Tiger Love: New major leads to lifetime of love

Rochester Institute of Technology researcher Rubén Proaño has joined the World Health Organization’s (WHO)  Technical Advisory Group on Market Access for Vaccines (TAG MVAC). He began his service during the advisory group’s November meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. The TAG MVAC group specializes in areas such as vaccine market dynamics, vaccine manufacturing, immunization programs, and data analytics. The committee, comprised of 15 experts from around the world, convenes twice a year and serves as a WHO advisory board. “It is both an honor and a responsibility to be invited to join this WHO advisory group. Ensuring equitable access to vaccines is a significant challenge for humanity,” said Proaño, an associate professor of industrial and systems engineering in RIT’s Kate Gleason College of Engineering. “The opportunity to discuss the issues, solutions, and strategies for making vaccines more accessible in such a prestigious forum is a unique privilege and a chance to contribute to a better world.” Utilizing mathematical modeling and analytics, Proaño’s research explores ways to make vaccines more affordable, accessible, and profitable. His work on vaccines has received support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Additionally, he spent a sabbatical year at the UNICEF Vaccine Center in Copenhagen during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. “In my research, my students and I have been investigating hypothetical models to gain new insights into coordinating the global vaccine market,” he said. “I believe that industrial engineering and operations research tools are highly effective for developing systematic strategies to tackle complex, multi-dimensional challenges.” Advisory group members support the WHO's Market Information for Access Initiative in its efforts to improve access to safe, effective, quality, and affordable vaccines for all. The group provides recommendations on various global vaccine market issues, enhancing access to vaccines, analyzing data, understanding pricing dynamics, and developing initiatives to balance vaccine supply and demand. Vaccine distribution fluctuates and often millions of children are living in countries lacking regular immunizations. Programs such as those supported by WHO work to ensure that the neediest populations receive necessary and affordable vaccines. “We were thrilled to learn that Dr. Praono was invited to serve on this Technical Advisory Group for the World Health Organization,” said Doreen Edwards, dean of RIT’s Kate Gleason College of Engineering. “It’s a shining example of how engineers bring their expertise to address complex issues that impact the quality of people’s lives.” Related Information: https://www.rit.edu/news/ruben-proano-participate-united-nations-forum https://www.rit.edu/news/researcher-gets-grant-study-vaccine-market https://www.rit.edu/news/faculty-researcher-sees-covid-19-unfold-global-perspective-while-sabbatical-unicef

NTID President Gerard Buckley, who made history as the first RIT/NTID alumnus to become president of the college, has announced his intention to step down in summer 2025 after leading the National Technical Institute for the Deaf for 15 years. His tenure as NTID president caps a career in higher education spanning more than 40 years. His last day as president will be July 18, 2025.   “Fifty years ago, I entered RIT/NTID as a freshman student, and this college profoundly changed my life,” said Buckley. In his Nov. 26 message to the RIT community regarding Buckley’s intention to step down, RIT President David Munson praised Buckley as a fierce advocate for students and for his dedication to improving opportunities for members of the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities. Buckley joined NTID in 1990 as an assistant professor and chairperson of NTID’s Department of Educational Outreach. He later served as director of NTID’s Center for Outreach, associate dean of student services, and assistant vice president for college advancement before being named president. He graduated from RIT/NTID in 1978 with a bachelor’s degree in social work and went on to earn a master’s degree in special education from the University of Missouri and a doctorate in special education from the University of Kansas. “Throughout his career, Gerry has been a fierce advocate for students, while dedicating his professional life to improving opportunities for members of the deaf and hard-of-hearing community,” said RIT President David Munson. “He is respected throughout the nation in the field of deaf education and, on our campus, he is recognized as a leader in fostering a highly inclusive, supportive culture. For me, it has been, and continues to be, a true pleasure to work with Gerry.” As NTID president, Buckley strengthened and steadily increased U.S. Congressional support for the federally funded college and its mission. Other NTID achievements during his tenure include:Raising $51 million for Transforming RIT: The Campaign for Greatness; Establishing the NTID Regional STEM Center and expanding STEM Outreach activities and STEM Academies, all designed to prepare deaf and hard-of-hearing students for career success; Strong student enrollments, including a 4% increase for fall ’24; Consistently maintaining placement rates for graduates at the college’s record 94 percent level; Establishing the Deaf Health Care and Biomedical Science Hub, along with expanded partnerships with University of Rochester Medical Center and Rochester Regional Health, designed to increase deaf representation in health care and scientific fields; Strengthening NTID’s commitment to diversity through establishing the NTID Office of Diversity and Inclusion, the Randleman Program, and the NTID Faculty Fellowship Program; Graduation of the first three deaf students to earn doctoral degrees from RIT. “I spent a decade working externally before returning to NTID as a faculty member in 1990,” Buckley said. “RIT/NTID has changed the lives of thousands of deaf students during our 60+ year history, and I am honored to have served as president over the past 15 years. I am thankful to the dedicated faculty and staff of NTID who continue to fulfill our mission of preparing young deaf and hard-of-hearing students for outstanding career success. I am especially thankful for the tremendous support of my wife, Judy, over the years and her active engagement in our community. We consider ourselves blessed to have had this opportunity to serve.” RIT will launch a national search for the next president of NTID. Munson said RIT will engage students, faculty, staff, and alumni during the search.

A new National Science Foundation grant will allow 18 RIT students to travel to Sweden and conduct artificial intelligence (AI) research that enhances the industrial workplace. The students will take part in a program of AI research, professional development, and mentorship, which includes eight weeks at University West, near Gothenburg, Sweden. The trip and program are funded as part of the NSF International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) program. A team of RIT professors and collaborators at University West are running the program, which prioritizes Ph.D. students. The NSF-funded grant is called US-Swedish Research Experiences on AI in Production Technology and Work-Integrated Learning (AI-PROWIL). The research projects will advance fundamental scientific research on AI-enhanced automation, AI-enhanced automatic control, and AI-enhanced management. “AI is transforming how industrial organizations operate, including on global scales,” said PI Cecilia Alm, a professor affiliated with RIT’s Department of Psychology and School of Information and director of the AWARE-AI program. “AI plays a prominent role in Industry 5.0—where robots, smart systems, and humans are teaming up.” Alm said that University West is known for its unique scientific environment focused on work and industrial production and its advanced facilities enabling fundamental research that is future-of-work-centered. She added that challenges with workforce development and managing these AI-enhanced aspects of industry are important areas to study. Students participating as IRES scholars in this U.S.-Sweden partnership will complete projects that are industry-inspired for future human-centered and sustainable workplaces, guided by faculty mentoring teams. The research projects could involve innovative machine learning algorithms, architectures, and new AI interface prototypes and sensor methods. During the research experience, RIT students will interact with peer students at University West and experience international research cultures. The IRES scholars will also seek to present, publish, and release research products with mentors. “Research has increasingly become a global endeavor, where different countries and universities may create unique cultures, environments, and approaches to research problems and development,” said Pengcheng Shi, computing and information sciences Ph.D. program director. “This experience will allow our students to benefit from different perspectives and technical/application strengths, address new research questions, and form concrete long-term collaborative relationships.” Co-principal investigators on the grant, include Shi, who is also associate dean for Research and Scholarship in the Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences; Reynold Bailey, professor of computer science; and Alexander Ororbia, assistant professor of computer science and cognitive science. Professor Thomas Pederson is coordinating the activities at University West. “At University West, we are very much looking forward to hosting the participating RIT Ph.D. students and collaborating with them and their mentors to address important research challenges together,” said Pederson. The NSF IRES program is training a new generation of science and engineering research leaders. The U.S.-Sweden program will run from September to December in 2025, 2026, and 2027. The stay in Sweden begins in mid-September. The experience includes pre-travel research and professional development. A continuation phase with a workshop after the trip will be a springboard for research dissemination in publications and talks at top-tier conferences. To learn more and apply, go to the IRES AI-PROWIL website.

Rochester Institute of Technology received a boost in funding recently, as a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of State will continue the work led by professors Clyde Eirikur Hull and Eric Williams with entrepreneurships based on circular economy principles in member nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The circular economy refers to an industrial economy that focuses on reducing waste by reusing and recycling materials. It’s designed to keep products and resources in use for as long as possible through thoughtful design. ASEAN, or Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states that promotes intergovernmental cooperation in a wide range of areas, including the economy, politics, and education. The member states include Brunei Darussalam, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.   ‌ Photo provided by Clyde Hull RIT Professor Clyde Eirikur Hull takes a question from the audience during the Second Symposium on Accelerating Science, Technology, and Circular Innovation in Vientiane, Laos, this past July. The one-year extension, made possible through the U.S.-ASEAN Smart Cities Partnership under the leadership of Program Manager Helen Santiago Fink, aims to help organizations in ASEAN countries train entrepreneurs, businesses, and lawmakers to use sustainability science to identify profitable, eco-friendly opportunities. It focuses on developing innovative technologies and business models that strengthen local economies, foster ties with the U.S., and reduce environmental harm. By applying circular economy principles and leveraging the team’s expertise in innovation and technology management, the initiative collaborates with local partners and the State Department to deliver training that supports sustainable business growth and environmental preservation. The professors are joined by Israa Ameen Thiab, visiting assistant professor at Saunders and a Ph.D. candidate in RIT’s sustainability program; Mihloti Williams, senior program manager at the Competitive Sustainability Center at the Saunders College of Business; research program manager Khant Oak Soe ’23 (technology innovation management and entrepreneurship); and senior program specialist Rachel Spangler ’16 (metals and jewelry design). They will be continuing their circular economy education training with over 50 partners in the ASEAN region, which includes over 37 universities and 15 business incubators and non-profit organizations, while also lending financial support to new circular economy startup companies. In total, more than 100 teachers and nearly 1,000 students have been trained. Hull, professor of management in RIT’s Saunders College of Business, center director at the Competitive Sustainability Center and the grant’s principal investigator, was grateful for the creative solutions that his team has witnessed from within the region, from businesses finding solutions for food waste, to high-tech plastics recycling, and organic fertilizer stemming from local materials that originally went to waste stations. “A key lesson we’ve learned is the value of training diverse groups—ranging from those with no work experience or high school education to individuals with advanced degrees,” Hull said. “The people who do our training are starting an amazing array of circular businesses, which is both good for the environment and profits.” ‌ Photo provided by Clyde Hull RIT professor Eric Williams explains his research on use of end of first-use electronics and the effect of informal recycling in ASEAN member nations. Williams, professor of sustainability in Golisano Institute for Sustainability (GIS) and co-PI on the grant, focuses his research on the end of first-use electronics and how informal recycling practices impact ASEAN member nations. “We aim to reduce environmental harm from informal recycling in Asian nations by shifting materials to proper facilities, which are more efficient and environmentally sound,” Williams said. “This approach could yield a win-win-win: greater material recovery, less environmental damage, and improved economic benefits for those in the end-of-use chain, including the informal sector. While outcomes depend on policy and other factors, we’re working to nudge things in the right direction.” Their research abroad also comes stateside. Thiab recently led a circular economy entrepreneurship workshop at RIT’s Center for Urban Entrepreneurship, bringing insight from practices in her native Jordan to local businesses. The workshop focused on transforming existing business ideas into circular business ventures that both enhance profitability and help reduce the amount of waste going into landfills. “It’s very exciting to see our work having an impact, making a difference in people’s lives, in the local economy, and for the environment,” Hull said. “Our students and the students of our partners create jobs for themselves and others where there were no jobs, and they make a profit reducing the flow of things into the landfill. That's a great reason to get out of bed in the morning.” Hull and Williams have established expertise in circular economy entrepreneurship, especially when applied in developing nations to benefit the local economy and environment.   Hull has decades of experience working with entrepreneurs through RIT’s Simone Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Venture Creations, and the aforementioned Center for Urban Entrepreneurship and Competitive Sustainability Center. Williams was the recipient of a National Science Foundation grant to research international electronic waste, the results of which influenced the environmental standard for computers in the United States. In addition to the original grant from the State Department, the team has also received funding to help entrepreneurs in the Middle East form circular economy businesses. As part of the funding, the group will hold its third annual Symposium on Accelerating Science, Technology, and Circular Innovation in July 2025 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

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Destiny Amenyedzi is using science and machine learning to solve a global problem. The native Ghanaian and Ph.D. student at the University of Rwanda is using AudioMoths (highly sensitive microphones) to monitor sounds within farms. ‌ Remote sensing devices, called AudioMoths, are housed in protective cases that are 3D printed on RIT’s campus. This one came in contact with an elephant. He is specifically studying bird sounds to distinguish which birds are helpful, which are harmful, and what type of sound system can be deployed to keep destructive birds away from crops. Africa has 25 percent of the world’s bird species, so it is a prime location for this research. However, while African countries may have an abundance of wildlife, they do not have the technologies and research facilities that exist in American universities. That’s why Amenyedzi is conducting his research at RIT. He is one of three African Ph.D. students here through the Partnership for Skills in Applied Sciences, Engineering, and Technology (PASET). The goal of the program, sponsored by African governments and the World Bank, is to develop skilled professionals in applied sciences, engineering, and technology fields to bolster the continent’s growing needs. RIT joined PASET in 2023. It is the latest African partnership for the university in a 20-year history of involvement in research and relationships across the continent. ‌ Carlos Ortiz From left, Francisco Pinto, Destiny Amenyedzi, and Promise Agbedanu are three African Ph.D. students conducting research at RIT. Africa is rich in natural resources and contains one of the most diverse ecosystems across the globe. The Sahara Desert itself is larger than the continental United States. With all the unique landscapes, wildlife, and growing urban areas, more than 30 RIT faculty have recognized the importance of traveling to the continent, all backed by RIT Global. “I think our academic and research portfolio may be better suited than any other U.S. university to support countries across Africa as their economies grow and as they work to solve challenges of sustainability,” said Jim Myers, associate provost for International Education and Global Programs. “Our strengths in computing, imaging, engineering, and artificial intelligence (AI) are emerging as critical to the growth of African economies. RIT has a unique opportunity to make a substantial impact on the continent.” In addition to that, the African population is booming. According to the United Nations, by 2030, two-thirds of the world’s population under the age of 25 will be in Africa. The increase of youthful population across the continent means the next wave of great scientists and thinkers could come from there—and RIT wants those students on its campus. Enrollment of African students at RIT has grown in the past decade, from 64 students in 2015 to 104 from 25 different countries in 2023. That is a trend the university hopes to keep. “These students are critically important to us in terms of the intellectual capacity that they bring to the university,” said Myers. “These are some of the best and brightest students in the world, and we are fortunate to have many of them coming to study at RIT.” Early partnerships RIT’s connection to Africa was propelled forward when Rwandan physics professor Manasse Mbonye left RIT to become a vice rector at the University of Rwanda. He guided students, with the help of the Rwandan government, to study in RIT’s imaging science graduate program. Tony Vodacek, a professor in the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science, visited Africa with Mbonye in 2008 and kept in touch with Mbonye once he left. The two discussed how Vodacek’s environmental remote sensing research could be applied in Africa. ‌ Professor Tony Vodacek has deployed AudioMoths across many African countries, most recently in Kenya. Vodacek has witnessed Africa’s diversity and rise for decades. After living in Nigeria for a year or so when he was a child, he always wanted to find his way back to Africa. The 2008 trip opened the door to many more research opportunities in the years to follow. “That first trip was kind of an administrative visit in a way to establish connections,” explained Vodacek. “Out of that came various research projects.” Those projects have included monitoring a major lake in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo for deadly gases, traveling to a remote rainforest in Madagascar as part of a Seneca Park Zoo research team, and, most recently, visiting Kenya to use AudioMoths to listen for elephants. Vodacek remains closely involved in all of RIT’s African partnerships. He is Amenyedzi’s adviser in the PASET program. “The population is very young and there is a lot of pressure on the natural resources there,” he said. “Technology can help us understand what’s going on and help with the management of that. There are a number of African students who are working on projects where they really want to make an impact for the development of their country.” Vodacek has also been instrumental in getting other RIT faculty members involved in African research. About the same time Vodacek was making his first forays on the continent, Ernest Fokoue was starting as a professor in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at RIT. ‌ Carlos Ortiz Ernest Fokoue, professor in the School of Mathematics and Statistics, travels to Africa routinely for collaborations. A native of the Republic of Cameroon, Fokoue grew up surrounded by math, and he was not the only one of his siblings to become a mathematician and professor. In 2017, he traveled back to Africa shortly after RIT became a leading partner with the African Centres of Excellence (ACE). These are World Bank-funded programs to address higher level skills development needs in the continent’s priority development sectors, including science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Vodacek has been closely involved in the Internet of Things ACE program while Fokoue is involved with data science. In a quest to find the next Einstein, Fokoue also started working with the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences, teaching courses in data science and participating in conferences. “For me as an African, it’s a good way to give back to Africa. It’s a win-win for everyone,” said Fokoue. “Momentum is shifting in Africa. AI and cloud computing are the equalizers. I am so glad that my university is trying to reach out and make the most of this.” Relevant research Not long after Amenyedzi arrived in Rochester during the spring 2024 semester, he and Vodacek went to the Seneca Park Zoo to set up AudioMoths around different animal enclosures to see if the animals would react during April’s total solar eclipse. Once sounds are captured with the devices, the researchers use advanced software to target different wavelengths. Some animals make sounds at frequencies that can’t be heard in the natural environment, so separating and adjusting those frequencies makes them audible and able to be studied. Amenyedzi is using the software to study AudioMoth information from different bird species and is then using machine learning to build a system to scare harmful birds away. He is taking full advantage of the experts here in the U.S. until he returns to Africa at the beginning of 2025. His research is based in Rwanda but has the potential to be used in his home country of Ghana and around the world. “We can use machine learning to train a model that will be able to identify ones that eat the crops, and whenever it detects those birds, it will trigger a system to play a scaring sound to drive them away,” explained Amenyedzi. “It will reduce the impact of yield loss.” Amenyedzi’s fellow PASET scholars are also utilizing RIT’s technology to work on projects that will improve their home continent. Francisco Pinto, who is from Mozambique and studying at the Institut International d’Ingénierie de l’Eau et de l’Environnement in Burkina Faso, is researching how to optimize the gasification generated by briquettes made from sawdust and biomass in an attempt to recycle waste products into usable fuel. Promise Agbedanu, a Ghanaian Ph.D. student at the University of Rwanda, is working on self-learning anomaly detection for the Internet of Things. His research in machine learning is an advanced approach to identify unusual patterns or outliers in data. From ACE to PASET, RIT hopes to aid these past, current, and future initiatives and give young Africans all the tools needed to make their home countries thrive. Amenyedzi is uniquely positioned to share his experience with the next set of students and encourage the growth of cross-continent partnerships. “I am getting a broader view of what goes into research,” said Amenyedzi. “It is an amazing environment because everyone is willing to support and I’m able to find what I need. My passion is to disseminate knowledge, so I’m going back to teach and give students the experience so they can also bring in some other ideas that could be used to improve upon our lives in whatever field they find themselves in.”