Virginia Tech researcher Pavlos Vlachos and his students in the College of Engineering have a tall order to tackle: Stem the grim progression of heart disease. Projects include better understanding the flow of blood in and out of the heart; improving artery stents; and creating a system that can mimic the sounds of a diseased heart in order to develop sensors that can form a diagnosis.
Researchers at the Virginia Tech Center for Technology, Security, and Policy in the National Capital Region, doing a FEMA- funded study to determine the social impacts and disaster response requirements of a catastrophic earthquake on the New Madrid Seismic Zone, found that such a disaster would result in 80,000 injuries and 3,500 fatalities.
The roving, walking robotic soldiers of the “Terminator” films are becoming less sci-fi and more certain future every day. Now, a team of robotics researchers from the Virginia Tech College of Engineering will build a team of fully autonomous cooperative battle-ready robots as part of a 2010 international war games challenge that could spur real-life battle bots.
James Martin, who specializes in the study of infrastructure for increased resilience to natural or terrorist activities, advocates community-based leadership to minimize disasters. "Government must coordinate efforts but ... we need the transportation, water, power, and other industries to share the leadership."
A palm-sized modular toy "makes you want to experiment and learn about the capabilities of magnetism," says the undergraduate student who designed it, and won an international contest with it.
Shopping and consuming can be both delightful and horrible. “Be more mindful about consumption," a Virginia Tech marketing professor advocates.
Scoot over winds and brass, strings and chorale – it is time to make room for the laptop orchestra. Virginia Tech's laptop group is the first Linux-based orchestra in the world with focus on ultra-affordable design.
Virginia Tech's Green500 list is expanding the definition of a supercomputer to include a wider spectrum of the high-end computing world.
Barriers to the adoption of sanding tools that lead to healthier environments include productivity, work quality, and perceptions of benefits and risks.
"Reaching out, not building walls" is an apt description of the core competitive strategy of firms in the social networking services industry, as new research by Virginia Tech Pamplin College of Business professors shows.
An attribute of the Virginia Tech entry in the 2009 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon is an advanced shutter that slides along the north and south façades, providing insulation and protection from direct sunlight while allowing for indirect, natural lighting, views to the exterior, and privacy to those inside.
When a college student receives a new car, their first typical thought isn't how they'll dismantle the vehicle's engine and re-engineer it for maximum fuel efficiency and lowest possible emissions. But that's exactly what members of the Hybrid Electric Vehicle Team of Virginia Tech (HEVT) plan to do with a 2009 crossover SUV.
A significant gap lies between consumers’ attitudes towards “green” initiatives in the hospitality industry and their actual behavior, according to a study by two hospitality and tourism management students. Moreover, consumers who engage in environmentally friendly behavior at home behave differently when staying at a hotel, the study found.
Harold “Skip” Garner has been named executive director of the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech. Garner joins VBI from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW), where he was professor of Biochemistry and Internal Medicine and the Philip O'Bryan Montgomery Jr., M.D. Distinguished Chair in Developmental Biology.
Virginia Tech will develop a public Smart Grid Information Clearinghouse web portal that encourages use of electricity in an environmentally responsible way. IEEE and the EnerNex Corporation will assist with content, which includes demonstration projects, use cases, standards, legislation, policy and regulation, lessons learned, best practices, and R&D topics.
Materials related to musicians of the Carter and Cash families, including June Carter and Johnny Cash, are now available at Virginia Tech University Libraries' Special Collections.
"Living Darwin," an original theatrical production, will debut at Virginia Tech this fall. The Theatre Workshop in Science, Technology, and Society and the Department of Theatre and Cinema developed the play, which addresses the theories of Charles Darwin.
Virginia Tech electrical engineers are advancing technologies that rely on the exchange of synchrophasor data among electric utility companies and other electricity entities. Synchrophasors are high-speed, real-time synchronized measurement devices used to diagnose the health of the electricity grid. With synchrophasor data, electric utilities can use existing power more efficiently and push more power through the grid while reducing power disruptions.
Wildfire expert Shep Zedaker talks about fire conditions, and the difference a few weeks would make for the Station fire.
Insects are about to be analyzed in a new way by a host of Virginia Tech engineering faculty. They will be using some fancy state-of-the-art equipment, such as a kilometer-long synchrotron x-ray light source, which might be enough to scare any bug. And first up will be beetles, grasshoppers and silk moths because they have some endearing characteristics.
Virginia Tech researchers are developing the next-generation nano-CT imaging system, which promises to greatly reduce the required dose of radiation.
A new book by researchers from across the world explores the contexts within which individuals, families, and communities develop and change – and strategies for improving life.
Virginia Tech’s nuclear engineering program will receive almost $850,000 from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for faculty development and for fellowships.
As the federal government announces new plans to protect water resources, research is underway to provide objective scientific information to policy makers and to those involved in the debate surrounding mountaintop-removal and other forms of coal mining.
The Summer 2009 issue of Virginia Tech Research features articles on how "Engineers seek to stem massive, deadly flow of heart disease" and how wood scientists are making medicine more efficient by adding natural products to the mix.
Virginia Tech’s Space@VT research group will build a chain of space weather instrument stations in Antarctica. Space weather affects a variety of everyday consumer technologies including global positioning systems (GPS), satellites for television reception, and cellular phones. Also, the understanding of space weather is critical to space programs.
The remarkable ability of fish to maneuver in tight places, or to hover in one area efficiently, or to accelerate in a seemingly effortless fashion has researchers wondering if they can create smarter materials that emulate the biology of these vertebrates.
Virginia Tech's 2009 solar house team have moved their zero-energy home from the construction site to a public site and revealed its technology online. Completely powered by the sun, other sustainable features include the use of passive energy systems, radiant heating, and building materials that are from renewable and/or recyclable sources.
The fifth edition of Virginia Tech's Green500 List shows that supercomputers continue to use less power even as their capacity soars. Computers raking in top spots a year ago are falling by the wayside to newer models.
How does vacation travel affect your sense of well-being and happiness? Research findings contradict the general belief that leisure travel affects an individual's life satisfaction through positive emotions related to health and safety.
Virginia Tech's eCorridors program and the Northwest Arctic Broadband Task Force have determined that almost 300 Alaska communities have some access to the Internet. The eCorridors group provided the back end analysis important for economic stimulus funding.
In an era in which the individuality and vitality of small towns are under threat from globalization, and city planning discussions tend to center on topics such as metropolitan regions, megaregions, and global cities, two Virginia Tech professors reflect on the potential of small towns.
The recession is apparently not deflecting consumers' vacation travel plans this year, according to findings from a national study.
The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine (www.vtc.vt.edu/) announced today that the educational program leading to the doctor of medicine (M.D.) degree has received preliminary accreditation by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME). The program is unique in that research and interprofessionalism are interwoven throughout the curriculum.
A group of Virginia Tech students have produced more than 200 gallons of biodiesel as part of a senior design project. They are using it in two pickup trucks.
Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) have great potential for stationary and mobile applications. But SOFCs have had a flaw "“ the integrity of the seals within and between power-producing units. A materials science professor has invented a self-healing seal that will provide strength and long-term stability.
Virginia Tech is one of only two U.S. universities invited to compete in the first Solar Decathlon Europe, which will take place in Madrid in June 2010. Universities compete to design and build a self-sufficient house using solar power as the only source of energy.
The Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMeLa) of the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech has developed a unique robotic hand that can firmly hold objects as heavy as a can of food or as delicate as a raw egg, while dexterous enough to gesture for sign language.
Researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech are using high-performance computer simulations to show how diseases like flu spread through large populations. They want to provide policymakers, decision-makers, and public health experts with a way to test health interventions that would help to put the brakes on the spread of a deadly influenza outbreak.
A virologist currently investigating transmission of swine viruses between species and a virologist who has developed a novel vaccine technology, which has broad applicability to almost all viruses, are available to respond to media queries related to Swine flu and related issues.
Virginia Tech students have invented Spice n Easy, flavor spikes to quickly and easily flavor meat. No overnight soaking. No cleanup.
An engineering student design team at Virginia Tech is creating a photovoltaic system to provide a medical clinic in Kenya with a desperately needed source of power.
A doctoral candidate in marketing in the Pamplin College of Business looks at strategies that low-income consumers employ to get their needs served in the marketplace.
Virginia citizens have been reporting a significant number of deaths of birds common to bird feeding stations such as finches. The current problem is not yet epidemic statewide. Salmonella occurs in wildlife in regular cycles, and we appear to be in one of those up cycles, says a wildlife specialist. Good sanitation with feeding stations is recommended.
Cancer treatments, including chemotherapy and radiotherapy, may alter and damage taste and odor perception, possibly leading to patient malnutrition, and even significant morbidity. From their review of the literature, the research team put together a listing of management strategies to improve taste and odor abnormalities for cancer patients.
The ultrafine coal particles that are the residue of the coal cleaning process have been discarded into hundreds of impoundments. Now, a dewatering technology developed at Virginia Tech has succeeded in reducing the moisture content of ultrafine coal to less than 20 percent.
Internationally known author Nikki Giovanni offers five tips on how to write a love poem. She also celebrates her 65 years with a new book containing 65 love poems.
With limited resources and an aging bridge population, bridge owners need reliable information on bridge health in order to manage their bridge inventory efficiently and economically. The Federal Highway Administration has awarded a $25.5 million contract to establish a Long-Term Bridge Performance Program. Virginia Tech and the Virginia Transportation Research Council are responsible for the instrumentation and monitoring of 10 bridges in the eastern U.S.
Eleven graduate students from the history and social science education program at Virginia Tech will be partnering with high school and middle school students from across the country to witness the historic inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama.
The U.S. water delivery infrastructure may be inadequate both for current requirements and projected growth, according to the EPA. An NSF Career Award recipient and a MacArthur Fellow have teamed to establish the Center of Excellence in Sustainable Water Infrastructure Management (SWIM).
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