Momentum - The Magazine for Virginia Tech Mechanical Engineering Vol. 2 No. 4 Winter 2017 | Page 21

sand on jet engines. The Purdue University
student presenting his research alongside them
was studying what sand ingestion does to a jet
engine from a materials perspective.
“That was a little different: I’m looking at, ‘will
the engine survive?’ He’s looking at, ‘well, what
is it doing on a very small microscopic level?’”
Boulanger said.
sion Lab in Blacksburg and hanging a Trent 1000
engine in Goodwin Hall.
“To get to see the professor and students and
to collaborate — it’s a great feeling,” Krok said.
“It’s a good place to be.”
Christina DiMarino, a Virginia Tech doctoral
student in electrical engineering who also
attended Ph.D. Day, knows the importance
of these interactions. A frequent traveler, the
former Rolls-Royce fellow attends several
conferences a year for her work at the Center
for Power Electronics Systems. She has also
conducted research abroad at the University of
Nottingham through the College of Engineering’s
International Research Experience for Students.
DiMarino largely credits travel with connecting
her to future collaborators and improved final
research products.
“It’s opened up a lot of doors for me,” DiMari-
no said.
The feeling is equally as rewarding for Rolls-
Royce, whose contributions to Virginia Tech
include establishing an Advanced Power Propul-
Virginia Tech students Tamara Guimarães Bucalo,
a Ph.D. candidate in mechanical engineering, and
Vy Nguyen, a master's candidate in mechanical
engineering, listen to other researchers present their
work on different research focuses related to jet en-
gines. Bucalo and Nguyen contribute to the advanced
systems diagnostics research focus area.
MOMENTUM
WINTER'17

PAGE 21