About EUREKA!
What is EUREKA!?
EUREKA! is an annual 48-hour interdisciplinary collaborative event that provides a unique opportunity for RIT students to engage with a Rochester area community partner to initiate social change through design thinking strategies.
EUREKA! shows students that their passion and skills can really make a difference in the community, and Rochester community organizations benefit from fresh perspectives and approaches to complex challenges. Many students continue to work on their team concepts with the community partner as Capstone Projects and Independent Studies. Several EUREKA! alumni have pursued professional opportunities in social design after graduation as a result of their participation in EUREKA! events.
What does EUREKA! mean?
The word EUREKA! references the moment one has discovered the solution to a problem, as in, “EUREKA!, I have found it!” It is a fun and energetic word… and is a greeting of hello and goodbye among EUREKA! participants.
Who can participate?
All RIT students are welcome! Designers, engineers, business students, et cetera– no matter your major, your skills will be put to good use (and hopefully expanded upon)!
If you’re not a student but still want to participate, we’d love to have you help out in other ways. Contact Lorrie (Lorrie.Frear@rit.edu) to find out what role you can play in EUREKA!
Meet the EUREKA! Team
Lorrie Frear (she/her)
Lorrie Frear is a Professor in the School of Design in the College of Art and Design at RIT.
She is a life-long proponent of interdisciplinary collaborative learning experiences in the classroom, and in active involvement in the community. She has created numerous initiatives and projects throughout her teaching career at RIT to connect students to the Rochester community.
EUREKA! was created in 2014 to provide students with the opportunity to work together to generate solutions to challenges faced by community organizations.
Michelle Fu (she/her)
Michelle is a senior in the Graphic Design program, with minors in Packaging Science and Furniture Design. She’s currently the Senior Designer at Command+g Design Lab. After participating in EUREKA! 2023 with the American Red Cross, she’s excited to return this year as part of the Event Director team. Michelle’s interests lie in experiential design, packaging design, and brand identity.
Emmet Blanchette (he/him)
Emmet is a senior in the Graphic Design program with a minor in Cultural Anthropology. His interest and experience lies in digital product design, including user research, multivariate testing, UX motion, and prototyping. He’s currently a UX Designer at MAGIC Spell Studios and a Personal Trainer at the Wiedman Fitness Center. He was a participant in EUREKA! 2023 with the Red Cross and 2024 with Greentopia, and he’s looking forward to helping with the 2025 chapter!
Ashley Persia (she/her)
Ashley is a senior in the Graphic Design program with a minor in Packaging Science. She is a student designer with Command+g Design Lab and frequently works with the Golisano RIT Archive. Her design interests include packaging design, typography, branding, and more. Ashley has participated in EUREKA! 2023 and 2024, and is excited to return to help direct EUREKA! 2025.
Meet our facilitators
Every year, we welcome several facilitators to Eureka! to help our student teams ask good questions and develop effective solutions. Our facilitators are often RIT alumni or past Eureka! participants. They’re familiar with the EUREKA! process and they’re here to help you, so don’t hesitate to ask them questions!
Emmitt White (he/him)
Emmitt White is a recent graduate of RIT’s Graphic Design program and proud former EUREKA! participant and event director. Honored to be an alumni facilitator for such a meaningful and impactful event, he is excited to see the creative ideas forged in forty-eight short hours. If you called and he didn’t answer, he may be tweaking type ’til the late hours of the night, enjoying interdisciplinary team work, or staring at his portfolio and thinking about revamping it. He has a background in printmaking, logo design, and photography, and a foreground in focus. Always looking ahead, he is searching for his next role out of school, and can’t wait to tell you all about life after college at EUREKA!
Michael Grippo (he/him)
Michael Grippo graduated from RIT in 2025 with a BFA in Graphic Design and minors in Crafts & Materials Studies and Advertising & PR. He loves work that blends storytelling, thoughtful branding, and strong visual systems, whether in print, on screen, or out in the world.
At RIT, he worked with Command+g Design Lab on a range of projects, from designing new wayfinding maps for Wallace Library to alumni exhibitions. He’s always curious to dive into the research and history behind a project and probably has a few fun facts to share along the way.
This is Michael’s fourth year with EUREKA!, first as a participant, then the planning team, and now a facilitator. He’s excited to return and help guide this year’s teams in designing for social good.
Jennifer Zhang (she/her)
Jennifer Zhang currently works as a freelancer, designing promotional materials to editing video shorts. She enjoys exploring various software and design disciplines to expand her design expertise.
She graduated from the RIT in May 2024 with a BFA in the Graphic Design program and a minor in Mobile Design and Development. She was a participant in EUREKA! 2023 and an event director in EUREKA! 2024. She is super excited to be back and looking forward to meeting the participants!
Meet our photographers
Alicia Gentes (she/her)
Alicia Gentes is a senior in the Graphic Design program with a minor in Advertising and Public Relations. Her design interests include motion design, branding, and publication design. Over the summer, she was an intern at a local screen printing shop at home. Alicia has participated in EUREKA! in 2023 and 2024, and she is excited to be returning to the team for EUREKA! 2025.
Miguel Villaman (he/him)
Miguel Villaman is a senior Graphic Design student at Rochester Institute of Technology. This past summer, he worked as a Design Intern with JM Family Enterprises, contributing to marketing and creative projects. Miguel is passionate about branding, packaging, and creating visual experiences that connect with people, and he looks forward to capturing moments at EUREKA! through photography.
Jay Ferreira (she/her)
Jay Ferreira is an Interior Design and Hospitality and Tourism Management major. She has been working in photography for 8 years and enjoys capturing real life moments. During the semester Jay is very involved in many clubs and when not attending classes she can usually be found reading.