How will the engineering community respond to the Virginia Tech tragedy?
April 17, 2007

In my previous life, I was a community newspaper editor. One of the things that happened in a time of community joys and tragedy is that the community came together in those times to celebrate together or to grieve together.
Today we gather as an engineering community to grieve. The majority of the tragic shootings at Virgina Tech occurred at Norris Hall, where the school's engineering department is housed. It is where students came from all over the world to, as the school's motto suggests, "Invent the Future."
It's important that the engineering community reflect on the tragedy at Virginia Tech and find a way to do something to help the victims and their families through this tragic time, and to support the school as a whole and the College of Engineering in particular heal the deep wounds.
So that you know more about the engineering curriculum, here are a few particulars:
1. An overview of the Virginia Tech College of Engineering from Dean Richard Benson.
2. Just last week, the school named a new director of the Center for High Performance Manufacturing. Here's some details on that program.
3. A story from the Roanoke Times about the school's goal of a soccer-playing robot helps drive advancements in robotics for manufacturing.
4. An article from our sister publication, Modern Materials Handling, talking to the head of Virginia Tech's Center for Unit Load Design.
5. Another story from MHIA detailing how Virginia Tech students won the 2005 design competition sponsored by Modern Materials Handling and the College Industry Council on Material Handling Education, the college education arm of MHIA.
These are accomplished students and educators. Today and for the days to come they will need our support as a community. Let us let them mourn, and we will mourn with them. Then let us find a way to reach out to the students and faculty at the Virginia Tech College of Engineering and let them know they are part of the engineering community.

Posted by Wolseley on April 17, 2007 | Comments (4)