Archived News I from the Imaging and Photographic Technology Department at RIT

Archived news I from the Imaging and Photographic Technology Department at RIT

To learn more about the program click! on its name above!

(This is a graphics intensive page and may take some time to load - please be patient. )

You can be included among those grads who have sent us copies of their Business Cards by email or send us newsbriefs using email by sending it to ADavidhazy at andpph@rit.edu.

TPSA / SPIE / DIPT Dinner Out on May 17, 2008

A bevy of students in the Imaging and Photographic Techology program went out for dinner on May 17, 2008 and enjoyed a scrumptuous italian "fete" along with heated conversation and amusing anecdotes with Eric Evans outdoing himself relating stories of urban survival techniques in the area of leftover nutritional items found scattered throughout the campus ... more or less. Plans for the summer and the future consumed another sub-set of the group. The students and faculty who attended were: Greg Sharp, Josh Zollweg, Eric Kerby, Chelsea Mcculley, Jarret Whetstone, Eric Evans, Jessica Scott, Cassi Fecho, Gillian Kovalcik, Chris Ubelacker, Andy Davidhazy, Terry Kessler, Nanette Salvaggio, Jacqueline Caci, Aaron Hendrickson, Nitin Sampat, Donna Sterlace, Bryan Zaczek, Shane Kearney, Aly Artusio-Glimpse

All in all a most successful end of the year event and one that portends great things to come from this group that at this occasion welcomed Josh Zollweg as a new transfer into the program.

Historical Photographic Processes course news

The students in the Historical Photographic Processes class recently took a break from their darkroom coating and printing [Cyanotype, Van Dyke Brown, Albumen, Silver Salt Prints, Toning etc.] and visited the Conservation Lab at George Eastman House. Mark Osterman, an expert on collodion process and other historical imaging processes, provided an overview of their work and demonstrated some emulsion coating methods he's recently been working. In the photograph Dustin Haas, Nino Gordeladze, Rachel Unkle, Mark Osterman and Jessica Scott. Robert Crawford, Heather Meers, Doina Abukarma, Eddie Rodriguez, Aura Broida, Keila Martinez, Kathleen Swarthout and Jim McDade also crammed into the darkroom for the demonstration and discussion.

Afterwards, some of us gathered for a coffee down the street and Prof. Schwartz insisted on a photo. L to R, Jim McDade, Jessica Scott, Robert Crawford, Nino Gordeladze, Doina Abukarma, and Aura Broida. In the class, students learned about the origin of photographic processes, chemical sensitizers, coating methods, and the challenges of hand coating onto surfaces including glass, paper, wood, fabric and (new one) 'Stone Paper'. For more information contact Paul Schwartz email: paspph@rit.edu Student work will be exhibited in the main Lobby of Kodak Park Theater on the Ridge and also some spaces at RIT this summer.

Current students toiling in Optics, Jessica Roy drops in and Gillian Kovalcik receives Outstanding Undergraduate award!

On April 18, 2008 the roving reporter dropped in to the Dr. Ronald Francis Photo Chemistry Lab and found several students from the Photographic Optics class toiling away on optical benches under the direction of Mr. Leo O'Neill. From the left: Shane Kearney lines up a collimator, then Aly Artusio-Glimpse and Jacqui Caci try to bring light to a focus, then Aly with Prof. O'Neil review image extension, and finally Shane and Brian Gamm attempt aligning a mock-up of a Galilean telescope. In the evening they will try to spot the moons of Jupiter much like Galileo did.

On Satrudrday April 19, Jessica Roy and her friend Brian dropped in on their way to Niagara Falls and possibly for a ride on the Maid of the Mist that takes visitors almost to the very edge of the famous waterfall. This is an experience not to be missed!. Jess was taking Brian to Tech Alley and impress him with the area's decor and liveability quality. She said that both she and Yu Tak are doing well at Spencer Labs in Melville, NY. Jessica shares a house with 3 guys in case you were wondering. Holds the rent to a manageable level for all.

Gillian Kovalcik received an Ouststandinng Undergraduate Scholarship from the Institute on April 10, 2008. To receive this award a student must achieve a GPA of at least 3.85 over a 125 credit hour span. Gillian is graduate from Chantilly (Vt.) High School, Gillian is majoring in imaging and Photographic Technology. Her awards include RIT the Presidential and the Dr. Ronald Francis scholarships. Gillian has volunteered at a local retirement center and at Goodwill. Gillian is currently employed at Event Rentals in Chantilly as a Web developer She is involved in intramural sports including soccer, basketball, lacrosse, and dodge ball. She is planning to attend graduate school and find a job in which she can further develop her imaging and photographic technology skills.
C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S Gillian!

TPSA/SPIE Bawling Night Out

On March 26, 2008 memebrs of TPSA and the joint student chapter of SPIE went out for a night of bowling at Olympic Bowl just down the road apiece. Attendace at the event exceeded all expectations. Let's see ... Elisa, Chelsea, Cassie, Gillian, Nino, Jessica, Bert, Greg, Chris, James, Brian, Eric plus Nanette & son and Andy were seen performing at various levels of achievement on the lanes. High scorer, of course, was Cassie who we learned later is nothing short of a pro. Gillian Kovaleik A graduate from Chantilly (VA.) High School, Gillian is majoring in imaging and Photographic Technology. Her awards include RIT Presidential and Dr. Ronald Francis scholarships. Gillian has volunteered at a local retirement center and at Goodwill. Gillian is currently employed at Event Rentals in Chantilly as a Web developer She is involved in intramural sports including soccer, basketball, lacrosse, and dodge ball. She is planning to attend graduate school and find a job in which she can further develop her imaging and photographic technology skills.

More grads drop in for a visit and one sends news

From time to time grduates of the Tech program drop in for a visit. Raymond Fredricks was in the vicinity while working in Syracuse and decided to drive up to Rochester and sit-in on a Special Effects course in the evening. He obviously wanted to feel like he was in class again! Raymond has been photographing all kinds of things but concentrates on people.

Bruce Butkus and girlfriend Kristen dropped in during their Easter break. They are both working in the Philadelphia area. Bruce is with Edmund Optics and he brought his newly "remodeled" Canon Digital Rebel Xti modified to photograph by infrared and also ultraviolet. Carl Smith, who is completing a graduate program in CIS next door, joined us for brunch at IHop nearby. Tracey Kear, who used to work at Kodak is now with Noritsu and her area includes Northern California and Nevada. Who can ask for better scenery than that!?

And on Career Day around March 26th, Imaging and Photo Tech grad Lindsey Brady came to town to attend as a recruiter for Canon USA. She had also been at PMA but this time we managed to get a photograph of her at the Canon booth. A Hershey bar to whoever detects an alteration to this photograph! ;)

Grads with children older and younger plus one not yet!

Here are photographs sent by several grads of the Tech program testifying to the fact that there is more to life than just hard work! Bret Harmen and wife sent a photograph of their son Jacob who must be about 6 months now (?), David Gallagher is doing well in Atlanta and now is the proud dad of three young uns, Melanie Niles and her husband are delighed with their twins and Kevin Lesnewski and Ann stopped by Tech Alley with their son Benjamin who is a junior in HS and starting to look at colleges. Kevin is now in a new field but doing well in New Jersey next to the Water Gap. Lindsay Sarget dropped in on business from Washington, DC where she is doing important work plus she is a member of the Delaware Rowing Club. Not much else we could talk about, although we reminisced about her stint with the Hubble Team and JPL and smiled ... laughed a bit in retrospect. She is as smiley and happy as ever.

Prof. Steve Diehl at Nymphest 2008

Steve Diehl reports that he and his wife just returned from making a presentation at Nymphfest 2008 in Athol, MA before a regional meeting of the Dragonfly Society of America. They lectured on and demonstrated using a flatbed scanner as a camera to image dragonflies, damselflies, and the "exuviae" or skins of the nymph stages of Odonates. The image here is a photo of an Aeshna exuvia.

Tech alumni meet at PMA reception in Las Vegas and lose their shirts!

Several graduates of the Imaging and Photographic Technology program visited the National Convention of the Photo Marketing Association as representatives of various companies who had exhibits on the convention floor. At the alumni reception hosted by RIT these grads came together and shared successes and "war" stories among each other.

Sara Arnold, who is at Kodak was there and is seen in this picture at the left. Next to her is you-know-who and the tall dude is Bret Harmen who is Photo Summit in New Jersey. Next is bubbly Joanne Kirwin who works for FujiFilm and on the right is Taek Gyu Kim who is with Hewlett-Packard in San Diego. Another grad who missed the photo op was Lindsey Brady, who after finishing an MBA in theSchool of Business at RIT, went back to her coop employer while she was doing her BS degree and now works for Canon USA. She said that Techs students would probably be in demand at Canon in the future.

Tech students build an LSD synchronizer

Students enrolled in the senior level Photoinstrumentation course are seen here assembling a Light, Spound and Dark activated synchronizer that also can function as an intervalometer. Similar commercial devices cost somewhere between $500 and $1,500. The students make their own printed circuit boards and go on a shopping spree to obtain the necessary components and then put it all together into a (hopefully) functional unit. This particular project is a project that Photoinstruentation graduates have usually proudly displayed on their shelves but hardly ever use!! But it should bring back memories for grads and provide a significant experience for current Tech students.

Hard at work are Chelsea McCulley, Jake Blumenfeld, Cassandra Fecho, James Craven and Eric Kerby. The class only had 8 students enrolled so it was a pretty "homey" situation!

For those interested there is an article describing the circuit and its application for photographing the splash of water drops on a surface and barn swallows in flight as they return to their nests at the following links: Birds in flight and Photography of splashes.

Tech graduates from 2007 and their employment / study status

Here is a picture of the current status of last May's graduates of the Imaging and Photographic Technology program. We don't have final data on everyone but this will give you an appreciation for the scope of post graduation activities that Tech students pursue. As can be seen from the companies and schools where these graduates continued their education or started their professional lives, the scope is varied. From high speed photography at Harley Davidson to color quality and measurement at Spencer Labs and NASA photographer at Johnson Space Center and graduate school here at RIT, the Tech Photo graduates choose from a wide variety of options. You can see a listing of all graduates of the Tech program at: IPT GRADUATES.

Jason Babcock drops in and Evans & Craven team up for contest

Imaging and Photographic Technology graduate Jason Babcock dropped in to visit on January 19th and brought his wife Jillian along to check out Tech Alley and the high speed lab. Jason is involved in a number of projects and has continued to develop and refine various projects he started while a student (such as video-based panoramic photography). Jillian is a photo editor for Road Runner magazine in NYC.

On January 19th the MAC Group organized a photo contest at school where teams of 2 students competed against each other to solve a visual assignment in as creative and effective a fashion as possible. The theme was PSYCHO!. James Craven was the photographer of the Tech duo while Eric Evans played the part of the psychotic clown juggling a bowling ball, a soft rabbit doll and a machete. While they did not place among the winners they had much fun and we are happy to report that no arms or legs were slashed or injured in the process!

Tech students mixing D-72 from scratch

Imaging and Photographic Technology students Jacqui Caci, Noah Cohen and Aly Artusio-Glimpse are shown here getting the ingredients ready to prpepare a batch of D-72 developer. This is gettinmg to be a very unusual experience as the digital revolution is poised to swamp chemistry out of the curriculum. But most of the the IPT faculty feel that all this means is that the few remining individuals with knowledge of photographic chemistry will be able to garner that much greater interest and salaries! The course is being taught by Paul Schwartz who is retired from the Eastman Kodak Company. Paul also teaches the Historic Photographic Processes course.

Tech students visit Corning Glass Works

Several Imaging and Photographic Technology students visited the Corning Museum of Glass along with Prof Nitin Sampat. The Museum is located about 100 miles southeast of Rochester and it is a visit that everyone interestd in optics should make at some time in their career. Kirsten, Jillian, Nathan and Nino got to see some landmark items from the collection including several microscopes, and telescopes including a giant blank or pattern for the Hale telescope (similar to the one more recently used for the Hubble telescope) and learned about the technology of fiber optics and their application. They also had fun looking at their distorted reflection from an irregularly shaped mirror.

Recent News from graduates!!!

Akira Hasegawa, Imaging and Photo Technology grad from 1993, was married in Avon, NY to Carolina on September 15, 2007. Past and present faculty from the Tech department attended the ceremony. Noteworthy among the wedding party was our very own Dr. Russell Kraus who is enjoying retirement in the Las Cruces area in New Mexico. The wedding was an affair not to be forgotten. Carolina and Akira were dressed in traditional Japanese dress for thewedding ceremony. But once the dancing started they wisely changed into something more comfortable! Akira is working for Kyoto Computer Gakuin a family owned private Computer Training Junior College in Japan.

John McCartney, '06, dropped in to Tech Aly around October 10, 2007. Why you might ask? Well, just to say hello and to lead a tour of the Tech digs for his buddy Rob Drury who is a Film/Video student here. John says he is doing very well and likes his job at Edmund Optics in Barrington, NJ (near Philadelphia).

Similarly, Scott Bogart, '00, droped in briefly to chat with anyone on the floor and spent time with Prof. Glenn Miller sharing as many details as he could with us but given his employment this was mostly summarized by: "Things are going great!" We were glad to see him here although his primary interest was connecting with Prof. Doug Rea about some concern having to do with digital photography.

2007 Imaging and Photo Tech Fall Brunch

[Tech brunch in Honeoye Falls on Sept 09, 2007]

In spite of a steady drizzle that sometimes seemed more like a downpour, 10 Imaging and Photographic Technology students dared the weather and drove south a few miles for a late Sunday brunch. The 11 am start time sat well with their schedule as most had been up way late the night before and this allowed them a chance to sleep in.

The brunch was a three course affair starting with orange juice and copious amounts of bacon and scrambled eggs followed by all-you-could-eat french toast and topped off with a totally french crepe suzette all washed down with an unlimited supply of milk and coffee. Later the group went outside, visited Bee and Tote in their barn and then played bocci ball in the rain. This was followed by animated conversation in the garage mostly about Eric's surplus depot. We'll have to do this again sometime, eh?

As always, click on the thumbnail image above to see it in a larger version.

Michael Klayman, '99, has some good news to share from sunny San Diego!

[Michael Klayman and Heather on July 8, 2007]

Hi, I've been meaning to send an update. I got married on July 8th! Heather and I had a great honeymoon in Monterey and we are enjoying our new blenders and cookware. I've attached a picture, and you can find more at: http://picasaweb.google.com/michaelklayman

Work is good; I've spent the past 18 months at Filmetrics, a thin-film measurement company in San Diego. It's not very photographic in nature but our primary technology uses white light interferometry, so I can still use some things I learned at RIT. As the technical sales manager, I have to sound smart enough to convince CEOs and PhDs to buy our systems, which requires some technical knowledge about different industries such as semiconductor, ophthalmic coatings, biomedical devices, etc. and a lot of report writing. It's always a pleasure to hear from you and the RIT folks!
Michael Klayman

Graduation 2007

Graduation 2007 and another bunch of Imaging and Photographic Technology students received their diplomas and started out on a new chapter in their professional lives. Some are going on to work at corporations nationwide, such as InDyne (a contractor for NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston that provides imaging services), SpencerLab in Melville, NY, Harley Davidson in Milwaukee, and ITT in Rochester, while some are considering other opportunities and a couple are going on to graduate school both at RIT and elsewhere.
For a fairly complete listing of where the ALL the graduates of the Tech program are working, their positions and their email addresses visit GRADJOBS .

Historic Photographic Processes News

[Historic Photo Processes - Elisa Hubbard]

The students in the Historic Photographic Processes course this last Spring quarter, delivered by Adjunct Porfessor Paul Schwartz, visited the George Eastman House as guests of Mark Osterman, an expert on wet collodion and other esoteric and historical imaging processes. In the photograph you can see Mark Osterman, James Craven, Elisa Hunbbard, Jessica Scott, Greg Sharp, Gillian Kowalcik, Chelsea McCulley, and Prof. Paul Schwartz. In the class the students laerned about a range of processes [Cyanotype, Van Dyke Brown, Albumen or Silver Salt Prints], coating methods, and hand coated-onto surfaces including paper, wood, glass or fabric. Ultimately they were also invited to exhibit their photographs in the Eastman Kodak headquarters lobby.

Anthony Tanbakuchi drops in for a visit

Anthony Tanbakuchi, who graduated from the Tech program a couple of years ago and is now finishing up his PhD at the University of Arizona attended a local conference on optics and took the opportunity to visit the department and shared some of his experiences with faculty and students. He has made significant strides in completing his education and showed us a design for a new endoscopic lens that he designed and is trying to find a manufacturer for. He also shared that he is doing some teaching in Tucson and is enjoying it and is considering a teaching career possibly. Currently he teaches calculus part-time at a local community college. He also brought news about Prof. Emeritus Rus Kraus and reports that he is doing well and considering teaching literature in Las Cruces, NM, where he has retired.

Imaging and Photo Technology Annual Dinner Out Big Success

The annual Tech's Dinner out took place on May 11, 2007 and drew one the largest group of Tech students to such an event in recent history. From 1st year to 4th year, 20 students along with 6 faculty and staff members attended the gathering at Michelina's italian restaurant on West Henrietta Road. They were treated to three different entrees, from stuffed shells to chicken french and scrumptious deserts the food and the service were excellent. Everyone enjoyed the chance to chat and share experiences and plan for the future as well as review some of the more hilarious experiences of the past year.

As usual click on the small image to see a larger version in a new window.

Another 1st year student work exhibit

The students in Prof. Steve Diehl's Imaging and Photographic Technology Photography I course are exhibiting the results of their latest assignment which centered on "The Formal Portrait". The collection is being shown on a 2nd floor hallway bulletin board which the students prepared for this exhibition. Students not only had to execute the photographs but also recruit models and provide them afterwards with 1st class prints as compensation for their collaboration. The assignment was completed with digital cameras encompassing small and medium format models. Most students have their own DSLRs and the medium format cameras were borrowed from the "cage". As soon as possible we'll get a listing of authors to go along with the images. CONGRATULATIONS FROSH!

As usual click on the small image to see a larger version in a new window.

Edmund Optics Imaging Challenge BIG success again!

Tech grads Jessica Gehlhar and Bruce Butkus came to Tech Alley again this year bringing with them the Edmund Optics Imaging Challenge. Four Tech students participated as speakers and several more, including four members of the faculty, attended as part of the audience and as guests to the pizza lunch also provided by Edmund. Eric Evans spoke on the general topic of reverse engineering a medical 35 and 16mm medical projector, Jonathan Winkle on a comparison between a regular McBeth projector and a "home made" one, Greg Sharp's presentation centered on improvised methods for shadowgraph and schlieren photography and James Craven on the technique of 360 degree holography. The judges were so impressed with the presentations that they decided to award prizes to all speakers with Greg Sharp being awarded the top prize.

After the presentations the group assembled in Tech Alley for some chit-chat around a sheet pizza from Salavtore's and Jessica and Bruce esconced themselves in an office and conducted interviews for a possible coop/internship at Edmund this summer. Needles to say it was a GREAT event and one we hope Edmund Optics will continue to support in years to come! Thank you Jessica, Bruce and all the attendees to this event!

News from the Pacific Northwest

It was a pleasant surprise to hear from Michelle Hill and other Tech grads who are living in Seattle. During this reporter's stay in the northwest hopefully it will be possible to connect with the rest of the gang here. Michelle met with me at Espresso Vivace Roasteria located on Capitol Hill near where I am staying for the next few months. We had a great time gossiping about anything and everything! Michelle herself has recently switched jobs and whereas before she was working for software ginat Adobe she is now working still in the software area but for a smaller company of about 25 people called The Omni Group and her official title there is Software Test Pilot!!. She says that the company has a very informal work environment and that they even provide breakfast, lunch and dinner for the employees right on the premises. It is amazing what a small company can do to boost empoyee morale and contribute to a creative workplace!

More recently Rick Tuttle and his bride Patti also dropped by and we spent some time getting updated on his current activities in Walla Walla, WA. Also Jeff Myers dropped by and we had pizza at Romio's pizza place near lake Union and the UofW. It was pretty good pizza! Jeff, besides running a couple of personal enterprises, one related to sales of motor scooters (both gas powered and electric ones!) is working at Tectura in Seattle, has a house a bit south of Seattle, is married and has two lovely daughters.

Also heard from Mary Webb who is working for Microsoft and also from Trent and Paula Siegel. Unfortunately we were not able to meet in person this time. Maybe next time I drop in to Seattle in December 2007!

Recent visitors and updates

Early October brought several graduates from 1986 back to the department and also several updates in the form of emails received. To begin with, Raymond Fredricks came in for the Brick City event (Homecoming) for his 20th class reunion. He has migrated to Information Technology in terms of his work-related activities. He is at the USDA in Montpelier, Vermont as IT Computer Specialist after working at Patuxent Naval Air Test Center in Virginia as as Photographic Technologist doing weapons tests. Ray was heavily involved in photoinstrumentation at Patuxent but felt this move to IT was one that would lead to more personal opportunities for him. He is not the only Tech who has migrated in this direction.

Conor Kelly, '02, and Elizabeth Martin, '04, checked in to visit Tech Alley and to relate that Conor, after completing a MS degree, was now working in Corvallis, Oregon for Hewlett Packard as a Research Engineer and that Elizabeth, who had been working for Xerox was on her way to the west coast and joining another firm whose name honestly escapes me at this moment but maybe somebody who reads this can "enlighten" me as to the details.

Brian True has also migrated out of the strictly imaging industry and is now working in the area of commercial real estate sales. He was in town showing his nephew the faciltities in the School of Design. Brian did not look a day older than when he graduated in '88!.

A note came in from Ivan Latanision who along with Staceyann Smith graduated in 1990 from the Tech program. They married and now Ivan says: Staceyann is with Altria (Nabisco's parent company) working as a project manager in the global networking group. I am currently Chief Technology Officer at SourceMedia, a publishing company in NYC that focuses on the fincial services indistry. We have 2 daily newspapers, 45 magazines, 60 web sites, 50 software products, directories and a large conference division. We had a daughter Zoe, she's now 20 months old (picture attached). Fortunately she looks more like Staceyann than me :)" Here at IPT News we "love" baby pictures and thought you all would enjoy seeing this little cutie!.

And this note in from Lisa deBettencourt: "Chris and I are thrilled to announce that Tristan Avery Caldwell was born on Saturday, October 14th at 7:36am. 18 days past due, he was 8lbs, 6oz and 20" long. We're all at home now getting to know one another and enjoying the land of dirty diapers, spit up, and 2am feedings. We have also officially relenquished our identities and have taken on the new title of "Tristan's parents". =) ~Lisa and Chris"

CONGRATULATIONS you all from the "gang" at RIT!

Start of 2006 year tidbits

The year got off to a grand start with several frosh attening the gala Tech Frosh Dinner Out with DIPT faculty. Max Zaczek, Tom Yang, Jacquie Allen and Lauren Muraco along with Nanette Salvaggio, Glenn Miller, Donna Sterlace and Andy Davidhazy went out to dinner at the Roadhouse Barbecue followed by scrumptuous deserts at Friendly's. See an enlarged version of the "candid" photos taken at the restaurants by clicking on the thumbnail version.

Prof. Glenn Miller has these news to share: CHRISTOPHER MICHAEL Polland, 8 lbs. 6 oz., 21 inches long, was born TUESDAY, September 5, 2006 at Strong Hospital, Rochester, NY to my youngest daughter BETH and husband MICHAEL Polland - their first little one and our 3rd grandson! CONGRATULATIONS Glenn!

A brief message came in from Iris Sprow who is apparently not only working on exciting and challenging projects related to color at Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research in the field of media technology but is also finding that she has some free time to enjoy the Alps and the surrounding countryside. She says: "The end of September I'm going to Photokina in Cologne - are you going to be there? It'd be cool to meet up! Let me know. In the attachment are two recent pics, one was on a hike (it was exhausting!!) the other one last night at a party at the Landesmuseum". Sounds like a grand idea! Maybe TPSA will organize a field trip to Photokina this year!

On Sept. 29 Mike Caputo, '86, who has been with the University of Vermont School of Medicine for many years, passed through town on his way to a new position at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis where he will be Assistant Dean & Chief Information Officer, heading up Central Information Technology Services. He stopped by Tech Alley and shared some details about his new position. Mike has fond memories of his years here and states that one of the most important aspects of the Tech program that helped him succeed in his career was the "problem solving" experiences incorporated in most courses and the Digital Imaging background he acquired from Dr. Rus Kraus.

Around the same time Perry Farr also sent a very nice note updating his whereabouts: Hello Andy: It's been a long time, way too long. I wanted to let you know that I am thinking of you and have always valued what you taught me at RIT. Sure I have not had a chance to shoot a rifle inside a building or launch a rocket inside a classroom....but you taught me how to think in a non-textbook way and how to get your job done. My fondest memories of RIT are of your night classes, minus the snow and lack of women on campus! I hope to keep in better contact with you in the future and wish you all the best. You deserve it. I have attached a picture of my daughters to show you that I can still take a photo..... Perry
Perry Farr, Production Solutions Executive, Atlantic Coastal Customer Operations, Xerox Corp., Greenville SC

Carrie Johnson stopped in for a brief visit on Sept. 11 and brought along her significant other, Tom. She seems to have found her niche in the beading world after working for Kodak and Fuji in the, what now seems distant past. She has won beading competitions and is now in charge of beading classes offered by Accents Beads in Rockville, MD. Next to her photograph with Prof. Miller is Flow Blue, an example of one of her award-winning beading pieces.

Vincent Reich, who works at the Imaging and Photographic Technology department at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, OH, dropped in to check out Tech Alley and to just say hi. He continues to work providing high speed and thermographic imaging support there along with other specialty photoinstrumentation services.

John Grimm, who has been working at Eastman Kodak Company in the area of color applications while also going for a MS in Computer Science here at RIT, has decided to accept an offer from HP in Boise, Idaho, and move with his family out there. He says "Boise rocks!".

GRADUATION 2006

Graduation 2006 news and photographs are yet to be compiled into a meaningful report but to get going here is a listing of all those that attended the IPT graduation on May 25, 2006. If anyone in these photographs would like to get the original camera image files just drop me a line. Hopefully more text to come in the very near future.

Several Imaging and Photo Tech graduates drop in for a brief look-see!

[David Mersfelder and Steve Tardiff in 2006]

In the last few months or weeks several graduates of the Tech program dropped in to see if all was well in the old homestead. They were all astonished at the few changes that have taken place in Tech Alley and the huge changes that have taken place on campus. In town for a spring Job Fair at RIT where he came as an interviewer, Eric Sciacca is working at Goodrich Corporation in Massachusetts in the general field of remote sensing.

Iris Sprow came to town for a visit essentially since she had a few days off from work in picturesque Switzerland where she works in the area of color science.

Michelle Hill was in town for a seminar (I think) and when she dropped in to see us I immediately hit her up for a brief presentation to current Tech students in the Survey of Nonconventional Imaging. She is doing well at Adobe Corporation in Seatle, WA working specifically with their InDesign product.

David Mersfelder who is working at Harley Davidson Corporation in Wisconsin doing all manner of testing on their products including crash tests and part performance studies with high speed and other instrumentation, was on a job in Buffalo but included Rochester in his itinerary so he could meet with a current student, Steve Tardiff, who will be joining David as a coop student for the summer and fall quarters of 2006.

32nd Annual TPSA/SPIE/IPT Barbecue Rocks in Kodak Quad!

On Saturday April 22, 2006 the Technical Photography Student Association in conjunction with the joint student chapter of SPIE and the Imaging and Photographic Technology department organized another one of their tradionally spectacular Tech barbecues. This one was held in the Eastman Kodak Quad, just outside the school's building (the Gannett building!) and the occasion was blessed with a sunny and warm spring afternoon. I mention this because it rained in the morning and in the evening. Temperatures were in the mid 60s and abundant sunshine marked the occasion. Several Tech faculty were also in attendance. The barbecue went off without a hitch with juicy sirloin burgers topped with a special barbecue sauce and plump Rochester made hot-dogs the prime culinary attractions.

A spirited game of bocci ball provided much needed physical exercise to a few while the rest vegged out under the awning of building 7. VIP alumni also joined the festivities with Carl Smith dropping in.

The highlight of the afternoon was the raffle that was held where the winner, first year student Brian Gamm, took home with him a vintage Exacta camera and lesser prizes were won by several other Tech students. But probably what most will remember are the commraderie shared by the group and the desert that everyone savored, namely yum yum Klondike ice cream bars!

Edmund Optics Imaging Challenge Big Success!

The Edmund Optics Corp. Imaging Challenge presentations were made on March 30, 2006 in response to an opportunity made available to Imaging and Photographic Technology students to engage in an optics related project of their choice and to present their report to a group of fellow students and faculty in the department. The winner of the top prize consisting of a $500 cheque was YuTak Kwok whose paper centered on determination of resolution capability of film and digital cameras. Natalie Sinisgalli, whose paper dealt with identification through remote sensing of constitutents in a gas exhaust plume and Ariel Schlamm, whose paper was about perception of the color of blue sky, each received a cheque for $250. After the presentations all the students in the department were treated to a dinner out (but in Tech Alley) made up of Buffalo chicken wings and Thai dishes plus decadent chocolate and carrot cakes from Wegmans. A veritable throng of over 20 Tech students and faculty attended the event. A great time was had by all! Thank you Edmund Optics!

CONGRATULATIONS to one an all and we hope to see you again next year!
Jessica Gehlhar, IPT '04, and Bruce Butkus, IPT '05) Edmund Optics.

Melanie and Mike Niles welcome twins!!

Dateline: Monday, Feb. 13, 2006. Breaking News! Samantha Kate Niles was born at 2:52pm at 5lbs. 3 oz. Sydney Grace Nileswas born at 3:03pm at 4lbs. 10 oz. at Sequoia Hospital. Sam & Syd were transferred to Stanford NICU and are making steady progress for an early release home. Drop in to their website at http://www.babyhomepages.net/nilestwins/index.php to see the latest photographs and updates on the girls and proud mom and dad! Their latest update, dated Feb 24, states: Feb 24 ~ Samantha & Sydney are doing great. They are taking almost all of their feeds by bottle. They've both gained weight. Sam is 5lb3oz and Syd is 4lb10oz - back up to their birth weight! (It's common for babies to lose weight the first week or so. It's a big accomplishment to reach this goal).
CONGRATULATIONS Melanie and Mike!

Tech students celebrate end of Winter quarter by dining out!

On Feb 17, 2006, a large group of Tech students went out for dinner as guests of Dr. Les Stroebel (emeritus) who is currently residing in Florida enjoying the winter season there. 24 students and faculty members participated in this special event at the Yangtze Asian Restaurant and Bistro up Jefferson road apice. The event was marked by an enthusiastic, rowdy and voracious bunch of apparently starved students as the restaurant owner was blindsided by the humungous amounts of food consumed by the group. He mentioned that he lost money on the deal! And several students went back for 5ths! Escorting the students were several Tech faculty and staff members. Profs. Thomas Yeh, Paul Schwartz, Glenn Miller, Nanette Salvaggio, Andrew Davidhazy and Donna Sterlace comprised the "grown ups". Lots of embellished stories circulated around the table and creative photography was practiced by Jessica and Jennifer under the careful supervision of Cassie. Prof. Salvaggio brought us up-to-date on how she met her husband many years ago and Prof. Miller kept the group enthralled with stories about ... would you guess ... color!

A GREAT time was had by all. Thank you Dr. Stroebel for making this dinner out possible.

News from here and there

Jennifer (Governali) Tonelli, dropped in to Tech Alley recently along with her husband Rino. She said: "We were married on April 7, and we spent the 1st week travelling on Kaui. We took a boat trip to the NaPali coast. There were 14 foot ocean swells! Most of the boat was sick except for Rino and I. We did some snorkeling in too cold of water for my taste! But I swam with a sea turtle! The second week was on the big Island of Hawaii. We hiked the volcano national park and stood about 1 foot from hot flowing lava. That was spectacular. I'll send you some of those photos. That was well worth the 7 mile roundtrip hike! I swam with more sea turtles - which outside of getting married was a great thrill for a city chick like me. Also, we rented jeeps while on the islands.....I now own one! Couldn't resist. It takes me back everytime I drive it!

The pic of us on the beach is the famouse NaPali coast behind us. Can't get there by anything but air or boat. Jurassic Park was filmed there. Jennifer

Brian True, currently in commercial real estate business but still dabbling in forensic applications of imaging, stopped by and syas that things are going quite well for him and his family.

Joanne Kirwin and Chuck Torzilli dropped by the school's booth at the PhotoExpo Plus in New York city last month and both are doing well. Joanne at Fuji where she works in the area of environmental protection issues and Chuck is still with Symbol Technology, a company that is among the major players in scanning (like barcodes, etc.) systems. They took me out to McSorley's bar in New York City and it was a memorable occasion.

Mike Kinnear was in town for a seminar at which his company's (Latran) products (ablation proofing materials I seem to reacll) were being used and he came to make sure that everything would go to perfection!

Todd Minnigh dropped in and gave a presentation to the TPSA/SPIE student organization. He is now respnsible for global marketing of CR (Computed Radiography) products for the Eastman Kodak Company. He told us about his professional career and how it started with the Tech program. He worked for Agfa, Fuji, Philips and is now quite successful at the Eastman Kodak Company.

On Friday Nov. 04, 2005, a gaggle of Techs assaulted Tinseltown and experienced first hand the thrill of virtual moon dust being blown in their face in this 3D version of the landing and initial exploration of the lunar surface by earthlings. Attending this TPSA/SPIE sponsored and subsidized event were, from left to right, Eric Kerby, Carl Smith, Jarrett Whetstone, Collin Becker, Rob Mays, Greg Sharp, Elisa Hubbard, Steve Tardiff, Yu Tak Kwok, ZZ, Nick Cox, Jonathan Winkle, Andy and the photographer, Ariel Schlamm. Will someone help me straighten out the names???

And Iris Sprow wrote a most enlightening letter to Glenn Miller about her life in Switzerland. She said: "hi Glenn! how are you? I'm just sitting at work, trying to stay up while looking through the statistics of our psycho visual experiments. :-) I remember doing this with you at some point. It's nice being back in Europe, this weekend I drove up to visit my family, it's just a 2.5 hour ride. I get to know more people which makes life much better. 2 weeks ago I went hiking with a couple of people, it was wonderful! (As you can see from the enclosed photograph) And exhausting, I'm not used to hiking up such hight mountains yet! Work is good, I learn a lot and I'm reading lots of related material. Which I like, it still sometimes feels like college a little bit, that way. I miss taking classes, I'm thinking about working towards a master's degree. On fridays I usually go to the ETH, the universtiy in Zurich. My boss is giving a lecture there (digital publishing) so that's at least something. But I'm just lecturing it, I'm not enrolled or anything. My collegues have already checked what Sabine Susstrunk's department�is offering in Lausanne. That would be something what I'd be interested in. I'll have to see what comes out of it,...EPFL is a few hours away from Zurich. Well, I gotta go and look at some light source distribution curves. Isn't it funny, it really is M&P all over again. ahhh, hahaha. I hope all is well with you. I'd be glad to hear back from you! have a nice day! iris"

getting more and more behinder ... more text to come I hope ..

To see other, older news from the department's files just click on Archived Section H of Tech News

To add news to this Departmental News Bulletin Board send text and attached images to: Andrew Davidhazy who will gladly add the item to this bulletin board dedicated to the students and faculty of the Imaging and Photgraphic Technology program at RIT's School of Photographic Arts and Sciences.