Developments at Virginia Tech

Women who work night shifts or jobs with odd hours have higher...

garycope — Tue, 22 May 2012 08:39:00 -0400

Women who work night shifts or jobs with odd hours have higher rates of breast cancer. Carla Finkielstein wants to know why and she’s getting getting help from The Avon Foundation.

The associate professor of biological sciences in Virginia Tech’s College of Science recently traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend the annual Avon Walk and receive a check for $150,000 in support of her research.

Click on the photo above to learn more about the Avon Foundation’s support for Finkielstein’s research.

Three years ago, Finkielstein arranged for breast cancer survivors and advocates to speak to her students. The goal was to help the students put a face to the disease for which they are trying to find a cure. Below is a video about that unique experience.

WVTF public radio aired a feature on Virginia Tech’s...

garycope — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:38:55 -0400

WVTF public radio aired a feature on Virginia Tech’s Lumenhaus this morning, May 17. You can listen to it above, or click here to read the transcript.

The story references the Virginia Tech students and faculty who became the first university team ever to receive the American Institute of Architects Honor Award, which is one of the most prestigious awards in architecture.

In case you haven’t seen the award-winning solar house, check out this video produced earlier this year.

WVTF is a service of Virginia Tech.

John Lee Pratt Animal Nutrition Senior Fellows present research

garycope — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:57:57 -0400

Ten seniors from Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences presented their research projects on May 3 as part of the John Lee Pratt Animal Nutrition Senior Fellows program. The program promotes the study of animal nutrition across departments throughout the college.

The funding is made available through a bequest of John Lee Pratt, a native Virginian, cattle owner, and, at one time, the CEO of General Motors.

The Pratt endowment provides nearly $1 million a year to the college. Of that, about $150,000 is earmarked for scholarships and the senior research fellow program. The remainder is used for research equipment, bringing visiting scholars to Virginia Tech, and for graduate students’ research and stipends.

Click on the photo to read more.

Geoscientist Patricia M. Dove receives top scientific honor

garycope — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:39:00 -0400

Congratulations to Virginia Tech professor Patricia M. Dove on being elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Dove, the C.P. Miles Professor of Science in the Department of Geosciences in the College of Science, was selected for membership in recognition of her sustained excellence in original scientific research.

Membership in the NAS is one of the highest honors given to a scientist in the United States. Dove will be inducted into the Academy next April during its 150th annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

Dove was appointed the C.P. “Sally” Miles Professor of Science in September 2010. The professorship was established in 1986 through a gift from Melvin “Cy” Young and honors the Virginia Tech graduate who spent 59 years at the university teaching chemistry and coaching athletic teams. The professorship supports an outstanding faculty member in the College of Science.

Click on the photo to read more.

In January, the Virginia Tech Lumenhaus team was notified that...

garycope — Fri, 04 May 2012 11:56:53 -0400

In January, the Virginia Tech Lumenhaus team was notified that it had been selected to receive a 2012 American Institute of Architects Honor Award for its work on the solar house.

It marked the first time the AIA has ever awarded the honor to a team of student architects. The team will officially receive its award later this month.

The university’s award-winning solar house received substantial support by way of private giving. In fact, many of the successes we see at Virginia Tech benefit in some way from private giving, whether it’s scholarships, professorships, a new building, or program support.

vtengineering: Going on right now: Students and faculty are...

garycope — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 13:06:00 -0400

vtengineering:

Going on right now: Students and faculty are invited to sign a steel beam that will go inside the new Signature Engineering Building. Here, civil engineering majors Valerie Black and Becca Maine make their marks on the beam in front of Randolph Hall.

Have you signed the beam yet?

Congratulations to the students in Virginia Tech’s College...

garycope — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 09:06:26 -0400

Congratulations to the students in Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering on being chosen as the most philanthropic in the country in 2012. They were also cited as having the nation’s best student engineers’ council, according to the results of the recent annual competition hosted by the National Association of Engineering Student Councils (NAESC) at Purdue University.

In the Winter 2012 issue of Impact Magazine (p. 13) we highlighted the philanthropic efforts of the engineering students at Virginia Tech. Since establishing the Paul E. Torgersen Leadership Scholarship in 1986, the Student Engineers’ Council has donated more than $1 million to the college’s students and faculty.

This money was used for various engineering projects, including partially funding more than 30 engineering organizations such as the internationally award-winning hybrid electric vehicle team, the outdoor-terrain motorsport team, and the Baja and Formula Society of Automotive Engineers’ teams.

Click on the photo to learn more about how the engineering students are raising money, and how they are using it to support the college.

Signing postponed

garycope — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:42:09 -0400

vtengineering:

Update: The beam signing has been postponed until Thursday, April 19, because of rain. Faculty, students, and members of the community are again invited to lend their signature to the Signature Engineering Building. The times, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., will remain the same.

We thought this might be the case. It’s a rainy day in Blacksburg, but tomorrow should offer some better beam-signing weather.

Virginia Tech Engineering: Faculty, students have chance to put their signature to the Signature Engineering Building

garycope — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 08:55:35 -0400

Virginia Tech Engineering: Faculty, students have chance to put their signature to the Signature Engineering Building:

vtengineering:

BLACKSBURG, Va., April 16, 2011 — The College of Engineering invites Virginia Tech students, faculty, and staff, as well as area residents, this week to place their signature and messages of goodwill on a steel beam that will be placed inside the under-construction Signature Engineering Building

Signatures will be collected Wednesday, April 18, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in front of Randolph Hall, near the courtyard main entrance. Engineering departments, such as mechanical, chemical, and engineering education, will move to the $100 million, 150,000-square-foot Signature Engineering Building when construction is finished in spring 2014. The Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering also will have a showcase lab in the new facility. The building is located near the corner of Prices Fork Road and Stanger Streets on the north edge of campus.

This is a unique opportunity to be part of Virginia Tech’s history! We’ll see you tomorrow between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

On Saturday, April 14, the freshman class of the Corps of Cadets...

garycope — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 16:53:00 -0400

On Saturday, April 14, the freshman class of the Corps of Cadets will be making the second half of the 26-mile march completed in 1872 by Virginia Tech’s first cadet and student, Addison Caldwell.

The spring semester chain-of-command, the upper-class cadets who are leading the Corps of Cadets, will march with the freshman to honor them as they complete their challenging year of training.

Alumni and family have donated $88,000 in support of the Caldwell March, a tradition for the corps.

Click on the photo for more information.

Richard Perdue, professor and head of the Department of...

garycope — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 09:56:28 -0400

Richard Perdue, professor and head of the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management in the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech, was recently named the Robert B. Pamplin Professor of Hospitality and Tourism Management by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.

Established in 2011, the Robert B. Pamplin Professorship in Hospitality and Tourism Management is one of several named professorships established with a portion of the $10 million endowment presented to the Pamplin College by Robert B. Pamplin, Sr. and Robert B. Pamplin, Jr. This professorship supports excellence in education in the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management.

Click on the photo to read more.

John C. Little, professor of civil and environmental engineering...

garycope — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 09:44:25 -0400

John C. Little, professor of civil and environmental engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, was recently appointed the Charles E. Via Jr. Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.

The Via Professorship is funded through an endowment established in 1987 by Marion Via Bradley in honor of her late husband to recognize excellence in faculty research.

Click on the photo to read more.

Virginia Tech Engineering: Virginia Tech’s Student Engineers’ Council wins best in nation and most philanthropic

garycope — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 11:18:17 -0400

Virginia Tech Engineering: Virginia Tech’s Student Engineers’ Council wins best in nation and most philanthropic:

vtengineering:

The engineering students at Virginia Tech were chosen as the most philanthropic in the country for 2012 as well operating the nation’s best Student Engineers’ Council, according to the results of the recent annual competition hosted by the National Association of Engineering Student Councils…

Congratulations!

Jason Lai, professor of electrical and computer engineering, was...

garycope — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 08:37:06 -0400

Jason Lai, professor of electrical and computer engineering, was recently named the James S. Tucker Professorship by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.

Lai is internationally recognized as an expert in energy efficient electronic technologies for transportation and industrial automation. One of his highly visible projects is the development of an efficient power conditioning technology for renewable energy and distributed generation applications.

James S. Tucker established the Tucker Professorship in 1984. Tucker was a 1934 electrical engineering graduate of Virginia Tech who served in World War II. In 1955, he founded Piedmont Electric Supply Corp. of Charlottesville, Va.

Tucker, who died in 1990, was the College of Engineering’s Distinguished Alumnus in 1984, and was a member of the college’s advisory board and Committee of 100.

Click on the photo to learn more about Lai and his work at Virginia Tech.

BLACKSBURG, Va., March 26, 2012 – The Center for the Arts at...

garycope — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:48:00 -0400

BLACKSBURG, Va., March 26, 2012 – The Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech invites Virginia Tech students, faculty, and staff, as well as area residents, to become part of university history by signing a steel beam that will be placed within the structure of the center’s new facility. Signatures will be collected through Thursday, March 29 at 5 p.m.

The beam is on display at the entrance to Shultz Hall facing Monteith and Shanks Halls. The spot is directly adjacent to the future location of the Center for the Arts, which is being constructed at the corner of Main Street and Alumni Mall. Construction of the 147,000-square-foot center continues to take shape and is on schedule, with an opening date slated for fall 2013.

Click on the photo to learn more.

niknak85: Today was a pretty day at school. And every day is a...

garycope — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:28:52 -0400

niknak85:

Today was a pretty day at school.

And every day is a great day to be a Hokie!

William A. Hopkins, associate professor of fish and wildlife...

garycope — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 10:21:34 -0400

William A. Hopkins, associate professor of fish and wildlife conservation within Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment, holds a 40-year-old snapping turtle in his lab at Latham Hall.

The turtle was found in the Virginia Tech Duck Pond. Hopkins explained that turtles can be used to detect levels of mercury contamination.

We interviewed Hopkins for a video we’re working on, but a photo opportunity like this was too good to pass up. The professor and his students are doing some amazing work both in the field and in what Hopkins describes as “state of the science” labs at Latham Hall, a fairly new research facility named in honor of a couple who have generously supported research at Virginia Tech.

Click on the photo above to learn more about the Lathams.

The 2011-12 Virginia Tech club ice hockey team celebrates...

garycope — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 08:55:00 -0400

The 2011-12 Virginia Tech club ice hockey team celebrates following its 5-3 win over Liberty University. The victory propelled the Hokies into the American Collegiate Hockey Association’s national tournament, held March 16-20, in Fort Meyers, Fla. (Photo courtesy of David Standley)

Virginia Tech’s club ice hockey team, one of 29 sport clubs within the Department of Recreational Sports, opens play in its first national tournament on Friday, March 16, 2012, in Fort Myers, Fla.

The Hokies will face the William Paterson University Pioneers in the opening round of the 2012 American Collegiate Hockey Association’s Division 2 National Tournament. The puck drops at 9 a.m., and the game is available online.

Click on the photo to read more.

Pamplin alumnus to discuss entrepreneurship in Wells Fargo...

garycope — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 10:00:06 -0400

Pamplin alumnus to discuss entrepreneurship in Wells Fargo Lecture

Virginia Tech Pamplin College of Business alumnus Randy Lucas will give the Wells Fargo Distinguished Lecture on Thursday, March 15, at 3:30 p.m. at the Holtzman Alumni Center’s Alumni Assembly Hall.

Lucas earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting in 1991 and 1992, respectively. He is the founder and principal consultant for Lucas Tax + Energy, a Charlotte, N.C., tax consulting and financial advisory firm specializing in tax incentives for energy efficiency construction and for renewable and/or alternative energy technologies.

This event is free and open to the public. Like many lecture series at Virginia Tech, it is made possible by private support. Click on the photo above to learn more.

Why do you love Virginia Tech?

garycope — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 10:28:49 -0500

Virginia Tech alumni, family and friends are fiercely loyal to the university, but what fuels that sense of loyalty? What is it about Virginia Tech that you love so much? Is it the beautiful campus? The New River Valley? Professors? Rec sports? Tell us what makes Virginia Tech such a special place for you?