Screenshot of a cover image for a digital magazine story. In the photo, two young women focused on in a crowd look attentively forward while watching an out-of-frame presenter.

Rolls-Royce inaugural Ph.D. Day opens doors for innovative, collaborative research (VT News, College of Engineering, VT Engineer Magazine)

Erica Corder Photo, Video, Writing Leave a Comment

Rolls-Royce is more than just automobiles. That’s the message being spread by Joseph Krok, the university research liaison manager at Rolls-Royce. The company has, in recent years, turned its focus to aviation — specifically, aircraft engines. “As you can imagine, gas turbine engines are incredibly complex and highly technical,” said Krok, who acts as a connector between the London-based company …

Two young girls smile and laugh as they work on a small, robotic "robocraft" together while seated at a table.

Inspiring thousands of K-12 students to invent (VT Engineer Magazine)

Erica Corder Photo, Video, Writing Leave a Comment

Crafts and tools line the walls inside brightly painted rooms at the end of the first floor hall in Virginia Tech’s Falls Church campus in the National Capital Region. It’s here in the Qualcomm Thinkabit Lab at Virginia Tech that, since 2016, more than 5,000 students and teachers, primarily from underserved and underrepresented communities in the D.C. area, have wired, …

Two young girls sit on the floor with a robot they created that moves across the room.

More than 4,000 in National Capital Region inspired to invent at the Qualcomm Thinkabit Lab (VT News, College of Engineering)

Erica Corder Photo, Video, Writing Leave a Comment

Crafts and tools line the walls inside brightly painted rooms at the end of the first floor hall in Virginia Tech’s Falls Church campus in the National Capital Region. It’s here in the Qualcomm Thinkabit Lab at Virginia Tech that, since 2016, more than 4,000 students and teachers, primarily from underserved and underrepresented communities in the D.C. area, have wired, …

In the photo, a young woman speaks with a representative from General Motors.

Record-breaking Engineering Expo fueled by alumni, spurs charitable giving to the college (VT News, College of Engineering)

Erica Corder Photo, Video, Writing Leave a Comment

When Andrew Merewitz comes back to visit Virginia Tech, the 2012 computer engineering grad always hopes to bring some Hokies back to New York City with him. Now working as a software team lead at Bloomberg, Merewitz regularly attends the Engineering Exposition as a recruiter for his company. “One of the reasons we keep coming back to Virginia Tech is …

Seven students pose with a Hyperloop pod.

Virginia Tech Hyperloop team ventures to SpaceX for global competition (VT News, College of Engineering)

Erica Corder Photo, Video, Writing Leave a Comment

Eleven Virginia Tech undergraduate engineering students ventured to SpaceX in Hawthorne, California, for the innovative aerospace company’s Hyperloop Pod Competition II, the second round of the international competition. After landing in Los Angeles on Aug. 19, the Hyperloop at Virginia Tech team spent the week modifying and integrating the systems on their pod, called the V17, and completing safety tests. …

Image of an aluminum slab set up in a lab space with chunks of melting frost dripping off.

Forget defrosting your car at a glacial pace: new research speeds process up tenfold (VT News)

Erica Corder Photo, Video, Writing Leave a Comment

Jonathan Boreyko turned on the defroster in his car one cold winter morning and waited for the ice on the windshield to melt. And kept waiting. Boreyko, an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics in the College of Engineering, knew there had to be a more efficient, quicker way to melt the frost. So he developed …

A group of people form a circle with instruments and do a jam session.

Virginia Tech study finds Crooked Road music trail generates $9 million annually (VT News)

Erica Corder Video, Writing Leave a Comment

A 333-mile route with attractions that celebrate Southwest Virginia’s cultural and musical heritage brings in about $9.2 million annually and supports 131 jobs in the region, according to a Virginia Tech study. The Crooked Road, founded in 2004, attracts visitors from outside the commonwealth to music events at venues in the region through its marketing and programming. Some 42 percent …

A photo of a group of smiling people standing in front of the London Eye at dusk.

London Travel Blog

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While studying abroad in London for six weeks, I kept a daily blog, complete with photos and a wrap-up video at the end. The blog chronicles my internship in Parliament, a last-minute, one-day blitz in Paris, and the transition from American life to living and working in the UK (where they don’t have ranch dressing or Taco Bell or guns, …