Kyle Grimaldi Receives Fellowship Award

2012 Jan 11

Kyle Grimaldi, a fifth-year Rochester Institute of Technology student in chemistry, has been awarded a David Pasto Co-op Fellowship Award for the 2011-2012 academic year.

The David Pasto Co-op Fellowship Award is given to chemistry students who express an interest in conducting chemistry research. Selected student researchers receive $3,000 from RIT's College of Science and spend one academic quarter working full-time on a selected research project. David Pasto, a 1958 graduate of RIT's chemistry program, went on to become a well-known physical organic chemist. He died in 1999, leaving RIT's chemistry department with $100,000.

Grimaldi, who graduated from Gloucester High School, says that chemistry has always come naturally to him. "I enjoyed the idea of being able to create something out of completely different starting materials," says Grimaldi.

Grimaldi has worked in RIT's chemistry department since his junior year and has played on the varsity soccer team since his freshman year. He has served on the Student Athletic Advisory Committee and studied abroad in Croatia for a quarter. In his free time he enjoys playing sports, hiking and traveling.

"Kyle is the epitome of an outstanding student athlete," says Lea Michel, assistant professor of chemistry at RIT. "He is a hard-working student who has juggled academics and sports during his entire college career and has succeeded in both. I see great research talent in Kyle due, in part, to his great work ethic, his strong academic foundation and his commitment to getting things done right."

His research project, "Using Biomedical Techniques to Elucidate the Properties of a Protein Vaccine Candidate," is a collaboration with Dr. Michael Pichiero's lab at the Rochester General Hospital Research Institute. The goal of the project is to characterize protein and evaluate its potential for use in a vaccine against bacteria that cause ear infections.

Post graduation, Grimaldi plans to attend medical school, continuing his education in the field of chemistry.

Rochester Institute of Technology is internationally recognized for academic leadership in computing, engineering, imaging science, sustainability, and fine and applied arts, in addition to unparalleled support services for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. RIT enrolls 17,500 full- and part-time students in more than 200 career-oriented and professional programs, and its cooperative education program is one of the oldest and largest in the nation.

For more than two decades, U.S. News & World Report has ranked RIT among the nation's leading comprehensive universities. RIT is featured in The Princeton Review's 2012 edition of The Best 376 Colleges as well as its Guide to 311 Green Colleges. The Fiske Guide to Colleges 2012 names RIT as a "Best Buy," and The Chronicle of Higher Education recognizes RIT among the "Great Colleges to Work For 2011."