Highlights

Aditya Sivaraman, Anna Walter and Evan Luczko

By Anna Walter- I am an undergraduate researcher at the Hume Center for National Security and Technology where I work with Dr. John Gilbert in modeling blast-releated threats. The past three semesters, I have been focusing on the effects of blast waves in urban environments. Using OpenFOAM and BlastFOAM, two open source Computational Fluid Dyanmics (CFD) softwares, I measure the impacts of blast waves on building structures such as in the city of London. Having started without any CFD experience, research taught me how to critically approach a problem, not be afraid to ask lots of questions, and most importantly have patience with the constant trial and error process that comes with research. From sifting through research articles, presenting at meetings, and writing an extensive research paper, I have learned so much thus far and I am excited to continue learning more next semester. Picture taken at NSEP (National Security Education Program) Colloquium.

Johanna Capone & Mandy Smith

We learned about undergraduate research after taking Water Resources Engineering (CEE 3314) with Dr. Landon Marston. He reached out to us about an open position to research the implementation of land development policy to mitigate water scarcity in the western United States. Our research began by reviewing existing literature and finding the knowledge gap in land development policy used to tackle water scarcity problems. We also looked at potential incidental impacts on the community, such as higher housing values, limitations of affordable housing availability, and negative community reaction. Then, we picked a few case study locations in California and Colorado and reached out to water district managers and water resources analysts for interviews. The interviews provided great insight on how districts in arid western states implemented conservation policies and their potential negative effects. This experience provided a great opportunity to network and meet professionals working with these issues in California and Colorado. At the end of the semester, we submitted a paper for publication and presented to Dr. Marston's research group. Overall, we loved doing undergrad research this semester and it inspired us to pursue research internships and continue research in grad school at VT!

Congratulations to Johanna for winning first place in the 2023 ASCE Marr Technical Paper and 2023 ASCE Hardy Cross Technical Presentation! 

Madeline Deck

I have had the pleasure of working with graduate students advised by Dr. Pruden and Dr. Edwards, two giants in water quality research. My undergraduate research has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my time at Virginia Tech, partly because the learning curve is large. My courses mostly covered the basics of environmental engineering, and I have no experience in microbiology, so most of the research being conducted is very new to me. Throughout my research experience I have learned more about these topics, but more importantly I have learned how research should be conducted. This includes knowing what questions are important, how to set up an experiment to answer these questions, and how to minimize error during the experiement to ensure confidence in the results. I have been encouraged to participate freely in lab events including lab meetings, group meetings, and poster presentations. I greatly appreciate how the students around me are dedicted towards creating new knowledge and learning together. I encourage all students who are interested to get involved in undergraduate research regardless of your experience. 

Kathryn Lopez

Undergraduate research gave me an opportunity to explore different fields outside of the classroom and exposed me to careers that I didn't know existed. I got started in research as a freshman after learning about an interesting project and reaching out to the professor. In this lab, I learned how to use a microscope and examined how parental drug use affected how many offspring displayed signs of ADHD. I went on to do a paid summer research program at the University of Miami where I looked at new technologies to cure paralysis. At the time I was a biochemistry major and these experiences helped me determine that I wanted to do something more environmentally focused--something I would not have figured out just through classes. I reached out to another professor that following fall and started working in the High Performance Materials Lab at Florida State University where I looked at how to separate different chemicals in radioactive waste. Just before my final year, I participated in the Virginia Tech Interdisciplinary Water summer research program and determined that that was what I enjoyed most. I ended up pursuing a PhD in Environmental Engineering because of it and love the work that I get to do now. Research has allowed me to be creative, learn how to manage projects, and work with brilliant people all while furthering science and addressing societal problems.

Jillian Boettler

I am an undergraduate research assistantant working in Dr. Amy Pruden's Lab in the ICTAS II building. I help with various projects for a couple of graduate students, but the main project I help the most with deals with opportunistic pathogens in drinking water. The main pathogen we research is legionella pneumophila, which can cause Legionnaires' disease; a serious type of pneumonia caused by breathing in small drops of water or swallowing water with legionella in it. In the lab I help conduct free/total chlorine and monochloramine tests along with DNA extraction, temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen tests. All of these tests help us collect data about the legionella in the various water samples we take from a mock rig, and allow us to learn more about how it behaves in different water conditions.