Virginia Tech Honors College Two Years in Review

VOL. 2 / 2019 - 2020 / 2020 - 2021

VIRGINIA TECH HONORS COLLEGE

TWO YEARS IN REVIEW

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Maintaining the Honors Difference During the Pandemic

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Joanie Banks-Hunt: Engineer, Educator, and Trailblazer

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Outstanding Honors College Seniors

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Note from the Dean Maintaining the Honors Difference During the Pandemic Outstanding Seniors from the Honors College 2021 Outstanding Honors College Senior Caitlin Bowman Claire Seibel named the VCHC Emerging Scholar of the Year Scholars in CDP complete impressive first semester Welcoming our largest ever class of Stamps Scholars Joanie Banks-Hunt: Engineer, Educator, and Trailblazer Honors Faculty Highlights Endnotes

E D Q @ VTHonorsCollege Editor & Art Director Associate Editors

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Michelle Fleury

Sara Vandyke and Paul Heilker

Contributing Writers and Michelle Fleury YEAR IN REVIEW MAGAZINE Travis 2019 -Williams 2020 / 2020 - 2021

honorscollege.vt.edu

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›› From the dean

First occupied in 1940, Hillcrest Hall was the first residence built specifically to house female students.

When it opened, male students promptly nicknamed it the “Skirt Barn.” It was converted again in 199293 to house University Honors. Hillcrest became the university’s first Honors house in 2000-01.

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e braved unprecedented challenges brought on by a global pandemic during these past two academic years. In the true spirit of the Virginia Tech motto, ‘Ut Prosim’ (“That I May Serve”), the Honors College community joined together to help others at Virginia Tech and in the New River Valley. In spite of the pandemic, Honors students and faculty continued to accomplish remarkable things.

This review highlights accomplishments from the 2019 - 2020 and 2020 - 2021 academic years. We hope that these stories are inspirational and demonstrate our commitment to facilitating an extraordinary undergraduate education for students even in the most challenging of circumstances.

Paul Knox, Founding Dean

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Maintaining the “Honors Difference” During the Pandemic SHIELDING MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS IN THE FACE OFF WITH COVID-19

Student attending the Honors Residential Commons’ monthly Principal’s Tea outside Ambler Johnston Hall, photographed by Christina Franusich at Virginia Tech.

VT HONORS COLLEGE SUPERSTUDIO June 5, 2020

To help prevent the spread of COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus), Virginia Tech transitioned to distance learning for the remainder of the Spring semester after March 23, 2020. The Virginia Tech Honors College, through innovative initiatives like the SuperStudio, has continued to facilitate an extraordinary education for Honors students even during these challenging times.

In Spring 2020, the Virginia Tech Honors College, in collaboration with the School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) and University Studies, was able to launch SuperStudio.

For the next few semesters, topics courses in environmental policy, healthcare, emerging technologies, the future of higher education, and the future of employment will all meet together to examine the possibilities and implications of a Green New Deal, an emerging framework for understanding and addressing interconnected crises in climate change and economic equality.

In April of 2020, a massive Virginia Tech effort went underway to create thousands of face shields for medical personnel in the New River Valley who need protection while treating patients with COVID-19.

The production team, led by Alex Leonessa, a mechanical engineering professor, and Liam Chapin, a Virginia Tech computer

science major, sought for volunteers who own or have access to 3D printers to help make headpieces for the face shields. The shields were then delivered to hospitals in the Roanoke and New River valleys and to local emergency responders, such as firefighters and law enforcement.

Each 3D printed headpiece attached to a laser-cut polyester sheet, which folds to cover the face and forehead. Medical professionals can wear these shields to protect their faces from airborne germs and other toxins.

The majority of the shields were cut using a laser cutter at the Field and Space Experimental Robotics (FASER) Laboratory on Virginia Tech’s Blacksburg campus, where Chapin does much of his academic work.

Other university units, including the Virginia Tech Honors College, also used their laser cutters to help cut the shields. The Virginia Tech Honors College cut over 2,000 shields toward the efforts, reported Neal Henshaw, technical director for the college’s Calhoun Discovery Program.

Faculty and students rotate among the topics courses, which meet simultaneously in the same studio space, and all come together once a week to consider issues and processes that apply to all transdisciplinary work, such as ethics, equity, policy, problem framing, and innovation. The learning environment of SuperStudio is designed to be highly energized, engaging, and collaborative.

“I like being in a space where there’s a lot going on, but we’re not necessarily doing the same thing,” explained Honors student Nina Tarr. “SuperStudio feels like community.”

Carilion New River Valley Medical Center (CNRVMC) employees wear face shields provided by Virginia Tech. Photo courtesy of Alex Leonessa, a mechanical engineering professor at Tech.

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MAINTAINING THE “HONORS DIFFERENCE” DURING THE PANDEMIC

Nina says her favorite aspect of SuperStudio is the crossing over of sections, such as policy overlapping with higher education. “I also like the theme of the Green New Deal and how we can tie that together with all the different sections,” said Nina. By allowing different sections to work together and meet The SuperStudio adds the advantages across topics for common activities, SuperStudio of experiential, collaborative learning. provides plenty of opportunities for students to With our model, we have been able develop critical skills and knowledge.

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to maintain these advantages through “I really enjoyed the experience of being in a big room with all the sections and being able to meet synchronous online learning.

each day of the week in different sections,” said Thomas Miller in the Future of Higher Education section. “We would team up with other sections and kind of combine the ideas that allowed for everyone to experiment with what they were thinking about. So, you would be pushed to think about your own ideas about your topic in different ways. It’s a way to meld ideas together to have a cool discussion.”

The collaborative structure developed in SuperStudio has made the transition to online interactions easier because connections between students and faculty across sections were already established at the beginning of the semester. Students were able to know each other well in their smaller sections, but also had many opportunities to regularly interact with faculty and students across sections.

“It’s definitely easier to collaborate in SuperStudio because it was already highly collaborative and we all know each other very well,” said Nina. “So, it’s more comfortable to collaborate and it’s easier to connect.”

Honors College SuperStudio is continuing its highly collaborative format online on Zoom, a popular software platform that provides video-telephony and online chat services often used in distance education. Zoom meetings are hosted online with professors from each section and smaller groups continue to break off in individual Zoom meetings to work together on activities or projects that are extensions of those original discussions. It’s this combination of SuperStudio’s unique design and the pre-established connection that allows SuperStudio to still thrive in distance learning.

“I would say SuperStudio is more collaborative [compared] to [my] other courses. A lot of people are still working together in group projects and creating their own learning together,” Thomas said.

“For a lot of my other courses, I wouldn’t call it ‘collaboration.’ I’d call it more of a discussion board…

It’s not a real conversation or real collaboration. It doesn’t make you feel like you’re in a classroom [like you feel when in SuperStudio].”

The impact of Honors courses traditionally rests on their small class sizes. “The SuperStudio adds the advantages of experiential, collaborative learning,” said Paul Knox, Dean of the Honors College, adding that “With our model, we have been able to maintain these advantages through synchronous online learning.”

Meetings with students often focused not only on class topics and projects, but on understanding current

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Honors College Studios, which houses SuperStudio, was transformed from the Squires Student Center’s Old Dominion Ballroom.

The space is now redesigned to allow for easy collaboration and flexible working areas. Photos taken before March 23, 2020.

events and working through the relationship of class materials to evolving news stories. In this way, students engaged with materials more deeply and maintained more in-depth connections with faculty than if video interactions were limited solely to class-specific materials. Students have maintained connections with fellow students and faculty across topics sections by meeting with different SuperStudio faculty and different groups of students to propose ideas for and develop drafts of final projects.

To continue maintaining strong relationships with students and to help students navigate their education during this time, faculty members also expanded their virtual office hours. “The connection is still there,” said Miller. “You have to rely on yourself more, but the bigger issues are still very answerable. E-mail and Zoom correspondence work pretty well.”

SuperStudio has also sustained its visiting speaker series online. Since the transition to distance learning, for example, SuperStudio had the pleasure of speaking with British Economics and Politics Commentator Grace Blakeley, author of “Stolen: How to Save the World from Financialization.” Despite the transition to an online format, the talk was even more interactive. Students were able to ask Blakeley questions ranging from how to “hack” financialization to advice on where to study heterodox economics. Having the audience as well as the speaker on Zoom actually allowed for even closer interaction than if the audience was in person. Blakeley, as the speaker, could see students more individually from the crowd while they asked questions, and therefore, was able to follow-up more personally. Students also appeared to feel more comfortable to engage in this video-conferencing format with the visiting speaker. The success of this format makes it an attractive option for engaging future speakers with the student audience in Honors.

HONORS COLLEGE ALUMNUS DAVID MACKANIC NAMED TO THE FORBES ‘30 UNDER 30’ LIST VT Honors College David Mackanic was named a featured honoree for 2021 Forbes “30 under 30” in the category of Energy, recognizing young innovators who are making a big impact. Mackanic’s company, Anthro Energy, has picked up several accolades. In 2020, Anthro was a semifinalist for the MIT Clean Energy Prize and won startup funds from several different innovation groups.

David Mackanic, founder of Anthro Energy. Photo from Forbes.

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OUTSTANDING HONORS SENIORS Rachel Kanefsky

2020 OUTSTANDING CALS SENIOR From her involvement as a Hokie Ambassador, a College of Agriculture and Life Sciences ambassador, and as a Department of Dairy Science ambassador, Rachel Kanefsky continually worked to help others during her time at Tech. As an Odyssey Fellow and Honors student, Kanefsky went through a competitive selection process and received $10,000 to conduct a study on developing a new curriculum that could be adapted to the various cultures in Senegal – through the Department of Agriculture, Leadership, and Community Education.

Caitlyn Bowman

2021 OUTSTANDING CALS AND HONORS SENIOR Caitlyn Bowman graduated with a degree in Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise (HNFE). With the help of the P. Howard Massey International Scholarship, Bowman focused on prosthetics, an area of study that combines the disciplines within human foods, nutrition, and exercise. For users, prosthetics can get expensive quickly, and Bowman, a Leesburg, Virginia, native, wants to bring equity to access of the vital health care devices. Bowman also served as a College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) Student ambassador and a Honors College Student Council member.

Gates Breeden

2021 OUTSTANDING CAUS SENIOR Gates Breeden, who has been named the 2021 Outstanding Senior for the College of Architecture and Urban Studies (CAUS), credited his success within the five-year, professional degree program in the School of Architecture + Design to the culture of CAUS. Breeden pushed himself to be actively involved in the university and to serve his campus community as a CAUS Student Ambassador, a peer mentor, an undergraduate teaching assistant, a member of the Student Government Association, new student orientation and Hokie camp leader, as well as a curator of a weekly architecture lecture series.

James Owens

2020 OUTSTANDING COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING SENIOR James Owens is a chemical engineering major from Downingtown, Pennsylvania.

As member of the Virginia Tech Honors College, Owens knew early that he wanted to be involved in research. Owens joined chemical engineering assistant professor Michael Bortner’s group to pursue polymer-based research. Owens has enjoyed participating in service and STEM outreach events, like Relay for Life and local FIRST Robotics tournaments alongside other members of the Chem-E-Car Team and Alpha Chi Sigma.

Owens has received the 2020 Phi Kappa Phi Medallion Award.

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ACADEMIC YEARS 2019 - 2020 / 2020 - 2021

Dana Mulligan

2020 OUTSTANDING HONORS COLLEGE SENIOR Dana Mulligan, Honors College Austin Michelle Cloyd Odyssey Fellow from Falls Church, Virginia, majored in crop and soil environmental sciences and holds minors in international studies, French, and global food security. Mulligan ultimately chose her field of studies to prepare herself for a career in international and domestic agricultural development – with the goal of ending hunger and ensuring human rights through agriculture. To work toward this ambitious goal, Mulligan, due to her Cloyd Fellowship, was able to partner with a non-profit in Nyumbani Village, Kenya.

Amber Abbott

2020 OUTSTANDING COLLEGE OF SCIENCE SENIOR Amber Abbott’s plans to major in microbiology solidified after her research on herpes simplex viruses (HSV) with Andrea Bertke, an associate professor of infectious diseases in public health in the Department of Population Health Sciences, part of the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine at VT. Abbott has also published one paper as co-first author, is currently working on her second, and will have her name on at least three other papers by year’s end. Abbott’s research projects are focused on HSV in Alzheimer’s patients and in HSV latency and reactivation.

Christine Faunce

2021 OUTSTANDING COLLEGE OF SCIENCE SENIOR Christine Faunce has spent four-plus years as student, lab research assistant, resident advisor, volunteer, and advocate. Faunce, who earned dual degrees in experimental neuroscience and medicinal chemistry, won the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation award. Faunce also served as an undergraduate teaching assistant in the Department of Chemistry, lead ambassador for the School of Neuroscience, and Student Intellectual Property Society vice president, and helped found the Virginia Tech chapter of Nu Rho Psi, a National Honor Society in Neuroscience, in 2019.

Lauren Haacke

2020 VIRGINIA TECH’S UNDERGRADUATE OF THE YEAR Fullbright Scholar Lauren Haacke majored in Experimental Neuroscience. After overcoming a brain injury in high school, Haacke embarked on an academic career studying neuroscience to help others suffering with a traumatic brain injury. Haacke founded Synapse at Virginia Tech, a nonprofit organization that develops sustainable, community-based support systems for survivors of traumatic brain injuries and their families. Haacke has led the new group in providing social support to survivors and partnered with local health clinics.

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Caitlin Bowman named 2021 Outstanding Honors College Senior May 11, 2021

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ow do the various parts of the human body coordinate to carry out the motion of swinging a tennis racket? How does your brain signal your body to move your hands?

The process of movement in the human body is more complicated than one might think. Caitlin Bowman, a Spring 2021 Virginia Tech graduate with a degree in Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise (HNFE), has always been fascinated by the idea of movement and exercise science.

span with Nicolin Girmes-Grieco, a professor in the HNFE department.

Bowman’s experience while working on this FSA encouraged her to continue working with the Madigan Biomechanics Lab. “I decided to stay in the lab group after completing the FSA and seeing how much I enjoyed the work I was doing in the lab [and] the impact the work could have in my field,” she said.

The research in the Madigan Biomechanics Lab merges human subjects testing, biomechanics “Exercise sciences examine human movement, modeling, and computer simulation to improve the fitness, and metabolism — understanding not fundamental understanding of factors affecting only how those processes interact, but the science human physical capabilities, including how and why behind how they work,” Bowman explains. injuries occur. Additionally, the lab is interested in developing strategies and technology to improve Bowman also earned a minor in psychology human physical capabilities and overall health. “The to better understand how the human brain lab encompasses all kinds of disciplines,” Bowman processes mobility. As an aspiring prosthetist, she says, “which is exciting because I could meet people studied developmental and abnormal psychology who are from all kinds of for pre-prosthetics. BowAs a Hokie, I am proud to embody different backgrounds.” man’s passion for working

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with prosthetics deepened Ut Prosim and change conversations Not only was Bowman able after joining the Madigan to collaborate with people in my professional field...

Biomechanics Lab as a transacross disciplines, but she disciplinary Undergraduate Research Assistant had the opportunity to collect data that no one had (URA) where she researched lowcost prosthetic really collected before to study slips, trips, and falls knees. Bowman identifies this experience as her on various terrains. greatest academic honor and achievement during This kind of data can have a significant impact her time at Virginia Tech. on designing prosthetics. As a URA, Bowman also Bowman’s hands-on experience at the Madigan Biomechanics Lab and her drive to grow as a citizen of service led her to become this year’s Outstanding Honors College Senior.

assisted with evaluating low-cost prosthetic knees for amputees with an eye toward making these critical devices more available to those who are poor and uninsured.

As a student in the Honors College, Bowman was inspired to pursue research on metabolic testing as a prosthetic design evaluation in the lab group. As a way to earn experiential learning credit toward the completion of her Honors Laureate Diploma, Bowman conducted this research as an Honors Faculty-Student Agreement (FSA) for Nutrition Across the Life-

“Low-cost prosthetics are significantly underresearched when compared to some of the higher-end devices in the field,” Bowman says. “I am proud to be serving amputees in need by publishing data so these devices are more accessible. I feel what we are doing in the Mad Bio Group to further the knowledge of low-cost prosthetics truly embodies the phrase, ‘If no one else will do it, the Hokies

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“If no one else will do it, the Hokies will.

— Caitlin Bowman, Class of 2021

Caitlin Bowman in her graduation gown outside of Wallace Hall. Photo provided by Caitlin Bowman.

will.’ As a Hokie, I am proud to embody Ut Prosim and change conversations in my professional field through my research.”

Being a URA has not only allowed Bowman to further her scientific knowledge through collaborative teamwork, but has also shown her how she can use experiential learning to relate her classroom knowledge to benefit society in the real world. The gaps Bowman has observed in her clinical work, in her lectures, and in the lab, have led her to evaluate and suggest changes in her lab group’s research to further benefit amputees.

“For example, many of the amputees I have worked with who live below the poverty line do not have access to a variety of nutrient dense foods,” Bowman says. “This food insecurity is an important factor to consider — and no one in the lab was looking at metabolic performance as a tool of evaluating knee performance.

With the support of the HNFE department, the VT Honors College, and my Primary Investigator, I created and defended an argument to include metabolic testing as a criterion for prosthetic knee performance and convinced my lab to incorporate it into our study.”

During her time at Virginia Tech, Bowman also served as

the Honors College Student Council representative for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS); a peer educator for Honors reading seminars for three semesters; and a peer mentor, tutor, and apartment fellow within the Honors Residential Commons.

Outside of Honors, Bowman served as a CALS ambassador, worked part-time for VT University Advancement, and was a student member of the Southeast Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine. Bowman was also an active member of the Alpha Gamma chapter of Delta Epsilon Mu (Pre-Health Professional Fraternity).

Bowman applied to remain at Virginia Tech in her gap year as a Translational Obesity Research Scholar with the National Institutes of Health so she can continue to grow as a researcher.

After graduating from Virginia Tech, Bowman plans to go to Prosthetics and Orthotics school and earn a master’s degree in Rehabilitation Sciences/ Prosthetics and Orthotics while continuing to incorporate her background in exercise science into clinical practices.

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Claire Seibel Named the Virginias Collegiate Honors Council (VCHC) Emerging Scholar of the Year June 9, 2021

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onor, Duty, Brotherhood, Sacrifice, Loyalty, Service, and Ut Prosim (“That I may serve”) are the eight

words etched in the Pylons at Virginia Tech. These words define the values on which Virginia Tech was built. For Virginia Tech Honors College student Claire Seibel, who grew up admiring the Pylons as a child, these words sparked a very important question: Who do I want to be?

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One of the most important and symbolic structures on campus, The Pylons above War Memorial Chapel bear the names of every Virginia Tech student and graduate who died defending our nation’s freedom, beginning with those lost during World War I. The Pylons evoke Virginia Tech’s core values. Photo by Mary Desmond.

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ot just what do I want to do, or what kind of credentials do I want to have, but really who do I want to be? And I wanted to be a person who upheld those values, who was able to take on challenges and accept the sacrifice in the trials of leadership – and do something bigger than themselves with their life,” said Seibel.

Claire Seibel in her Corps of Cadets uniform, provided by Claire Seibel.

Seibel, who served for the 20202021 academic year as the Corps of Cadets Representative for the Virginia Tech Honors College Student Council, has been named the Virginias Collegiate Honors Council (VCHC) Emerging Scholar of the Year due to her inspiring journey in leadership and growth as an Honors College student at Virginia Tech.

The VCHC Emerging Honors Scholar of the Year is awarded to the best and brightest emerging Honors students who have completed 54 or fewer credits at a post-secondary institution. This award serves to recognize a student from a member institution who has shown extraordinary potential as an emerging scholar, and who embodies the scholarship, character, and ambition associated historically with Honors students and the VCHC. Seibel is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in International Trade & Development through the department of Agriculture & Applied Economics with a minor in leadership and Chinese studies. She is also working on independent research in leadership.

As an Honors College student, Seibel wanted to wholly embrace the values of the Virginia Tech Honors College. “[I wanted to] be somebody who can work as a team, embrace experiential learning in the world as their classroom, rise to their social responsibility to do something with their education, and provide opportunity and support to others,” explained Seibel. “In my own Honors College experience, I’ve been able to discover more about myself and the world.” In Seibel’s VCHC Emerging Scholar of the Year Presentation, she reflects on how the Virginia Tech Honors College has impacted and guided her life as a rising leader in the Corps of Cadets. Seibel, who was raised on a farm in the Appalachian area of Virginia, recounts the beginning of her journey at Virginia Tech. Initially, Seibel was determined to become a biological systems engineer to study cropping systems and work toward solving the problem of hunger.

After Seibel enrolled in an Honors College reading seminar about water scarcity, she became interested in studying how water scarcity affects global security. She was then inspired to attend seminars at Norwich University to achieve a deeper understanding in this topic. These two experiences led Seibel to pursue research in water scarcity and accessibility with Dr. Leigh-Anne Krometis in the Virginia Tech Department of Biological Systems Engineering. “All of these experiences combined gave me a richer appreciation for the field that I wanted to go into, but I also realized that this was actually not the field that I wanted to really spend my life on… In these

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Claire Seibel Named the Virginias Collegiate Honors Council Emerging Scholar of the Year discoveries, I found that I really enjoyed the discussions around politics and economics more than the science behind systems,” reflected Seibel. “I ended up changing my major to agricultural and applied economics to work on these same problems from a very different avenue and I also determined that I really wanted to be able to have a commission in the military.”

The Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets is a 24-7 commitment for cadets. Every day, the cadets wear a service-specific uniform, train together, and learn how to apply leadership as well as carry out a structured military lifestyle in closeknit living quarters. “This is an intense commitment,” In my own Honors College experience, said Seibel. “On the surface, it may seem like a proI’ve been able to discover more about gram like this and a program like the Honors College could be incompatible, but that hasn’t at all been my myself and the world. experience because of the flexibility in the approach the Virginia Tech Honors College provides… Students can really figure out who they want to be in life, [and] where they want to go in shaping their Honors College experience.”

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One of Seibel’s favorite values of the Virginia Tech Honors College is experiential learning, which allows Seibel to make the VTCC a central part of her Honors education and shaped her academic career personally.

“Experiential learning is extremely important to me.

In fact, one of the things that I learned from my time in agricultural education is that we learn 70 percent by experience, 20 percent by peers, and only 10 percent formally – in the classroom,” said Seibel.

“I truly believe that the Virginia Tech Honors College does an exemplary job of embracing how we learn and using this 70-20-10 model in our curriculum.”

To earn an Honors Laureate Diploma, Honors students are required to earn at least 30 honors credits and at least Claire Seibel (right) and her roommate, Kyrsten Dallenagra 6 of those credits must represent experiential learning. (left), at VTCC Graduation. Photo provided by Seibel.

With this requirement, Seibel was encouraged to explore research opportunities as well as embark on more exciting leadership experiences, such as serving on the national Future Farmers of America (FFA) committee. She additionally served as a VTCC fire team leader, where she mentored two new cadets every day to support their physical, academic, and personal growth.

“In this Honors education, we don’t just stop at the classroom. We think about what it really means to be this kind of student and think about what we can do in that next step with our education to bring impact,” Seibel said.

“The Honors College has provided me this love of learning and a love of learning as a lifestyle where we embrace curiosity in all of our pursuits.”

After graduation, Seibel intends to spend her career working on critical issues in food production and resource allocation to combine her passions of service, leadership, agriculture, engineering, and public outreach. She also hopes to be commissioned into the military and eventually work in the military intelligence department.

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Scholars in Calhoun Discovery Program complete impressive first semester Jan. 30, 2020

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s the Calhoun Discovery Program (CDP) concluded its first semester, the progress of its first cohort — harnessing interdisciplinary collaboration to explore some of the world’s greatest challenges — impressed the program’s namesake.

“I’m excited by it. I’m actually inspired by it,” said David Calhoun ’79, who made the Honors College program possible with a record-setting $20 millon donation.

He visited the program’s students in December.

“I want to use the word ‘satisfying,’ but I can’t use it yet because this is one of those long-term efforts.”

Last fall, 40 first-year students began the inaugural journey into this unique undergraduate learning experience. At the first semester’s end, they shared their most recent work with Calhoun, as well as the program’s leadership and industry partners.

this new learning model with topics ranging from manned drone flights and virtual reality’s impact on the workforce to prison reform and the leveraging of social media for social justice. They worked handin-hand with experts from both the university and industry to curate mutually beneficial projects.

Along with a full four-year scholarship and an experiential learning grant of $2,500 each school year, CDP students also have 24/7 access to the Calhoun Discovery Studio in Hillcrest Hall. The studio, which includes its own prototype modeling area, serves as a headquarters for problem-solving through collaborative exploration. “I know from my time as dean of the College of Architecture and Urban Studies just how powerful a studio environment can be,” said Paul Knox, founding dean of the Honors College. “Students learn from each other as well as the faculty; it becomes an innovation hub. When you have a transdisciplinary studio and include input from external partners, the power is magnified.”

“I feel amazed that I even have this opportunity,” said Shannon Aikens, a first-year student studying computational modeling and data analytics. “They’ve given us such great feedback and it’s very collaborative … It’s really preparing In December, some me ahead of time.” From Even within the first semester, the CDP of the earliest results of day one, CDP students the program’s dynamare tasked with solv- students are taking up the challenge of ic learning platform ing real-world issues by entering into a co-creation paradigm and environment were harnessing their natural displayed during the senses of both curiosi- of their education with the faculty and semester’s final Industy and discovery. They industry mentors of the program. try Partner Day. The break common academic events, which occur barriers by collaborating across disciplines and expe- multiple times throughout the semester, allow dite the traditional timetable for hands-on experience students to build mutually beneficial relationships over time with leaders of private industry by immediately working alongside industry leaders. and the nonprofit sector. On this particular day, “Even within the first semester, the Calhoun students shared their latest concepts with leaderDiscovery Program students are taking up the ship from Boeing, Caterpillar, and GE, as well as challenge of entering into a co-creation paradigm of nonprofit Share Charlotte. their education with the faculty and industry mentors of the program,” said Thanassis Rikakis, the program’s Throughout the day, David Calhoun engaged founding director. “This experience allows them to with students, industry partners, and faculty, better discover their knowledge pathways and goals, positively influencing the direction of the program. while also providing the feedback the faculty and “It’s really awesome to hear his feedback,” said industry partners need to continuously evolve the student Sam Eisenberg, who is studying program to serve student needs.” industrial design systems and worked with a group Throughout the semester, the students engaged in on incorporating virtual reality into workforce

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David Calhoun watches a demonstration by Calhoun Discovery Program students in Hillcrest Hall at Virginia Tech. Photo provided by Virginia Tech.

development. “He talked [to us] about the human response to using our simulations and using an Xbox controller, versus some other type of controller, because it’s more recognizable [to the user].”

help it. So, the whole motivation here with respect to our desire to do it at the undergraduate level relates to our wanting to exercise your discovery muscles in any way we can.”

After graduating in 1979, Calhoun began a 26-yearcareer with GE overseeing transportation, aircraft engines, reinsurance, lighting, and other GE units, before ultimately being appointed as vice chairman of the company and a member of GE’s Board of Directors.

The students will spend the next two semesters working on small group or individual applied projects, as well as on their chosen majors, before engaging in another semester of transdisciplinary collaborative projects in the spring of their second year. They will also engage in transdisciplinary collaborative projects with industry partners throughout their third and fourth years of study.

He moved from GE to transform Nielsen into a global information and measurement company and then to Blackstone, one of the world’s leading investment firms, where he served as senior managing director.

Calhoun started his new role as CEO of Boeing on Jan. 13. “The support of the student discovery process by industry leaders like David Calhoun is instrumental,” Rikakis said. “It helps our students go beyond the rightor-wrong-answer knowledge paradigm and grow confident in using their education to grow both professionally and as a person.”

Calhoun was impressed with the students’ growth after just one semester of work, and he assured them that this was just the beginning of exercising their muscles in the program. “That discovery muscle cannot be allowed to atrophy,” said Calhoun during a Q-and-A session with the students.

“Trust me, it starts to atrophy the moment you take your foot off the pedal — and age does not

Ultimately, Calhoun believes this ongoing work will transform these students into a special group of collaborative and dynamic workers and leaders who are capable of taking on the world’s most significant challenges. He also believes the program’s format could serve as a model, not only for the rest of Virginia Tech, but across the spectrum of higher education.

“That’s one of the things I think about, the ripple effects. To me, that’s the reason you do it,” Calhoun said. “And, you know, I think the sky’s the limit.”

— Written by Travis Williams

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VIRGINIA TECH HONORS COLLEGE WELCOMES ITS LARGEST CLASS EVER OF STAMPS SCHOLARS JULY 13, 2020

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ine members of the incoming Class of 2024 have been selected as Stamps Scholars by Virginia Tech’s Honors College. Hailing from four states, they will be the first cohort to arrive since the program was dramatically expanded thanks to the generous support of an Atlantabased foundation created by philanthropists E. Roe Stamps IV and Penny Stamps.

The foundation has supported Virginia Tech Honors College students since 2014, but last year increased its level of support to provide full-ride scholarships to as many as 10 incoming students, twice as many as were eligible in previous years.

Virginia Tech is one of nearly 40 Stamps Scholars partner schools across the United States. Scholars are chosen for the strong leadership potential, academic merit, and exceptional character.

The Stamps Scholars program dates back to 2006, when Roe and Penny Stamps created merit scholarships for undergraduates at their respective Incoming 2020 Stamps Scholars from left to right and top to bottom: alma maters, Georgia Tech and the University Zachary Abdo, Garrett Asper, Mia Hagood, Cameron Hogge, Olivia Kastor, Trevor Niles, Teresa Thomas, Waverly VanGundy, and Rachael Wennermark. of Michigan. Since then, the Stamps Scholars community has grown into a nationwide network of colleges and universities, with more than 2,300 current and alumni scholars. “Stamps Scholars enrich our student body and serve as role models for their colleagues,” said Paul Knox, founding dean of the Honors College and a University Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech.

Stamps Scholars have a distinguished track record of leadership within the university’s student body.

Scholars have served as CEO for the SEED student investing team, been Ring Dance chair, won national competitions in mathematics, been nominated for national fellowships, and led students to promote cultural understanding and environmental advocacy.

“The Honors College is delighted to have our newest class of Stamps Scholars entering in the fall 2020 semester,” said Russell Shrader, the Honors College director of admissions and scholarships. “We have students from Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, with a wide range of majors and interests. The diversity and varied goals of the new class will provide an enriching environment for everyone.”

The Stamps Scholars program covers all expenses for four years of undergraduate study and includes an enrichment fund that scholars can use for their academic and professional development. Other benefits include participation in a national day of service, access to a growing network of scholars and alumni, and opportunities to attend biennial conventions, where scholars are able to network with one another and learn from recognized leaders.

Read more about the Stamps Scholarship at the Virginia Tech Honors College on our website honorscollege.vt.edu.

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Dr. Joanie Banks-Hunt standing outside the Honors College Studios, which houses SuperStudio, Discovery 2, and Studio+, located in the Squires Student Center at Virginia Tech. Photo by Michelle Fleury.

Dr. Joanie Banks-Hunt: engineer, educator, and trailblazer Nov. 24, 2020

J

oanie Banks-Hunt, an instructor in the Virginia Tech Honors College who recently completed her Ph.D. in education psychology with Engineering Education Certification this fall at Virginia Tech, is one of six women

featured in a new documentary series titled, “Inspire! Six Trailblazing Women Engineers Inspire the Next Generation.”

“Inspire!” was produced by Laura Ettinger, associate professor of history at Clarkson University, and directed by Zac Miller, founder of Uncommon Image Studios. In this three-part educational video series, accomplished female engineers share their stories to both contextualize and examine the obstacles young women encounter in STEM fields.

“Joanie’s story inspires me in so many ways,” said Ettinger. “From the time she was a girl growing up in Detroit, she had to push through many barriers to get where she wanted to go. Joanie didn’t fit the stereotype of an engineer, when she first entered the field in the 1970s or even today. She has accomplished so much – in high tech in the Silicon Valley, in STEM education and leadership, and now in higher education. Joanie has helped pave the way for the next generation, especially for young women and people of color who want to enter the STEM fields.”

For Banks-Hunt, her involvement with “Inspire!” began four years ago when she participated in a survey looking for women who had earned an engineering degree in the 1970s. The interview process took place in 2017 and 2018.

Ettinger interviewed 47 women, all of whom will be featured in a forthcoming book. Six of them are featured in her educational videos and documentary and served as mentors at a Clarkson University’s STEAM summer camp.

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Dr. Joanie Banks-Hunt: engineer, educator, and trailblazer The experience gave Banks-Hunt, who was in one of the first graduating groups of female engineers from Stanford, an opportunity to reflect on her own pursuit in STEM. “It made me really think back and memorialize a lot of my journey that I just haven’t thought about,” explained Banks-Hunt. “I never really saw myself as a trailblazer, and when they put that word there, I thought, ‘Who’s that? That’s somebody else, right?’ But we are all trailblazers. You just don’t necessarily give yourself credit for the contributions you are making.”

A YOUNG CHILD SEES AN OPPORTUNITY Banks-Hunt’s interest in engineering initiated as a child. She was the fourth child to be born in a family of 10 children.

“Things were always in a state of disrepair. My father was always fixing things,” Banks-Hunt said. In particular, she recalled broken lamps being a regular problem. Her father would try his best to fix them. But, eventually – out of frustration – he would often leave the broken lamp out to return to the repair job later. He worked multiple jobs, after all. That’s when young Banks-Hunt saw an opportunity.

“I love my dad so much that I just wanted to be his hero because he was my hero,” Banks-Hunt said. “So, I would fix these things and just leave it like it was. I would fix it by figuring out the positive and negative wires. I figured out how switches worked … That was a big thing, initially, just fixing broken lamps so that we could have light in our home. He would come home and say, ‘See? I told you guys, I said, ‘stick with it!’ It’s working, now, I just needed to let it set for a while!’”

Since her father was so happy, Banks-Hunt never revealed that she was the secret repairwoman. She also learned the value of repairing and reusing items – no matter how old they looked.

“I didn’t see myself as an engineer. I didn’t even know what an engineer did, but I loved mathematics. I used to read math books like people read storybooks! I used to teach the neighbors math and I was known as a math tutor before I knew what that was,” Banks-Hunt said.

When Banks-Hunt was in her senior year at Michigan State University earning her credentials in teaching and bachelors in mathematics, she saw a flyer advertising a visiting speaker. The visitor was the dean at Stanford Graduate School of Engineering, James Gibbons, and his topic was about how mathematics could be used to engineer something new. “I thought that was ridiculous!” said Banks-Hunt. Still, she decided to attend the lecture. “He was talking about the future of robotics and I have never heard of ‘robotics,’ but I knew about automation. Automobile automation was huge,” said Banks-Hunt. “He talked about jobs going away and being replaced by robots and various automated devices … I remember getting upset and I raised my hand, in a very large hall, where there weren’t many women, and I didn’t see myself as an engineer. I didn’t I said, ‘Well, my father is a postman. Who is going to even know what an engineer did, but I loved retrain my dad? He doesn’t have any other education, mathematics. I used to read math books and he has a big family to feed. I think this is awful that you’re taking jobs without thinking or training people like people read story books! for new jobs.’ Everyone’s heads turned.”

“

Seeing how passionate Banks-Hunt was, the dean invited her to have a conversation with him after the lecture – and asked her if she would like to come to Stanford University. He revealed that he was there to recruit women in electronic engineering at Stanford’s graduate school because their graduate school didn’t have any women.

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Dr. Joanie Banks-Hunt: engineer, educator, and trailblazer As a Black woman, Banks-Hunt’s journey in the field in engineering was difficult. Her passion for technology and helping people with that technology is what kept her moving forward, despite facing challenges of prejudice.

“There was a lot of unfairness and there was definitely a lot of exclusion,” she said. “But I think that there was also an opportunity for me to work more closely with people and to be seen as a person – and not as the person they wanted to avoid, the woman that was different from everybody else.”

Banks-Hunt said her dream is to see people, Honors College students especially, affect global challenges by working together across disciplines.

“Most global challenges are transdisciplinary,” BanksHunt explained. “I would just love to see the future generation tackling those problems to make global society a much safer and livable environment.”

The six trailblazing women engineers featured in “Inspire!”

RESEARCH AND BACKGROUND Banks-Hunt’s original research is a phenomenology study on design thinking in youth STEM classes. She developed innovative, hands-on, and engineering-based elective courses in STEM initiatives with an emphasis on “Girls in STEM.” Prior to entering the Ph.D. program at Virginia Tech, Banks-Hunt was a member of the Menlo School faculty in Atherton, California, from 2001 until 2015. At Menlo, Banks-Hunt pioneered leading edge curricula in engineering and technology education for middle and high school students. Her vision, collaboration, and academic passion led to the realization of precollege engineering courses — and an over 10,000-square-foot, high-technology facility for teaching and learning engineering disciplinary content in the center of the Menlo School campus.

Banks-Hunt was also part of one of the very first design teams to develop the internet in a joint venture between Convergent Technologies and 3-Com Corp., companies operational in Silicon Valley in the 1980s. Banks-Hunt was the Convergent Technologies member of the co-development design team with 3Com, led by Robert Metcalfe. The design team introduced the first 10-megabit per second Ethernet networking interface useful for the most high-speed internet communication at the time.

As a graduate student at Virginia Tech, Banks-Hunt was instrumental in key initiative research and practice, conferences, and community service. She participated in proposal writing and program implementation for the VT and Qualcomm partnership agreement for the Thinkabit Lab. She was also a graduate assistant for the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence (formerly CIDER: Center for Instruction Design and Education Research), a volunteer for both the Graduate School Honor System Judicial Panel and Graduate School of Education Equity and Inclusion Committee. She has recently completed a Ph.D in education psychology with engineering education certification.

Learn more about how Honors makes an impact on our website: honorscollege.vt.edu — or scan this QR code.

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HONORS FACULTY HIGHLIGHTS Faculty members at the Virginia Tech Honors College have accomplished impressive academic feats within this past year. Our faculty works and researches to create new knowledge for tomorrow’s world.

Strong Island: Portsmouth’s History in Brick and Stone Dean Paul Knox published Strong Island: Portsmouth’s History in Brick and Stone in April of 2020. In Strong Island, Knox examines the built environment of and how the sense of place shaped Portsmouth, a city on Britain’s south coast across the English Channel from France.

The exceptional history of Portsmouth, shaped by a unique physical situation and by the tides of war and peace as by economic, social, and architectural history, has made the city a product of an exceptional history that has produced a distinctive cityscape.

Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia.

Better by Design? Architecture, Urban Planning, and the Good City Dean Paul Knox published Better by Design? Architecture, Urban Planning, and the Good City on October 9, 2020. In this publication, Knox explores the intellectual roots of the design professions, showing how architects, planners, and other designers have traditionally interpreted their roles and implemented their ideas in cities across North America and the UK. Drawing on his long record of research and award-winning publications on the social production of the built environment, Knox offers a critical appraisal of their ultimate effectiveness in achieving the goal of creating and sustaining good cities.

“Glass Building” photographed by Verne Ho on Unsplash.

›› Read “Better by Design?” and “Strong Island” for free on the VT Publishing website: publishing.vt.edu 22

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2019 Presidential Global Scholars (PGS) and Dr. Paul Heilker at the Stegar Center in Riva San Vitale, Switzerland. Photo courtesy of Emily Harmon.

Presidential Global Scholars wins an University Exemplary Program Award Nov. 12, 2020

The Virginia Tech Presidential Global Scholars Program (PGS), the Honors College semester abroad experience in Switzerland, was awarded as 2020 - 2021 University Exemplary Program.

Unlike most disciplinary or professional research efforts, PGS seeks to help students become public intellectuals and change agents - global citizens capable of engaging with critical public and civic issues that cross disciplinary, cultural, and national PGS operates each Spring semester out of the Steger boundaries - by requiring them to develop crossCenter for International Scholarship in Riva San Vitale, cultural analyses of public/civic issues they find Switzerland. Like all Honors programming, the mission personally compelling. of PGS is to encourage and support students’ efforts to go beyond their normal levels of undergraduate The PGS takes pride in its continuing success in academic engagement and achievement in every college developing and supporting extraordinary teaching and major across campus. and learning environments for most students and faculty. PGS stands as a signature program in the The PGS program aligns carefully with what the Honors College and a model for other study abroad Honors College considers to be critical experiences of initiatives at VT and beyond. exceptional teaching and learning, including developing meaningful and sustained relationships with faculty.

The University Exemplary Program Award recognizes the work of programs that maintain Dr. Paul Heilker, the program director, maintains freexemplary teaching and learning environments quent and long-term contact with many PGS alumni for students and faculty. With this award, the since the program began in 2012. university publicly honors the academic excellence Additionally, PGS operates as a concerted living-learning achieved by dedicated colleagues at Virginia Tech. community with faculty living in residence with the students during their time at the Stegar Center.

Learn more about PGS on honorscollege.vt.edu.

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›› endnote T

he Virginia Tech Honors College is incredibly proud of our students, faculty, and staff for continuing to demonstrate excellence during

this difficult time. We could not possibly fit all the Honors achievements from the last two academic years into this publication. All stories are publicly accessible via our website at honorscollege.vt.edu.

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Hokies on the Drillfield at Virginia Tech in October of 2020. Photo courtesy of Christina Franusich/Virginia Tech.

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Honors students gather in front of Hillcrest Hall at the start of the Fall 2021 term. Photo courtesy of Jason Provost.

Virginia Tech Honors College Hillcrest Hall 385 W Campus Dr. Blacksburg, VA 24061

Visit our website at honorscollege.vt.edu

EDQ @ VTHONORSCOLLEGE