[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uHcIQgQnkU]
Ever wondered what Rochester Institute of Technology students are learning or doing in their classes? That is what ImagineRIT is all about! It is a campus-wide event that allows students to show their innovation and creativity! Students do hands-on demonstrations, presentations, exhibitions, and demonstrate their research projects. There are many more things such as performances and live music/entertainment available that everybody is welcome to enjoy.
ImagineRIT is not a one time thing, it happens every year and has been around since 2008. It was one of the changes that William Destler (the current president) brought to the University when he became president. It was introduced to allow visitors to tour the campus, see new ideas for products/services, and experience RIT as a whole. The first year, over 17,000 people visited the campus on May 3, 2008. In 2010, the number skyrocketed to 30,000 visitors. In total since 2008, there have been over 200,000 people that have visited RIT’s campus in Henrietta, NY.
ImagineRIT is also the kickoff to Rochester’s festival season. It is on Saturday May 2, 2015 from 10 AM to 5 PM. (The event is rain or shine)
In the meantime, in order to get ready for the event, there are many different things to learn about including their instagram contest, (#imagineRIT hashtag), checking out the new poster for ImagineRIT 2015 by Meagan Daymont ’15, Media Arts and Technology. The poster that she designed beat over 85 other entries. For the rest of the news in relation to ImagineRIT, check out their website.
Barry Culhane, the chairman of ImagineRIT is the person that was assigned by William Destler to come up with a festival to help the University showcase their students and what “we do at RIT”. He had the hefty project of getting 30 thousand people on campus to check everything out. While the first year didn’t reach that number, the event was still considered a success. Not only were they able to get the community to understand what was at RIT, they were also able to help their own faculty and students understand what was possible and available at the University they were at.
