Land Development Design Initiative • www.lddi.cee.vt.edu • Blacksburg, VA Phone: (540) 231-2474 • Fax: (540) 231-7532 • E-mail: lddi@vt.edu November 2020 Volume 14, Issue 6
In this issue: • LDDI Winter Meeting– Save the Date (p. 1) • A new sports complex comes to Fauquier County, and Southampton welcomes a new solar-power generation facility. (p. 2) • Advisory Board member reflects on the past and present, and LDDI welcomes support (p. 3) • Support LDDI through the 22 by 22 campaign. (p. 3) • LDDI finds new ways to remain engaged. (p. 4)
LDDI Bridges is a publication of
Virginia Tech’s Land Development Design Initiative
Editors: Kelly Shayne Young ksyoung@vt.edu Kevin Young keyoung@vt.edu
Virginia Tech The Via Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Thanksgiving greetings from Virginia Tech! I hope this message finds you on the verge of setting aside work for a few days to spend some relaxing, quality time with loved ones. Campus is now quiet, with most students having departed for the holiday break, and the remainder of the semester being conducted fully online. Notwithstanding this virtual modality, when classes reconvene on November 30th it will be a whirlwind sprint to the finish line with less than two full weeks of classes remaining before the start of final exams. This is our last newsletter of 2020, and that it coincides with the season of giving thanks provides me with a perfect opportunity to recognize those individuals and organizations who have helped LDDI navigate a year that has challenged us all in ways we never could have predicted. First, I would like to thank our entire Advisory Board, in particular Chair Sue Wolford and Vice Chair Jeff Gilliland, for giving so generously of their time, energy, and ideas to continually improve upon the partnership between academia and industry for which LDDI is uniquely known. Virginia Tech CEE students are indebted to this group of passionate industry professionals. Next, I would like to thank LDDI Assistant Coordinator Claire White for her service in that role, and for being an invaluable and wonderful colleague. It’s impossible to overstate Claire’s contributions to LDDI, both inside and outside of the classroom, and it has been great to see her leadership role in the program expand this year. I would also like to thank the 41 corporate sponsors and municipal members, and all of the individual donors, from whom LDDI enjoyed financial support over the past calendar year. This support is the program’s financial lifeblood, and a majority of the LDDI courses are funded entirely through the corporate sponsorship program. Finally, I want to thank all of the industry professionals who, over the past year, served as design project mentors, professional development mentors, guest speakers, course instructors, and in countless other ways to provide LDDI students with an educational experience unlike that at any other university – Go Hokies indeed! I hope you enjoy our final newsletter of 2020, and I look forward to connecting with you again in early 2021. Best wishes for a wonderful holiday season! Kevin D. Young, PE, M. ASCE, VT LDDI Coordinator
LDDI 2021 Winter Meeting– Save the Date Please mark your calendar and plan to join us on Friday, January 8, 2021 when LDDI will host its annual winter meeting via Zoom. The meeting will feature student presentations, an LDDI program update, and guest speakers discussing background and case studies on the Envision rating system. Virginia Tech CEE Department Head Dr. Mark Widdowson will also join the meeting to provide a departmental update. A formal invitation with additional registration information will be sent in December.