PROGRESS
Snapshot Great Things are Happening at WVU Tech
#1
in West Virginia and top 10% in the US for student return on investment (ROI)*
16% 50
increase in annual giving**
students awarded donor-funded scholarships
engineering program***
8
ABET-accredited engineering programs
1,200+
40+
student enrollment
academic programs
20+
countries represented in student body
* 2014 Payscale College Return on Investment Report ** 2013-2014 fiscal year over previous year *** 2015 U.S. News & World Report Ranking of Undergraduate Engineering Programs
The Tech Spot is the place to be WVU Tech’s new dining location, The Tech Spot, opened in the Engineering building in Fall 2014. The café-style eatery became an instant hit with students, faculty and staff thanks to its attractive atmosphere and delicious grab-and-go food options. The Tech Spot’s location also ensures easy access to dining services from anywhere on campus. Stop in the next time you’re in Montgomery and see how the Tech Spot is the place to be.
Traveling campus never looked so good Getting around WVU Tech’s campus has never been a smoother ride, as sidewalks and parking lots across campus were upgraded in the summer of 2014. The college put construction and beautification funding to work on sidewalk repairs in front of Engineering and Old Main; a completely new sidewalk between the Tech Mall and Orndorff ; and new parking lots at Baisi, Old Main and COBE.
Cultivating a Campus Your Sponsorship Dollars at Work Baisi reveals a hidden gem When flooring specialists began stripping away the layers of stain and sealant on the gym floor in WVU Tech’s Neal D. Baisi Athletic Center, they were excited to find old-style hardwood boards with an appealing light color and unique grain patterns. The floor, originally installed when the center was constructed in 1968, is made of high-quality maple and is expected to last a very long time. The 46 year-old floor was refinished and painted with updated WVU Tech athletic logos.
Ratliff receives renovation Students living in WVU Tech’s Ratliff residence hall got a welcome surprise in the fall of 2014 when they returned to find completely remodeled bathrooms in the men’s and women’s wings. The shared bathrooms received upgraded plumbing, fixtures, showers, sinks and tile throughout.
PARTNERS
American Electric Power Foundation Supports STEM Education at WVU Tech In the lab Students took to the laboratory to learn the science behind biology and chemistry during Camp STEM.
“We’re grateful for American Electric Power Foundation’s support as it allowed us to expand Camp STEM.” Dr. Zeljko Torbica
This year, the American Electric Power Foundation donated $50,000 to fund WVU Tech and WVU summer camps that give high school students the opportunity to explore the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. Through the gift, Engineering Challenge Camps at WVU and Camp STEM at WVU Tech will have the capability to expand, providing more opportunities for young students to discover a field they are passionate about and hope to pursue as a career.
“We’re happy to partner with WVU Tech on this STEM program. At Appalachian Power, we need employees with good math and science skills for many if not most of our jobs,” said Charles Patton, Appalachian Power president and chief operating officer. “From engineering to customer service, STEM skills are critical for success. WVU Tech is helping create a well-educated work force that will build a better future for West Virginia.” WVU Tech’s 2014 Camp STEM attracted 70
high school students from across the state. The week-long residential camp provides students with the opportunity to learn about a variety of fields, including forensics, electrical engineering, civil engineering, computer science, robotics and automotive engineering.
Students who face financial challenges are given support through the camp in the form of scholarships, and the gift from AEP Foundation, which covers some housing and board expenses, will help ensure equal opportunity for all attendees.
“We’re grateful for American Electric Power Foundation’s support as it allowed us to expand Camp STEM. This summer program is a vital opportunity for West Virginia high school students to explore STEM fields and see themselves as future scientists and engineers,” said Dr. Zeljko Torbica, dean of the Leonard C. Nelson College of Engineering and Sciences at WVU Tech.
In addition to providing scholarships, AEP Foundation’s gift provided funds for WVU Tech to purchase new equipment, especially robotics kits, which allow students to have the kind of hands-on instruction that makes Camp STEM a success. WVU Tech is also launching a pilot program that allows area middle school students an opportunity to work with these robotics kits through a lending library.
Students take on STEM Camp STEM students learn about fields ranging from electrical engineering to forensic science.
WVU Tech’s Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, American Electric Power is one of the largest utilities in the U.S., serving over 5 million customers in eleven states. The American Electric Power Foundation complements a tradition of corporate philanthropy exhibited by AEP and its regional utilities in support of AEP’s community relations goal: “To support and play an active, positive role in the communities where we live and work.”
2014 Camp STEM attracted 70 high school students from across the state.
SCHOLARSHIPS
“I truly appreciate you taking the time to let me know that my efforts have made a difference in someone’s life.” Mr. Douglas Hungate
Coming Full Circle: Scholarships Touch the Lives of Students and Donors Alike While it’s common for scholarship recipients to write donors in appreciation for their financial support, it’s unusual, perhaps, for donors to write thank-you letters to the recipients of their scholarships. Douglas Hungate, a WVU Tech alumnus, did just that. After learning that Brittany Doran also originated from Coal City, West Virginia, he couldn’t help but send the WVU Tech student a letter of encouragement. Hungate, who graduated from WVU Tech with a civil engineering degree in 1969, owns a civil engineering firm in Johnson City, Tennessee. He established the Hungate-Thyson Civil Engineering Scholarship in 2006 to honor his parents, Robert C. and Gilda B. Hungate, and his late wife Christa’s parents, Walter and Helma Thyson. Brittany Doran is using the scholarship to help her obtain a civil engineering degree at WVU Tech. She’s one of 50 WVU Tech students who received more than $100,000 in private scholarships for the 2014-2015 academic year.
In August, Brittany wrote Hungate a thank you note. When he received the card, he was both pleased and surprised to learn how much the two had in common. “I truly appreciate you taking the time to let me know that my efforts Douglas Hungate have made a difference in someone’s life,” Mr. Hungate wrote after receiving an annual statement about his endowed scholarship for WVU Tech. “Also imagine my surprise to find a letter enclosed from the scholarship recipient,” Hungate added. “But that was not my only surprise as Brittany Doran actually is from the town where I attended high school. I was raised up in this community. Although the high school is long gone, this did bring back many memories.”
Doran was also surprised to learn of this small town connection, and said that Mr. Hungate’s contribution is making a real difference in her college career. “It really helped me focus on my studies because I wasn’t so worried about financial issues,” Brittany said. “That was a big help for me and my family.” While finishing out her time at WVU Tech, Doran has her thoughts on her future. “I’m looking at either graduate school or potentially applying to the Department of Highways,” she said. Scholarships are an important factor in WVU Tech’s efforts to recruit, retain and rebuild. These scholarships, which touch the lives of so many students, are only possible because of the generous donors who provide them. Accessibility remains an issue for many students in West Virginia. As working class families struggle to make ends meet, college isn’t always an option for students who yearn to achieve more. It’s scholarships like the one established by Mr. Hungate that allow bright students to overcome these financial obstacles. WVU Tech Campus President Carolyn Long expressed the impact scholarships have on students’ lives. “Our scholarship program is much more than financial support. Awarding a scholarship shows faith and trust in our students, encourages continued academic success and enables students to focus on an education that will allow them to change their very futures,” she said. Nursing student, Mary Cunningham, is another beneficiary of WVU Tech’s scholarship program. Recently awarded the Fitzwater Sisters Scholarship for full-time nursing students, she balances her studies with an externship at the Charleston Area Medical Center Memorial Hospital cardiac catheterization lab and a busy family life with five brothers and sisters. She said her scholarship allows her to concentrate on finishing out her senior year.
“This is a real blessing. I want to be a nurse and a servant to the community, and this will help me get there when I may not have been able to otherwise,” she said. “It’s also helping my classmates – who are mothers, full-time workers and students – continue to be amazing.”
If you would like to help students like Brittany and Mary achieve their academic goals, consider a contribution to the WVU Tech General Scholarship fund. You can use the enclosed envelope to make a gift and help our students.
EXPERIENCE
Classroom to An Out-of-This-World Opportunity WVU Tech chemical engineering student Lindsay McDowall discovered her love for NASA’s space program at the age of 13. Between attending a space camp and reading Homer Hickam’s 1998 memoir “Rocket Boys,” it wasn’t long before McDowall became fascinated with engineering, rocketry and space exploration.
“I was 21 at the time of my internship and I did something that will help to
In the spring of 2014, she chased a rare opportunity 1,200 miles from campus to participate in a NASA Education Internship at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas – a hub of astronaut training activity and home to NASA’s Mission Control.
Dream job Lindsay McDowall sits for her official NASA portrait.
further NASA’s research on renewable energy systems on Earth and in space...” Lindsay McDowall
In Houston, McDowall worked on sustainability projects in the Design and Analysis Branch of NASA’s Crew and Thermal Systems Division. The division designs and tests environmental and thermal control systems that allow astronauts to live in space. “I was tasked with writing a paper on all renewable energy projects JSC had done for the past ten years, and in that I was to include my recommendations for future projects,” she said. “I presented my work to the JSC Sustainability Partnership Team and the JSC Energy Managers, who will use the recommendations from my paper when working on future projects.” McDowall created six posters for a Houston area awareness campaign centered on the JSC’s six sustainability focuses: water, air, energy, people, materials/waste and land. She also designed the cover of the JSC 2013 Annual Sustainability Report. The internship wasn’t all papers and presentations. McDowall repaired an electrolyzer
– a machine used to break down water into its constituent oxygen and hydrogen – and helped to prepare a hazard analysis for the equipment. “I was 21 at the time of my internship and I did something that will help to further NASA’s research on renewable energy systems on Earth and in space. I know that what I did was impactful to the organization and that it was taken seriously,” she said. “There’s no better feeling than that.” During the program, McDowall met Apollo 13 flight director Gene Kranz, skyped with “Rocket Boys” author Homer Hickam and met with astronauts Karen Nyberg and Chris Cassidy, who had recently returned from the International Space Station. McDowall plans to graduate in 2015 and apply to the NASA Recent Graduates program. She’s currently deciding whether to pursue a renewable energy engineering graduate degree or a global energy law degree.
oCosmos WVU Tech Students Take on Space Outreach The West Virginia Space Public Outreach Team (SPOT) offers college students an opportunity to share their passion for space exploration with K-12 students throughout the state. Sponsored by NASA and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), the program puts SPOT ambassadors in the classroom to deliver interactive presentations and get young students excited about space, technology and engineering. “Our goal is to share how NASA’s scientists and astronomers are working to educate the community about space and beyond to help define our place in this vast universe,” said Thy Dinh, SPOT Ambassador and President of WVU Tech’s Student Partnership for the Advancement of Cosmic Exploration (S.P.A.C.E.) organization. In September 2014, Thy and six other WVU Tech students traveled to Green Bank, West Virginia, home of the famed NRAO Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT). There, they joined students from Shepherd University, WVU, Marshall University and West Virginia Wesleyan College for a two-day SPOT training session. In Green Bank, participants toured the GBT and used a 40-foot telescope to capture data from hydrogen clouds in the Milky Way. During training sessions, students learned to give presentations on topics such as the International Space Station, space-based telescopes and the aspects of the universe – like radio and gravitational waves – inaccessible to the naked eye but vitally important to the study of the cosmos.
Attendees also became certified SPOT ambassadors and delivered sample presentations in front of SPOT trainers. After a student becomes a certified ambassador, they can begin presenting what they’ve learned in the classroom. K-12 schools book presentations online and SPOT ambassadors in the region will work directly with the school to set up a presentation. WVU Tech mechanical engineering professor, Dr. Farshid Zabihian, serves as an advisor for the students in the program, but said that SPOT is a wholly student-run effort. “The great thing about this program is that it’s student-oriented. SPOT ambassadors must learn the presentation content, which is quite advanced. On top of that, they’re learning skills like self-discipline, clear communication, punctuality, selfconfidence and networking – all the things you would need to successfully operate in a real-world workplace environment,” he said. Dr. Zabihian said the program’s impact stems from the fact that college students, not professors, are giving these presentations.
Dr. Zabihian said “Above all, the program gives our students a chance to give back to the community,” he said. “Some of these students are going back to their old high schools to share their own experiences. The lessons are more powerful when they are coming from a student who was sitting at those same desks just a few years ago.”
the program’s impact stems from the fact that college students, not professors, are giving these presentations.
RECRUITMENT
Former Professor Leaves Powerful Legacy As a professor of economics, the late Dr. Rajendra K. Gupta understood how tough times could be – especially for college students. Dr. Gupta was a professor at WVU Tech, where he taught students the laws of finance and economics from 1983 until his passing in January 2011. Dr. Stephen Brown, Dean of the WVU Tech College of Business, Humanities and Social Sciences, remembers Dr. Gupta as a personable instructor who was respected by his colleagues and his students. “Professor Gupta was indeed among the most dedicated, reliable professors I’ve ever worked with. He had a great interest in the success of the college and in supporting students in their academic efforts,” said Dr. Brown. “He had this wonderful sense of humor, and it was clear to anyone fortunate enough to have worked with him that he loved seeing students succeed.” It seems only fitting that even after his passing, Dr. Gupta continues to help the students for whom he cared so deeply.
learn here to land rewarding careers and impact the lives of communities throughout the world,” said Bill Allen, Dean of Enrollment Services. WVU Tech is focused on three goals: recruit, retain and rebuild. Scholarships are critical to the first two goals, and funding for need-based students combats the increasing expenses of higher education that place a burden on prospective and current students. “We are so grateful for Dr. Gupta’s generosity, foresight and passion for students and higher education,” said Campus President Carolyn Long. “Through his generous gift, scholarship recipients will have the opportunity to worry less about paying for college and focus more on their studies and their futures.”
Leaving a Legacy Are you thinking of making a gift to benefit WVU Tech through your will, living trust or IRA?
In June of 2014, three scholarships were established to recruit students of Indian descent using funds Dr. Gupta willed to WVU Tech. The scholarships honor his mother, Basanti Nevi Gupta; his father, Shri Amrit Gupta and himself. All three scholarships are for students who show financial need, and the scholarship established in his mother’s name is specifically for female students.
To ensure that your gift to WVU Tech fulfills the purpose you intend, make sure your will uses the specific phrase, “To the West Virginia University Foundation, Inc. (FEIN 55-6017181) for the benefit of WVU Institute of Technology.”
As WVU Tech looks to add to its growing international population – the student body currently represents more than 20 countries – Dr. Gupta’s scholarships will play a key role in recruiting international students.
You may also direct your gift to student scholarships, faculty support, library resources, technology funds, unrestricted funds or any other specific program or purpose you wish.
“Recruiting at the international level not only broadens the cultural experience for all our students, it expands our academic reach on a global scale. WVU Tech graduates are using the skills they
For assistance with this process, contact: Rachelle Beckner Director of Development Tech-Development@mail.wvu.edu 304.442.1078
TEAMWORK
Baja Buggy Project Puts Students on Track for Enhanced Learning Student-run projects and clubs are a vital part of academic life at WVU Tech. These projects, ranging from steel bridges and concrete canoes to cube satellites and senior capstones, allow students to apply the theories and formulas they’re learning in the classroom and discover opportunities for practical experience and professional development. The WVU Tech Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Baja Buggy Team is one such group. Each year, this group of engineering students develops, designs and builds a single-seat buggy to compete against schools from across the nation in SAEsanctioned competitions. Every team member is involved in the complete process from initial brainstorming to the hands-on fabrication of the machine. Participating students
gain a wealth of practical design and modeling, machining, budgeting, purchasing, troubleshooting, business and teamwork experience. Last year, students used their training and knowledge to assemble a vehicle that performed better than the previous year and applied new design features in several areas. Notably, the new transmission provided a 13.1 gear reduction, allowing the WVU Tech team to place fifth out of 116 teams in the sled pull event at a 2014 competition in Pittsburg, Kansas. Overall, WVU Tech finished 54th out of 119 registered vehicles. This year, the Baja Buggy team has grown in size and is enthusiastic about building a great buggy to compete in Alabama in April 2015. The team’s focus is to create a lighter and more durable vehicle that includes design changes such as a custom transmission, trailing arm suspension and a completely redesigned frame.
Each year, this group of engineering students develops, designs and builds a single-seat buggy to compete against schools from across the nation in SAE-sanctioned
The estimated cost of the project is $15,000 plus travel expenses, and the team relies on sponsorships and private donations to see the project through. “Our sponsors directly support the development of these future engineers,” said the group’s faculty advisor, Dr. Winnie Fu. “SAE students are sought out by employers and often find work right out of school because of their technical and design abilities and the practical experience they get from these competitions.”
Engineered to win WVU Tech SAE members design, build and race a buggy each year.
competitions.
Make checks payable to the WVU Foundation and mail to: Development Director West Virginia University Institute of Technology 405 Fayette Pike Montgomery, WV 25136
304.442.1078 or 1.888.554.8324
Tech-Development@mail.wvu.edu
By phone
Questions?
Online wvutech.edu/goldblueyou
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405 Fayette Pike | Montgomery, WV 25136-9980 1.888.554.8324 | wvutech.edu