Rochester Institute of Technology, world renowned as the leader in print-media education, has received a $9,500 grant from the Alcoa Foundation through its subsidiary, Southern Graphics Systems. The grant money will help purchase print technology-testing equipment for approximately 120 students to utilize each year in RIT's School of Print Media. The equipment will be part of a new laboratory for the courses, Material and Processes I and II. The courses, which are currently lecture-based, teach students the fundamentals of substrates, inks and printing processes. Because of this grant money, the courses will become laboratory centered. "We are grateful to Alcoa for helping RIT enhance the print sciences education we provide our students," states Patricia Sorce, chair of RIT's School of Print Media. "This new equipment will give students insights into the "why" and "how" behind most printing practices." Scott Williams, associate professor of imaging chemistry and physics in the School of Print Media secured the grant money. RIT's School of Print Media, considered among the best of its kind in the world, offers undergraduate programs in graphic media and new media publishing; and graduate programs in printing technology, graphic arts systems, and graphic arts publishing. RIT is also internationally recognized as a leader in computing, imaging technology, fine and applied arts, and education of the deaf, enrolling 15,300 full- and part-time students in more than 340 career-oriented and professional programs. For well over a decade, U.S. News and World Report has ranked RIT as one of the nation's leading comprehensive universities. RIT is also included in The Fiske Guide to Colleges and Barron's Best Buys in Education.