Screenshot of photo of a woman stands in front of a window. Behind her stand tall buildings with large glass windows in a modern cityscape. The words "The woman bringing Virginia Tech's power electronics to D.C." are written over the image.

The woman bringing Virginia Tech’s power electronics to D.C. (VT Engineer Magazine)

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Electrical engineering professor Dushan Boroyevich made a point of sitting next to Christina DiMarino during a dinner in spring 2012. As the then co-director of the Center for Power Electronics Systems (CPES), Boroyevich was on a recruitment mission. He saw promise in DiMarino, who’d been offered a competitive Webber Fellowship to study at Virginia Tech. There was only one problem: …

A woman smiles for a photograph in front of a house.

How one engineering alumna keeps the door open for future Hokies

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Every year in the small agricultural town of Walkersville, Maryland, the high school’s graduating class writes their post-graduation plans next to their name on a wall. Susan Kolbay, who’d lived in Walkersville all her life, took a pen to the wall and filled in “Virginia Tech.” In 1997, she packed up and headed to a town with a population about …

Screenshot of a cover image for a story in a digital magazine. In the old photo, Joe Ware gives a speech at a podium while wearing a hat that reads "Ware Lab."

The little-known backstory of one of Virginia Tech’s most popular labs (VT Engineer Magazine)

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Ask any Virginia Tech engineering student about the Joseph F. Ware Jr. Advanced Engineering Laboratory, and odds are they’ve stepped foot in it. Arguably the most popular lab on campus and hallmark of the Virginia Tech undergraduate engineering experience, the Ware Lab is a 10,000-square-foot facility, split into nearly a dozen bays full of tools, materials, and student design projects. It’s …

Screenshot of the cover image of the magazine story on Dean Julia Ross, with a photo of Julia Ross smiling while sitting in a chair in an empty, airy hallway.

Meet the new dean (VT Engineer Magazine)

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Before Julia M. Ross became dean of the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech; before she became engineering dean at University of Maryland, Baltimore County; and before she pursed her Ph.D. and bachelor’s in chemical engineering, she was a girl inspired by astronaut Sally Ride. “I remember reading in magazines about her and her mission, and I thought that was the coolest thing,” Ross said. …

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)

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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 (Abigail Smith) smiles for the camera in front of a field and building.

Abigail Smith named Virginia Tech Undergraduate Student of the Year (VT News)

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Abigail Smith, of Cleveland, Ohio, says she lives by the words of renowned cellist Pablo Casals: “To live is not enough; we must take part.” It’s a mentality that the 2017 Undergraduate Student of the Year carried through her four years at Virginia Tech, and one she plans to maintain after graduating in May with a bachelor’s in industrial and systems …

In the photo, a young Nigerian woman (Nneoma Nwankwo) stands with her hands clasped on the steps of a brick building. She is wearing a medallion that recognizes her as an Honors student.

Nneoma Nwankwo: From chickenpox to Undergraduate Student of the Year (Virginia Tech Honors College)

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Nneoma Nwankwo hasn’t received her American driver’s license yet. Instead, at 16, she spent her gap year helping her mom plan a gender policy dialogue with the World Bank, working at her uncle’s advertising firm, and sitting in on her mom’s Oxfam meetings in Nasarawa and in Jos, Nigeria — both far northeast of her hometown of Lagos, Nigeria. By …

In the photo, a young woman (Emily Barritt) looks toward the camera for a portrait inside of her dorm room. She sits on a computer chair at a desk under a bunked bed, from which hangs multicolored string lights.

Emily Barritt orchestrates a day 15 years in the making (Virginia Tech Honors College)

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For one day last April, nearly 50 musicians took to the sidewalks on Virginia Tech’s campus to perform open-air, mini-concerts. It was a day 15 years in the works, and yet, without Emily Barritt and her enthusiasm, it may not have happened. Along with a small team, Barritt, a sophomore Honors student, McNamara Scholarship recipient, and neuroscience and chemistry double …

Photo taken from the outside of a small office. A sign with the name "Lynn Nystrom" is visible on the periphery of the photo. Inside the office is a desk and chair and an assortment of knick-knacks like photo frames and a stained glass picture of a horse.

Lynn’s Office (The Pylon)

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When Lynn died, one of the first things I thought of was her office, with its eclectic and distinctive decorations: the stained glass horses in the window, the cluster of framed photos on the filing cabinets and shelves, the beaded mobile. I thought of dropping by, often unannounced, knocking on the door, and being welcomed in by a warm hello …

In the photo, a young woman (Maggie Carolan) sits on a desk in her dorm room. Her wall is covered with decorative posters, string lights, and a hanging Australian flag.

Maggie Carolan takes on Flint, rainwater harvesting, and Stanford (Virginia Tech Honors College)

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Maggie Carolan’s freshman year spring break was where it all started. “I was going to IKEA with my mum, because IKEA’s the best,” the Stafford, Virginia native explains, pronouncing her words with a hint of an accent she picked up from her Australian mother. “We were in the car, and I get a call. And it’s Dr. Marc Edwards.” Edwards …