James Goodman

@goodman_dandc

When Kevin Surace moved to Silicon Valley after graduating from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1985, he didn't know any other RIT graduates living there.

But when Surace greets 90 RIT visitors — including RIT President Bill Destler and other top officials from the college — this week, the delegation will find more than 4,000 RIT alumni living in this hotbed of innovation, in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The visit, called the Silicon Valley Engagement Initiative, which runs from Wednesday to Saturday, will help build ties between RIT and Silicon Valley companies as well as with the college's alumni living in this region.

Executives from such companies as Facebook, Google, Adobe and GoPro are among the representatives from 25 companies and organizations that will be meeting with the RIT officials.

"The purpose of this trip is to engage and to educate the largest potential corporate employers of our students," said Surace, who is CEO of a San Jose software company, Appvance, and a member of the RIT board of trustees.

In addition to various RIT vice presidents and deans, the 90-member delegation includes members of the RIT board of trustees, the president's Roundtable and the college's Alumni Association board as well as students in leadership positions at the school.

On Thursday, the RIT visitors will break into a dozen groups, with each group meeting with executives from two different Silicon Valley companies.

RIT first arranged such a visit to the San Francisco Bay area in 2008.

"We went there to understand what their needs would be over the next 10 years," said Christine Whitman, who was then a member of RIT's board of trustees and is now its chair.

As a result of the original visit, Whitman noted, RIT strengthened its curriculum in leadership training and project management.

Since then, RIT has grown markedly in enrollment and as a research university. Earlier this year RIT was designated as a “doctoral university” by The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education..

The visit is also intended to forge research ties between RIT and Silicon Valley companies and to let these companies know how RIT has changed.

"We have so much more to bring to them now," said Surace.

JGOODMAN@Gannett.com