CENI Newsletter — June 2023

Congratulations to CENI Partners who won University Awards 

Patricia Raun, Mike Rosenzweig, and Matthew Camden were recognized as recipients of this year's faculty and staff awards for their contributions. Raun and Rosenzweig were nominated and awarded the William E. Wine Award and automatic induction into the Academy of Teaching Excellence. Camden and the Sharing the Road with Trucks program, which implements vehicle safety education and outreach programs for high school students, received the Outreach Excellence Award - Team Achievement.  

Congratulations to CENI Graduating Seniors

Our student interns are important to this year's efforts and successes. We cannot thank them enough for their hard work, dedication, and lasting impact at CENI. While it is bittersweet to say goodbye, we want to congratulate our four graduating seniors for reaching a huge milestone in their life. We will miss your presence on our team and wish you all the best of luck as you move forward into the next chapter of your lives. 

New Resource for Creating Open Educational Resources

An online version of "Making Open Educational Resources with and for PreK12: A Collaboration Toolkit for Higher Education" is now publicly available. Anita R. Walz and Dr. Julee P. Farley created this toolkit funded in part by the IMLS-funded Scholarly Communication Notebook. Read more about the toolkit here. 

ICAT Day 2023 Awards

This year's ICAT Creativity + Innovation Day focused on the theme of Beyond, the kinds of work people do beyond a transdisciplinary education, how disciplines and identity are intertwined, and how that can help and transform.

For the past decade, the Institute of Creativity, Arts, and Technology has hosted an annual celebration of creativity and innovation at the intersections of science, engineering, arts, and design. We celebrated with a little over 400 attendees this year, including students, faculty, researchers, community members, and school field trips. We want to highlight some of our award winners for their outstanding work at ICAT Day. 

People’s Choice Award

The People’s Choice Award was presented to “Modeling Smart Grid: Functionality and Cybersecurity.” Team members included members of the Virginia Tech-Virginia Military Institute Cybersecurity High School Internship which included 16 Montgomery County High School students. “Modeling Smart Grid: Functionality and Cybersecurity” received 35% of the votes. This paid internship experience was facilitated by Amy Guerin, Virginia Tech - Montgomery County Public Schools Liaison, part of CENI’s Educator Liaison Network.

Judges’ Choice Award

The Judges’ Choice award was presented to “MechaCollaboration,” an exhibit that the judges found intriguing and appealing. Team members included RJ Weaver and Shokoufeh Bozorgmehrian from Architecture within the College of Architecture, Arts, and Design. 

Museums’ Choice Award

The Museums’ Choice award was presented to “Playing Covid Proteins,” an exhibit that the judges found intriguing and appealing. “Playing Covid Proteins” was part of ICAT’s Open at the Source event, which presents pioneering approaches to public exhibits that use technology to deliver immersive and interactive experiences. Open at the Source was in the Ruth C. Horton Gallery at the Moss Arts Center from May 1 - May 20, 2023. Team members included Deborah Good and Shannon Mauro from the Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, and Charles Nichols from the School of Performing Arts.  

CENI and Partners in the News

• Roanoke Center teams up with area schools to build excitement around STEM
  • Virginia Tech Roanoke Center teams up with area schools, organizing hands-on STEM activities for students of all ages, including some programs like ACE, Train the Trainer, and Thinkabit Lab. 
• Update to Policy 4815: Minors at Virginia Tech
  • The university Policy 4815: Minors at Virginia Tech has been revised to reflect the creation of the Office of Youth Protection, compliance expectations, criminal background screening, and expanded training requirements.  
• Experience an acoustic invasion at ICAT Day
  • "Acoustic Invasion" is an exhibit at this year's ICAT Day that involves the use of technology and installations to create immersive ecosystems and listening to how species invasions are changing soundscapes.
• The Underwater Wonders of Toms Creek' exhibition highlights collaboration and community partnership in ecosystem education
  • Researchers in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservations enhance public findings by making science more accessible to members of the community through visual art, theatre productions, and an immersive experience. Visitors can participate in educational experiences to better understand the conservation efforts in the Perspective Gallery. 
• CCI High School Intern Program Wraps Up
  • For 12 weeks, high school interns learn cybersecurity knowledge and skills from VMI cadets in collaboration with Virginia Tech. 
• Lifu Huang receives NSF CAREER award to lay new ground for information extraction without relying on humans
  • Huang is developing new paradigms to extract event knowledge from old domains to new ones. His research on how machine learning can extract information without relying on humans could speed up discoveries. CENI’s Dr. Chelsea Haines will provide evaluation of broader impacts for Dr. Huang. 

Highlights from the Campus Engagement Network

Science on Tap 

• Where? Rising Silo Brewery 
• When? Wednesday, June 28 (5:30-7:00 p.m.)
• Who? All families and children

At Science on Tap, attendees will learn about Ticks in Southwest Virginia. Dr. Meg Steinweg of Roanoke College will discuss local tick diversity & ecology. This event is hosted by the Center for Communicating Science and the Virginia Tech chapter of Sigma Xi. More information about upcoming series of events in the NRV can be found on Science on Tap's Facebook page.

Hokie BugCamp --- All camp sessions are full!

• Where? Heritage Park in Blacksburg
• When? Friday, July 7 (10 a.m.-12 p.m.) & Saturday, July 8 (10 a.m.-12 p.m.) and (1-3 p.m.)
• Who? Children ages 6-13 years old

At Hokie BugCamp, campers can expect to enjoy experiences that focus on the collection, identification, and pinning of insects. This summer will be the ninth year it returns, with the registration full and a waitlist for this event. If you want more detailed information, then please seek the Hokie BugCamp website page. 

Professional Development Workshops 

• Where? Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg
• When? Tuesday-Thursday, June 20-22
• Who? Grades 9-12 teachers

At professional development for high school science teachers, a series of hands-on workshops will focus on NASA data, biotechnology, storytelling through data science, nanoscience, bioinformatics, and more. Workshops are free of charge and limited. Act fast and register now (subsidies for lodging are available for traveling participants). More information about workshops and schedules can be found on the College of Science website.

4-H Congress Seeking Table Hosts

• Where? Wallace Atrium
• When? Wednesday, June 28, 3:30-4:30 pm
• Who? Virginia Tech faculty and students (departments, clubs, etc.)

The 4-H Congress will be hosting a 4-H College Fair for 4-H Congress attendees to provide 9th-12th grade 4-H'ers from across the Commonwealth an opportunity to visit with faculty, staff and students from Virginia Tech's colleges, departments, clubs, and activities. 4-H Congress is seeking groups to host a table. We will provide the table and two chairs, and the 4-H'ers will stop by and visit with you informally! Please register by Friday, June 9, 5:00 pm. 

CENI Educator Liaison Corner

Floyd County Public Schools

Floyd County High School students explored the intersections of science, engineering, arts, and design while visiting ICAT Day. Also while on campus, students also toured the TREC Lab, Hybrid Dynamics Systems and Robot Locomotion Lab, and Schools of Architecture and Design. It was a day full of creative and innovative learning! 

Attention current and prospective K-12 educators! Join us for a magical experience at Floyd TechFest, a professional development event that will equip you with skills and tools to enhance your classroom experiences. This event will feature a keynote speaker, interactive workshops, and opportunities to network with other educators across southwest Virginia. Don’t miss out on this chance to expand your knowledge and bring innovation to the classroom! Register now at bit.ly/FTFmagic.

Montgomery County Public Schools

Sixteen students from across Auburn, Blacksburg, and Christiansburg High Schools participated in a 12-week paid Cybersecurity Internship with Dr. Gracanin of Virginia Tech and Dr. Azab of Virginia Military Institute. Students worked in teams to develop practical hardware, software, and cybersecurity skills.

This group of students presented their findings at this year’s ICAT Creativity + Innovation Day on May 1, 2023. Students and advisors were excited to learn they had won the People’s Choice Award for their presentation.  

This paid internship experience was facilitated by Amy Guerin, Virginia Tech - Montgomery County Public Schools Liaison, part of CENI’s Educator Liaison Network.

Pulaski County Public Schools

Pulaski County Agriculture Students celebrated the grand opening of the Sensory Trail at Pulaski County High School with a ribbon cutting.  Over the past three years students have researched, designed, and developed exhibits and trails to provide an inclusive space that allows everyone the opportunity to explore their five senses (tough, sight, hearing, taste, and smell) in an outdoor setting.  Partners that sponsored  the trail include the Master Gardeners of the NRV and the Master Naturalists of the NRV, groups within the Virginia Cooperative Extension.

For pictures of the event, check out the Sensory Trail Ribbon Cutting Celebration and the WDBJ7 story coverage. 

Interested in partnering with Pulaski County Public Schools? Contact Megan Atkinson.

Radford City Public Schools

Radford 3rd-6th grade gifted students explored exciting opportunities at Newman Library. Pictured below are students launching rockets in the Prototyping Studio and making music with VT-Diggin’ in the Crates. Students also enjoyed a motion capture demonstration and a space-themed visit with Collections.

Radford High School juniors participated in the second annual Tech Tracks career exploration program at Virginia Tech. Students experienced a variety of programs in six career tracks - Facilities, Hospitality, Infrastructure, Information Technology, Campus Planning, and Sciences. The program was developed in partnership with the VT Human Resources Department. 

Science Museum of Western Virginia

Two faculty members visited the museum this week to measure for and visualize two upcoming exhibits. Thanks to Sujith Vijayan and David Franusich for stopping by!

SMWV staff attended ICAT Day on May 1 and provided comments for the Museum Choice Award. All of the exhibitors presented innovative and exciting new work–museum staff were very pleased to be there.

Summer camps at the Science Museum begin next month and will feature collaborations and visits with the Virginia Tech Roanoke Center and the MOVIS and ARIES teams facilitating their “Solar System Explorer'' virtual reality experience. Camps will serve ages K-8. Access the registration portal. 

Upcoming Deadlines and Events

• 6/28: Science on Tap
• 10/7: Hokie Bug Fest
• 10/20: Roanoke STEAM Day
• 11/11: Virginia Tech Science Festival 

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