Latest news with #RIT
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
First Monroe County Deaf CERT Program class graduates, equipped to assist in local disasters
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — In the face of disasters including fires and snowstorms, many folks expect first responders to be readily available and answer the call. But, if they're delayed due to another emergency, Community Emergency Responder Training (CERT) teams are expected to step in and assist. The program was founded in California in the 1980s but has since made its way to Rochester. On Wednesday, the 39th class graduated at the Monroe Community College Public Safety Training Facility on Scottsville Road. However, this class was geared to empower specific members of our community: those who are deaf or hard of hearing. Battalion Chief for the Rochester Fire Department Joe Luna shared his excitement for the new partnership between RIT's National Technical Institute for the Deaf and Monroe County's CERT program. 'It's great to have them as resources to help the community, to help in setting up shelters or in potential large snow events in the future, things along those lines,' Luna said. Before graduating, the class was expected to complete a final evolution, which is a disaster simulation in which they're required to put all they've learned into action. Luna explained what students learn over the course of nine weeks. 'It's a lot of medical training, some basic ideas behind psychology, fire safety, search and rescue techniques,' Luna said. CERT Team Leader for Monroe County's 39th class Matthew Parsley, who is hard of hearing, explained how he sees this partnership as an asset to the community. 'The Rochester community has the largest per capita deaf population, so it's a real gain to have a team that's designed to communicate directly with folks using American Sign Language (ASL),' Parsley said. The Rochester Fire Department plans to hold future CERT trainings in the future, including classes for those who are not hard-of-hearing. More information on how to get involved can be found here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
RIT introduces esports scholarships for the world's best video gamers
New esports scholarships will recognize RIT students for their competitive video gaming skills and dedication to representing the university at the highest level. ROCHESTER, N.Y., May 21, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Rochester Institute of Technology is launching its first esports scholarships. The scholarships recognize students for their competitive video gaming skills and dedication to representing the university at the highest level. Since forming in 2016, RIT Esports has become one of the largest and best collegiate esports programs in the world. Starting in fall 2025, RIT will offer 20 scholarships for new students—providing $2,000 each year. The university will also offer performance-based scholarships for select current students. As the esports industry has grown—with millions of viewers and billions of dollars in revenue—more than 200 colleges have formed esports teams. Several have begun offering scholarships. RIT is not only offering scholarships for competitive student-athletes. RIT scholarships are also available to students with the skills to run esports operations teams. RIT's seven student-led support teams help run everything from designing the jerseys to running events to broadcasting live-streamed matches. "We want to attract and support these high-caliber esports students, who are hyper-intelligent and driven to succeed in all aspects of life," said Chad Weeden, director of esports and cybersecurity range at RIT. "Frankly, it's also fun to win national championships." RIT Esports has brought home 18 national championships, and students have won more than $100,000 in prizes. RIT Esports currently competes in 23 games, including Rocket League, Hearthstone, League of Legends, and Overwatch. With more than 200 competitive players and around 2,600 community members, RIT Esports is bigger than many college athletics programs. RIT Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Prabu David has been a big supporter of RIT Esports. He helped to make the new scholarships happen. "These esports scholarships recognize our talented student-athletes who use their technical expertise to perform at the highest level," said David. David also noted that RIT is consistently ranked as one of the top 10 game design schools, according to international rankings from The Princeton Review. "Esports at RIT is also a community builder, bringing together students from different majors and backgrounds, including our students who are deaf and hard of hearing," said David. "We realize that esports is male-dominated and one of the goals of this scholarship opportunity is for RIT to be a leader in showcasing the talents of women in esports." Ben Feldstein, a fourth-year management information systems major and vice president of RIT Esports, worked with the provost to develop the new esports scholarships. Feldstein has also won two national championships as part of RIT's Counter-Strike 2 team. "It's like any other profession or skill, like traditional sports or playing musical instruments," said Feldstein, who is from Manhattan, N.Y. "There are so many young people who put their blood, sweat, tears, and love into honing their skills to play these titles." Feldstein continued. "I think these scholarships are going to help set up students for success after school—whether they make it to the pros or not. We're proving to everyone that we have great students here and they dream big." Apply for the RIT esports scholarship on the RIT website. Media Contact Scott Bureau, RIT, 585-475-2481, sbbcom@ View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE RIT Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Hans India
11-05-2025
- Science
- Hans India
Rochester confers honorary doctorate on VIT founder
Chennai: The Founder and Chancellor of Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), G Viswanathan, was conferred with an honorary doctorate by the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), New York. Dr David C Munson, the president, and Dr Prabu David, the Provost and Senior Vice President for academic affairs at RIT honoured Viswanathan with the honorary doctorate towards his vision and leadership in the expansion of Science, Technology, Engineering & Management (STEM) education across India and in recognition to his dedication towards supporting the underprivileged. Expressing gratitude for the honour, Viswanathan thanked RIT for conferring the honorary doctorate on him. On the occasion, Sankar Viswanathan and Dr Sekar Viswanathan, vice-presidents of VIT, Dr Kanchana Bhaaskaran, vice-chancellor and Dr R Seenivasan, director of international relations were present.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Elite Palm Beach Fire-Rescue team takes part in statewide rescue competition
Palm Beach Fire-Rescue Lt. Walter Arcila braced himself as he used a circular saw to cut through a reinforced door. With his vision obscured, firefighter Lex May navigated quickly through a narrow tube. Also with his sight blocked, firefighter Tom Ardito launched himself through a small opening in a wall. The trio were among 10 Palm Beach Fire-Rescue personnel who participated in the Rapid Intervention Team competition on May 1 at Palm Beach State College near Lake Worth Beach. Two teams from Palm Beach took part in the Palm Beach State Invitational competition: Team 1 of Lts. Arcila and Stephen Montoya with firefighters Ardito, Austin Bohn and May; and Team 2 of Lts. Michael Bennett and Daniel DiRocco with firefighters Ryan Allen, Bruce Martin and Alex Park. The teams completed a grueling course with challenges that included breaking through a reinforced door, navigating tight spaces and rescuing a mock victim while in blackout conditions. Town of Palm Beach Fire-Rescue Rapid Intervention team members, firefighter Lex May, from right, Lt. Walter Arcila, firefighter Austin Bohn, firefighter Thomas Ardito, and Lt. Stephen Montoya, discuss their strategy for the RIT competition at Palm Beach State College on May 1. This was the second RIT competition for Palm Beach, which formed its first Rapid Intervention Team within the past year. Team members go through grueling training to be part of the team, said Assistant Fire Chief Joe Sekula, Fire-Rescue spokesman. While Palm Beach's pair of teams did well, they did not advance past the competition's first day, he said. While wearing a blackout mask that totally impedes his vision, a member of the Palm Beach Fire-Rescue Rapid Intervention Team (RIT) throws his body through a tiny window during the competition. "However, with just two competitions under their belt, they have already made a name for themselves and they are already looking forward to the next competition in Orlando in January," Sekula said. "They will take everything that they learned here and incorporate that into their training." The training is very specialized and results in an "elite" fire-rescue unit, he said. Sparks fly as Fire-Rescue Lt. Walter Arcila cuts through rebar. "That's very labor-intensive as you can imagine," Sekula said. "We are super proud of them!" Palm Beach County Fire Rescue Team 1 took first place, with Broward Sheriff's Office Fire Rescue Team 2 coming in second, according to the rankings released by Palm Beach State College. In third place was Largo Fire Rescue. Town of Palm Beach firefighter Lex May takes a knee before competing. The RIT competition was part of the larger Palm Beach State Invitational that took place throughout the weekend at Palm Beach State College's main campus near Lake Worth Beach. Teams also competed in vehicle rescue, emergency medical services and rope rescues. Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at kwebb@ Subscribe today to support our journalism. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach Fire-Rescue Rapid Intervention Team takes on competition
Mid East Info
06-05-2025
- Science
- Mid East Info
RIT Dubai research aims to boost security for Android users - Middle East Business News and Information
Study aids the detection of riskware to help reduce cyberattacks A research project led by the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) of Dubai has provided critical insights into Android's malware ecosystem, to help boost security and protect users from cyberattacks. The project is expected to help improve the detection and prevention of cyber threats and raise awareness among users on how they can better safeguard their devices. Conducted by RIT Dubai Professor of Computing Security, Dr. Mohammed Al Ani, in collaboration with Abu Dhabi University faculty, the research looked specifically at riskware, which is one of the major security challenges for Android systems. The project deployed explainable machine learning technology to cluster riskware families based on their behaviors. Speaking about the rationale for the project, Dr. Al Ani said, 'The Android operating system has become increasingly popular, and due to its open-source nature and significant market share, Android poses an attractive target for malicious actors. Although riskware constitutes a considerable portion of Android's malware vulnerabilities, it has not been studied as extensively as other types of malware such as ransomware and trojans.' He continued, 'Riskware is usually used in one stage of a larger attack; it is a tool that provides a gateway to allow attackers to gain more access than they should, by using applications that look benign but can be misused. Until now, most studies have focussed on the final stages of the attack, but if threats can be detected in the earlier stages there is more opportunity to intervene, which is why we wanted to explore this under-researched area.' Explaining the threats that riskware can present, Dr. Al Ani said, 'Riskware refers to applications that may pose a security threat due to their vulnerability and potential for misuse. For example, you might download a simple application like a daily planner, but if it is granted access to a lot of additional information such as contacts and photos, it can download more malicious malware that could infect your device with ransomware or use it to send spam.' The research project applied a unique blend of techniques, never previously used in combination, to discover how different families of malware act. Clustering the families based on behaviors rather than codes, the study explored differentiating characteristics, such as how much memory they consume and how much information they send and receive over the Internet. The resulting paper, 'Behavioral Analysis of Android Riskware Families Using Clustering and Explainable Machine Learning', delivers new insights in the fight against malware. While the primary goal of the research is to help developers build more robust protection and detection system, Dr. Al Ani also hopes that it will help to raise public awareness of the threats. He concluded, 'Attackers are constantly changing their techniques, and consumers need to be vigilant when downloading applications. Users should be suspicious if an application asks for access to other content on the device that it does not need to fulfil its function. It's very important to check that the application is from a trusted source before downloading and granting additional access.'
