Momentum - The Magazine for Virginia Tech Mechanical Engineering Vol. 1 No. 2 | Page 11

ME represents
VT at Germany's
Hannover Messe '16

Graduate student Mico Woolard is comfortable
talking about his research when other engineers visit
Virginia Tech's Smart Infrastructure Laboratory on the
third floor of Goodwin Hall.
In fact, his advisor, Pablo Tarazaga, encourages his
students to lead tours so they become comfortable
discussing their work.
But Woolard, a doctoral student in mechanical engineering admits he got a little tongue-tied when the
Virginia governor, the U.S. secretary of commerce, the
U.S. ambassador to Germany, the economy minister
of the United Arab Emirates, and other diplomatic and
corporate dignitaries stopped by Virginia Tech’s booth
at Hannover Messe, the world’s foremost trade fair
for industrial technology in April.
“At one point, I was explaining to Boeing executives
how we use sensors in Goodwin Hall to better understand how humans interact with the environment,”
Woolard said. “And a minute later, the governor was
tapping the solid piano I created to demonstrate the
interactive capabilities of a smart building.”
Virginia Tech's participation in the show which had
190,000 visitors including President Barak Obama and
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, was sponsored by
the Language and Culture Institute, part of Outreach
and International Affairs.
“All the latest technologies, all the advanced manufacturers – t hey’re all here,” Virginia Gov. Terry
McAuliffe said at Hannover Messe. “Virginia Tech is a
huge player in this space, so it’s important that Tech
be here.”
McAuliffe said universities such as Virginia Tech
need to take part in such events to see what advancements are being made in other countries and at
other universities. “We want everybody to know that
Virginia Tech is a research leader,” he said.
Lane Ballard, a 1997 mechanical engineering graduate who is vice president of materials and manufacturing technology at Boeing Research & Technology,
echoed those sentiments. “It’s important to not only

Governor Terry McAuliffe, right, speaks with Pablo Tarazaga,
center at Virginia Tech's booth at Hannover Messe in Germany in
late April. At left is graduate student Mico Woolard.

get talent, but also products and technology, from all
regions of the earth, as there are a lot of good ideas
that aren’t just central to the U.S.,” he said. “You
come to these conferences to get the integration of
the manufacturers, the IT solutions, the supply chain
managers, logistics, and in the end, shorten the value
stream of products to customers.”
Tarazaga, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering in the College of Engineering, said laying the
groundwork for such partnerships was a main goal.
“This was a good way to meet and greet several
potential partners in one place in one week,” he said.
“This usually takes a much longer time in the conventional university environment. Hannover Messe was a
sort of ‘speed dating’ for potential research projects.”
He said the event was an opportunity to show
potential partners “the kind of high-quality students
that we produce and what we’re able to do at Virginia
Tech.”
In addition to meeting people at the university’s
booth, Woolard and Jan Helge Bøhn, an associate
professor in the department of mechanical engineering, moderated tech transfer forums featuring presentations and panel discussions. Tarazaga also presented
a talk about his work with intelligent infrastructure.
The university also spotlighted the work of the
Language and Culture Institute and Continuing
and Professional Education. The institute recruits
international students on behalf of the university,
provides language-related programs for academic and
professional development, and develops partnerships
that promote international development and capacity
building.

Article - Rich Mathieson
Language and Culture Institute