followed along. Campbell says the run was challenging and the jokester Nice did his best to keep the group laughing. He remembers at one point in Kansas, Nice went into a ditch and threw tumbleweeds at the runner passing by in an attempt to make the barren farmland more visual for a photographer documenting the run that day. “It was little things like that in our aches and pains and sleep deprivation that gave us levity and kept us going,” Campbell says. The coast-to-coast runners finished in 14 days, 4 hours and 8 minutes, fast enough to be listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. Even without the coast-to-coast run, RIT’s cross country team was a close group, a fraternity of sorts. During the season, they would run as much as 140 miles a week together, says Perkins, who has worked in the footwear business for 30 years and lives in New Jersey. If they attended all of the weekly practices, Coach Todd would buy them breakfast on Sundays. Running for most of them was a nine- month sport—after cross country they moved to indoor track and then outdoor track. They would travel to Florida during spring break to train. Jim “Squirrel” Pasquali ’86 (computational mathematics), who joined the cross country team as a freshman when Nice was a junior, said that bond was strengthened because of their coach. During pre-season, the runners sometimes lived in Todd’s house so they could focus on their training, sleeping on mattresses on the floor. “We would run, eat, run, eat and sleep,” says Pasquali, a software engineer for Xerox Litigation Services in Albany. Nice was the spirit of the team, emotion- ally and in the record books. Nice is part of the group that holds the indoor sprint med- ley record from 1983. His time of 3:51 in the outdoor 1,500 meters was a school record for 25 years until it was broken in 2008. World-class photographer After graduation, the teammates went their separate ways. Nice moved to New York City, where he was told that if he wanted to be more sophisticated as a photographer, he would have to experience the world. So he headed to Australia as a freelance photographer. There he got his first break shooting for Brian Nice came to RIT Cosmopolitan Australia, which led to jobs for from Garrison, N.Y., to international editions of Elle. After Australia, study photography he moved to Paris, where he made photos and could often be for Madame Figaro each week and continued spotted with a camera. shooting for Elle. RIT Archive Collections After he returned to New York in 1998, his

20 | WINTER 2013-14 portfolio included work for J. Jill, Pendleton Woolen Mills and Norm Thompson catalogues. He also made time for his own side projects. In 2008, he worked on a landscape photography project with his father, Don, who is an accomplished painter. They traveled to Greenland where they documented icebergs—Nice in photos and the senior Nice in paintings. A year later, Nice made a book of portraits of 150 celebrities with their dogs called Rescue Tails. His own dog, a pug named Buster who was saved from blindness by a

doctor recommended by the Humane Society Nice Photos by Brian of New York, inspired him. Proceeds from Brian Nice shot these photos for Pendleton Woolen Mills with freelance art director Jeanne Arnold ’83. the book benefit the Humane Society. “He was an amazing fashion photographer and got the best out of everyone,” Arnold says. Throughout it all, Nice and Campbell kept in touch. Nice visited Campbell when he lived in Boston and New Jersey and later made a point to fly through San Francisco, where Campbell had moved, on return trips from Australia. Campbell, a self-employed engineering consultant who has worked primarily in the U.S. nuclear industry since graduation, visited Nice in New York. One of those visits was about 15 years ago. Campbell remembers walking up Broadway when Nice told him about the deformity in his brain stem. “He said, ‘I have a birth defect and there’s not much we can do about it.’ What the doctors told him was that over time this could fail,” Campbell says. “I remember standing on a street corner in New York City when he told me and I was speechless.” Team support Nice hadn’t been back in Rochester since he graduated when he attended a cross

country alumni dinner in 2008. Once a photo Provided year, Coach Todd organizes a get-together From left to right, teammates Jim “Squirrel” Pasquali, John “B.J.” Brennan, Tim “Tank” O’Grady, Chris “Crisco” Roe around Thanksgiving. He sends notes and Coach Peter “The General” Todd visited Nice at his home in Garrison, N.Y., in June 2012. with pre-addressed stamped envelopes to the runners he coached between 1965 and 1996. Todd says usually about 30 attend. As expected, the outgoing Nice became brain stem. Nice was born with his condition, car,” he says. “You can’t live your life thinking the center of attention, entertaining the group which is called a cavernous malformation in something is going to happen.” with his travel stories, but not in a bragging the pons area, but he didn’t know anything Then that August day in 2009, he was way, says Mark “Hoser” Kulzer ’85 (mechani- about it until the late 1990s. shooting the spring line for J. Jill’s fashion cal engineering technology), who first met Thinking back, even in college he remem- magazine. His vision became blurry and he Nice when Kulzer transferred to RIT in bers having periods where he had problems began vomiting. He finished the job and was 1982. “I hadn’t seen him in more than 20 breathing. “I would go to run and it felt like rushed to New York Presbyterian Hospital’s years,” he says. “It took 10 minutes and it someone was holding me back,” he says. intensive care unit. Doctors told him if he was like old times.” “It was like running with a parachute on.” hadn’t been so close to a hospital, he would John “B.J.” Brennan ’85 (computer science) But he attributed that to too much party- have died. says Nice was one of the few at the dinner ing in college and too much work or surfing It took three weeks to stabilize him before who still looked like he did in college. after college. When he got an MRI and he had the operation to stop the brain stem Nice made sure to take it all in, running learned the cause—the malformation was on from bleeding. Unlike an aneurysm, which eight miles around the campus before driving the brain stem, which controls basic human bursts, his bleed slowly oozed. home the next day. functions like breathing—he didn’t change The brain surgery was successful, but He did his best to continue his active his lifestyle. smaller surgeries and a long rehabilitation lifestyle despite the malformation on his “You can walk outside and get hit by a followed. Nice had to relearn everything. He

WINTER 2013-14 | 21 Photos by A. Sue Weisler Sue Photos by A. In the afternoons, Brian Nice likes to paint with his father, Don, an accomplished artist. He paints hearts, stars and circles in yellow, red and blue. “Some days my stars look like circles,” Nice says, adding that it has been interesting to see his progression.

communicated with his left index finger, “Three times I’ve had to relearn every- the only part of his body he could move. thing,” Nice says. “I’ve been through a lot.” His father would recite the alphabet and Nice would move his finger when he got Another coast-to-coast to the letter in the word he was spelling. Nice’s mother, Sandra, grabs her son’s prism “Here’s this guy who ran a 4:07 mile glasses and slides them into place on his face. equivalent,” Pasquali says. “Here’s one “I look like a trendy French architect,” he of the best runners that I knew, and he says, working hard to enunciate so he can could hardly move.” be understood. Pasquali and the other teammates visited Nice’s vision hasn’t been the same since as often as they could. Both Campbell and the first operation. When he shuts his left Perkins saw him in the hospital before the eye, his vision goes up and down, and when operation. After the visits, they sent email he shuts his right eye, he sees side to side. updates to as many as 60 runners. Coach “If I open both eyes, it’s a party,” he says Todd started sending a card a week. At the with a little chuckle. The glasses help alumni dinner that November, the group subside the dizziness. made a video for Nice, with each person One of his first concerns after the surger- expressing his encouragement and sharing ies was whether he would be able to shoot memories of their RIT days. photos again with his double vision and Nice exceeded all expectations during shaky hands. Cognitively, Nice is the same rehabilitation and progressed to the point guy he has always been and he likes to where he could walk on his own with a be working on a project. walker. “He put in the same effort he used A friend gave him a point- to put into his career and running and it and-shoot camera called a Weisler Sue Photo by A. showed,” says Kulzer, who lives in Troy, Holga. He attached it to a small Nice works hard every day to get N.Y., and works as an engineer for the New tripod so he could hold it while back what he lost. Before his cross- York State Department of Transportation. someone else pushes the shutter country trip, he practiced standing But a year later, doctors discovered release. using a lift, with help from his mother another malformation two times as big and The photos, taken from the Sandra, and worked out on his own on in a more complicated spot on his brain stem. front porch of his childhood home a recumbent cross trainer. His efforts His rehabilitation after the second surgery or during his trips to the nearby were recognized with an award from was slower, and progress was delayed because Helen Hayes Hospital Rehabilitation Helen Hayes Hospital for his hard of a series of seizures in April 2012. Center, represent how he sees the work during rehabilitation there.

22 | WINTER 2013-14 Photo by Brian Nice Photo by Brian Brian Nice now uses his photography to show people how he sees the world. This photo was shot in South Carolina on his coast-to-coast trip in October.

world. How does he make them blurry? “It is very technical,” he says. “I can’t stop shaking.” Last fall, 60 of his photos were in a show called “A Point of View” at the Garrison Art Center. This fall, Nice recreated the 1979 coast- to-coast run in reverse, traveling 7,000 miles round trip from his home in Garrison, N.Y., to Santa Monica, Calif. Instead of running, Nice photographed the American landscape to show that people with traumatic brain injuries can still do what they love. He hopes to create a coffee table book, a gallery exhibition of his landscape photos and a documentary about the trip. Jeanne Arnold ’83 (communication arts), a freelance art director who Nice first met in college and then later worked with on catalogue shoots, was in charge of the fundraising. They raised almost $50,000 through

an online fundraising site. photo Provided His mother was his primary caretaker Teammates Don Campbell, right, and Brian Nice met in Palm Springs, Calif., in mid-October during Nice's trip across and personal assistant on the trip, just like the country. The trip brought back good memories for both men of their first coast-to-coast adventure in 1979. she is at home. Five friends also went along to film it, blog and drive. Campbell met Nice in Hermosa Beach, him, about living with his supportive parents catching a men’s hockey game at nearby Calif., and again in Palm Springs. He says at the age of 52 in his childhood home, using West Point. They even drove their former the trip brought back good memories of their a wheelchair for mobility for now. coach five hours to see him. first cross-country venture and he was happy “I have to listen to my dad’s jokes,” he Just like when they were in college, the he could support his friend. Campbell even quips. “He’s happy he has a captive audience.” runners are family, always pushing each other dressed in some old track clothing and ran He longs to do something simple, like to be better. Getting better, Nice says, is his across the dessert while Nice photographed jump in the car and go get coffee on his next challenge. him—just like in 1979. own—the little things people take for “I believe everything I have done has For Nice, the trip was just as challenging granted. But he isn’t bitter or sad. He has gotten me ready for this moment. The run- as the first one. Although this time, the chal- met other traumatic brain injury patients ning taught me discipline and endurance. lenge was sitting for long periods in the van, who don’t have a support system. Photography taught me focus,” he says. “I which he nicknamed The Beast, and main- He has five photo albums full of letters learned how to survive from Coach Todd taining his energy levels. But it also reminded and cards from the past four years from his because he expected you to be tough. It all him of one of the happiest times in his life. friends. Coach Todd continues to send a card prepared me for what I’m going through. Nice has a lot of time to think about his a week. The teammates visit at least once a And I’m getting better every day.” past, about the friends who have stood by year, usually in groups and sometimes before Mindy Mozer

WINTER 2013-14 | 23 A

B C D

E F G H

Download The University Magazine app to see a video of the weekend. Brick City 2013

A The Brick City 5K Fun Run and Walk took more than 450 participants, including fourth- “It is mindboggling to see the year interior design students Caili Nizamis, campus. It makes you feel very left, and Alexandra Nagle, right, and Nagle’s proud RIT has expanded.” dad, Gregory, on a lap around campus. Photo: Ken Huth Jane Pfromer ’59 (business administration) B Comedians Colin Mochrie and Brad Sher- wood from the show Whose Line Is It Anyway? entertained the crowd with help from RIT “We’re just really happy for student Samantha Huselstein. “I definitely all the kids who go here. wasn’t expecting to get pulled up on stage. They have four to five years It was a lot of fun and I couldn’t stop laughing,” says Huselstein, a third-year mechanical of a wonderful experience.” engineering student. Photo: Dan Wang Jon Roberts ’70 C Ezio DiCristofaro ’52 (printing) and his (imaging science) wife, Lena, took a tour of campus before the Golden Circle luncheon. The luncheon is for alumni who graduated 50 or more years ago. “The campus looks beautiful. “I had a lot of fun during my time here but I It changes every year.” am a little jealous that today’s students get so much more than I did,” DiCristofaro says. Bonnie Brennan Murphy ’91 Photo: Ken Huth (business and marketing)

D Horton Distinguished Speakers astronaut Mark Kelly and former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle “(The Horton speech) was very Giffords spoke about goals, perseverance inspiring. It definitely makes you and managing difficult situations. “Bad stuff happens to good people,” Kelly says. “You just feel like your own struggles and have to make the best of it.” Photo: A. Sue Weisler tribulations are minimal.”

E Daymond John, an investor on ABC’s Myles Glickman ’11 reality television show Shark Tank, talked (applied networking and about branding to a full house. “I want to systems administration) start my own business and I was so inspired by his talk,” says Kaitleen Crowe, a fourth-year Saunders College of Business student. “My impression is that the Photo: A. Sue Weisler students at RIT are happy. The learning atmosphere is F The Presidents’ Alumni Ball was a highlight innovative, collaborative and of the weekend. The event included dancing, fun. I can feel the positive Vegas-style games and live music in RIT’s Gordon Field House. Photo: Ken Huth energy on campus.”

G Sean Forbes ’08 (multidisciplinary studies) Parent Andrea Allen, whose performed his unique brand of hip-hop/sign son is a first-year computer language music. The event was part of NTID’s science major 45th anniversary celebration. Photo: Kevin Keane

H A sell-out crowd of 10,556 cheered on “It was really exciting. It’s not the men’s hockey team at Blue Cross Arena every day you get to meet an in downtown Rochester. The University of astronaut.” Michigan beat RIT 7-4 but the Tigers made Michigan work for the victory, scoring four Jessica Kramer, fourth-year goals to tie the game in the second period. business management student Photo: Josh Barber/RIT SportsZone

WINTER 2013-14 | 25 w

Tiger Talk Margaret Bailey

Margaret Bailey is the principal investigator One of the guys I went to CU-Boulder with, he of a $3.2 million grant from the National was going back for his Ph.D. in my same Science Foundation ADVANCE program program with the thought he would go to Education for a project intended to increase repre West Point and teach. A position opened up • BS in architectural engineering from sentation and advancement of women in at West Point in mechanical (engineering) Pennsylvania State University academic science, technology, engineering and the daily phone calls started from him and mathematics at RIT. The professor of trying to get me to apply. I think finally just • Ph.D. in civil, environmental and mechanical engineering in the Kate Gleason to shut him up I applied. architectural engineering from the College of Engineering also is the found University of Colorado at Boulder ing member of the women in engineering For the first yearit was quite an experience program, WE@RIT. Bailey came to RIT getting used to that sub-culture of the mili Work experience before RIT after teaching at the U.S. Military Academy, tary. There were no other women civilians West Point. Here, she talks about her back like myself in my program and in the whole • Assistant professor, Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, ground, her interest in gender equity issues academy there were probably about 10 of us. United States Military Academy, and her research. I loved West Point West Point, N.Y. and did a lot of things in I loved listening to Mike Brady on the Brady those five years but there was not a clear • Assistant professor of architectural Bunch talk about architecture. I just thought career progression there for a civilian. I engineering, University of Wyoming- that was the coolest thing. I had a friend was growing frustrated with issues around Laramie who was a few years older than me who women there and started thinking if I leave had gone to Penn State and majored in this position, I want to get a position where Research architecture. He came back over a summer I can make a difference when it comes to and he told me to consider majoring in gender issues in engineering and education. In 2008, Bailey and her team began architectural engineering rather than archi The Kate Gleason Endowed Chair position studying the RIT faculty as part of tecture. It sounded like a good match. came open here and I decided to apply. an NSF ADVANCE IT-Catalyst funded self-study. They found: In architectural engineering at Penn State, My focus was I would teach, do research in • RIT had only 23 percent of its female they only admitted about 90 students a thermodynamics and also start looking at tenured and tenure-track faculty in year. Out of the 90, maybe there were seven opportunities for gender-focused activities. STEM (science, technology, engineer- women. I didn’t see myself in my faculty. In April 2004, we offered Park and Ride, an ing and mathematics) disciplines, I think I had over my five years less than a outreach experience for middle-school girls. below the 30 percent average handful of women. Never were there ever After Park and Ride that summer we started represented in U.S. colleges and any women in engineering, or physics, or summer camp. universities; math. It didn’t make sense. Then other colleges started looking at what we • Gender-based, average salary gaps I worked as a facilities engineer for about five were doing. Over the last 10 years, there’s existed at each faculty rank, and years before I decided I really wanted to go been more and more women in computing women left the faculty ranks at a back and get my Ph.D. I started off at Penn and science and technology who have be rate nearly twice that of their male State. My old program had started a Ph.D. come leaders in their own colleges around colleagues. program and I would have been the first gender issues. Those women and I started student to get a Ph.D. in that program. working together on (grant) proposals. That led to the $3.2 million NSF ADVANCE Institutional Transformation My husband and I wanted to start a family so So much of what I do is driven by students and grant with the following goals for RIT: I got pregnant. Being a female engineer remembering what it was like for me as a ing Ph.D. student, the frst Ph.D. student student. I think it’s really very important for • 30 percent female applicants for in a program, and then you are female and our women and our male students to have STEM and social and behavioral pregnant put a strain on the relationship women role models in the classroom and to sciences (SBS) faculty positions; I had with my adviser. Ph.D. students and have a university where women want to stay • At least 75 percent of STEM/SBS babies—we are getting better at it now but and where they thrive. departments achieving a critical 15, 20 years ago it was rough. mass of female faculty; We are all kind of change agents and trying to I spent a lot of time doing research on what facilitate change and make it happen as ef • Retention rates for female faculty other programs were doing and I found fortlessly and painlessly as possible. But we that closely mirror those of male the University of Colorado at Boulder. I all know change isn’t like that. Sometimes faculty. finished up grad school there. There were when things are hard we have to step back many grad students who had families. and say this is good that it is hard. It means There were women. people are changing.

26 | WINTER 2013-14 Margaret Bailey holds a voltage meter in a mechanical engineering lab.

Photo by A. Sue Weisler WINTER 2013-14 | 27 28 | WINTER 2013-14 Provided photos Provided Saunders College of Business graduates Etida Zeka ’09, ’10 and Alex Butler ’11 have opened a brewery in Kosovo. Graduates pour their hearts into Kosovo brewery

lex Butler ’11 (MBA) and Etida Zeka pay for tickets for everyone to go to all Kosovo,” Butler says. “But people are going ’09, ’10 (applied arts and sciences, of these events.” wild for it. They absolutely love the IPA.” MBA) are introducing American- Beer entered the relationship about a year Butler and Zeka introduced the product to styleA craft beer to Kosovo. They have opened later. Zeka had graduated and returned to local bars, hauling the beer in a Volkswagen a brewery, are bottling the beer by hand and Kosovo where she began teaching, and Butler Golf. They also share the beer with guests in selling it to bars in Pristina. was finishing his last quarter at RIT. His a tasting room at the brewery. And it’s all because their birthdays are nine roommate got a home brewing kit for Christ- Part of their business plan involves educating days apart. mas and Butler quickly became hooked. He people about home brewing, a new concept In August 2009, Zeka left her home coun- continued the hobby in New York City, where in Kosovo. They are creating a home brewing try of Kosovo and moved to Rochester to he moved after graduation to work as an club to expand the culture of beer appreciation. enroll in graduate school after completing an assistant engineer in the music industry. A year from now, they hope to have their undergraduate degree at RIT’s global campus “On the weekends I was brewing and get- beer in at least 10 bars and restaurants. In American University in Kosovo. Butler, who ting really serious about being as authentic five years, their goal is to expand to a bigger grew up in Rochester, had studied music at as possible with the process,” he says. brewery with a more sophisticated system. the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam. Zeka sampled one of his full-bodied stout “We don’t want to get too far ahead of He enrolled in RIT’s MBA program think- beers when she visited him in New York in ourselves,” says Butler. “We have a lot to ac- ing it would open more doors than a music January 2012. She had never tasted anything complish in the next few months, let alone degree alone. like it. On the plane ride home, she hatched the next year. We are just going to keep work- Their worlds collided on the second day an idea—start a brewery with American-style ing our fingers to the bone and pouring all of of new student orientation. As part of a game, beer in Kosovo. She shared it with Butler and our hearts into this beer.” students were told to line up in order of their began doing research. They are saving some room in their hearts birthdays. Butler’s birthday is July 31 and Zeka found a niche in the market and for each other. Zeka’s is Aug. 9. worked on the business plan. Butler visited “There is a proposal in the future,” Butler “I thought he was cute,” says Zeka. six months later to make sure he would says. “Right now we are both so focused on “It was mutual,” says Butler. “I had no like living in Kosovo—his first time leav- the business. But something is next.” idea where it would go but I said, ‘Hello,’ ing the United States—and moved there in Mindy Mozer and we took it from there.” August 2012. They partnered with Zeka’s Butler courted Zeka by inviting her on brother, Genc, secured funding, registered traditional American dates, such as a haunted the business, and had the equipment made hayride. The relationship began with Zeka’s in Kosovo to their design specifications. On About Sabaja two friends, who had come from Kosovo June 1, 2013, Sabaja Craft Brewery created its The name sabaja was suggested by a at the same time to get their MBAs, joining first batch. By late summer, there was more bar owner in Pristina, Kosovo. Sabaja is them. demand for their beer than they could supply. what the ancient Illyrians called the beer “He had to date all three of us before he In Kosovo, pale lagers dominate the mar- they fermented with honey. Today, it also dated me,” says Zeka. “He needed my friends’ ket. Sabaja Craft Brewery produces ales— means “dawn” in Turkish Albanian. “To approv a l .” an India Pale Ale and an Amber Ale. us it’s the dawn of new beer,” Zeka says. “That’s true,” adds Butler. “I literally had to “I didn’t expect a bitter beer to take off in

WINTER 2013-14 | 29 Clean start in new career RIT roommates reunite to revolutionize wastewater treatment process

erry Wright ’81 (civil engineering tech- Flextronics, an electronics manufacturer in “I retired in 2012, but I didn’t know what I nology) and Greg Westbrook ’81 (civil California’s Silicon Valley, where he ran a wanted to do,” Westbrook says. “I knew I didn’t engineering technology) were room- $4 billion division. want to be on a plane or sleep in a hotel 200 Tmates at RIT. Wright is a multi-disciplined engineer who days a year.” Each went his own way to find success- has been self-employed most of his career Still friends 30 years after graduating from ful careers but have reunited this year to start working on unique projects, such as deicing- college, Wright asked Westbrook to help start ClearCove Systems, a business they expect will fluid recovery at a Toronto airport, designs of ClearCove Systems. The two friends, along with change the way wastewater is treated world- an ethylene oxide sterilization facility, a $15 Tim Cornelison, an expert in the wastewater wide. They say their method not only cleans million wastewater treatment plant to treat treatment industry, formed the company in wastewater more efficiently, but it also produces toothpaste washwater in the Catskills, a state- January and have an office in Venture Cre- three times more potential energy from the of-the-art rigid-plastics plant and multiple ations, RIT’s business incubator. byproduct of the wastewater treatment process. wastewater treatment plants using different “I like the challenge of creating a product “We have something revolutionary that types of technologies. He worked as a waste- and taking it to the market,” says Wright, will change the industry,” says Westbrook. water equipment sales engineer and developed ClearCove’s CEO. Those ideas brewed since “We want to solve a global problem. The ideas another wastewater product that removed Wright began designing treatment plants. “I are pretty powerful. It’s not only a good way protozoans and phosphorous from wastewater wasn’t willing to accept the conventional design to make water cleaner, but it turns a liability treatment plants in New York City’s watershed of wastewater treatment plants because most like a treatment plant into an asset.” that resulted in saving New York City residents were overly complex, expensive, inefficient Westbrook had a 20-year career with East- $300 million. and difficult to operate. I knew there was a man Kodak Co., working in Kodak’s corporate Westbrook was working in Silicon Valley better way to do this.” He has secured three office running its digital capture division. He when RIT President Bill Destler, who was U.S. patents and one Chinese patent involving worked in Asia, became a Kodak corporate visiting RIT alumni there, invited Westbrook wastewater treatment processing. officer and left the company in 2005 to join to join RIT’s President’s Roundtable. Westbrook says the company hasPhoto applied by A. Sue Weisler

30 | WINTER 2013-14 Photos by A. Sue Weisler Sue Photos by A. Left: Greg Westbrook and Terry Wright were former roommates at RIT. They reunited to help form ClearCove Systems earlier this year. Above: Westbrook, left, and VP Manager Tim Cornelison oversee the water filtration process in their prototype at the Trumansburg Wastewater Treatment Plant.

for grants but they are currently “adequately had not been filtered. Wright and Westbrook expect, it will keep funded,” with nearly $750,000 in personal In addition, the captured organics are used them busy for as long as they want to lead investments from family and friends. as fuel. The sludge produced in ClearCove’s the company. Westbrook is ClearCove’s COO and his process has three times more organic energy “Both Terry and I are committed foremost enthusiasm for the company is apparent. He than the sludge collected in traditional waste- to bringing about real change in the industry,” drove to the Ithaca area several times a week water treatment. Adding other organic waste Westbrook says. from his home in Canandaigua this summer to it, such as food waste, creates even higher Greg Livadas to monitor a prototype at the Trumansburg potential for energy. That energy could be used Wastewater Treatment Plant. to provide power to the treatment facility, or The prototype, which cost more than even converted to biogas to fuel buses or cars. About Venture Creations $100,000, sits on a large trailer, where their “We know we have energy inside the sewer RIT’s Venture Creations incubator is process was tested and samples taken and pipe,” Westbrook says. “Today, we’re tak- where young companies can advance independently studied. Raw sewage coming ing that potential fuel source and spending their concepts to become profitable, into the plant is settled and then decanted. money to make it dirt. We pay to throw it away. viable businesses and use resources such Instead of treating it immediately by mixing air What ClearCove is doing is exploiting the as coaching, networking and connections into the sewage as is done traditionally, solids caloric content in the sewage by converting it to potential investors. It also is home and organics are separated from the water us- to biogas, which in turn can be converted to to RIT’s NYSERDA-sponsored Clean ing gravity and a 50-micron (.05 mm) screen. compressed natural gas for use in vehicles or Energy Incubator, a joint industry The settled organics and solids are removed. electrical energy for the utility grid.” outreach effort by Venture Creations and The remaining water is treated using up to 65 Cleaning wastewater is a $28 billion-a- the Golisano Institute for Sustainability to percent less energy than would be needed if it year industry in the U.S. It’s an industry assist early-stage clean-energy companies the American Society of Civil Engineers has in product development, business and given a “D” to regarding current investment marketing planning and technology for improvements. commercialization. The incubator is one “One day we believe wastewater will of six statewide and part of New York actually be viewed as an asset, not as a liability,” state’s clean-energy initiative. Venture Westbrook says. Creations is located on Tech Park Drive, ClearCove’s mission now is to spread near the east side of the RIT campus. the word and get municipalities on board Since opening in 2003, it has housed 35 with converting to their system. The retrofit companies, created more than 300 jobs conversion wouldn’t be that difficult for most and brought in more than $30 million plants because the existing infrastructure in private capital. For more, go to would still be used. www.rit.edu/research/vc. Samples of sludge taken from ClearCove’s prototype. If ClearCove becomes as successful as

WINTER 2013-14 | 31 I Make It happen foR RIt. My eMployeR Makes It happen foR RIt. Can you Make It happen too? I have been blessed to be where I am in life because of Like Cisco™, your employer may be “ the valuable investments people have made in me. It is the one of the thousands that match people we meet and the lessons we learn that help shape our employee charitable gifts to higher experiences and prepare us for the future. The men of Alpha education. Some employers match Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Mu Sigma chapter at RIT gave me a gifts from retirees or spouses/ once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that helped me create my path partners too. While most match to success. It is with great responsibility and pleasure that I your gift dollar-for-dollar, some give back to the family that has helped me become the man match two-to-one. that I am. I was excited to find out that my employer Cisco Systems had a Gift Matching program that allowed me to Visit matchinggifts.com/rit to find double what I was able to give to RIT and Alpha Phi Alpha. out if your employer is a matching gift ” organization. It is a great way for your —Richard J. Morrison, Jr. ’09 Senior Systems Engineer, Cisco Systems, Inc. gift to RIT to count twice as much. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Nathaniel Rochester Society

Make it happen . . . together as one

To make a gift, visit rit.edu/makeagift or call 800.477.0376 or 585.475.5500 Find us on Facebook.com/RIT.Alumni Follow us on Twitter @RIT_Alumni

Cisco is a registered trademark Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and certain other countries. 32 | FALL 2013 © Copyright 2013 Rochester Institute of Technology. All rights reserved. Stanley Gordon ’43 painted the portraits behind him in The Wallace Center of RIT presidents Paul Miller, M. Richard Rose and Albert Simone. Photo by Michael Peres Portraits worth a thousand words—and then some For seven decades, Stanley Gordon ’43 (art portrait artist Wayman Adams. That led to in Bloomington, Minn., named after the and design) brought people to life on canvas. a job painting family members of a military president. Alumni of the school had seen a He painted well-known Rochesterians, who commander and a job as a USO Camp Show newspaper story about Gordon and his paint- sat for portraits in his studio on St. Paul sketch artist during World War II. He created ing of Jesus and noticed the Kennedy portrait Boulevard. He depicted religious leaders and charcoal sketches of 1,000 soldiers, which on the easel in the background. They tracked United States presidents using photographs were mailed home to their families. down Gordon and purchased it. and images in his mind. Every portrait, Gordon says, has a story— As for the Jesus portrait, a businessman More than 280,000 prints of a portrait he and he is eager to share them. bought it and sold the thousands of prints. painted of Jesus with blue eyes are in homes Rosalynn Carter introduced herself to Gordon’s portraits of three RIT presidents, from the United States to China. “I am Gordon in Washington, D.C., at a Gannett M. Richard Rose, Paul Miller and Albert known all over the world,” says the 94-year- Company Inc. stockholders meeting (Gordon Simone, still hang in The Wallace Center. old, leaning in closer to emphasize his point. was given stock as payment for a painting). Gordon says he is grateful to have had And it all began when he signed up for Later that evening he saw her standing alone such a healthy and long career, which night school in 1939 at the Rochester Ath- and told her he had read that President Jimmy included teaching painting and anatomy enaeum and Mechanics Institute, which later Carter wasn’t going to have a portrait done. at the downtown RIT campus for 25 years. became RIT. “I said, ‘What I’m going to do is I am going He doesn’t paint much these days since Gordon says he was inspired to become to paint his portrait and give it you and you he lost his sight in one eye. But he is still a portrait painter by his uncle, Joseph Jablon- tell me what you think of it.’ She says, ‘Yes, passionate about his craft. ski, an artist who graduated from Harvard please do it.’” “If I was asked right now, ‘Can you teach in 1923 and later taught there. When he saw her at the next meeting, he a class,’ I would come in today,” he says. “I “He said portrait painting was the most showed her a photo of the portrait. She liked would tell them, ‘I’m not here to teach you difficult thing you could do,” Gordon says. it. The painting is now in President Carter’s how to paint, I’m here to teach you how to “And I said I want to record people and put presidential library, and Gordon keeps a see.’ I would teach them how to use their eyes them on canvas.” thank-you note from Rosalynn Carter in a to become artists.” After completing courses at the Mechanics box filled with mementos. Gordon certainly has an eye for capturing Institute, Gordon was invited to a summer His portrait of John F. Kennedy, painted the essence of people. class in the Adirondacks with prominent after Kennedy died, hangs in a high school Mindy Mozer

WINTER 2013-14 | 33 THE YEAR in Review The health of a university can be measured in many ways. Here is a snapshot of some key metrics illustrating progress at RIT.

FY13 GIFT DISTRIBUTION Total: $26.7 million A BALANCED BUDGET Other Total Revenue $694,301,300 6% Tuition and Fees 61.0% National Technical Institute for the Deaf 13.0% Auxiliary Enterprises 12.1% Restricted and Other Sponsored Projects 7.7% Other Sources 3.8% Student life and Endowment Earnings 1.7% Faculty scholarships Student Government 0.5% and staff 18% Academic Government Appropriations 0.1% development programs Unrestricted Gifts 0.1% 1% 44% Total Revenue 100% Current needs 22%

Total Expenditures $694,301,300 Instructional/Academic Services 27.6% Building and Student Aid 20.5% construction Athletics Institutional Support/Facilities Services 14.6% 3% 6% National Technical Institute for the Deaf 13.0% Auxiliary Enterprises 11.5% Restricted and Other Sponsored Projects 7.7% Student Services 2.8% Debt Service-Educational Plant 1.8% FY13 RESEARCH AWARDS Student Government 0.5% FROM FEDERAL SPONSORS Total Expenditures 100% Total: $18.8 million Department Department of Education of Energy 7% 7% APPLICATIONS BY THE NUMBERS Other Number of undergraduate NASA 22,117 10% applications received National 10% Institutes Number of graduate 6,928 applications received of Health 6% Total number of applications, 29,045 up by almost 4 percent over the previous year Department Percentage of freshman of Defense 58% applications from outside National Science of New York state 20% Foundation Percentage of freshman 40% 11% applications from outside the United States Percentage of graduate 60% applications from outside the United States

34 | WINTER 2013-14 THE YEAR in Review

20,000 35,000 60 $58.4

18,292 17,950 31,377 $54.8 $52.5 16,773 30,000 50 15,557 $47.0 15,334 26,683 15,000 14,642 $43.8 25,000 13,230 40

20,000 18,004 10,000 30 Members Millions RIT Enrollment 15,000

10,542 20 10,000 5,000

4,972 10 5,000

0 0 0 1997 2000 2003 2006 2009 2012 2013 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

ENROLLMENT HISTORY ALUMNI—ONLINE VALUE OF RESEARCH AWARDS RIT’s enrollment hit 18,292 this fall, COMMUNITY MEMBERSHIP RIT received more than 400 new awards in an all-time high. Join at www.alumniconnections.com/rit/. fiscal year 2013, a record for the university.

700 60,000 800 $661.5 $669.1 $640.8 702 712 51,488 700 687 600 671 50,000 642 $530.4 $504.1 600 500 40,000 500 400

30,000 400

Millions 26,499 300 Participants Proposals Submitted 300 20,000

200 15,442 13,664 200

10,000 100 5,781 100

0 0 0 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

RIT ENDOWMENT ALUMNI—EVENT PARTICIPANTS RESEARCH The endowment continues to grow following More than 500 events annually draw PROPOSALS SUBMITTED unprecedented decline in the capital thousands of alumni, students, parents, RIT submitted a record of more than markets during fiscal year 2008-2009. faculty, staff, donors and their guests. 700 proposals in fiscal year 2013.

WINTER 2013-14 | 35 Regional Alumni Activities

Albany Houston A B Rochester Seattle Alumni remembered RIT student On Sept. 8, alumni gathered at Ninfa’s RIT alumni from Rochester and On Aug. 8, alumni gathered for happy Nicholas Murray by participating in for a reception before a Houston Buffalo got wet and wild on the hour at the Tap House in Bellevue, Wash. the third annual Rhino Run on Oct 12. Dynamo Major League Soccer game. Niagara River Jet Boat on July 20. Proceeds will benefit a student from Thanks to host Mark Biscone ’99. The group enjoyed lunch at the Syracuse the Albany area who will attend the famous Silo Restaurant in Lewiston Syracuse area alumni met in Kate Gleason College of Engineering. E India after the ride. Thanks to alumni Skaneateles on July 20 for a Alumni in Delhi assisted RIT at the hosts Donna and Tony Kocienski luncheon boat cruise on the lake. Austin/San Antonio IIE/USIEF education fair and gathered ’78, Frank Lucas ’75 and Stacy On Sept. 21, alumni took the “Ride-It” for dinner at Baluci Restaurant at the Kurtz ’05. Tampa Segway tour through the city while Lalit Hotel on Sept. 6. Thanks to host On Aug. 21, more than 100 Alumni from the central Florida learning about local history. Thanks Shipra Chaturvedi ’03. alumni with children or grandchildren region gathered to cheer on the Tampa to host Virgil McCullough ’78. On Sept. 15, alumni in Mumbai as- in RIT’s incoming freshman class Bay Rays as they faced the New York sisted RIT at the IIE/USIEF education gathered for the annual Alumni Yankees on Aug. 24. C Bay Area fair and gathered for a reception at Legacy Dinner on campus. On Aug. 24, alumni gathered in San alumni-owned design studio Conflu- On Aug. 24, more than 400 Utica/ Rome Mateo at Coyote Point Recreation area ence Elite Designs. Thanks to alumni alumni and guests attended RIT On Sept. 28, alumni boarded the W.W. for the first ever RIT alumni taste of host and owner Manasi Manjrekar Day with the Rochester Red Wings. Durant to sail along Raquette Lake, Rochester picnic. The picnic included ’10 and Ashutosh Agarwal ’01. Alumni cheered on the Red Wings taking in the beautiful fall foliage and Rochester food, such as Zweigle’s hot Alumni also gathered for dinner in as well as the RIT men’s and women’s historic scenery along the way. dogs, Grandma Brown’s baked beans Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad in hockey team captains as they threw D and Abbott’s frozen custard. Special September. out the first pitch. Attendees also got Washington, D.C. thanks to host Martin Hendess ’94. a special sneak peek of the Frozen On Aug. 10, alumni toured Port City Istanbul Frontier hockey game on Dec. 14. Brewery in Alexandria and enjoyed a Buffalo Alumni gathered for brunch at 5.Kat On Sept. 14, more than 20 flight of Port City beer at the conclu- On Aug. 10, alumni gathered at the Restaurant on Oct. 6. Special thanks alumni and students gathered for sion of the tour. Afterward, the group Buffalo and Erie County Naval & to Merve Evran ’06 for hosting and a day of service. They cleaned up continued down the road to Café Military Park for a special guided tour. planning the event. and landscaped Mt. Hope Cemetery. Pizzaiolo for appetizers and additional They toured the USS Little Rock, USS Attendees enjoyed lunch at The networking. Special thanks to chapter Croaker and USS The Sullivans, while Kuala Lumpur Distillery afterward. Thanks to event leaders Carlo Costino ’04, ’07 and learning about the history of these ships. Fifty-four alumni enjoyed a dinner hosts Bob Snyder ’56 and Maggie Phil Jones ’02 for hosting the event Sept. 26 at the Royale Bintang hotel Reilly ’04. and Larry Ponzi ’92, who is the owner Cleveland and heard updates about the univer- On Sept. 17, alumni took part of Café Pizzaiolo. On Aug. 10, alumni got together for sity from Sonja Phongsavanh, associ- in a career fair panel discussion, the annual alumni chapter event at ate director of Part-time and Graduate A Talk with Alumni. Reunions the Cleveland Indians baseball game. Enrollment Services. Nurul Hawa ’10 On Sept. 18, Native American On Aug. 31, the cross country team They caught up prior to the game organized the event. alumni gathered at the Elmwood held its annual alumni reunion and at the picnic and stayed late for the Inn to network with Jason Younker, 5K Race. fireworks display. Special thanks to New Jersey associate professor of anthropology On Aug. 30-31, men’s soccer held Al Tuefen ’73 for hosting the event. On Oct. 26, alumni from the newly re- and assistant to the Provost for its annual alumni reunion, which in- vived New Jersey chapter participated Native American Affairs; Nizhoni cluded the Doug May Memorial Golf Dallas in Make-A-Difference Day and gave Chow-Garcia, research associate, and Tournament and alumni soccer game. On Oct. 12, alumni gathered for a their time by helping the community Jeffrey Burnette, associate director On Sept. 13-14, the baseball team homecoming event of their own. They clean up and rebuild in areas still in of RIT Future Stewards program. held its annual reunion and alumni met at Main Event Entertainment for need after Superstorm Sandy. Special On Sept. 28, alumni attended a game. an evening of bowling and friendly thanks to Marisa Santiago ’04 for special reception at the First Niagara During Brick City Homecoming competition. Special thanks to host coordinating the RIT group. Rochester Fringe Festival Spiegeltent. & Family Weekend, the following Scott Saldinger ’89, ’91. Attendees were treated to performanc- fraternities and sororities held alumni New York es by RIT’s Vocal Accents a capella activities: Alpha Xi Delta, Delta Phi Denver/Colorado Springs On Aug. 8, African-American alumni group and Culture Clash featuring Epsilon, Kappa Delta Rho, Phi Kappa On Oct. 19, RIT and Clarkson held in the NYC area gathered at Inc. RIT professor and music department Psi, Pi Kappa Phi, Sigma Alpha Mu, a joint alumni event at Ralphie’s to Lounge for a networking happy hour. director Carl Atkins. Sigma Sigma Sigma, Tau Kappa Epsi- watch the RIT vs. Clarkson hockey On Sept. 9, alumni watched Rafael Alumnae attended YWCA’s lon and Zeta Tau Alpha. game. Thanks to host Luke Netto ’12. Nadal win the 2013 U.S. Open men’s Empowering Women Luncheon The following programs and match against Novak Djokovic. Thank on Oct. 8. student organizations held reunions Detroit you Mike Larson ’93 for hosting. AALANA (African American, or anniversary activities during On Sept. 21, alumni gathered for On Sept. 17, alumni gathered to Latino/a American and Native Brick City Homecoming & Family a volunteer day with the Greening cheer on the New York Mets against American) alumni took part in a Weekend: NTID 45th anniversary, RIT of Detroit organization. Alumni the San Francisco Giants. full schedule of activities at Brick Ambulance (RITA/EMU/SSU) 45th assisted with tree and shrub planting City Homecoming & Family Weekend, anniversary, electrical engineering in parks and along the streets of Raleigh-Durham including a Happy Hour Kick-Off at 50th reunion, mechanical engineering Detroit. Special thanks to host On Sept. 21, Jim Ferris ’81 invited Lovin’ Cup, a talk by Daymond John, 50th reunion and RIT Players. Yolanda Lewczuk ’00. the chapter to Doherty’s Irish Pub a PlayDate Party and Bon Voyage & Restaurant to come watch the Jim BBQ with Howard Ward. Dubai Ferris Trio perform. Alumni had an Alumni gathered for a special To learn more Alumni in the Middle East were invited opportunity to meet and talk with Oktoberfest celebration at Lovin’ Cup Events are being planned in many cities. to the first annual Evening at the Oasis Ferris before he performed. Thank you on Oct. 23. Special thanks to alumni Check www.rit.edu/alumniactivities for alumni reception with RIT Dubai to chapter leaders Mike Pail ’98 and hosts Stacy Kurtz ’05 and Shirley alumni events happening near you. President Yousef Al-Assaf on Oct. 3. Sue Pail ’98 for hosting the evening. Murphy ’81.

36 | WINTER 2013-14 A

B C

D E

WINTER 2013-14 | 37 and featured oil and acrylic paintings 1977 Thomas Heisler ’80 (SCB) became as well as block prints. The exhibit ran an independent SAP consultant in Class Notes until Oct. 28. Kevin Hall ’77 2010 when he started Patriot Consulting (FAA) and Services in Fairfield, Ohio. He was 1967 George Platt employed at TITAN Technology Key to abbreviations ’76 (GAP) Partners as the vice president of Donald Ferris ’67 (GAP) recently collaborated delivery. CAST College of Applied Science completed his first year as publisher/ to make “The and Technology editor of The Homer News, a bi-weekly Freedom Poster” 1981 newspaper serving the community of CCE College of Continuing Education to salute and Homer, N.Y. “It’s somewhat a change of pay homage to (now CMS) career but still affiliated with printing America’s free- and keeps me in touch with the people dom. The poster CHST College of Health Sciences in my community.” and Technology won an award in Harvey Levenson ’67 (GAP) the 2013 American Graphic Design CIAS College of Imaging Arts and Sciences retired from Cal Poly, San Luis Awards competition. Obispo, after 30 years of continuous CLA College of Liberal Arts service as a professor and department 1978 Nancy Cohen ’79, ’81 (FAA) had an CMS Center for Multidisciplinary Studies head of Graphic Communication, the longest ongoing department head Elizabeth Bonni ’78 (CLA) has been a exhibition Sept. 5 through Oct. 12 at SCB Saunders College of Business or chair service in the more than tenured faculty member at Hillsborough Accola Griefen Gallery in New York 100-year history of Cal Poly. He will Community College, Tampa, Fla., since City. The work was made during a KGCOE Kate Gleason College of Engineering continue with the university on a 2005, teaching in the sign language collaborative residency at the Corning interpretation program. This year, Museum of Glass in 2012. COS College of Science half-time basis as director of the Graphic Communication Institute she received her certificate from the FAA Fine and Applied Arts (now CIAS) at Cal Poly, an arm of the Graphic Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, one Communication Department that of a handful of certified deaf interpreters GAP Graphic Arts and Photography provides services for industry. in Florida. (now CIAS) Richard Ross ’78 (KGCOE) was pro- GCCIS B. Thomas Golisano College of 1970 moted to regional product manager for the eastern United States at Westech Computing and Information Sciences Brian Nicholas ’70 (GAP), ’80 (SCB) Engineering in Salt Lake City. He is NTID National Technical Institute recently retired from SICPA after having celebrating 20 years in the water indus- spent the last 25 years in various parts of for the Deaf try, assisting engineering consultants in the security print and packaging indus- designing municipal water treatment SVP NTID “Summer Vestibule Program” try. He plans to remain in Dayton, Ohio, plants and industrial water treatment and do some consulting in strategic processes. He works from his off-grid, Phyllis (Bryce) Ely ’81 (FAA) business development. solar-powered home in northern New participated in the Memorial Art York. Gallery’s 64th Rochester-Finger About Class Notes 1972 Lakes Exhibition and received Class Notes are edited for space, Margaret 1979 the Gertrude Herdle Moore/Isabel clarity and style. Share details and (Gabler) Herdle Award, given by the Gallery Collette Fournier Council of the Memorial Art Gallery, photos of special occasions and King ’72 ’77, ’79 (GAP) (SCB) for her painting High Falls with Trains had her artwork and Mist. She has been painting, professional achievements in your wrote exhibited at the life by going to www.rit.edu/ Murder at exhibiting and teaching plein air CEJJES Institute painting for more than 30 years. the Book in Pomona, N.Y., aluimni/news. Group, Her work is included in many this spring. The private and corporate collections. which will exhibit included 1959 be pub- photographic pieces centered on experi- Thomas Sheft ’81 (GAP) is currently lished by ences of people in the African Diaspora. research associate at Historic Photo Suzanne Sokol Simon & She is an award-winning New York- Archive in Portland, Ore. Hausman ’59 (FAA) is Schuster based photographer whose work has still active in the graphic in 2014. The anthology Virginia is for been published and exhibited widely 1983 design field. She is cur- Mysteries, coming out in January 2014, and has been included in a number rently working as a free- will include her short story, A Not So Matthew Huck ’81, ’83 (GAP) recently of museum collections, such as the repatriated to the U.S. with ASML and is lance designer, produc- Genteel Murder. Smithsonian Institution and the ing exhibit, signage and located in Chandler, Ariz., as the senior Michael Soluri ’72 (CIAS) wrote his Schomburg Center for Research in manager of customer support. “Upon print projects for the first sole-authored book, Infinite Worlds: Black Culture. She has had six one- Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation. completion of my European assignment, The Labor and Tools of Human Space woman exhibitions, including a I have returned to the U.S. where I am 1964 Flight, being published by Simon & 19-year retrospective. now manager of the Customer Support Schuster in September 2014. The coffee- Glen Barry ’79 (GAP) in 2010 left Program group. It is a small group of Benjamin Lambert ’64 (GAP) is a table book is based on his nearly three his job as a computer specialist with talented project managers.” retired consultant in Campton, N.H. years exclusive access in photographi- Westchester County after 25 years. He He was owner of Media Resources, cally portraying and documenting the received Notary Public certification in 1984 providing marketing support services. labor force, astronaut crew, launch hard- the state of New York and was issued a ware and space tools involved in sav- license in May. Christopher Acker ’84 (COS) 1965 ing—on one of NASA’s last space shuttle served as part of the team “cycling4a- flights—the Hubble Space Telescope. 1980 cure,” a nonprofit cancer fundraising Ernest Goldberg ’65 (GAP) taught group, which completed a transconti- graphic arts at the high school level 1973 John Shannon ’79, ’80 (GAP) has nental bike tour raising money in sup- in Philadelphia for 30 years and oper- been working as a controls engineer at port of the American Cancer Society ated a commercial printing business. Patricia Ann (Tiffany) Grein ’73 Precision Combustion Inc. in North and cindyshopechest.org. The group On Sept. 6, he held an artist’s recep- (SCB) is working as an associate in Haven, Conn., since 2010. He has been stopped at multiple pediatric cancer tion for his solo exhibit at the Grand sales at Macy’s and also with the Rolling working on control systems and test hospitals and visited with cancer Opera House Gallery in Wilmington, Meadows Park District as a program systems for clean energy technologies patients, physicians and nursing staff, Del., in conjunction with an area-wide leader. She is married to Phil Grein ’71 for about seven years. He has been a and donated bicycles to these facilities monthly art festival. The exhibit was (NTID) and they have two children, Certified LabVIEW Developer for for patient use. called “Pigments of the Imagination,” Andrea and Timothy. more than 10 years.

38 | WINTER 2013-14 T.I. Weintraub ’84 Chetan Kamdar ’88 (COS) accepted a Frederick Rueckert ’93 (CIAS), third- Sisters Evelyn Anderson and Jamia Sims (GAP) accepted a position at BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. generation Chautauquan and videog- are excited that their new baby brother position at Riverside in San Rafael, Calif., as senior IT man- rapher, presented a behind-the-scenes is here. Research in ager, business relationship management. look at the renovation process for the Beavercreek, Ohio, Marc Raco ’86, ’88 (GAP) was recog- Massey Memorial Organ, part of the 1996 as executive vice nized with his eighth Telly Award for Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, president/COO. which celebrated its 20th anniversary of Tracy Swan ’96 (CIAS) was promoted video work. Raco is currently an execu- to director of graphics production for He was employed at tive producer for a reality TV show renovations in July 2013 with a screen- Raytheon Technical ing of his documentary. When the Macy’s Inc. in Manhattan. She is work- Services. “Kathleen Massey Organ underwent major reno- ing in the visual department, supporting (Olsen) Weintraub ’84 (FAA) and I vations in 1992, Rueckert decided to more than 700 stores nationwide by recently relocated to Ohio from Colorado document the process for his film stud- coordinating production and distribu- Springs to lead Riverside Research.” ies at RIT, delaying his graduation date tion of in-store signage campaigns and by a year to film the renovation in its creating visual enhancements. 1985 entirety. Rueckert hopes the documentary piques the curiosity of his audience 1997 Abraham Greenberg ’85 (CAST) and motivates the younger generation to writes, “I am impressed. I have not been be interested in pipe organs. back to RIT since 1985. I was on the Erie Canal bike tour and decided to stop about healthier living starring Tammy Jerry Scriven ’93 at RIT. The admissions office was kind Lakatos Shames and Lyssie Lakatos, the (CLA) retired enough to show me around the cam- internationally known Nutrition Twins. from military pus. Wow, things have really changed: Learn more about the show, which is service after 24 food court, new fitness center, fantastic seeking network placement, at years in the educational facilities. I would be happy www.livingtwoeat.com. Army. His retire- to be a student at RIT again. Thanks for ment ceremony the tour.” 1989 was July 25, 2013, at Fort Lee, Va. 1986 Kirk Striebich ’85 (SCB), ’89 (CLA) He and his wife and LeeAnne Haworth are proud to of 20 years, Shannon Davis ’86 (FAA) completed announce the birth of their first child, Ronda, and their two daughters will an American flag photography project, Kadri Anne Striebich. She was born on continue to live in the Richmond area. which was featured on CNN. Davis is May 19, 2012, in Virginia Beach, Va. He is pursuing new employment oppor- currently based in Atlanta and teaches at tunities in the field of operations Susan Beckert ’97 (CAST) is director of the Savannah College of Art and Design. 1991 research and systems engineering. technology, Southeast for Merck and is Paul Finkelstein ’91 (GAP) and Sara responsible for engineering and design- 1987 Finkelstein celebrated their 14th wed- 1994 ing or renovating facilities as created for the manufacture of new products. Her Susanne Loomis ’87 (GAP), ’97 ding anniversary in September. He Sean Morrison ’94 (CAST) was was recently promoted to Branch journey is showcased in the Spring 2013 (CAST) has been at Massachusetts awarded International Paper’s Design edition of Woman Engineer magazine. General Hospital for 15 years and Office, Financial Advisor, at Williams Excellence Award in January 2013 for is the project coordinator, graphic Financial Group in Delray Beach, Fla. development and creation of DuraPack, 1998 designer, illustrator and IT for REMS an environmentally friendly and sus- Media Services. REMS services is the 1992 tainable alternative to paraffin waxed Alice Merchant radiology department at the hospital. Jeffry Zadoff ’92 (CAST) writes that his agricultural corrugated packaging. ’98 (CIAS) BioCommunications Association (BCA) newest venture in Delray Beach, Fla., Charles Sadler ’94, ’94 (CIAS) is owner co-founded a elected her president for 2011-2013 and Buddha Sky Bar and Buddha Garden— of King Garden Designs in Irvington, New York City- she is now the immediate past president. an 11,000-square-foot, three-story Asian N.Y. He launched the full- based digital BCA is an international association of concept with design and cuisine influ- asset manage- media professionals who create and use ences rooted in Chinese and Japanese ment consul- quality images in visual communica- interpretations—has been named one tancy named tions for teaching, documentation and of the Top 100 Restaurant Hot Spots in Asset Atelier. presentations in the life sciences and the U.S. by Open Table members. For The company medicine. details, go to Buddhaskybar.com focuses on secur- or Buddhagarden.com. ing the success of digital asset manage- 1988 ment projects in a range of industries. Bruce Everhart ’88 (CAST) accepted 1993 1999 a position at Task Trainers Inc. in Freeport, Ill., as site project manager. Mark He was employed at Health Care Service Biscone ’99 Corp. as instructional design consultant. (COS) and He lives in Naperville, Ill., with his wife, Erin Jann ’96 (CIAS). Biscone service landscape design firm in 2013. are proud David The company does expert artistic prun- Goldstein ’87, to announce ing services of ornamental trees, shrubs the birth ’88 (GAP) and fruit trees, including orchards. authored of a baby Creative You— Joseph Brennan ’93 (FAA) wants to 1995 girl, Lila Using Your share one of his latest works of Elizabeth Personality art and his new website, James Sims ’95 Rose. She Type To Thrive www.josephbrennandesigns.com. (CAST) and was born (Simon & Ebony Sims are on April Tammy (Frenc) Due ’93 (COS) and 27, 2013, in Houston, Texas. Biscone Schuster), Chris Fay are happy to announce proud to showing that people can be creative announce the accepted a position at Texas Hospital their marriage on April 27, 2013, in Association in Houston as the regional in their own ways, using their natural Newburyport, Mass., where they live. birth of a baby strengths. The book is based on boy, James executive for Houston and East Texas. Bryan Thompson ’93 (CAST) and fam- He was employed at the Department Myers-Briggs and co-authored with ily attended from Western Pennsylvania. Howard Sims personality-type expert Otto Kroeger. III, on June 6, of Veterans Affairs as health systems Due’s oldest son, Devin Fay, also became specialist for almost five years. an RIT Tiger this fall. 2013, in Upper Darby, Pa.

WINTER 2013-14 | 39 Tiger Love Photos by A. Sue Weisler Sue Photos by A.

Bethany Choate ’06 and Matthew Heimbueger ’06 are building their own 2,048-square-foot sustainable home in suburban Rochester. The imaging science graduates say the building process has brought them closer together. Couple builds on chemistry On weekdays, Bethany Choate and Matthew senior laboratory engineer at the University you trust a contractor,” he says. “We felt like Heimbueger are scientists. On the weekends, of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics, we would have to be there anyway when most they become construction workers. and Choate, senior associate for outreach and of the work is done.” The 2006 imaging science graduates are communication for the Center for Imaging Before they knew it, they had dug and building their own sustainable home on 28 Science at RIT (which includes coordinat- poured the footers, prepped for the foun- acres in the Rochester suburb of Rush. ing the same internship program they both dation, built the walls, set the trusses and “We always knew we did things somewhat attended), decided to build their own home. sheathed the roof—with help from family unconventionally,” Choate says. Choate’s parents, who live on the lot next and friends. (Heimbueger’s parents, Bob The two first met in AP Chemistry class door, gave them the land. ’77 (electrical engineering) and Heather ’77 at Rush-Henrietta High School after Choate They attended the local Greentopia Festival (social work), also met at RIT.) had completed an internship at RIT’s Chester to get some ideas about building a sustainable The house will have solar panels on the F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science. She and efficient structure. Then, with the help of roof and use geothermal energy. They worked liked it so much that she encouraged her Choate’s dad, Albert, who built his own house hard to plan their energy consumption and classmates to apply. Heimbueger did, and in the 1970s, they drew up some plans. production to come out to net zero. after he completed it, he was able to continue They put the garage in the middle of the “We’ve grown a lot from this project,” says working part time the following summer. one-story home to keep the corners, which Choate, adding that they hope to be living in By that time, Choate was an RIT student have the best views, as living space. The house the house by the end of the year. “We never and they reconnected. is 32 by 64 feet and the ceiling is 8 feet tall. had any question as to whether we would be “I had other plans for my birthday that The walls are 6 inches thick to maximize successful at it.” fell through and I ended up at his graduation insulation. They picked a size that would be Mindy Mozer party that happened to be on my birthday,” easy to build with minimal waste. “It’s really Choate says, adding that a group trip to Ni- not to most people’s tastes,” Choate says. About Tiger Love agara Falls later that summer sealed the deal. “It is very different.” There are more than 4,600 RIT alumni couples. They were married five years later on June Heimbueger says they didn’t start out If you have a suggestion of a couple to feature, 28, 2008. planning to build the house themselves. email us at [email protected]. Last fall, Heimbueger, who works as a “It became a question of how much do

40 | WINTER 2013-14 Patrick Gaynard ’99 (CIAS) received a 2001 2002 RIT, he went on to achieve first lieuten- Master of Arts in humanities/humanis- ant on Feb. 18, 2005, and captain on tic studies with honors from California James Domanski ’02 (CIAS) accepted Oct. 1, 2006. He married Crystal Geiger State University, Northridge on May a position at PECI in Portland, Ore., on May 25, 2007, and they have two 15, 2013. as energy analyst II. As an energy ana- sons, Joshua, 4, and Caleb, 2. Timothy McInerney ’99 (CAST) lyst, he supports the engineering team Sarah Kankiewicz-Arkins ’03 (CIAS) and Stephanie Cinque-McInerney in developing and managing energy accepted a position at Availity in have founded the Resiliency Center efficiency measures for the residential Jacksonville, Fla., as an instructional of Newtown as a result of the trag- sector. designer. She will be working from edy that occurred in the Sandy Hook home in Savannah, Ga. Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012. Jacquelyn (Saltsman) Hesler ’02 Melinda (Cole) Class ’01, ’03 (CLA) Timothy Kennery ’03 (SCB) and Gina Resiliency Center of Newtown will (CIAS) and Bret Hesler ’99 (CIAS) Kennery are proud to announce the offer a variety of programs, services and and Clipson Class ’01 (CAST) are have started a digital advertising com- proud to announce the birth of a baby birth of a baby girl, Julianna Josephine. events designed to help those suffering pany in Northern New Jersey called She was born on May 21, 2013, in from trauma to recover and move for- girl, Rhiannon Waverly. She was born Dynamic Digital Displays of NJ LLC. on July 5, 2012, in Rochester. She was Winston-Salem, N.C. He also recently ward with their lives in a positive way. Go to www.dynamicdisplaysnj.com accepted a position at Gilbarco Veeder The organization has partnered with welcomed home by siblings Bronwyn for more information. and Ronan. Root in Greensboro, N.C., as finance Tuesday’s Children, whose long-term Ruth Lyons ’02 (CIAS) received a manager. healing model continues to support Ph.D. in educational psychology from all those impacted by Sept. 11, 2001. University of Connecticut on May 11, The McInerneys and their two 2013. She is the principal of a school she children are residents of Newtown. helped start, The Renzulli Academy, in For more information, go to Hartford, Conn. www.resiliencycenterofnewtown.org. Kathryn (Palmacci) John Miller Musiak ’02 (SCB) ’99 (SCB) and Jason Musiak has been hired are proud to as a manager announce the birth for ProNexus Jeffrey Fasoldt ’01 (SCB) and his two sons, Jeffrey Jr. and Nicholas, earned of a baby boy, James LLC, an Vincent. He was affiliate of their first-degree black belts in karate on Aug. 10 in Syracuse. born on Feb. 20, The Bonadio 2013, in Boston. Group. Miller Jonah Goodman ’01 (CIAS) is serving Philip Levine ’03, ’03 (SCB) and was previously in his fourth term as the national presi- Daniel Premo ’02 (GCCIS) and Julie Premo are proud to announce the birth Melanie (Evans) Levine ’01, ’04 (CLA) a manager, dent of Phi Sigma Pi National Honor are proud to announce the birth of a business process, with Constellation Fraternity. This is a volunteer position of a baby boy, Fox Harrison. He was born on June 26, 2013, in Atlanta. baby boy, Ethan Milo. He was born on Brands. He lives in Victor. managing the national organization, July 11, 2013, in Boynton Beach, Fla. Samantha consisting of 133 collegiate chapters, as Daniel Xeller ’02 (CIAS) and Svenja “Ethan hopes to join grandpa and Powell ’99 well as overseeing the professional staff Xeller are proud to announce the birth grandma (Jay and Stephanie Levine) and (CIAS) has team. In 1998, he helped co-found the of a baby boy, Johann August Xeller. mom and dad as an RIT graduate in 2031.” been named chapter of Phi Sigma Pi at RIT. He was born on March 7, 2013, in Charleston, S.C. Cheryl (Williams) Lomedico ’96, ’99, the 2014 Adam Rackoff ’03, ’09 (CAST), ’11 (CMS) and Joseph Women’s ’01 (CIAS) 2003 Lomedico are proud to announce the Council of and Cristina birth of a baby girl, Cara Anne. She was Realtors, Rackoff are born on Dec. 31, 2012, in Rochester. Chicago proud to Her siblings are Jene Keeney, a future Chapter President and 2013 Chicago announce the RIT graduate in December 2013, and Force—women’s tackle football national birth of a baby Joey Lomedico. champions, director of Game Day girl, Emma Operations. Natalie. She Michael Pletka ’03 (CIAS) and Nicole was born on Albano are happy to announce their June 2, 2013, engagement. The wedding ceremony in New York will take place in September 2014 in City. Rackoff and actor Matthew Westhampton Beach, N.Y. Modine won the “Best App” award for Kimberly Bonarski ’03 (CLA) and Wanda Strychalski ’03 (COS) accepted their Full Metal Jacket Diary iPad app Timothy Bonarski ’04 (CAST) are a position at Case Western Reserve at the New Media Film Festival in proud to announce the birth of a baby University in Cleveland as an assis- Los Angeles. The critically acclaimed boy, Travis David. He was born on Aug. tant professor in the Department of “app-umentary,” released last year, 5, 2013, in New Haven, Conn. Older Mathematics, Applied Mathematics was produced and directed by Rackoff siblings Tyler and Tommy are enjoying and Statistics. She was employed at Kelly (Frank) Wilbur ’97, ’99 (CIAS) and designed by fellow RIT graduate life as a family of five. University of California, Davis as and Steve Wilbur are proud to announce Jason Parry ’01 (SCB). For details, go postdoctoral researcher. the birth of twin boys, John Martin and to www.fullmetaljacketdiary.com. Logan Harlen. They were born on April 2004 16, 2013, in Minneapolis. Denishea (Flannagan) 2000 Ortiz ’04 (SCB) Dori (Lowenstein) Karanikis ’00 and Orlando (CIAS) and Andrew Karanikis ’99 Ortiz ’04 (CAST) announce the birth of a baby (CAST), ’08 girl, Lauren Violet. She was born on (SCB) are proud Aug. 11, 2013, in Stamford, Conn. to announce the She joins proud big sister Alexa Rose. birth of a baby Carl Gause ’03 (CLA) was promoted to boy, Esaias Jaiden. Hugh McAnany ’00 (CAST) celebrated Cristina (Sustento) Mech ’01 (CAST) the position of major in the U.S. Army He was born on his fifth wedding anniversary to Amber and Chris Mech ’99 (CAST) are happy on May 31, 2013. He was commissioned June 4, 2013, in (Singer) McAnany. They live in Media, to announce the birth of a baby boy, Ian. as second lieutenant during his time in Rochester. Pa., with their two children, Aaron He was born on May 19, 2013, in the RIT/ROTC Tiger Battalion. After and Cora. Rochester.

WINTER 2013-14 | 41 Korrie (Kamp) Alumni Updates Tosh ’04 (CAST) and Joseph Tosh are proud to announce the birth of a baby boy, Marcus Patrick. He was Meet one of NTID’s first students born on Aug. 6, 2013, in Leesburg, Va. 2005 Brett Hall ’05 (CIAS) accepted a position at 9ate7 Productions in Brooklyn, N.Y., as animation director. As animation director for the new PBS preschool series “Peg + Cat,” he oversees the pre- production of design and after effects rigging in-house and directs an animation crew based in Toronto. Allison Keeler ’05 (COS) received a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences from UMass Medical School on June 3, 2013. She was selected as class speaker.

Photo by A. Sue Weisler Sue Photo by A. Ariya Martin ’05 (CIAS) and Tara William Ingraham stands near a tree he helped plant in 1974 with Lady Bird Johnson. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Malik ’00 (CIAS) conducted their sec- into law the act creating NTID in 1965. “The big change for me was meeting so many other deaf people,” Ingraham says. “I ond photography program for youth in enjoyed it. And I’m happy I could be a pioneer to help the school grow and become successful.” Haiti this summer through One Bird, a youth and community media arts nonprofit they co-founded in 2008. One Bird will travel to Riviere Froide, a com- ore than 7,300 students have graduated allowed Ingraham to have more time to play golf, munity in Carrefour just outside Port- from RIT’s National Technical Institute travel and spend with his family. He also spends au-Prince, in the summer of 2014 to continue this program. To learn more, for the Deaf in the past 45 years, and time as a respite worker for the family of a child go to onebirdprojects.tumblr.com. MWilliam Ingraham is regarded as the first. with autism. Michael Maeder Ingraham, a native of the Rochester area, Over the years, Ingraham has stayed in contact ’05 (KGCOE) transferred to RIT in 1968 after taking two years with his RIT/NTID classmates who have moved and Swati (Bhattacharyya) of business administration at Alfred State Univer- around the country after graduation. Ingraham Maeder were mar- sity. “I was passing in college, but I needed a lot stayed close to home and lives in the Rochester ried on Aug. 25, of help,” he says. suburb of Brighton, just eight miles from the RIT 2012, in Saratoga Coincidentally, Ingraham ’71 (business admin- campus. Springs, N.Y. They welcomed their istration) decided to transfer to RIT at the same Other than crediting RIT with training him for first child, Shreya Mabel Maeder, into time RIT was welcoming its first class of deaf a career, it also was where he met fellow student the world on Aug. 11, 2013. and hard-of-hearing students—44 men and 26 Mary Jo Nixon, who came to RIT in 1969. They Julianne Muszynski ’05 (CLA) women—to NTID. were married nearly 40 years ago. She was the received an MBA from the University Throughout his previous school years, Ingra- first NTID graduate hired as a staff worker and of Pittsburgh in April 2013. ham had always been the only deaf person in retired after 40 years at NTID. The couple has 2006 his class. He sat in the front row and relied on two children and two grandchildren. William Belecz ’06 (GCCIS) received friends to take notes for him as he focused on Ingraham has visited the campus many times an MBA June 9 from Simon School of the teachers’ faces to try to understand what they over the years, including the 45th Alumni Re- Business, University of Rochester. were saying. Although he didn’t know sign lan- union held in October. Sarah Friedlander guage when he arrived, the teachers at RIT were NTID President Gerry Buckley is grateful to ’06 (CIAS) and Rodrigo García easier to understand, and note-taking services Ingraham and the others from those early days of Segovia are happy were provided. NTID’s inception. to announce their Ingraham completed two co-ops with the “It’s important as we celebrate the 45th anniver- marriage on Aug. 3, Internal Revenue Service. sary of NTID’s first class this year to remember 2013, in Calera de Tango, Chile. They “They liked my job performance during my all of our graduates, but especially our pioneers live in Santiago, Chile. co-ops and offered me a job one month after I like Bill who began a tradition of excellence and She also accepted a position at AIR802 graduated,” he says. serve as role models for the following genera- in Santiago, Chile, as director of marketing. She was employed at Super Software That job turned into a 36-year career as an IRS tions,” Buckley says. S.A. (Tigabytes) as marketing manager. agent, until his retirement in 2004, which has Greg Livadas

42 | WINTER 2013-14 Joseph Kacyon ’06 (CIAS) and Lisa Lenora Reid-Rose ’07 (SCB), 2009 Jackson are happy to announce their director of cultural competence marriage on May 4, 2013, in Akron, and diversity Initiatives at Udochi Okeke ’09 Ohio, where they live. Alumni David Coordinated Care Service Inc., (CLA) accepted Suroviec ’06 (CIAS), Brittney Lee ’06 was recently awarded the Cultural a position at (CIAS), Kevin Kilcher ’06 (CIAS), Josh Competence Journey Award from The Better Brain Piejko ’06 (CIAS) and Eric Yellin ’06 the New York State Office of Mental Center in (CIAS) attended. Health. She is also the co-director Alexandria, Va., Jason Rodriguez ’06, ’07 (SCB) for the Center of Excellence in as neurofeedback accepted a position at Morgan Stanley Culturally Competent Mental EEG technician. in Purchase, N.Y., as assistant vice Health Care at the Nathan “The information Leif Melhus ’10, ’10 (KGCOE) and president-strategic partnerships. He Kline Research Institute. I learned in the Rachel (Hart) Melhus ’10 (CAST) are was employed at Verizon as a business RIT psychology happy to announce their marriage on analyst. 2008 program was Dec. 22, 2012, in Clifton Springs, N.Y. invaluable to my attainment of and They live in Guilford, Conn. Christian Szabo ’06 (CAST) was Lisa Hawver ’08 (COS) received a excellence in this position. I have just promoted to director, corporate gover- Ph.D. in chemistry from Northeastern reached my first anniversary in this Francis Mule ’10 (CLA) received a Juris nance, at Excellus BlueCross BlueShield University on July 15, 2013. position and am excited to receive a Doctor from Northeastern University of Rochester, effective July 1, 2013. Rachel (Richards) McLane ’08, raise. I know there are great things on School of Law on May 24, 2013. 2007 ’09 (SCB) and Daniel McLane are the horizon.” Jesse Muszynski happy to announce their marriage Crystal Phan ’09 (NTID) expects to ’10, ’10 Daniel Farnan ’07 (CAST) has become on June 29, 2013, in Buffalo. Jamie graduate in spring 2014 from Sierra (KGCOE) and a licensed professional engineer in the (Snyder) Whitwood ’08 (CLA) and Nevada College of Lake Tahoe with a Carrie state of New York. Farnan has more Jenna Kilroy ’09 (KGCOE) were Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in pho- (Crowley) than six years of experience in civil bridesmaids. Other alumni in tography. She says she will be the first Muszynski ’09 engineering working on a multitude of attendance include Katie Grenga ’08 deaf student to walk across the stage on (CIAS) are projects ranging from small-scale site (SCB), Brad Johnson ’08 (SCB), graduation day. happy to designs to large highway rehabilita- Linda (McDonagh) Johnson ’08 announce their (SCB), Amanda Morehouse ’08 (COS), Amanda Weissman ’09 (COS), ’09 marriage on tions. He has received both his Certified (KGCOE) recently graduated from Professional in Erosion and Sediment Kat Springate ’09 (SCB) and Rick June 15, 2013, Whitwood ’09 (SCB). Lockheed Martin’s Engineering in Lackawanna, Control and Certified Professional in Leadership Development program and Storm Water Quality certifications. Scott Pudlewski ’08 (KGCOE) N.Y. They live in Depew, N.Y. Trevor has accepted a position as a manufactur- West ’09 (GCCIS) and Leigh Downes accepted a position at the ing test engineer. Massachusetts Institute of ’09 (CAST) were groomsmen, Jenna Technology Lincoln Laboratory 2010 Crawford ’08 (CLA) and Allie Stevens as a technical staff member in the ’09 (CAST) were bridesmaids and Wideband Tactical Networking Bradley Butler ’10 (CIAS) has been Laura (Zelanis) Robson ’07 (CIAS), Group. He received a Ph.D. in named gallery director at Main Street Tim Robson ’08 (GCCIS) and Matt electrical engineering from SUNY Arts in Clifton Springs, N.Y. For more Sansone ’10 (CIAS) attended. University at Buffalo on June 1, 2012. information, go to www. mainstreetartsgallery.com. Heechan Kim Kyle Krzywicki ’07 (SCB) and Alan ’10 (CIAS) Krzywicki ’07 (KGCOE) are happy to won the grand announce their marriage on June 8, 2013, prize at the in Rochester. They live in Springfield, Va. 2013 Cheongju Many RIT alumni were in attendance. International Craft Biennale, a major international com- Ihudiya (Finda) Ogburu ’10 (GCCIS) petition in completed her 27-month commitment Korea drawing submissions by nearly as a Peace Corps volunteer on Oct. 15. 1,200 professional artists from 55 coun- She will work with the government of tries around the world. Kim won for his Botswana Ministry of Health as a system work titled “#9.” The honor includes a analyst/developer in its monitoring and Stephanie Van Dyken ’08 (CIAS) monetary award of $50,000. evaluation office. accepted a position at Brickyard Yenory Garcia ’10, ’10 (CLA) was pro- Internet Marketing in Phoenix as moted to college coordinator from col- Peter Mottola ’07 (GCCIS) writes, graphic/Web design specialist. She lege adviser at Harlem Children’s Zone “I was blessed to have numerous RIT was employed at NAI Horizon as in New York City. alumni, faculty and staff present for my marketing specialist. June 22 ordination to the priesthood for Steven Zuk ’08, ’08 (CAST) the Roman Catholic Diocese of accepted a position at Naval Rochester. It’s amazing what you can Facilities Engineering Command do with an IT degree.” (NAVFAC) in Norfolk, Va., as Elizabeth Oberg a structural engineer. He recently ’07, ’07 (CLA) completed two years of employment and David Lam with the United States Army Corps are happy to of Engineers where he supported counterinsurgency operations while announce their Matthew Vertrees ’10 (CIAS) and marriage on serving as the civil engineer for the Provincial Reconstruction Teams Jonathan Thompson are happy to June 15, 2013, Alan Mazur ’10 (CAST) and Lindsay announce their marriage on Sept. 21, at the Minnesota in the Khost and Gardez Provinces Littman ’09 (COS) were married in July of Afghanistan. 2013, in Puyallup, Wash. They live in Landscape 2013. They met while attending RIT and Auburn, Wash. Arboretum. playing for the men’s and women’s They live in hockey teams in 2007. Minnetonka, Minn.

WINTER 2013-14 | 43 Alumni Updates 2011 Liliya (Plotkina) Becktell ’09 (CIAS), ’11 (CLA) and Graduate builds successful furniture career Stuart Becktell ’07 (GCCIS) are happy to announce their marriage on May 18, 2013, in Mendon, N.Y. They live in Rochester. The bridal party included Gil Ong ’02, ’05 (SCB), best man, and Jamie Langley ’11 (CLA), bridesmaid. Liliya accepted a position at Rochester Museum and Science Center as development associate. She was employed at First Niagara Benefits Consulting as marketing coordinator. Elizabeth Day ’11, ’11 (KGCOE) and Cody Willmart ’11 (KGCOE) are happy to announce their engagement. Photo by A. Sue Weisler Sue Photo by A.

Michael Dobbins ’11 Adam Rogers ’10 is the product manager for Thos. Moser (CAST) Cabinetmakers. His first furniture line, called the Element achieved the Collection, was introduced this summer and won an award. professional cre- dential of Certified

Provided photos Provided Hazardous Material Manager, which is accredited by the Council of Engineering and Scientific Specialty Boards. dam Rogers ’10 (furniture design) was Collection—featuring a desk/table, credenza/ David Pearson ’11 (GCCIS) received a working as an interior architect when he filing cabinet, coffee table, hall table, and bench— Master of Science in information secu- realized he wanted to actually make the was introduced at NeoCon in June. It is the first rity technology and management from Carnegie Mellon University on May 19, thingsA he was designing. time Thos. Moser has launched a product de- 2013. His thesis topic was synchropha- He set aside his architecture degree and five signed by someone outside of the Moser family. sor GPS security. years of work experience and enrolled in RIT’s Rogers says the joinery he learned at RIT and furniture design MFA program. cut by hand is now being made on a large scale “I threw caution to the wind and committed to in this collection. He credits his education for this life of making things from wood,” Rogers says. helping him land the job at Thos. Moser. The plan worked. Furniture he designed Last school year, Rogers worked with eight recently won a silver award in the Best of RIT students on a collaborative project to design a NeoCon competition. NeoCon is the country’s stool for the Moser furniture line. Rogers checked largest tradeshow for architecture and design in with the students every few weeks using Skype. professionals and features thousands of products He made Moser experts available to talk to them and resources from more than 700 showrooms along the way, provided critiques and then visited Sarah Mooney ’11 (CIAS) and Brian Treich ’12 (GCCIS) are happy to and exhibitors. in May to see their final products. announce their engagement. The wed- Rogers is the product manager for Thos. Moser Rich Tannen, a professor of furniture design ding ceremony will take place on March Cabinetmakers, a company based in Auburn, in the School for American Crafts, says that the 15, 2014. They met and started dating as freshmen at RIT in 2007. Maine, which makes American-designed, engi- formal documentation of the students’ designs neered and built products. Rogers began working was exhibited in May during Design Week 2013 2012 for Thos. Moser right after graduation. He started in New York City. Sanket Gohil ’12 (GCCIS) was in custom design and his job evolved into new Tannen says the project—and Rogers— named Web technology specialist for products and product design. He now manages inspired the students. “He is really doing what he Development and Alumni Relations at the process for all new products and the Engi- hoped to be doing after graduation,” Tannen says. RIT. He started in the department two years ago as a part-time student worker neering Department. “He’s a great success story.” and progressed to the full-time position. His first furniture line, called the Element Mindy Mozer

44 | WINTER 2013-14 Alesha May ’12 (NTID) and Alumni Updates Stephen Nichols are happy to announce their marriage on June 10, 2013, in Savannah, Ga., Romancing the stone with Zariin jewelry where they live. They were expect- ove over ing their first child in October. David Yurman

and Harry photos Provided John Mullane ’12 MWinston—Zariin is the (GCCIS) and Amanda Diebel new avant-garde jewelry are happy to collection making waves announce their marriage on Aug. across the globe. 18, 2012, in Playful, bold and Lockport, N.Y. imaginative, Zariin’s They live in Yorktown, Va. signature pieces of cuff Mullane accepted a position at NASA bracelets, wrap and knot Langley Research Center in Hampton, necklaces, tiered earrings Va., as system administrator for the and sculpted rings are set Air Traffic Operations Laboratory. He was employed at Mac Source in lush 22-carat gold or Communications as Systems Engineer. sterling silver plating and David Mullaney enhanced with a vivid ’12 (GCCIS) and Crayola-palette of raw Teraisa Chloros ’11 (GCCIS) gemstones. are happy to Founded just three announce their years ago in New Delhi, engagement. India, Zariin is the brain- They met as members of the child of Mamta Gupta Mamta Gupta ’03, left, and her sister Vidhi Gupta. RIT Student ’03 (MBA) and her sister Government and Vidhi—who were inspired by their cultural roots and their passion for worked together as resident advisors. Mullaney works for fashion and design. iCardiac Technologies in Brighton, N.Y., “I have always wanted to do my own thing—to start something from and Chloros began a Ph.D. program in scratch and grow it from there,” says Gupta. “So even as an internation- health services research and policy at al student at RIT, my long-term goal was to take the entrepreneurial the University of Rochester. plunge. I found the co-op program to be a good bridge from knowl- Roy Peterson ’12 (CLA) is attending the Community College of Beaver County edge to application in the real world.” Police Academy in Pennsylvania. He Zariin’s founders and their jewelry line have been featured in Harp- will graduate in December. er’s Bazaar, Elle, Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Grazia and Conde Nast Traveler magazines. Pieces from the collection are sold in 300 retail stores in more than 19 countries and are available for purchase in the U.S. on Amazon.com and at boutiques like Anthropologie. The sisters are self-taught designers and employ a team of artisans to ensure flawless execution of concepts, from trending, sketching and designing to sampling. At the heart of their inventiveness is the tonal mix of stones (say, a pink quartz with a smoky topaz), which widens the opportunity to create some very eye-catching and sophisticated pieces. Sadie (Flow) Strassner ’12 (CIAS) and Daniel Strassner are happy to announce “Zariin means ‘golden’ in Persian,” explains Gupta. “Our rough, their marriage on Sept. 7, 2012, in uncut stones wrapped in crushed gold lends our jewelry a unique and Varysburg, N.Y. They live in Boston. identifiable look in the global fashion arena. We have been worn by 2013 many on the Bollywood A-list like Sonam Kapoor and Soha Ali Khan, and celebrities like Kelly Rutherford of Gossip Girl fame and the stars of Kate Macken ’13 (CLA) has been All My Children.” awarded a 2013 Thomas R. Pickering Graduate Foreign Affairs Fellowship. Gupta says fashion-forward women would find the jewelry line to be Fellows receive financial support all-occasion wear. While subdued earrings could be a great start to the toward a two-year, full-time master’s day, a statement cuff or a cocktail ring makes a great conversation piece degree program in fields such as public policy, international affairs at a brunch or dinner—and with a change into chandelier earrings, one and public administration. Upon the can easily be prepped for a night on the town. completion of their master’s degree, “Zariin accessories can really enliven any outfit with the natural they commit to three years of service organic colors of the stones. Our collection is all about reinventing the as a Foreign Service Officer. classics in nouveau forms.” Marcia Morphy

WINTER 2013-14 | 45 “The best time to have planted an oak tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” —Anonymous

Support student success. It’s simple and easy. Are You: / Saving for retirement? / The owner of a life insurance policy which you bought to protect against a contingency that never happened? / Looking for a simple way to help RIT and save on taxes? If so, consider naming RIT as a beneficiary of your retirement plan or life insurance policy. What are the benefits for you? / Avoid potential double taxation. Your estate may save both estate taxes and income taxes on your retirement plan assets if you designate those assets to charity. / Or, receive an immediate charitable deduction by transferring ownership of a fully paid up life insurance policy to RIT. / Avoid estate taxes by designating RIT as a beneficiary of one of your life insurance policies. / You decide how your gift will be used at RIT to support student success.

For more information on beneficiary designations and how you can benefit, please visit rit.planyourlegacy.org

Or, if you wish to discuss this with a member of the Planned Giving team at RIT, call or e-mail: Robert Constantine / Director of Planned Giving / [email protected] / 585.475.4919

Make it happen . . . together as one

THE © 2013 Rochester Institute of Technology. All rights reserved. ELLINGSON Rochester Institute of Technology | One Lomb Memorial Drive | Rochester, New York 14623 SOCIETY BOOKS Books recently published by RIT Press. To place an order, call 585-475-6766 or go to ritpress.rit.edu.

From My Seat on the Aisle New Beginnings: Becoming Visible Jack Garner Acquiring and Living Jessica Lieberman with a Cochlear Implant From My Seat on the Aisle Edited by Michael Stinson Becoming Visible brings chronicles more than 30 and Gerard Buckley together scholarly years of Jack Garner’s discussions of visibility experience as a nationally This book contains per- and illness, photographs syndicated film critic for sonal stories written by of an experience in treat- Gannett newspapers. His book compiles the deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals who have ment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and personal best of his essays, reviews and interviews had cochlear implants. Many contributors to testimonial about that time. An artistic and with many Hollywood celebrities, including this book noted how their involvement in the academic contribution to the fields of trauma Audrey Hepburn, Clint Eastwood, Meryl deaf community and deaf culture influenced studies, disability studies and autopathog- Streep, Jimmy Stewart, Woody Allen and their perceptions of cochlear implants. The 15 raphy, this cancer journey reveals how the Philip Seymour Hoffman. Garner offers a authors share the agony over the decision to forces of art and narrative can contribute to unique perspective into the world of film get an implant and the delights and disap- social dynamics for change. that is humorous, anecdotal and insightful. pointments in hearing with one. In MEMORIAM Alumni 1957 1969 Judy R. Pratt ’81 (CCE), ’82 (CCE), ’82 Albert S. Hardies ’57 (KGCOE), July 29, 2013 Edward G. Hoffmann ’69 (KGCOE), (SCB), May 11, 2013 1940 Robert E. Porterfield ’57 (GAP), July 19, 2013 July 8, 2013 Jean W. Groh ’40 (SCB), July 31, 2013 Hugh B. Forsythe ’69 (CCE), May 3, 2013 1982 1958 David N. Owens ’82 (KGCOE), June 11, 2013 1941 Carol (Maher) Monroe ’58 (SCB), 1970 Richard F. Eisenberg ’41 (KGCOE), April 30, 2013 George G. Maderer ’70 (CCE), ’82 (CCE), 1983 Aug. 4, 2013 May 16, 2013 Kevin Aziz Zoghby ’83 (CAST), May 30, 2013 1959 1942 Terry L. Sherwood ’70 (KGCOE), 1984 Frederick E. Pitt ’59 (SCB), July 9, 2013 June 12, 2013 Elliott Landsman ’42 (CCE), May 3, 2013 Robert J. Crowe ’59 (GAP), Aug. 8, 2013 Kevin Michael Pulaski ’84 (KGCOE), Margaret L. (Emes) Lewis ’42 (SCB), Daniel R. Rooney ’59 (SCB), Feb. 26, 2013 1972 July 31, 2013 June 3, 2013 William K. Fay ’72 (CCE), May 11, 2013 Richard P. Corey ’84 (CCE), ’84 (CCE), 1960 Aug. 4, 2013 1946 Gordon W. Gutzmer ’60 (KGCOE), 1973 Shirley (Anderson) Baker ’46 (SCB), April 28, 2013 George E. Weed ’73 (KGCOE), May 10, 2013 1985 Aug. 11, 2013 Harold Vanlare ’60 (CCE), July 26, 2013 Robert C. Hall ’73 (SCB), July 7, 2013 Daniel A. Rehberg ’85 (COS), June 23, 2013 1949 Harry A. Loomis ’60 (CCE), May 31, 2013 1987 John R. Griller ’60 (GAP), June 9, 2013 1975 D. Gordon Hollinger ’49 (GAP), Charles T. Dominici ’75 (SCB), June 19, 2013 Marie Manuse ’87 (SCB), May 2, 2013 May 9, 2013 1961 David N. Hawkins ’75 (CCE), July 31, 2013 1991 Robert L. Maurinus ’49 (KGCOE), James R. Whitney ’61 (GAP), Aug. 1, 2013 Joseph G. Heilman ’75 (CCE), June 10, 2013 Carmen M. Gallo ’91 (CCE), May 26, 2013 June 21, 2013 Ronald L. Villard ’61 (GAP), June 3, 2013 Robert P. Kaplan ’49 (KGCOE) May 6, 2013 Wendell H. Hutt ’61 (COS), April 23, 2013 1976 1994 Kenneth L. Waldvogel ’76 (KGCOE), 1950 Nancy (Cole) Hosenfeld ’61 (FAA), Mike Koziol ’94 (SCB) ’01 (SCB), Sept. 4, 2013 July 16, 2013 April 30, 2013 John E. Evans Jr. ’50 (CCE), June 4, 2013 Kevin J. Mulcahy ’76 (SCB), July 3, 2013 2000 1962 1951 Michele M. Unger ’00 (CAST), June 18, 2013 Anthony Reggio ’62 (CCE), April 24, 2013 1977 Marie E. Martel ’51 (FAA), April 28, 2013 Harold H. Connor Jr. ’62 (SCB), May 14, 2013 Richard S. Elliott ’77 (CAST), April 30, 2013 2011 Herbert G. Stellwagen Jr. ’51 (COS), Timothy M. De Bellis ’11 (KGCOE), May 31, 2013 1963 1978 May 8, 2013 Rosemarie (Rinere) Viavattine ’51 (SCB), Donald G. Sundown ’63 (CCE), May 16, 2013 Philip J. Smith ’78 (CCE), May 18, 2013 June 19, 2013 Edward C. Deorr ’63 (FAA), Aug. 2, 2013 Robert A. Mathisen ’78 (KGCOE), ’82 (SCB), July 23, 2013 1952 Gordon A. Brown ’63 (FAA), June 23, 2013 Faculty and staff James C. Rigney ’63 (FAA), June 17, 2013 Allen H. Burns ’52 (GAP), July 16, 2013 1979 Nora Faulkner, nurse in RIT’s Student Sheila A. Mason-Truscott ’63 (SCB), Milton Clair Brown ’79 (CCE), June 8, 2013 Ellison L. Mayer ’52 (CCE), May 13, 2013 May 21, 2013 Health Center, Aug. 17, 2013 Maxine R. (Taylor) Gold ’52 (SCB), Peter J. Smith ’79 (SCB), July 17, 2013 May 26, 2013 1964 Richard Clifford Neubauer ’79 (SCB), Linda Keeney, director of communications, Development and Alumni John J. Wallace ’64 (CCE), May 8, 2013 July 22, 2013 1953 Relations, Oct. 9, 2013 1981 Robert R. Rowe ’53 (CCE), June 3, 2013 1966 Mike Koziol, public safety officer, Daryl S. Benham ’81 (CCE), ’83 (CCE), 1955 Charles A. Eygabroad ’66 (CCE), May 12, 2013 Sept. 4, 2013 Charles D. Krause ’66 (CCE), June 5, 2013 May 15, 2013 Charles W. Flemming ’55 (CCE), Harold Lewis Reitz Jr. ’81 (CAST), Douglas Marshall, engineering professor April 29, 2013 1967 April 29, 2013 and associate dean of the College of Robert P. Schon ’55 (CCE), June 19, 2013 Bart G. Guerreri ’67 (KGCOE), July 15, 2013 Steven Costa ’81 (CAST), June 4, 2013 Engineering,1958-1981, July 20, 2013

No. 15, November 2013 RIT (USPS-676-870) is published 15 times annually by Rochester Institute of Technology, One Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, N.Y. 14623-5603, once in March, once in April, three times in June, once in July, seven times in August, once in September, and once in November. Periodicals postage paid at Rochester, N.Y. 14623-5603 and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to RIT, Rochester Institute of Technology, One Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, N.Y. 14623-5603.

WINTER 2013-14 | 47 from the Archives 1965 Photo by Bruce Miller Photo by Bruce

NTID supporters, including Robert F. Kennedy and Hugh Carey, stood behind President Lyndon B. Johnson when he signed the bill that established NTID. Provided by NTID Remembering the beginning of NTID

ore than four decades ago, single, national technical college for the deaf. NTID began operations at RIT in surrounded by colleagues and On June 8, 1965, President Johnson 1968 with a class of 70 deaf or hard-of- supporters, President Lyndon B. signed Public Law 89-36, establishing hearing students. Within six years, 500 MJohnson signed a law that would revolution- NTID into law at a special ceremony in students were enrolled. ize technical education for the deaf com- the White House Rose Garden. Today, more than 1,250 deaf or hard-of- munity by creating the National Technical At least two dozen universities expressed hearing students are enrolled at RIT/NTID Institute for the Deaf. interest in housing the new institute. That for both undergraduate and graduate The need for technical education for number was narrowed down to eight. RIT’s programs. deaf students was discussed in 1964. After strong post-secondary technical education The main academic building for NTID conferences and a Congressional Advisory and work-study programs gave it the edge remains Lyndon Baines Johnson Hall, dedi- Committee were held on the issue, bills were and the official selection was announced cated in honor of the work President Johnson proposed to Congress for the creation of a on Nov. 14, 1966. did for NTID and the deaf community.

48 | WINTER 2013-14 The RIT Mobile App | The University Magazine App

EVERYTHING RIT It’s like being here, without any of the homework.

Find the FREE RIT MOBILE APP in Google Play and the iTunes App Store, or go to m.rit.edu for most mobile devices, to keep up with day-to-day activities at RIT, including events, sports and the latest campus news.

The FREE UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE APP, available in Google Play, the Amazon Appstore and the iTunes App Store, features stories about alumni, students and the university’s innovative projects as well as videos, slideshows and interactive graphics. SCAN TO OPT-OUT OF PRINT MAGAZINE. Go to rit.edu/godigital to opt-out of the print version of the magazine. Periodicals www.rit.edu

Rochester Institute of Technology

A FREE FESTIVAL FOR EVERYONE. EXPERIENCE THE FUTURE

Saturday May 3 10 am-5pm rit campus