RIT alumna shapes growing hockey culture in Pacific Northwest

After 39 years of teaching in RIT’s School of Photographic Arts and Sciences, Professor Michael Peres says that he is most proud of the relationships he’s made with his students and colleagues over the years. As he looks toward retirement on June 30, he fondly recalls the memories he’s made on campus. Peres has made many contributions to the College of Art and Design and the larger RIT community since joining the university in 1986—and his time at RIT was marked by many “firsts.” Peres was a founding member of the RIT Big Shot team and worked on the first Big Shot in 1987. A book he co-produced, called Images from Science, was the first publication of the Cary Graphic Arts Press, now known as RIT Press. He also taught RIT’s first distance-learning course in photography, long before the advent of Zoom and other tools that make distance learning more seamless. Peres was the recipient of the RIT Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teaching in 2003, which recognizes faculty members who excel at teaching and enhance student learning. He also received the College of Art and Design’s Gitner Prize and the Frank J. Romano Prize for Publishing Entrepreneurship. Another highlight of his career, he says, was serving as editor-in-chief for the Focal Encyclopedia of Photography 4th edition. Below are some reflections Peres shared about his time at RIT. How have you grown as an educator since you started at RIT? ​Peres joked that while he had two children at home, his campus family included the many students who sought his guidance and support over the years. Photo Credit: Michael Peres ‌   My teaching at the beginning of my career was very fact based. But with experience, I started to realize there were so many more important lessons that needed to come from my being in the classroom. Lessons about working with others, problem solving, critical thinking, and professional practices. It wasn’t just about the specific subject itself, but about the personal learning. Seeing the evolution from an 18-year-old starting college to earning a Ph.D. or M.D. or growing into leadership roles has been a great gift for me. But, I think I’ve learned more from my 39 years here than I might have taught. My fascination with photographing snowflakes was inspired by a student named Emily Marshall, who graduated in 2003. She saw an exhibition by Wilson Bentley, a snowflake photographer, and came back to campus saying she wanted to photograph a snowflake. I had never photographed a snowflake and, initially, I was a little hesitant. But I reached out to her the next day, and we set up a microscope in the breezeway between Booth and Gannett halls. It didn't work out at all, but we learned an awful lot. Now, over 20 years later, I am still doing it. What are some of your fondest memories connecting with RIT’s photography community through the Big Shot? Every Big Shot was an adventure, and it was a perpetual challenge to make Big Shot bigger, more interesting, and more inclusive every year. A truly notable moment was bringing the Big Shot to the Intrepid Museum. Going to New York City to talk with the management team of the Intrepid was exciting, but they told us we had to rent out the ship for $28,000 if we wanted to make a photo of the ship. We came back to Rochester like dogs with our tails between our legs but, with the help of Ed Lincoln (director of Alumni Relations in 1998), we were able to photograph the museum and we had this massive alumni afterparty. President Simone was there with the president of Fuji Film, and CNN featured us. ​After making the Big Shot photo at the Intrepid Museum on Oct. 28, 1999, CNN produced a story about the project and interviewed Peres and other members of the team. ‌   Another Big Shot that was exceptional was when we photographed the Royal Palace in Stockholm. The Big Shot photo became the national Swedish Christmas card for two years. I have a signed card from King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia. After our visit, they put lighting on the outside of the palace. They’d never seen the palace lit at night like it was lit for the Big Shot picture. It’s interesting to think that we inspired change at the Royal Palace. An interesting evolution we worked through was the transition from film to digital photography. In the earliest days of the Big Shot, we had to run home, develop the negatives, and then make prints. Then, we would run the prints to the television stations and the newspapers while they were still wet to try to get on the 11 p.m. news or in the morning paper. Hand delivering prints was a fun way to distribute our work. Now, we make a picture and 5 minutes after the picture is done, it's distributed all around the world.  What are your post-RIT plans? I’m giving myself the year to not put any pressure on myself or make commitments. It feels nice to just dwell on what’s happened at RIT and celebrate the future. I’ve made photographs since 1972, so I have a massive collection of slides, negatives, digital files, prints, and all these things that need attention. I’m going to spend the first year figuring out what I want to do with those things. I have two beautiful grandchildren and we’re going to do some traveling. I’ll take my dog for long walks and hang out with him. I’m on a committee at the Eastman Museum that I go to monthly, and I volunteer for the Friends of the Public Market by designing their newsletter. I also volunteer at a nonprofit called InterVol and I go there to sort unused medical supplies and equipment that is redistributed to developing countries. I find great joy in contributing my time and energy to important work like that.

Robert Pearson helped make history when RIT began its microelectronic engineering program in the early 1980s. An RIT alumnus of the electrical engineering program and MicroE’s first faculty hire, Pearson reflected on some of that history—and his place in it—before retiring this summer after more than 40 years. Pearson started his RIT story with highlights that included following in the footsteps of his father, Milton ’64 (Imaging science), combining electrical engineering and imaging science and coming to campus in 1976 as a student-athlete. He took advantage of early co-op experiences at Fairchild Semiconductor International in Maine and later its R&D center in California. He eventually worked for the company after graduation, before bringing a combination of academics and industry skills to teaching. He saw great potential in the degree program, in the growing semiconductor industry, and RIT’s commitment to building what he would describe as a first-of-its-kind program, recognized by peer universities and industry for its skilled semiconductor graduates. How did you come to teach in the microelectronics engineering program? I started here in fall ’76 and played soccer. Before my first co-op I didn’t have a resume and went over to see sports information director, Roger Dykes. I made copies, sent it out, and got a co-op at Fairchild in Maine because Roger typed up my resume. When I came back, I had classes with Lynn Fuller in semiconductor physics and thick film integrated circuits. He said, ‘I’ve got some equipment here, do you want to try to make some transistors? Just come in and start working. But you’ve got to write it up as lab reports.’ A buddy and I made the first photo masks, capacitors, solar cells, and transistors in 1979. My master’s thesis was a formalized version of all those lab reports. It is basically what we teach in our sophomore course, Integrated Circuit Technology now. It has survived the test of time. I was working at Fairchild Semiconductors after graduation. When I visited RIT at Thanksgiving ’82, they had just started the microelectronics engineering program in September. Lynn Fuller, founder of the program, said, ‘I don’t have any faculty—it’s just me and 60 freshmen. Would you like to be a teacher?’ I asked, ‘When?’ He said, ‘January.’ So I went back to Maine, quit my job and moved back home with my wife. What are some significant milestones in the program you were involved with since it began? When I started teaching, we were in a couple of crowded rooms on the third floor of the engineering building. People were interested in the semiconductor field, and the country was very much interested in re-shoring—just like now. Lynn put together a proposal for a new building. I think the projected cost at the time was a measly $5 million. By 1985, we were ready to open the building, and who do we invite—Jack Kilby, inventor of the integrated circuit. And we gave him an honorary Ph.D. even before he was awarded the Nobel Prize. ‌ Carlos Ortiz/RIT Robert Pearson has taught numerous lab courses and trainings. Some of his early lab notes and processes from the cleanroom during the time he was a student became the basis for some of the program materials used today. What are some of the similarities and differences of the industry and students, then and now? The industry in the early days of our program was very much aware of what decisions they made and how it affected their bottom line. If they found they were getting good hires from RIT, and it was helping them, they did their best to encourage us. That kept us on track for teaching what they wanted. When the semiconductor industry was still emerging, it was exciting. It was one of the obvious roots to success. The students were eager, and they worked hard. They still do. Our alumni said their careers took off because of RIT. They traveled internationally, managed big departments and projects, started their own companies. It just amazes me what all our students have done. What personal and academic accomplishments are you most proud of? Motorola was set to build a fab in Virginia. I thought, I would love a teaching experience at a place that had a fab right next door. We did get industry support at RIT, but not in the way of having it right there. Ironically, I went to Virginia after 14 years teaching at RIT and developed a microelectronic engineering program at Virginia Commonwealth University. It’s interesting that people thought they could do what RIT did, like it was no big deal, and they could not. The uniqueness of this program is immense. I returned to teaching at RIT in 2003 and became program director in 2008. Outside of the college, I’ve been a steering committee member of two large conferences—the University Industry Government Microelectronic Symposium since 1985 and the Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Conference (founded by Lynn Fuller) since 1992. It was good advertising for our programs at RIT and what we are doing. It earned us the respect of other universities, and I’m very proud of that. I wrote the history of both of the conferences so that people would know how they began—again this is my interest in history. I should teach a history class! Academically, winning the IEEE Outstanding Teaching Award in 2023 was great and I’m proud that Ivan Puchades, a former student and now an RIT engineering faculty member, nominated me for that. I’ve also been involved in the funding and creation of three different RIT scholarship awards for our microelectronic engineering students, and I’d like to start some more. What will you be doing in retirement? Helping coach my grandkids’ soccer teams. I’ll be doing some gardening, woodworking, I like wood carving and getting back into kayaking. I haven’t done much but now will be able to get out more and do this. I’ll have more time to ride my bike—if my knee still works—those old soccer injuries. I live in Henrietta and will probably still be on campus, I can’t seem to stay away.

Tech influencer Jacklyn Dallas knows a thing or two about creativity and innovation. But when she got the chance in late April to visit the Imagine RIT: Creativity and Innovation Festival, she said she was “blown away.” More than 34,000 people visited campus on April 26 for Imagine RIT. They got to experience a record-setting number of exhibits that highlighted student, faculty, and staff work at the cutting edge of technology, the arts, and design. “It was genuinely one of the most energizing days of the year so far for me,” Dallas said. “The students were brilliant, curious, and so many of them had personal missions driving what they were building.” ‌ Jacklyn Dallas with RIT President David Munson at Imagine RIT. Dallas launched her YouTube Channel NothingButTech when she was 13. She’s expanded her social media presence to Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), and podcasts, with a total following in the hundreds of thousands. She’s racked up tens of millions of views for her interviews with luminaries such as Apple CEO Tim Cook, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, and Rivian Automotive CEO RJ Scaringe, as well as in-depth behind-the-scenes tours and product reviews. Just 23 years old, she’s already given guest lectures at Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and New York University. She visited Imagine RIT as part of a partnership with the university. She shared glimpses of her day with her followers during her visit and recently published a more in-depth look at her experience.         View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by Jacklyn/NothingButTech (@nbtjacklyn) “I have the privilege of spending a lot of time in tech labs and at launch events led by incredibly smart engineers and founders—and I felt that same energy at RIT,” Dallas said. Would she come back? “In a heartbeat,” she said. Learn more about Dallas and her work at her website NothingButTech.

When RIT students create video games, they don’t just mail it in. A team of students won the Grand Prize at GameFest 2025 for developing Pelican Post. The game is about a pelican mailman delivering mail to a small town of unique characters. Along the way, players help the town regain a lost sense of community. The narrative game, which is in the cozy genre that emphasizes low-stress and non-violence, is currently in development. GameFest, held at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in April, is an annual showcase of student talent in game development. The competition brings together college students from around New York state and the Northeast to exhibit their games. Thirty games were accepted at GameFest this year. Three of the four finalists for the Grand Prize were games from RIT. “The quality of the games this year across the board, not just from RIT, was seriously impressive,” said Benjamin Snyder, visiting lecturer in RIT’s School of Interactive Games and Media (IGM). “What stood out to me the most was how intentional our teams were about the full experience, including updated websites, social media presence, and promotional materials. You could tell they had considered how people would encounter their games and how to keep that connection going. That big-picture mindset is going to serve them really well moving forward.” In addition to the Grand Prize, Pelican Post also won Excellence in Narrative Design and was a finalist for Excellence in Visual Art. Four other RIT student games were highlighted at the 2025 competition, including:Good Luck Valley — won Excellence in Visual Art and finalist for Excellence in Narrative and the Grand Prize Grim’s Coffin — won Excellence in Game Design and Grand Prize finalist Vessyl — finalist for Excellence in Game Design and Technical Excellence Echoes in the Mist — Technical Excellence finalist Snyder said that what makes the biggest difference for RIT students at competitions is that they tend to take opportunities and really run with them. “They don’t just treat their games as something they needed to make for a class—they treat them like they’re already in the industry,” said Snyder. “That mindset shift, from ‘this is a class project’ to ‘this is something I believe in,’ is what really raises the bar and changes the perception from ‘a game made by students’ to ‘a game made by developers who happen to be students.’” How Pelican Post delivered Pelican Post started as a game jam submission for the 2024 New Year, New Skills Game Jam. The game development event had the theme of “making connections.” ‌ Pelican Post In Pelican Post, players take on the role of Pepper, a young pelican who recently moved to Port Pleasant for a job as the town’s mailman. Through the job, players interact with and get to know the townsfolk and help them out. The creators said that small acts of kindness is pretty much in the mailman’s job description. In 2024, the team continued working on Pelican Post through RIT’s MAGIC Maker Program. The extracurricular program provides students with the funding, studio space, and mentoring support to manage their own digital media projects and prepare them for publication and investment readiness. “While the game was already visually impressive prior to the program, the majority of actual development happened during the Maker program,” said Jeremy Kotz, a third-year game design and development major from North Potomac, Md. “We worked incredibly hard to transform the game from a visual and conceptual demo into a full game demo with a complete vertical slice—a segment of the game that is polished, contains all core gameplay features, and is reflective of the final product we aim to create.” Kotz said that the team’s success at GameFest can be largely attributed to its efforts during RIT’s MAGIC Maker program. “Pelican Post stood out because we have a clear vision for the world we are creating and the experience we want players to have,” said Kotz. “Players were fully immersed in the cozy atmosphere of the game and we received an incredible amount of positive feedback.” ‌ The Pelican Post team includes Connor Petrei (top row, left to right), Rylan, Vanacore, Drew Genel, Jeremy Kotz, Ricard Halvorson, Cheryl Chang (bottom row, left to right), Joana Leong, and Jason Weinberg. The Pelican Post team currently includes development lead and game designer Kotz; visual lead Drew Genel ’25 (new media design); narrative lead Connor Petrei, a fourth-year game design and development major; composer Joana Leong, a fourth-year game design and development major; developer Ricard Halvorson, a third-year design and development major; developer Jason Weinberg ’25 (game design and development); developer Gale Ellis ’24 (game design and development); animator Cheryl Chang, a fourth-year film and animation major; and marketer Rylan Vanacore ’25 (journalism).  In the fall, several members of the team are bringing the game to their IGM Production Studio course, where they will get to continue creating content for the game. In the future, they hope to work with MAGIC to publish the game on Steam.

A record number of RIT students has been awarded the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to pursue cultural exchanges and research opportunities abroad. “We are so pleased that our talented students continue to be recognized by earning these distinguished fellowships and scholarships,” said Jenny Sullivan, director of Education Abroad and International Fellowships. “This is a testament to the high level of dedication and commitment to their studies, as well as the importance of immersing oneself in different cultures and learning environments. These experiences will undoubtedly contribute to their short-term and long-term successes.” The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship from the U.S. Department of State is a competitive, merit-based scholarship that allows U.S. students to gain proficiency in a variety of languages and cultures, skills that are important to their academic and career development. This year’s Gilman scholars studying in Japan are Jeremiah Henderson, an applied modern languages and culture – Japanese option major; Ignacio De Orbe, a game design and development major; Samir Samal, a computing exploration option major; Lilly Anastasia Radon, a game design and development major; and Emily Francisco, a computer engineering technology major. Gilman scholars studying in Croatia are Joshua VanNostrand, a management information systems major; Louis Jon LaGambino, a mechanical engineering technology major; Mamadou D’Elhadj Bah, a web and mobile computing major; Breanna Litviak, a hospitality and tourism management and marketing major; and Kelsey Luke, a new media design and computational mathematics major. Jaimison Grimes, an industrial design major, and Ashley Locatelli, a cybersecurity major, will study in Italy; and Delana Perkins, a civil engineering technology major, will study in Greece. Additionally, several students have been awarded other prestigious international fellowships and scholarships. The DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst) Research Internships for Science and Engineering assists students with research in Germany. This program is an opportunity for students to gain practical research experience and students are paired with a German university and a German Ph.D. student on research projects in the fields of science and engineering. This year’s awardees are Nicholas Atteck, a biomedical engineering major, and Anna Piccione, an artificial intelligence MS major. The Critical Language Scholarship is awarded to undergraduate students to help fund a language-intensive study abroad program for one semester. This year’s recipient is Ava Inkseep, a cybersecurity and applied modern language and culture – Chinese option double major, who will study Chinese language through Dalian University of Technology in China. The Fulbright Canada Mitacs Globalink fellowship program gives U.S. students the chance to be part of a 10- to 12-week research summer internship under the supervision of Canadian university faculty members in a variety of academic disciplines including science, engineering, mathematics, humanities, and social sciences. This year’s participants are Ezra Bernstein, a computer science major; Jacqueline Driehaus, an environmental science major; Victoria Prendergast, a biomedical engineering major; Leah Robinson, a biotechnology and molecular bioscience major; and Valentine Webster, a psychology major.

RIT’s partnership with Rochester Prep High School has reached a milestone this year with the 10th anniversary of the partnership and the eighth graduating class. This year, 100 students will graduate from RPHS, and 13 of them will attend RIT to study biochemistry, engineering, photography, computer science, and other disciplines. Eleven of the students are Destler/Johnson Rochester City Scholars, The seniors shared their future plans with the community at a May 23 event at the high school. In addition to RIT, students will attend Boston College, Johns Hopkins University, University of Notre Dame, and Wellesley College, among many others in New York and out of state. Kadence Wilson, the student-elected speaker at the event, has enrolled in RIT’s biomedical engineering program. “When I came to Rochester Prep, every year we’d go to RIT to see faculty and to see what they were doing,” Wilson said. “I was in the STEP program, and I did the Capstone project. When I go to RIT, I already know what to expect.” Counting the Class of 2025, RPHS will have graduated 613 students during the last decade. According to Rachel Dominic, director of College Counseling at RPHS, 67 students have enrolled at RIT since the first graduating class in 2018. ‌ Pete Schuck/RIT Photo Rochester Prep High School senior Evangeline Simmons will study English at RIT in the fall. Those numbers are bound to rise with the incoming class of 270 ninth graders. The growth spurt results from Rochester Prep expanding to three middle schools. Jeff Allen, RPHS director of operations, said the staff will grow from 59 to 75 to accommodate the influx. RIT’s support through the K-12 University Center has given students on-campus experiences and has fostered opportunities for them to sit in college classrooms and conduct research with faculty and RIT students through the Capstone program, and for a few, to co-author three research papers with faculty. RIT’s partnership has helped students conceptualize college, according to Allen. “To have those experiences is incredible.” In 2013, RIT Board of Trustee member Ronald L. Zarrella funded the partnership between RIT and Rochester Prep High School to increase the number of Rochester city students who attend college and complete their bachelor’s degree. The public charter school, managed by the Uncommon Schools charter network, opened for the 2014-2015 academic year.