Momentum - The Magazine for Virginia Tech Mechanical Engineering Vol. 1 No. 4 | Page 2

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Azim Eskandarian
ME Department Head

2016 has been a great year for
the Department and I want to
thank all of you who have been a
part of what we do – this includes
our students, faculty, staff, alumni,
and everyone who has pitched in
to help us reach our goals. I would
also like to recognize our Department Advisory Board who dedicate
so much of their time and energy
to help us realize our potential.
We ended the year with most of
our metrics trending positively
including research expenditures,
admissions, graduates, and program rankings among others.
As the year ends I want to wish
everyone a happy and safe holiday
season. If you are coming back to
Blacksburg in the new year, I hope
you are refreshed and ready to
tackle another year of change and
personal and professional growth.
If you aren’t coming back to your
VT home, the entire ME Department wishes you success in your
endeavors and we hope to see you
back on campus in the near future
to visit.
In this our fourth and final issue
of Momentum for the year, we
take a look at a technology that
could be a game-changer in the
world of solar power. Flexible solar
cells that are light and can be integrated into fabric, wallpaper, and
many other places where traditional heavy, rigid solar panels can’t
go. What’s more, these cells can
harvest the energy from traditional

household lighting, making them
electricity recyclers. The technology is now at that exciting tipping
point just short of commercialization and it would be a great thing
if in a couple years we were talking
about how Virginia Tech mechanical engineers helped propel the
shift toward greener energy for the
home and workplace.
Also in this issue we ‘meet’
Andrew Jones. Andrew was a 1988
graduate of VT who sadly passed
away recently. In his memory his
mother, Nancy, and Bob Bolt, have
set up a scholarship fund. Please
take a few minutes and read about
this amazing alum and the difference being made in his name to
our up-coming engineers. There is
also a link on the page if you are
interested in helping maintain the
scholarship for future generations
of Hokies.
And finally, our students and
faculty continue to do great things
around the world – from speeches
and talks to publishing their research in the world’s most respected journals, to being recognized by
major corporations like Honeywell,
who think highly enough of our
program to donate $1.5 million
worth of aircraft engines.
I hope you enjoy spending a few
minutes of your day with us and I
look forward to bringing you more
of ME next year. Have a happy
holiday season, be safe, and we’ll
see you next year.