Momentum - The Magazine for Virginia Tech Mechanical Engineering Vol. 3 No. 2 Summer 2018 | 页面 4

From the Dept Head Azim Eskandarian Distinguished alumni, team finishes, and graduation highlight busy second quarter It has been an incredibly exciting and busy quarter - between graduation (Page 40), and the induction of our first-ever Society of Distinguished Alumni (Page 28), our competition teams have been having a fantastic spring. The 4-year EcoCar competition, advised by Professor Doug Nelson, in an event sponsored by the Department of Energy and General Motors, saw our 8-cylinder hybrid Camaro take 4th place overall during an awards ceremony in Hollywood. In Indiana earlier in May, our agBOT team, under the advisement of Professor Alexander Leonessa, took their first win in the competitions' third year, with an au- tonomous watermelon harvesting device. Down in Arizona, Associate Professor Al Wicks led the men and women who are part of our AutoDrive team, to a podium finish with a third-place overall in the first of three years of competition. In March Associate Professor Steve Southward's Champ Car team took 2nd place at in the Champ Car Endurance Series VIR South Race. And throughout MOMENTUM SUMMER 2018 the year, Steve's 2LoudVT sound pressure competition car team has not only won a trunk full of awards, they've set and beat their own world records. As you can see by this very small exam- ple, the message is clear - Virginia Tech mechanical engineers demonstrate why we're a premier department where you can not only learn and innovate, but also have lots of fun doing it. While space only allows me to mention the names of our advisors, there are dozens of students who put in long hours over the course of a year, or years, to make these outcomes possible. Just like in computer science, you get out what you put in, and our faculty provide some of the best input in the world. This is a big issue, so please, take some time and read what's going on, and click some video links. As part of the mechanical engineering family - we'd like to know what you're up to. Send a photo and update of what you're doing to [email protected]. PAGE 4