Momentum - The Magazine for Virginia Tech Mechanical Engineering Vol. 2 No. 2 Summer 2017 | Page 4

The legacy of J.B. Jones is a
world-class ME department
It’s with great sadness that I
report the passing of J.B. Jones,
one of our Mechanical Engineering
Department Heads from 1964 until
1983 when I was an MS student
here. As a graduate student in
mechanical engineering at Virginia
Tech in 1982-83 the presence and
influence of James B. Jones was
evident everywhere one looked in
the department. In many respects,
he created the department as we
know it today, bringing it from a sol-
id program with a long history and
tradition, to a program of national
significance. Like so many, I was
saddened to hear of JB’s passing
in May. He was a stalwart, not
just of Virginia Tech’s mechanical
engineering program, but of the
university in general. As a leader, a
mentor, an excellent engineer, and
for so many other reasons, he will
be greatly missed. I invite you to
read more about his amazing life
and contributions starting on Page
6.
Because of the work of Jones,
and others who have added to
the culture of excellence in ME,
today we are able to feature many
extraordinary accomplishments
from faculty and students.
In this issue's cover story,
you can learn about how one of our
gifted young robotics researchers,
Assistant Professor Alan Asbeck, is
working to bring robotic exosuits
to the mainstream, partnering with
Lowe's to help people lift more,
work less.
You can also read about how
faculty members such as Professor
Shashank Priya are collaborating
with Korean universities to find new
ways to manufacture materials with
unique properties. Find out how
Associate Professor Pinhas Ben-Tzvi
is improving the educational
experience for our undergraduate
students by creating a lab where
they can put their hands on robots.
You can see a small portion of what
our students accomplished this
year as part of their Senior Design
Capstone project. For those of you
who weren't here at graduation,
we've also provided some photos
of very happy new alumni - some
of the nearly 400! who became
mechanical engineers this year -
representing our largest class ever.
Through our continued efforts, we
will carry on and continue to grow
the legacy JB Jones has left us, as a
world-class ME department.
MOMENTUM SUMMER'17
PAGE 4
Azim Eskandarian
ME Department Head