Two companies associated with Rochester Institute of Technology’s Venture Creations technology business incubator have advanced to the round two finals of the Grow-NY competition. Grow-NY is a food innovation and agriculture technology business challenge focused on enhancing the emerging food, beverage and agriculture innovation cluster in Central New York, the Finger Lakes, and Southern Tier regions. Twenty finalists were chosen from a field of 264 startups from 27 countries including Argentina, Germany and Israel that applied to be part of the initiative. In the United States, 26 states were represented, including 98 entries from New York. Finalists will pitch their business plans at the Grow-NY Food and Agriculture Summit Nov. 17-18. A total of $3 million in prize money will be distributed to seven winners. Crystal Creek Organics, based in Rochester, N.Y., and located in the Venture Creations incubator, manufactures unique organic fertilizers by extracting and separating nutrients and organic material from manure-based, bio-gas digesters. Using a patented, eco-friendly technology, Crystal Creek provides the Southern Tier region with a high-volume economical and environmental alternative to fertilization that eradicates harmful phosphorus. Leep Foods, which graduated from Venture Creations in 2019 and is based in Chili, N.Y., grows premium USDA-certified organic mushrooms using regenerative soil methods on nutrient-enriched American hardwoods for consumers and restaurants. Co-founded by George Zheng ’15 (mechanical engineering technology), the company’s mushrooms can be found at Wegmans, The Good Food Collective, and Range Me, a product discovery and sourcing platform for retailers and suppliers. “New York state is committed to supporting our world-renowned food and agricultural industry,” said Gov. Andrew Cuomo. “Once again, the Grow-NY competition has attracted a group of diverse, innovative entrepreneurs who are ready to focus on finding new, innovative ways to further transform this critical industry. It is through targeted efforts like Grow-NY that we will continue to bolster these regional economies, fostering statewide growth as we work to build back better.” The Grow-NY competition is focused on growing an enduring food and agriculture innovation cluster in Central New York, the Finger Lakes and the Southern Tier regions of New York state. The competition offered a total of $3 million in funding to innovative, high-growth startups from across the globe focused on the food and agriculture industry. “All of us at Venture Creations are proud of the hard work and accomplishments of our startup companies and launched companies, particularly those that recently advanced in the Grow-NY competition,” said Peter Parts, director of RIT’s Venture Creations incubator. “These competitions draw the best and brightest startup companies in our region. By providing quality coaching, professional consulting and connections with industry professionals, Venture Creations creates an environment where these cutting-edge businesses can develop and thrive. New York state is an innovation hub, and Venture Creations is proud to be part of that ecosystem.”  Venture Creations was created in 2003 to provide services to incubating companies, facilitating the development and operation of these companies for the purpose of advancing the educational and research missions of RIT through the enhancement of faculty, student and staff involvement in high technology. It was also created to promote economic development and competitiveness in Monroe County and New York state by encouraging and facilitating the transfer of technology resources to the marketplace. The total number of launched companies now stands at 42, with 559 jobs having been created.

Rochester Institute of Technology professors have received a National Science Foundation award to develop a hands-on data science course for non-computing majors. The course will first be offered at RIT and then across the country, in an effort to promote computing for all. RIT plans to start offering the new Data Science Principles course in fall 2021. During the course, students from many different backgrounds can learn how to extract knowledge and patterns from data that’s important to their field — and all without needing to know how to program or code. The demand for data science knowledge stretches beyond computing to many disciplines that have become data-driven, including business, engineering, science, healthcare, and the humanities. According to an IBM study, the number of data science and analytics job listings will grow to about 2.7 million in the U.S. this year, a demand that won’t be met unless universities begin educating data science expertise to non-computing majors in their own domains. “It is hard to think of any discipline that does not need data science, which can help you discover useful models and make predictions,” said Xumin Liu, associate professor of computer science who is leading the development of the course. “However, even if you throw data at a problem, you need to be able to read it and make appropriate decisions from it – that is the science part.” Liu and Rajendra Raj, professor of computer science, received a nearly $300,000 NSF grant to develop curriculum that can attract non-computing majors. The challenge is creating a class that doesn’t require a background in coding or a long chain of prerequisite courses in computer science and mathematics. “I was actually inspired to develop this course by my elementary school-aged daughter, who was doing a project to study sleep and video game playing time,” said Liu. “I realized that just because you don’t know how to program in languages like R or Python, that should not stop you from being able to analyze data and solve problems.” To address this issue, the professors are creating the Data Science Learning Platform, a web-based graphical user interface (GUI) that allows users to query with data science tools and analyze data, without necessarily requiring coding. It will also teach the computational aspects of data science through real-time code exemplification and a sandbox where coding can be used if needed. The project also includes a Data Science Course Module that provides the curricular materials needed to use the platform effectively. The platform will include a help center that explains different computer science and data science terms. It will also feature in-house data sets and the capability for users to upload their own data. “It’s really important that these exercises are hands-on and customizable for each student,” said Liu. “The intention is not to make these students computer scientists, but rather to help them appreciate and apply basic data science concepts within their own disciplines.” At RIT, the Data Science Principles course will be available to students outside the Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences, who have already taken the non-computing major Principles of Computing course (CSCI-101 or ISCH-110) or Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science Principles. The plan is to make the course part of the Principles of Computing immersion, offered through the School of Information. The professors said that many students will find this course useful for their majors. “For example, health science students can apply data science to process and analyze large-scale electronic health records to quickly discover life-threatening patterns that are useful for diagnosis and treatment,” said Liu. “Students in business can leverage data science skills to finalize informed financial decisions and gain a competitive advantage. Engineers can make use of data to understand the impact of different models and establish the best ones for actual implementation.” When created, this will be one of the first data science courses available to entry-level students in all non-computing majors. University of California, Berkeley is one other college that has designed a popular foundations of data science course. To make a broader impact, the professors will host workshops for faculty at other universities, who want to offer the course at their college. The Data Science Learning Platform will be free and open source. In the future, they plan to create a version of the course for an even wider audience on edX, the massive open online course provider created by Harvard and MIT. They also hope to modify the curriculum and platform for K-12 students.

Engineering Design Tools, a first-year course, is an example of how RIT’s most applied programs have managed to keep learning as close to hands-on as possible in the age of COVID-19. Mechanical engineering faculty and lab managers modified the course this summer to prepare for the new environment posed by the pandemic. They added a take-home kit of parts, adapted the structure of the class to include onsite and online collaborations, and retained the most important engineering concepts, said John Wellin, one of four faculty co-teaching the course. ‌ A. Sue Weisler Jan Maneti, operations manager of RIT’s Machine Shop, demonstrates milling techniques as part of the class design project. Faculty and staff in learning labs such as the Machine Shop have installed cameras for students to watch close-up demonstrations streamed onto a screen in the shop to meet the distance requirements due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “This course gives a flavor of the engineering design process to freshmen to excite them about mechanical engineering and to see what is involved,” said Wellin, a senior lecturer in RIT’s Kate Gleason College of Engineering. “What they take away is that all these things they learn going through their career at RIT, in all their courses, this course can give them tools to fit into that narrative and the jobs that they will eventually be doing. Logistical challenges met Wellin; Mario Gomes and Kate Leipold, both senior lecturers in mechanical engineering; and Jan Maneti, operations manager of the engineering college’s Machine Shop, teach engineering theory and processes, CAD design, and precision milling to 210 first-year students in several course sections. In previous classes, there were approximately 140 students split into 36 teams of four. The larger number of students reflects good news—an increase in new students overall to the engineering college, especially in mechanical engineering, this fall. But it has also created some logistical challenges. “We went from 36 kits to 210,” Gomes explained. Kits were ordered for each student instead of for each group, and distributed during onsite classes. Others were shipped to quarantined students at the start of the semester, or to those who requested all online class accommodations. In the past, there was a team project. This fall, it became an individual-build assignment, supplemented with a team consultation element during online class times. “Learning about the hardware and troubleshooting is a key component of this course. Altering that, we felt couldn’t be done,” said Gomes. “They also have to look at issues of design and understand iterations because the design process is cyclical. There are also areas that have been expanded, some of the technical content around motors and gear boxes, for example.” McGuyver-like, all students are expected to build a robo-monkey, a device that climbs. Teams must demonstrate that their device can lift itself over a meter in less than 120 seconds. Students will do this with a combination of gear boxes and batteries included in their kits along with safety glasses and some arts and craft items such as popsicle sticks, straws, pipe cleaners, wires, string, rubber bands, switches, Allen wrenches, and zip ties. Formatting schematics for a climbing device starts with computer-aided design, or CAD programming. Leipold conducts her class fully online. “I do a synchronous lecture each week, then students have signed up for small group labs with teaching assistants,” she said. “Previously, these sessions were larger groups with several TAs. Going online allowed more flexibility in scheduling, and hopefully the small groups foster more interaction.” Onsite classes modified Producing prototypes is necessary as students continue through upper-level classes including senior design. With training in formatting tool designs, students also learn about using milling and lathe equipment. Manetti teaches students to handle materials for in-class projects, but standing close together as he explains the complex milling process is a thing of the past. Today, students watch him from safe distances. Demonstrations are also video-streamed onto a screen in the shop to be sure the intricate detail work is seen from all angles. “Usually students can be closer, watching demonstrations and their classmates working,” said Manetti, who oversees the shop that is used for teaching, corporate training, and research. “With COVID, we needed to have that distance, but the shop is big enough and we can do this.” ‌ Students learned how to use equipment in the Machine Shop and read design specifications to fabricate a jeweler’s hammer. For many of the first-year students, it is their first time working on the machines, and each class about materials, precision machining, and fabricating builds on the previous one. “We did a first pass of this work last week and today’s assignment was the real work to see if our design is accurate,” said Austin Goldinger, a first-year student from Pennsylvania. He and two classmates, Camryn Munro and Zoe Masters, concentrated on the detail work needed to drill an opening in a cylinder of stainless steel for the center portion of a jeweler’s hammer. Learning outcomes retained Multidisciplinary work such as engineering is as much about the final product as it is about how the team negotiates its way to that end goal, said Gomes. “With a team, you divide up some of the responsibilities. Now, we know that whatever we ask of them, they will be doing individually, so that is good,” he said. Wellin agreed. “This final design project is really the ultimate expression of how much they have incorporated of the concepts and how they dealt with issues of trouble-shooting, and understanding the ‘it never goes right the first time’ scenario. Before, that was in a team, and there were some who really got into it, and some who were indifferent to and others who just didn’t do it. Now we will have a measure of that for every student.”

While many college athletics are on a timeout during the pandemic, esports at RIT are plugged in and fully operational. This semester, RIT Esports has student groups playing 15 different competitive games, along with four teams to support esports operations. As teams begin their fall leagues, students are finding different ways to practice and scrimmage in a socially distanced manner. “I feel like we are really lucky, because the nature of what we do doesn’t require a lot of in-person interaction and we don’t have to cancel many of our activities,” said Hillary Li, president of RIT Esports and a fourth-year electrical engineering BS/MS student from Manhattan. “We definitely miss the in-person interactions though, because it’s fun and helps create a level of familiarity.” Esports leaders explained that most student players have their own setup, so they can compete from wherever they are living. However, RIT Esports has created social-distancing protocols for students to use computer labs and the esports lounge. “We only allow six people in the lounge at a time, we have cleaning supplies for all the surfaces, and we have unplugged every other computer for social distancing,” said Li. “We are requiring that students wear masks and bring their own headsets.” Many teams are currently finishing tryouts and determining which leagues they will play in this fall. To prepare, students are competing in “scrims,” playing as teams in public lobbies and watching video of their gameplay, called VOD review. “It’s actually been super nice to have esports since quarantine,” said Zach McMurray, a third-year media arts and technology student from Scarsdale, N.Y., and player on the Call of Duty team. “I spent so much time on COD during quarantine that it flew by for me. And we’re not playing other people in-person, so there’s no COVID risk.” Will Kneeland, a caster for the broadcasting team and player for the Valorant squad, said that it isn’t too different doing things remotely, but he does miss the camaraderie. “I miss showing up on Friday night to labs and finding a whole group of people to talk to with similar interests,” said Kneeland, a fourth-year web and mobile computing major from Bangor, Maine. “I am very glad to be able to still do what I love in the middle of all of this. I don't know if my sanity would hold without it.” Throughout the year, RIT Esports plans to produce more live streams of gameplay and hold online events and game nights. RIT currently has esports teams or squads playing Apex Legends, Call of Duty, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), Dota 2, Hearthstone, League of Legends, Overwatch, Rainbow Six: Siege, Rocket League, Smite, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Magic: The Gathering Arena, StarCraft II, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Valorant. There are also student-led teams supporting RIT Esports with broadcasting, community, development, and production. For more information about RIT Esports, join the RIT Esports Discord group.

Rochester Institute of Technology had its best year ever for sponsored research funding. For fiscal year 2020, which ended June 30, RIT received 382 new awards totaling $82 million. The record funding follows $58 million in research expenditures in fiscal year 2019, also a record. During this most recent fiscal year, RIT had 339 principal investigators associated with 669 active research awards. “In these challenging times, RIT is quite fortunate to have obtained a record amount of support for its research programs,” said Ryne Raffaelle, RIT’s vice president for research and associate provost. “One thing that we have definitely learned through this pandemic, and the other challenges facing our society, is the importance of academic research.  It is gratifying to note that we are doing our part.” Among the funding sources, RIT received:$44 million from federal agencies, including $15 million from the National Science Foundation, $8 million from the Department of Defense, $5 million from the Department of Health and Human Services (most of that from the National Institutes of Health) and $4 million from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; $16 million from New York state. The university also submitted 722 research proposals, totaling $200 million this past fiscal year. Some of the research highlights include:Donna Burnette, director of RIT’s K-12 program, received a $3.5M Army Education Outreach Program (AEOP) award to support high school apprentices displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic. This virtual course addresses the AEOP mission of creating a STEM literate citizenry. Students will explore the concepts and effects of science and technology on society, look at how science and technology have affected and been affected by our values, and think about how we know what we know in science and engineering (metacognition).Bo Yuan, professor and chair of the Department of Computing Security, received $2.4M from NSF for the Scholarships for Service Program which takes exceptional BS students majoring in computer science, software engineering, or computing security and places them in an accelerated BS/MS programs leading in computing security.Matt Dye, assistant professor in the Department of Liberal Studies at RIT/NTID and Department of Psychology received a $1M award from NIH to examine the effects of auditory development, cognitive function and language outcomes in a large group of young deaf adults. The results of this study will provide much-needed and timely answers regarding the possible benefits of early cochlear implantation and early intervention with sign language that parents and policy makers seek as they determine how best to intervene with the next generation of deaf infants who are cochlear implant recipients or candidates.Jeanne Christman, associate professor in the College of Engineering Technology received a $1 million NSF award to use self-determination theory to inform practice on a proposed project, Critical Mass of Engineering Technology Scholar. Its purpose is to recruit and retain a more diverse pool of students to engineering technology by addressing factors that contribute to the underrepresentation of women, students of color and those who are deaf or hard of hearing. 

As organizations large and small struggle to survive through COVID-19, new research explores the vital role of intrapreneurs—employees known for thinking outside of the box and using their talents to further innovation and creativity within organizations.  Rochester Institute of Technology alumnus Susan Foley ’73 ’79 (business administration, MBA) used her decades-long experience to compile a book of blog articles, Intrapreneurs: Who, What, How and Why,  that explores who intrapreneurs are and why they are often considered to be the “squeaky wheels” in organizations.  “Being different is a key attribute of today’s workers,” said Foley, managing partner of Corporate Entrepreneurs and an expert in intrapreneurship. “Intrapraneurs’ whole careers have been about why they didn’t seem to quite fit in and always questioning things.”  The reality, Foley explained, is that intrapreneurs can help organizations enhance innovation and create social value from within, particularly as organizations must re-invent themselves to survive post-COVID-19.  During her research that explored the unique competencies of these intrapreneurs, Foley found that they were more than just traditional employees. Strengths include independent thinking, or relying on their own experiences and knowledge to guide them, the ability to navigate through uncertainty and ‘lean’ into it, and the need to be challenged and motivated by the journey, moving themselves forward along with the organization.  “I think we can all agree that we need new ideas now more than ever, especially due to the constraints caused by risk-adverse uncertainty that is permeating organizations,” said Foley. “Intrapreneurs are willing to step up to the challenge and they believe that there is no better time to come up with fresh ideas.” Zhi Tang is a professor of management and graduate programs director for Global Supply Chain Management and Technology Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship in RIT’s Saunders College of Business. He believes that innovation is the lifeline for any business today, but what comes easy for smaller companies in creation and innovation appears more and more difficult for large corporations, even though these corporations themselves were once leading the trend of cutting-edge inventions. “Established corporate culture and norms often facilitate the execution of decisions from the top to the bottom, yet preventing radical ideas to emerge from the bottom up,” he explained. “As a result, large corporations rely more on buying new ideas from new ventures, which often provokes the market-dominance concern. It is vital to understand the concept of intrapreneurship and how to encourage intrapreneurs to thrive in large organizations.”  Foley added: “It is the people, not always the process, that move innovation forward.”

The RIT graduate behind the popular card game Exploding Kittens will be the RIT Alumni Association Distinguished Speaker next month. Elan Lee ’98 (computer science) will lead a Zoom webinar at 1 p.m. on Oct. 24 during Tiger Alumni Week on Oct. 19-25. The week allows alumni to participate virtually in Brick City events, including interactive programs and reunions. Lee and his Exploding Kittens publishing company recently released a new game called Poetry for Neanderthals, where teams earn points by correctly figuring out words and phrases. The catch is that they must only use single syllable words to describe the complex terms, or they get bopped with a 2-foot inflatable club. ‌ Lee’s new party game Poetry for Neanderthals challenges players to use single syllable words to explain complex words and phrases. “Poetry for Neanderthals was born when two friends introduced me to a word game they invented where each player had to describe a life experience using only single syllable words,” said Lee, the former chief design officer at Microsoft. “After playing for five minutes, I sounded like a caveman at a job interview and the entire room was in hysterics.” Since March, Exploding Kittens has seen a massive uptick in sales for both its mobile apps and its collection of card games, according the company. For the month of May, Exploding Kittens experienced a 186 percent growth in App Store sales and 100 percent growth in Google Play sales for its premium app compared to the same time last year. Additionally, card game sales year-to-date are nearly double compared to the same time last year.   Additional Brick City activities focused on students are being planned on campus throughout the fall. Details about those events will be announced as they become finalized. Visit the Brick City website for more information about all events. Registration is now available for Lee’s webinar.

“I’ve gotten much more out of my association with RIT than I have ever given to it.” – RIT Trustee Bruce Bates Over the past 50 years, Bruce Bates has worked with seven RIT presidents behind the scenes. He witnessed RIT move a campus from downtown to Henrietta. And he’s made strategic decisions that have helped propel RIT to the global university it is today. For his dedication and passion to RIT, Bates will receive RIT’s inaugural Lifetime Achievement in Philanthropy Award during a virtual celebration on Sept. 24. Thanks and well-wishes from many of those touched by his generosity through the years have been pouring in on a tribute page set up last month. “This lifetime achievement award is intended to be offered to people who have demonstrated the pinnacle of achievement in terms of service to the institution, and I can’t think of a better person to be the first recipient,” said RIT President David Munson. “Bruce quietly went about making a difference in innumerable people’s lives because he believed it was the right thing to do.” Bates’ sweet disposition started at a young age. Both his parents worked for the Lifesavers candy company, including his mother, who served as treasurer during the 1920s and was one of the country’s first female corporate executives. He was born in Port Nelson, Ontario, Canada, following his father’s promotion to president of Lifesavers’ Canadian operation, starting his education in a three-room school house before shipping off to Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. Bates later earned a degree in industrial administration at Yale University before moving on to MIT for a graduate degree in industrial management. Bates came to Rochester in 1956, making partner at prominent investment firm D.B. Bonbright Inc. and was a fixture in the financial community for nearly 60 years. He retired from his position as a senior vice president at Morgan Stanley in 2014. Bates was originally invited by then Chairman of the Board of Directors Arthur Stern to join the Nathaniel Rochester Society shortly after it was established in 1968, before being appointed to the Board of Trustees in 1970. Through five decades of service, including his own stint as chairman from 1984 to 1987, Bates helped drive RIT’s transformation. “Bruce is remarkable because he has been a trustee for almost 50 years, and a consistent donor to the university for over 35 years in a row,” said Munson. “To find somebody that really has that kind of longevity with a single institution is extremely rare.” Born out of a sense of duty to make a difference in his community, Bates’ philanthropic efforts have come in many shapes and sizes. “Just given the benevolence inside him and his altruistic nature, he just wanted to help other succeed,” said Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration James Watters. “He rallied around younger folks to be able to impart some of that knowledge and wisdom.” Bates’ commitments to RIT have made a significant impact on what is now three generations of Tigers. His Nancy and Bruce Bates Science Scholarship, paired with Bates Scholarship Endowment, have afforded over 275 students opportunities to succeed at RIT which otherwise would have been out of reach. He also most recently established the Bruce B. Bates Endowed Professorship, which provides annual funding for a faculty member and their research. “When I first applied to college, I was extremely doubtful. I had no family members who could support me financially and I truly felt I was on my own,” said Ebony Nicole Eli ’20, who graduated last spring with a sociology degree. “Receiving the Bates Scholarship changed my life – I’ve done things I never imagined I’d be able to do and pushed myself farther than I ever believed I could. I am eternally grateful for that.” Perhaps due to his Canadian roots, Bates has always had a passion for hockey, spending as much time on the ice through the years as he did behind a desk. While it has been some time since he laced up his skates, his love of the game will always be exhibited through the endowment he established five years ago for the women’s hockey team. “Endowed coaching positions across the country are not common, and endowed women’s coaches are even rarer,” said current Bruce B. Bates Head Women’s Hockey Coach Celeste Brown ’15. “The endowment allows our players to have the ultimate student-athlete experience as well as an opportunity to become the greatest versions of themselves by the time they graduate.” “He wanted to see teams win, but more importantly, he wanted to see students gain from their experience,” said Executive Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Lou Spiotti Jr. “He made it loud and clear with the women’s hockey endowment that he wanted to grow the quality of the program and acknowledge the importance of that activity at RIT.” Bates has also made the greater Rochester community a better place in many other ways, giving his time and talents to numerous other organizations, including the George Eastman House, Rochester General Hospital, the Third Presbyterian Church of Rochester, The Red Cross of Rochester, and the United Way. Explained Bates, “I think it is fun to invest in something when you are living, as opposed to leaving something in your will and not seeing what the results are.” At RIT, he has a lot to see.

Rochester Institute of Technology will host a virtual panel discussion focused on the unique challenges and opportunities facing Black journalists and why representation in the media matters. The event, titled Reporting While Black, will feature six Rochester-based Black journalists from TV, radio and print media at both the local and national level.  The Zoom webinar is free and open to the public and takes place on Zoom from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 1. It is hosted by RIT’s Division of Diversity and Inclusion and the journalism program in the School of Communication, College of Liberal Arts. “We know that staffers in newsrooms skew overwhelmingly white,” said Associate Professor Hinda Mandell, director of RIT’s journalism program. “We also know that recent events emerging from newsrooms in Philadelphia to Kenosha, Wis., have demonstrated that newsrooms aren’t neutral. And Black journalists face racism while on the job. We’re honored to bring together a talented group of Black journalists to hear about their experiences amidst the backdrop of the movement toward racial justice following the murder of George Floyd, the pandemic, the economy and the election.”  The panelists include Karen Edwards, evening anchor for Spectrum News; Tyler Brown, news reporter for 13 WHAM News; April Franklin, host of WXXI’s Weekend Edition and a reporter at WXXI News; Joshua Rashaad McFadden, an assistant professor in RIT’s School of Photographic Arts and Sciences whose work has been featured recently in The New York Times and other national outlets; Katrina Overby, a postdoctoral researcher in RIT’s School of Communication; and Sheila Rayam, community engagement editor at the Democrat and Chronicle. The event will be moderated by Jonathan Ntheketha, associate director of student success and development in the Multicultural Center for Academic Success. Advance registration is required. To learn more about the panelists and register, visit the RIT Events page.