CENI Newsletter — February 2023
February 2, 2023
CENI has lots to celebrate this month. First, I am excited because we have been preparing for the first Hokie for a Day field trip of the new year that is taking place on February 1st. To help execute and evaluate Hokie for a Day and our other signature educational outreach initiatives, we have recruited new, talented CENI student employees. We are also looking forward to the Nutshell Games on February 8th, and our upcoming ICAT playdates and Broader Impacts 101 sessions.
Phyllis Newbill, Associate Director of Educational Networks
Congratulations Lisa and Phyllis!
Lisa McNair named Deputy Executive Director
Join us in congratulating Lisa McNair for being named the Deputy Executive Director of the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology at Virginia Tech. A full professor in the Department of Engineering Education, Lisa will also continue to serve as the Director of the Center for Educational Networks and Impacts.
Phyllis Newbill receives the Founder's Award
Meet the Campus Engagement Network
The featured member for the month of February is Sara Sweeney Bear. Sara is the Project Design Studio manager and our partner within University Libraries at Virginia Tech. She is also the co-director of Maker Camp. Sara is focused on learning space assessment, as well as designing curriculums and events on collaboration.
Meet our new CENI Student Employees
My name is Katie Weyrich and I am a senior at Virginia Tech majoring in Graphic Design. I really love making illustrations but outside of design work, I am in the pottery studio, going to concerts, hanging out with friends, or playing with my cat.
Hello! My name is Calvin Jeter, and I am a junior majoring in Electrical Engineering with a focus on Radio Frequency and Microwave. I have joined CENI as a ULA for ENGE 2524: Exploring Service Learning Through Educational Outreach. I look forward to helping the students learn and embrace service learning to better the community and the world. When I am not studying or going to class, I love to cook, read outside if the weather is nice, and spend time with family and friends.
Hi, my name is Yariane Soto, I am a sophomore majoring in Advertising and minoring in Entrepreneurship. I am thrilled to be a new member of the CENI Team working as a Marketing and Outreach Assistant. I hope to be a huge collaborator and help contribute to sharing and growing awareness of what CENI has done and continues to do. During my free time, I enjoy drawing, designing, photography, exercising, and spending time with my friends. My hope for the future is to continue my passion for the arts by entering into the marketing, advertising, or graphic design field and hopefully creating my own entrepreneurial venture.
My name is Baibhav Nepal (he/him) and I am a freshman international student in Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering. I am currently majoring in General Engineering and am intending to major in Computer Science. I am passionate about aspects such as community outreach and development and also gearing up to gain some valuable experience in data and data analysis through my stint as a Data Analyst at CENI. I hope to get involved in different opportunities throughout my years of undergraduate studies so that I can be prepared for my professional life post graduation.
My name is Megan Hebbe, and I am a senior majoring in Industrial and Systems Engineering and minoring in Green Engineering. I am excited to be joining the Data Analysis Team at CENI and continuing to be involved on the Virginia Tech campus. I enjoy reading, going to the gym, and spending time with friends and family when I’m not attending classes.
CENI and Partners in the News
- Virginia Tech’s Center for Future Work Places and Processes launches. Check out the ICAT Playdate featuring the newest center at ICAT!
- Partnership brings immersive multimedia to Winter Session
- Outstanding members of Virginia 4-H honored with Youth in Action Awards
- Creative wave physics curriculum supports defense workforce
Broader Impacts
Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology: Call for proposals
The Institute for Society, Culture, and Environment (ISCE) is Accepting Applications for the 2023-2024 ISCE Scholars Program.
- The aim of this program is to provide faculty support for developing grant proposals in the social sciences (broadly defined) and consistent with ISCE’s four thematic areas and Virginia Tech’s Research Frontiers. Proposed projects are expected to address critical individual and social concerns impacting the lives of people and places locally, nationally, or across the globe. ISCE anticipates making six to eight awards of up to $30,000 per award. Applications are due Thursday, February 9, 2023.
- For anyone interested in learning more about the 2023-2024 ISCE Scholars Program, ISCE will be holding a virtual information session on January 11, 2023, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Register now.
Broader Impacts 101
Thursday, March 9, 9:30-11 am
Newman Library Multipurpose Room
Click here to register.
Many funding agencies now require impacts that extend beyond an academic audience to benefit broader society. The Center for Educational Networks and Impacts (CENI) housed within the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology (ICAT) collaborates with university researchers to develop and evaluate broader impacts plans that are mutually beneficial to researchers and the public. CENI leverages established networks of university faculty and staff who do educational outreach, as well as formal and informal educators from organizations such as preK-12 school districts, museums, maker spaces, and the Virginia Tech Science Festival. These networks help faculty share their research with public audiences in ways that benefit communities. In this session, Associate Director of Broader Impacts Dr. Chelsea Lyles will share processes and support available to Virginia Tech researchers, followed by a panel that will share their experiences with successful collaborations. PDN credit is available.
Contact: Chelsea Haines
CENI Educator Liaison Corner
Floyd County Schools
FCPS looks forward to the inspiration and innovation collaborations with Virginia Tech partnerships bring. Kindly reach out to Kim Keith if you would like to be connected with an educator or student group for your spring semester outreach or research goals.
Dr. Satoru Emori, Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics, conducted professional development training with Montgomery County Public Schools STEM teachers. Teachers worked with Dr. Emori to make a “Paper Cup Headphone” and investigate how electricity and magnets work together to create sound. This activity will be pushed out to all 5th-grade MCPS students.
Sandy Hancock, Program Manager for Biotech-in-a-box, and Dr. Vicki Corbin, Assistant Dean for Outreach and Student Engagement in the College of Science, brought the Fralin Biotech-in-a-box to several Biology teachers for a hands-on training session. Teachers were able to explore the DNA Biotechnology and Column Chromatography kits and left the training excited and confident in how to deliver these hands-on experiences to their students.
Dr. Marc Michel, Associate Professor in Geosciences, spoke with 8th-grade Earth Science students at Blacksburg Middle School. Students enjoyed learning about minerals, how they are identified, and the different ways they can be used in everyday items, including cell phones.
Interested in partnering with MCPS? Contact me! Amy Guerin
Pulaski County Schools
Pulaski County Public Schools is excited to collaborate with Virginia Tech faculty, staff, and students. Email Megan Atkinson to connect with the school division.
Radford City Public Schools
Statistics Professor Jump Starts New Radford High Data Science Course
From Clark Ramsey, RHS Data Science teacher:
Big questions require BIG ANSWERS! Data Science asks us some big questions and sometimes that has felt overwhelming this year. One key component of our course this year has been a year-long project that allows us to apply 'Data Cycle' concepts to solving big world problems. We have been so fortunate to get connected with Dr. Jyotishka Datta at Virginia Tech. He has been an invaluable resource to help us find data sets that apply to our topics of interest. He has modeled the pursuit of finding tough answers to big questions with humility and accessibility. His love for how data plays a role in creating the bigger story has been inspiring. We have cherished our time and cannot wait to see what the semester will hold.
Virginia Tech Roanoke Center
Radford City Public Schools and the Virginia Tech Roanoke Center partnered together to give the new IT5 program students, a program developed through the Virginia Department of Education Career and Technical Education High School Innovation Grant, a chance to take a step behind the podium and lead a class for McHarg Elementary’s second grade students. The Radford High School students participated in a workshop where they were trained to deliver related instruction on the basics of a circuit, how to connect and program an LED to blink utilizing Raspberry Pi Picos and Micropython, and how to adjust values in their code to see different outcomes. Then they took this curriculum to the classroom to help mentor and inspire a love of circuitry and coding for the next generation of Computer Science students that will be attending Radford High School in the future.
Science Museum of Western Virginia
We will hold a ribbon cutting for Gabe Isaacman-VanWertz's new exhibit called "Sketchtopia" on Saturday, February 4 at 11:00 AM. This is exhibit is a broader impact for Dr. Isaacman-VanWertz's National Science Foundation CAREER award.
Michael D. Schulz, PhD, of the Department of Chemistry at Virginia Tech has received acceptance for his NSF proposal “CAREER: Novel Approaches to Hyperbranched Polymers.” This proposal includes developing polymer chemistry-themed programs in collaboration with the Science Museum of Western Virginia, including an interactive demonstration for museum visitors as well as programming for outreaches, camps, and more. SMWV is looking forward to implementing these programs and extends many congratulations to Michael Schulz!
Highlights from the Campus Engagement Network
Nutshell Games
Date/Time: Wednesday, February 8, 5:30 pm
Location: Moss Arts Center
Please join us February 8 at the Nutshell Games, the Center for Communicating Science's annual presentation competition. Come cheer for 30 Virginia Tech graduate student researchers as they each explain their work in a mere 90 seconds! This fun and friendly event will feature speakers from a wide range of research areas. Topics include the mysteries of personality, self-driving cars, the challenges of weight stigma, threats to bees, computer hijacking, hidden hellbenders, approaches to disease, and much more. The speakers need an enthusiastic audience--and that's you! 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, February 8, at the Moss Arts Center. Open to the public without charge.
All Shook Up: Impacts and Quakes on Mars
Join the Museum of Geosciences on February 9 from 7:00 - 8:30 PM in room 4069 for Scott King's presentation titled "All Shook Up: Impacts and Quakes on Mars."
ICAT Day
Science Camps
Wonder Universe
Wonder Universe hosts weekly Toddler Time on Wednesdays, bi-weekly Story Time events, and monthly Tiny Explorers sensory art programming. Check our Facebook page for all the latest information on upcoming programming.
Wonder Universe continues to seek STEM Saturday volunteers for the winter and beyond. Please email hello@wonderuniverse.org if interested in volunteering to host a Saturday morning STEM exploration activity at the museum.
Upcoming Deadlines and Events
- 2/1, 2/8, 2/15, 2/22: Hokie for a Day is back! If you wish to sign up for an exhibitor slot, click here
- 2/3 8:30 am: ICAT Playdate: Reconfiguring the outdoor sound landscape: Revealing music in the noise
- 2/4 11:00 am: Ribbon cutting for Sketchtopia at the Science Museum of Western Virginia
- 2/8 5:30 pm: Nutshell Games
- 2/9: ICSE Scholars Program Applications Due
- 2/10 5 pm: ICAT Major SEAD Grant Proposals Due
- 2/17 8:30 am: ICAT Playdate: Intro to Immersive Multimedia: Winter 2023
- 2/18, 3/18, 4/1: Kids Tech University
- 3/9: Broader Impacts 101
- 3/17: Exhibit proposals due for ICAT Day, click here to submit a proposal
- 4/14: CENI ICAT Playdate
- 5/1: ICAT Day