Engineers' Forum, February 2023

“THERE ARE NO SMALL JOBS AT SSP”

Vice Admiral Johnny R. Wolfe, Jr. Director, Strategic Systems Programs

If interested send resumes to: SSPrecruitment@ssp.navy.mil

Photo / Kiara Kulkarni

PAGE 11

On the Cover

Choosing a Major & Its Countless Dilemmas

Baibhav Nepal

The Virginia Tech Helmet

Kathryn Paasch

Engineering Without Borders

Ethan Chung

PAGE 09

Lab

PAGE 05

Ducks in the Duck Pond

Photo / Kiara Kulkarni

PAGE 15

ChemE Cube

Adrian DiMarco

PAGE 18

SHPE, Your Familia Away From Home

Jasmine Mendez

PAGE 21

Improvements Needed in VT Design Lab Training Process

Zoe Miloszewski

Photo / Kiara Kulkarni

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Welcome to the February 2023 issue of Engineers’ Forum!

Happy new year everyone, we hope you are all enjoying the start of the spring semester! With the start of new classes come many new exciting events and topics that we can’t wait to share with you through this issue.

Are you struggling to choose a major? Biabhav Nepal’s article walks us through the dilemma that many students face when it comes time to commit to an engineering major. This article features insights into many resources that students have to help guide them in the right direction.

If you’re curious as to which helmets are the best for your safety, Kathryn Paasch highlights the Virginia Tech Helmet Lab. It touches on the types of criterion used to test helmets as well and features many of the ratings that were released. This is a must-read for anyone who avidly rides bikes on campus!

Engineering Without Borders (EWB) is a service organization that connects students of all disciplines with communities in need all over the world. Ethan Chung discusses various projects that EWB at VT has and what they entail. This is a great read for anyone interested in traveling or learning more about EWB’s service projects!

Featuring the ChemE Cube annual competition, Adrian DiMarco, covers the tasks that teams in the competition have as they design and market a chemical plant measuring one cubic foot in size. This article encompasses what the competition is, what the chapter at VT does, and includes insider information on how to get involved!

For those of you looking for your “familia” away from home, Jasmine Mendez’s piece is a perfect read to learn about The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers at VT (SHPE). This includes specifics of what the organization is, the opportunities provided, and how to get involved.

Lastly, Zoe Miloszewski, expands our scope on the improvements needed in the VT design lab training process. She dives into the process that already exists and proposes some possible changes that could be made to ensure that future students have the best possible experience.

We appreciate your continued support of our mission: to capture the student engineering experience at Virginia Tech. Enjoy!

Sincerely,

Adeline Ghosh Editor-in-Chief

Engineers’ Forum

Editor-in-Chief

Creative Director

Chief Copy Editor

Business Manager

Webmaster Writers

Adeline Ghosh - Finance (‘24)

Stella Shin - Architecture (‘25)

Peyton Ludwig - Computer Science (‘26)

Jolene Ghosh - Economics (‘25)

Nidhi Chopdekar - Computer Science (Graduate’23)

Kathryn Paasch - Biochemistry (‘23)

Adrian DiMarco - General Engineering (‘26)

Baibhav Nepal - General Engineering (‘26)

Jasmine Mendez - General Engineering (‘26)

Zoe Miloszewski - Biomedical Engineering (‘26)

Ethan Chung - Mechanical Engineering (‘25)

Photography Team

Design Team

Distribution Management Team

Kiara Kulkarni - General Engineering (‘26)

Stella Shin - Architecture (‘25)

Tamia Barnes - Architecture (‘25)

Phillip Becher - Architecture (‘25)

Kennetria Torain - Biology (‘24)

Adrian Dimarco - General Engineering (‘26)

Tanish Wangoo - Computer Engineering (‘26)

Kiara Kulkarni - General Engineering (‘26)

Morgan Andrews - General Engineering (‘26)

Faculty Advisors

Alex Parrish

Chelsea Betts

Niki Hazuda

(Background) Dragon’s Tooth by Sean Stroud

Illustrations / Tamia Barnes

CHOOSING A MAJOR & ITS COUNTLESS DILEMMAS

Article / Baibhav Nepal

The time one spends at college is often considered to be the golden time of one’s life. However, this does not come so easily, and a student goes through countless dilemmas over the course of several years at college. One such dilemma faced by college students is choosing a major.

For students enrolled in an Engineering degree program, they are General Engineering majors in their freshman year, leaving a small window to figure out the best engineering major to pursue starting sophomore year. Even with this time frame of almost a year to choose a specific engineering major, it still remains a challenging task to students. Students are often confused about what major would complement their skills and abilities and be the best fit for their future professional life.

Even after a student chooses a major for their sophomore year and beyond, there are many aspects that contribute to further change of majors. If a student realizes that their chosen major is not helping them enjoy the part of engineering that they were so passionate about, they shift to another major. There are also other factors such as poor performance in a particular major’s classes, or lack of interest in the industry or future job prospects of the major they are pursuing, that lead to further deliberation of what major they shall change to. These are dilemmas that are more difficult for students to handle, as it puts them in a position where they are forced to decide whether they should change their majors and spend more time, money, and other resources in getting the degree that they had planned for.

So, while choosing a major, a student has to consider many parameters and gauge both the pros and cons of each one. Oftentimes, these parameters may not be generic, and the pros of a major for some could be the cons for others. Choosing a major is also dependent on the institution one is enrolled into. Some colleges are more renowned for certain majors than others, which could possibly incline students to pursue the major that their college is more highly known for in the hope that they would remain a touch ahead than other students in other universities entering the same job market as them. Although every student is capable of crossing the hurdles of each major, some have greater abilities to excel in a particular major over others. This, too, could potentially be the reason why some students might want to change majors into something that they are already wellequipped with rather than the one that they have greater interest in.

Furthermore, there are different problems faced by different students with regard to the selection of a major. For an international student from a country where there is absolutely zero scope for a particular industry or major, it wouldn’t be beneficial to pursue such an industry even if they are very passionate about it. So, this puts such students in a difficult position about which other major they could choose. Similarly, there could be some majors that have a very high number of jobs available in the industry, but provide comparatively lower salaries to employees. This could dissuade some students from choosing that major despite the fact that there is an extensive number of jobs available to it.

Photo / Stella Bryant

The Heart of the Virginia Tech Campus

Photo / Stella Bryant Goodwin Hall, where Foundations of Engineering, a General Engineering course is taught

Photo / Hannah Baker Engineering Expo, where students gain industry knowledge and scope regarding each major

Changing majors after choosing one can be as much of a dilemma as initially choosing a major. The reality is that students do not want to spend their time, money, and relentless effort for four or more years on something that they wouldn’t really enjoy working on in the future. The US education system is really great in this regard, as it is possible to change majors even after choosing one, something that is rare in the education systems of some other countries. Choosing a major and sticking to it is a life-changing decision and commitment that affects not just the student but also the family of the student. Because of this, it is incredibly important to counter these dilemmas to the best possible extent and choose a major that one thinks suits them best.

Fortunately, students at Virginia Tech are wellequipped with campus resources such as consultation with academic advisors and different academic departments, information sessions, and databases that demonstrate where graduates from each major land after graduation. There are websites such as Explore Engineering that provide information about each major and what all is encompassed within that major. Similarly, each department of the College of Engineering carries out information sessions about their departments or majors, and what opportunities are present for students to get involved in during the years of their study. These resources help students to compare different majors and narrow down their options into a single one.

Photos / Baibhav Nepal

Information Sessions on Different Majors in the College of Engineering

The Virginia Tech Helmet Lab: Staying Safe on Campus

Article / Kathryn Paasch

Earlier this year, the Virginia Tech Helmet Lab released ratings on approximately 178 helmets for a variety of sports, including football, hockey, soccer, snow sports, and bicycling. The rating system includes both a STAR (Summation of Tests for the Analysis of Risks) and a five-star system that work in conjunction to determine a helmet’s effectiveness at concussion protection. The lower STAR ratings and higher amount of stars a helmet has, the more safe it was determined to be. The lab also utilizes a medium and high helmet impact test to replicate common head injuries and measure how the helmet is damaged. The lab notes that no helmet is concussion-proof but determining the overall effectiveness of a helmet may severely mitigate the chances of a concussion in contact sports or accidents.

When traveling on campus, it is important to consider your own safety. Bicycles may permit you to travel faster to classes or to dining halls, but it can also be hard to stop quickly when an obstacle enters your path. Because of this, you should consider wearing a helmet. The Virginia Tech Helmet Lab has given ratings to a variety of specific biking methods, including mountain, road, urban, and multi-sport biking.

The Virginia Tech Helmet Lab has released all 178 helmet ratings to the public on their website (https://helmet. beam.vt.edu/) in order to encourage people to pick the safest option to protect themselves from possible concussions.

If you are an avid mountain biker, you might consider the Specialized Tactic 4, which was priced at $110 at the time of testing. It earned a five-star rating, and its STAR rating was 8.55, the best score of all 178 helmets tested. For road biking, which is the most common on campus, the best road helmet rating was given to the Specialized Prevail 3, costing $300. Despite its high price, it has the lowest STAR rating (8.64). To a college student who is looking to save a little money but still remain as protected as possible, the Giant Rev Comp MIPS is a great choice. It costs $65, has a five-star rating, and has a STAR rating of 9.13. The Specialized Mode helmet (STAR rating of 8.8) is a five-star helmet that costs $120 and was determined to be the best for urban biking. The cheapest, five-star helmet overall was actually awarded to the Specialized Align II helmet for multi-sport purposes.

Photos / Virginia Tech Helmet Lab official site: https://www.helmet.beam.vt.edu/lab.html

ENGINEERING WITHOUT BORDERS

Engineering Without Borders (EWB) is a service organization that connects students of all disciplines with communities in need all over the world. Their mission is to partner with disadvantaged areas and improve their quality of life through economical, sustainable, and innovative engineering projects while developing students with education, experience, and encouragement. The name itself speaks volumes, as it is a national organization connecting the disparities of communities that are in need of empowerment to meet their basic needs. Currently, the Engineering Without Borders chapter in Virginia Tech has three main teams working on different projects in three different locations.

Article / Ethan Chung

Illustrations / Tamia Barnes

Kenya Project

The Kenya Team is led by three co-leads: Parker Woods, Ben Montminy, and Megan Pritchard. The main goal of this team is to have sustainable water access for communities all over Kenya, the lack of which can lead to underlying health issues. Very recently, this team has had the opportunity to travel out to Kenya and implement their first hand pump to extract water in a safe and cost free method for the community. Parker Woods has stated, “The next steps in the project is to actually create a second hand pump to prevent traffic for the one pump since it is meant to cover a large amount of land and the people in it”. In doing the same project, the team hopes to be able to finish this pump more rapidly since the first one took almost two years to complete. Once the pump is done and the necessary funds are available, the team hopes to strengthen connections with the communities in Kenya and learn more about their way of life.

Uganda Project

The Uganda Team is led by two co-leads: Sam Kraus and Vincent McGlynn. The Uganda project specializes in solar energy for electricity distribution for the communities in Uganda. Only about 18 percent of the houses in rural communities have electricity, which is a hindrance for the advancement of health, education, security, and businesses. To make matters more difficult, Uganda is right next to the equator, which leaves the communities with only 12 hours of sunlight. The Uganda project has been going on since 2007, and since then there’s been 8 implementation trips and 5 assessment trips to help schools have access to electricity. The most recent trip happened this past August, which helped Kshek Jr. School gain 4.5 kW of solar energy as well as assess the needs of the school such as water access. The next steps for the team is creating a sand water filtration system for the school using the local river Atar. Currently, the team is looking to raise funds for an August 2023 trip in which they will implement the water filter as well as monitor and evaluate the implemented solar panels on the school.

Photos / Ethan Chung

Nicaragua Project

The Nicaragua Team is led solely by Austin LaVigne. This team focuses on minimizing food insecurity in Nicaragua through the use of a seed bank. The seed bank would allow for a cheaper and more environmentally friendly source of food rather than purchasing seeds from outside seeds . The communities having their own source of food also opens up opportunities for trading, which can boost their economy and benefit relations with neighboring communities. In their most recent trip in January 2020, the Nicaragua team went out to the community in need to assess land for a sizable seed bank and the environment of the community to plan around the design specifications, all while connecting and creating a bond with the people and learning more about the culture.

While EWB is most known for helping those in different countries, the students work locally to fundraise and support the community they call home as well. EWB students at Virginia Tech take part in many fundraising activities to help fund their travels, volunteer in the Big Event, and help out in any ways they can to make sure they can still make a difference wherever they go.

To learn more, visit EWB VT social media:

Website: http://ewbvt.org/

Facebook: Engineers Without Borders at Virginia Tech

Instagram: @vt_ewb

Twitter: @vt_ewb

Email: ewb@vt.edu

Photos / Engineering Without Borders Website (http://ewbvt.org/)

ChemE Cube

Author/ Adrian DiMarco

What is ChemE Cube?

ChemE Cube is an annual competition that tasks teams with designing and marketing a chemical plant that is one cubic foot in size. Each year, participants are given a prompt to design their cube around, create a minute-long advertisement, and write a Shark Tank-style pitch to give to investors. Cost and energy efficient water filtration and direct air capture are examples of previous prompts given to participants. Moreover, investors can sponsor teams to scale up their process if it is competitive enough with what’s on the market. Given its significance, we want to share more about the competition and how it helps the Hokies that participate.

Illustrations / Phillip Becher

Photo / ChemE Cube Team

About the Competition

The competition takes place over the course of a year. Depending on the year’s theme, there are occasionally informational webinars for members to attend in January. From then until the end of March, teams work to create a pitch and unique value proposition in preparation for the Virtual Qualifying Presentation in early April. Soon after, approximately ten teams will be notified that their design has been chosen to compete in that year’s in-person competition in November.

This final component of the competition takes place in a different major city every year, and involves a minute-long ad, a poster, another pitch to investors, and a “head-to-head duel.”

ChemE Cube at Virginia Tech

While Fall 2022 was the second semester for ChemE Cube at Virginia Tech, it was the team’s first time competing in the National Conference. Their task was to design a water filtration device confined to one cubic foot. They accomplished this by using cellulose fiber media filtration, which is a filter consisting of cellulose fibers that vary in size. This layer filtered out large particles from any contaminated water. In addition, the team installed a chemical disinfectant to clear the water of any bacteria. This two-step filtration process earned them third place in the conference, and their end product was a device that could decontaminate 50 liters of water per day.

ChemE Timeline

Sign up for Virtual Qualifying Time Slot

Virtually Present your idea to ten judges

Teams selected to compete ChemE Competition

How ChemE Cube helps its Members

Like other design teams, ChemE Cube gives students the opportunity to work as a team and get practical experience with concepts they learned in class. What sets it apart is that the structure of the team, as well as the competition itself, is nearly identical to what chemical engineers face in the industry. One portion of the team is more focused on the design component, while the other is focused on the business component, which is centered around creating a value proposition, promotional material, and a pitch for the team’s cube. Even though the design team is only available for chemical engineers, the members that focus on the business component of the competition have to develop interdisciplinary skills in order to outperform other teams. Members of the research team get a substantial amount of extra experience in developing and implementing an efficient process. In a way, teams are encouraged to act as a company rather than a design team.

Next Year’s Competition

To continue the theme of sustainability, next year’s competition will be focused on Carbon Capture. Teams will have the opportunity to develop technology that could be scaled up to combat the Earth’s rising temperatures. They will face the same challenges that research teams and companies face all around the world in the development of this branch of technology. For example, traditional carbon capture is expensive, and usually offers no way to profit off of the carbon that has been taken out of the air. Not to mention, the energy required to capture air pollution produces a similar amount of carbon. All of these issues have made carbon capture an especially difficult process to develop. The optimal cube will have to be extremely energy and cost efficient while also converting captured pollution into something of value.

Resources

Instagram - @chemecube_vt

Email - chemecubevt@gmail.com

Photo / ChemE Cube Team

SHPE, Your Familia Away From Home

Article / Jasmine Mendez

What SHPE is All About

Life at Virginia Tech is all about finding your community to make it feel like home, and SHPE does exactly that. The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) is a national organization that has grounded itself in the Virginia Tech community. From the welcoming faces of the leadership team to every member new and old, everyone wants to help each other grow as they become a part of this closely knit group of individuals. With numerous resources for undergraduate and graduate students, SHPE’s large presence on campus helps its members and the Virginia Tech community thrive both professionally and socially.

Professional To the Next Level

One of the biggest events of the year every SHPE member looks forward to is the SHPE National Convention. Held in Charlotte, North Carolina this past November 2-6, it is an event that skyrockets everyone’s professional career the moment they step foot into the welcoming environment. Virginia Tech’s SHPE was able to take 40 students to this event for the experience of a lifetime. With endless, unique sessions during the 5-day period, VT students were able to explore their interests and learn from industry professionals. Another big event to look forward to is the large-scale career fair with big industry company representatives available to talk with and interview with to get a dream summer internship. The convention also enhanced the groups’ bonds as members were able to interact and learn more about one another throughout the trip. It also serves as a great opportunity to meet SHPE members from all over the nation and see how rapidly your network expands and the supportive community grows.

So many great opportunities are also served through the general body meetings (GBM) SHPE hosts throughout the semester focused on providing professional help. A resume review session was held with the help of sponsor Carlisle to prepare students for Virginia Tech’s Engineering Expo. Another GBM focused on professional career development with guests Dr. Kim Lester and Dr. Walter Lee who spoke about their experiences, allowing students to learn that the path to finding your professional career isn’t always linear.

Dr. Kim Lester and Dr. Walter Lee talk about their development in their professional careers. Picture taken by SHPE @ VT.

SHPE National Convention. Picture taken by SHPE @ VT

Countless Ways To Get Involved

When it comes to professional help, they’re the pros, but SHPE certainly cannot forget to mix in fun social activities to create stronger bonds within the community. Although “engineers” is in the title, this community gladly welcomes anyone who is interested in joining!

SHPE’s fall semester had a strong start with their kickoff cookout. It was caught in the rain but that didn’t stop the fun of meeting old and new SHPE members! SHPE also hosted their first SHPEtina social of the year which taught the members how to make their very own DIY terrariums. As October came around the corner, SHPE’s Halloween Game Night got everyone into the spooky spirit. Then in the midst of finals prep, SHPE hosted a peaceful paint night as well as a reserved room in Goodwin on Reading Day for students to come in to study, snack, and have fun with fellow SHPE members.

SHPE’s outreach committee also works hard in promoting events to help the entire community. A blanket project was held to help make blankets for the Montgomery County Animal Shelter, with SHPE members taking time out of their day to work together and make the blankets to help comfort the pets waiting for their new homes. A collaboration was also hosted in November with Virginia Tech’s Latin Link to collect food donations to help make Thanksgiving special in every home in the Blacksburg community. With many new and exciting things to come for the spring semester, plans to kickoff SHPE’s very own MentorSHPE program are already underway, so everyone, be sure to stay tuned and get involved!

Resources:

Instagram: @shpe_vt

Email: shpevt@gmail.com

LinkedIn: SHPE at Virginia Tech

LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/shpe_vt

SHPE’s fall semester kickoff. Picture taken by SHPE @ VT.

SHPE members participating in blanket project. Picture taken by SHPE @ VT

Halloween Game Night General Body Meeting. Picture taken by SHPE @ VT.

Improvements Needed in VT Design Lab Training Process

Article / Zoe Miloszewski

Illustrations / Stella Shin

The experience of a Virginia Tech engineering student would not be complete without the defining experiences of design competition teams, class project prototyping, and of course, senior design projects. Typically, these hands-on learning experiences mean extensive time spent in one of the campus makerspaces or design labs, equipped with the materials and tools students need to bring their engineering concepts to life. Despite the many benefits of having multiple such labs on campus, an element of difficulty occurs due to the various types of training required for entry and operation at each location. While safety is clearly paramount and training is necessary, this article questions whether there could be a more efficient way to ensure all students can safely utilize the resources these establishments provide.

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For first year engineering students in particular, the available lab spaces and the training required to access them can be overwhelming. In addition to the Applied Lab and Ware Lab on campus available to all undergraduate engineering students, first years also have access to the Frith Lab, located in the basement of Randolf Hall. Over a quarter of freshman engineering students are also part of the Galipatia Living-Learning communities in Hoge Hall and have an additional makerspace: the InVenTs studio located right in their dorm. Each of these locations require separate training to enter and use specific equipment. An online training and safety module is required to enter the Frith Lab, and students must sign up for additional in-person training sessions if they wish to use more advanced equipment such as a laser cutter or table saw. While this is entirely understandable to ensure the safety of everyone at the lab, the issue lies in that separate training is required for the use of the same equipment in both the Ware Lab and the InVenTs studio. As we all know, time management and efficiency are critical to the success of a college student. Given that, there must be a more efficient way to safely train engineering students on the various types of equipment in different labs and maker spaces on campus.

VT Students Working in the Frith Lab

For example, students do not want to take time out of their day to be trained on the laser cutter in the Ware Lab when they have already been trained to use it in the Frith Lab just a few weeks prior. Despite seeming illogical, this is necessary because there is currently no standard portal or training procedure that allows supervisors to verify that a student has been trained on specific equipment at another location on campus. While excess caution is never a bad thing, some students may be deterred from utilizing the resources at a certain facility because they lack the time needed to repeat training. I believe that engineering students could benefit greatly from a single training program and an organized database that could be accessed by all of the lab supervisors to keep track of what training students have completed. This would streamline the training process and save time for both students and upper class lab supervisors while continuing to ensure the safety of Virginia Tech students. We are very fortunate to have access to such incredible resources such as the Frith Lab and Ware Lab, but as engineers it is also in our nature to look to improve the world around us and the lives of others. It is likely others have also identified the need for improvement in this system on campus, and it is up to us, the engineers of the future, to look for ways to better our school for future students.

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Ware Lab Workspace. Virginia Tech.

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Photo / Kiara Kulkarni

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