UVA Today News Blog

UVA Innovation’s “What’s Next?” blog has the story of a fantastic new app developed by U.Va. engineering students:

Have you ever promised to let a friend know when you arrive home and forgotten to do it? There’s an app for that, and it was developed by U.Va. engineering students!

The app, called “WalkBack,” ingeniously uses smart phones’ built-in GPS to notify members of a group when their friends have made it home. Also, “Colleges can also anonymously use the data collected from WalkBack to make informed decisions on student safety.”

The app, created by fourth-year Duylam Nguyen Ngo and 2012 graduate Ashutosh Priyadarshy, is available for download from iTunes.

engineering, News, Student Life, technology | Wednesday, April 24th | By: Dan @1:21 pm | 0 Comments     

UVA Today’s Rebecca Arrington reports:

Six faculty members from across Grounds gathered in Newcomb Hall Theater on Feb. 26 to share their thoughts on the role of liberal arts at a research institution. Student Council sponsored the event, called “Ed(You)Cation: Liberal Arts at a Research Institution.” (Check out the “fun” promo here.)

To see what McIntire School of Commerce Dean Carl Zeithaml, associate vice president for research and associate professor of architecture Bill Sherman, Curry School of Education professor Ellie Wilson, School of Engineering and Applied Science professor Robert Kelly, College of Arts & Sciences’ biology professor Claire Cronmiller and Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy professor Eric Patashnik had to say, along with student audience members, watch the video after the break. (There’s a table of contents in case you don’t have time to watch it in its entirety).

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Arts & Sciences, Batten School, College of Arts & Sciences, Commerce School, Curry School, engineering | Monday, March 11th | By: Dan @4:45 pm | 1 Comment     

Check out the new episode of the UVA Today Radio Show, a weekly segment featured as part of “Soundboard,” WTJU‘s hour-long discussion program about news, culture and community issues in the Charlottesville area. UVA Today segments air during the Thursday morning edition of “Soundboard,” between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. Shortly afterward, the segments will be posted here and on iTunesU.

Read more about the story featured in this week’s program:

• Engineer Seeks to Predict and Mitigate Sinkholes (Scott Acton)

Air Date: 8/23/2012

Listen to this week’s show

engineering, News, Radio, technology | Thursday, August 30th | By: Dan @5:27 pm | 0 Comments     

UVA Today’s Jane Ford reports:

We have just learned that President Bill Clinton will visit the Building Tomorrow Academy of Gita on Friday. The U.Va. student chapter of  the Indianapolis-based social-profit organization Building Tomorrow, which encourages philanthropy among young people, funded the school; undergraduate students in the Initiative reCOVER project in the School of Architecture, led by associate professor Anselmo Canfora, and the Engineering School‘s Engineering in Context program, led by Dana Elzey, handled the design.

The 10-room school, which opened in 2010, provides access to quality education to elementary school children in the first-ever permanent school within a nine-mile radius.

At the 2011 Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting, Building Tomorrow committed to launching BT 2.0, an initiative aimed at enrolling 15,000 primary-level students annually in 60 Building Tomorrow academies by 2016 throughout East Africa.

Canfora said he is leading a design studio this fall to develop a second school design to be built in 2013.

For more information about Clinton’s visit, click here.

engineering, International, School of Architecture, Sustainability | Wednesday, July 18th | By: Dan @4:34 pm | 0 Comments     

U.Va. biomechanical engineer Hilary Bart-Smith is trying to decipher the swimming secrets of rays, in order to employ them in an autonomous undersea vehicle. As part of the process, she built her own manta ray. Way cool.

engineering, People, research, technology | Tuesday, July 10th | By: Dan @10:37 am | 4 Comments     

The dawn of 2012 brings to the University of Virginia a new January Term, an intensive two-week academic session that includes courses taught both on Grounds and internationally. One of the study-abroad options is “System Case Studies,” a joint offering of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the McIntire School of Commerce. Led by engineering professor Reid Bailey and commerce professor Ryan Nelson, two dozen students venture to Mendoza, Argentina to work on consulting projects at two local wineries. Part of the class assignment is to write daily journal entries, which the UVA Today News Blog will post as they come in. To see all the posts from Argentina, click here.

By Ryan Nelson

Jan. 14, 2012 — Our final full day in Mendoza, Argentina started off with numerous toasts, thank yous and gift exchanges that lasted from around mid-night until 2 a.m. Of course, the closing ceremony could not be officially considered closed without a hearty rendition of the “Good Ol’

Song,” which our Argentine guests thoroughly enjoyed. Afterward, many students made their way out to the local dance clubs that only begin to get crowded around 3 a.m.!

10:45 a.m. came quite early, as Carlos (our bus driver) picked us up for a trip to the Zuccardi winery. Zuccardi is one of the largest wineries in Argentina and it was a perfect venue to spend our final day. The visit began with an in-depth tour of the massive wine production facility, followed by our last formal wine tasting, and then an incredible gourmet picnic lunch complete with wine pairings, while surrounded by ripening grapes!

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Commerce School, engineering, International, News, Student Life | Monday, January 16th | By: Dan @7:53 pm | 1 Comment     

The dawn of 2012 brings to the University of Virginia a new January Term, an intensive two-week academic session that includes courses taught both on Grounds and internationally. One of the study-abroad options is “System Case Studies,” a joint offering of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the McIntire School of Commerce. Led by engineering professor Reid Bailey and commerce professor Ryan Nelson, two dozen students venture to Mendoza, Argentina to work on consulting projects at two local wineries. Part of the class assignment is to write daily journal entries, which the UVA Today News Blog will post as they come in. To see all the posts from Argentina, click here.

By Kate Pierce, Ben Robbins, Shelby Sutton

January 13, 2012 — T.S. Eliot once said, “We shall not cease from exploration; And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time.”

Today, we reached the end and gave presentations to our clients. We have spent the past two weeks exploring Argentine culture, but today we finished what we started: our projects at Bodega Trivento and Bodega Vistandes, the two wineries who have graciously allowed us to work for them during our time here.

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Commerce School, engineering, International, Student Life | Monday, January 16th | By: Dan @1:21 pm | 1 Comment     

The dawn of 2012 brings to the University of Virginia a new January Term, an intensive two-week academic session that includes courses taught both on Grounds and internationally. One of the study-abroad options is “System Case Studies,” a joint offering of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the McIntire School of Commerce. Led by engineering professor Reid Bailey and commerce professor Ryan Nelson, two dozen students venture to Mendoza, Argentina to work on consulting projects at two local wineries. Part of the class assignment is to write daily journal entries, which the UVA Today News Blog will post as they come in. To see all the posts from Argentina, click here.

By Mark Paddrik

January 12, 2012 – After the hard push to finish the majority of the papers the day before, you could feel that the group was more relaxed after accomplishing the task of constructing a professional report (ranging from 20 to 40 pages!) that they would be giving their clients the next day. Yet like any project what makes or breaks your efforts is how well you can present your ideas to your client and convince them that your recommendations are sound, practical and effective. Today was presentation construction day.

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Commerce School, engineering, International, Student Life | Friday, January 13th | By: Dan @5:29 pm | 1 Comment     

The dawn of 2012 brings to the University of Virginia a new January Term, an intensive two-week academic session that includes courses taught both on Grounds and internationally. One of the study-abroad options is “System Case Studies,” a joint offering of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the McIntire School of Commerce. Led by engineering professor Reid Bailey and commerce professor Ryan Nelson, two dozen students venture to Mendoza, Argentina to work on consulting projects at two local wineries. Part of the class assignment is to write daily journal entries, which the UVA Today News Blog will post as they come in. To see all the posts from Argentina, click here.

By Abhishek Jain & Luke Brennan

Jan. 11, 2012 — Tuesday began with our last four-hour work sessions with our clients at the Vistandes and Trivento wineries before we return on Friday to present the projects that we have been working on for the past week and a half. This was our final chance to clarify details and discuss proposals with the clients, and hard work was required by all so that we could be in a position to prepare our reports and presentations on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Of course, in keeping with Argentine tradition, both wineries made sure to give us adequate breaks throughout the morning. First, teams took turns throughout the morning visiting the respective wine shops to purchase gifts for friends and family at a discount. Additionally, the morning ended with a chance to try a few more of the wines in the final official tasting of the trip, especially the “Malbec” which is the grape varietal most closely tied to Mendoza.

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Commerce School, engineering, International, Student Life | Thursday, January 12th | By: Dan @2:33 pm | 2 Comments     

The dawn of 2012 brings to the University of Virginia a new January Term, an intensive two-week academic session that includes courses taught both on Grounds and internationally. One of the study-abroad options is “System Case Studies,” a joint offering of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the McIntire School of Commerce. Led by engineering professor Reid Bailey and commerce professor Ryan Nelson, two dozen students venture to Mendoza, Argentina to work on consulting projects at two local wineries. Part of the class assignment is to write daily journal entries, which the UVA Today News Blog will post as they come in. To see all the posts from Argentina, click here.

By Sarah Andrekovich and Billy Kirk

January 9, 2012 — Today we started the morning with a forecast of 102 degrees F, fully recovered and calmed from the spa.

We had a chance to present our work from the past week to our clients at both of the wineries, which made for a dynamic day.  Although client interaction was minimal today, it certainly jump-started our motivation to finish the projects.  It was an energizing start to the second week, and by the end of our time at the wineries, we were all ready to enjoy as much of our afternoons as possible.

More this day than the rest, our group took advantage of the afternoon siesta by sunbathing, exploring the city, or napping for two straight hours.  Nine boys even decided to explore their way into a nearby McDonalds. They somehow found ways to spend nearly 55 pesos each ($12 U.S.) on Big Macs, nuggets and fries; definitely a cultural highlight.

Following the break, it was back to the grind to finish off “Moving Day 2.” Thankfully, everyone seems to be on target with the projects, and the teams are wrapping up working drafts of their reports.  In general, the teams are feeling prepared to move forth into final client questions before deliverables and presentations later in the week.

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Commerce School, engineering, International, News, Student Life | Wednesday, January 11th | By: Dan @5:27 pm | 0 Comments     

The dawn of 2012 brings to the University of Virginia a new January Term, an intensive two-week academic session that includes courses taught both on Grounds and internationally. One of the study-abroad options is “System Case Studies,” a joint offering of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the McIntire School of Commerce. Led by engineering professor Reid Bailey and commerce professor Ryan Nelson, two dozen students venture to Mendoza, Argentina to work on consulting projects at two local wineries. Part of the class assignment is to write daily journal entries, which the UVA Today News Blog will post as they come in. To see all the posts from Argentina, click here.

By Ben Elron and Adam Wise

January 8, 2012 — We have enjoyed our project work at Trivento and Vistandes immensely. It was a week of intense, exciting learning as we adapted to the Argentine business culture and began to apply our new knowledge of systems engineering. It was, however, tiring; four days of 8 a.m.-to-8-p.m. work had left us ready for a break. This weekend provided us the opportunity to experience some of the other aspects of the Argentine culture.

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Commerce School, engineering, International, News, Student Life | Monday, January 9th | By: Dan @4:07 pm | 2 Comments     

The dawn of 2012 brings to the University of Virginia a new January Term, an intensive two-week academic session that includes courses taught both on Grounds and internationally. One of the study-abroad options is “System Case Studies,” a joint offering of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the McIntire School of Commerce. Led by engineering professor Reid Bailey and commerce professor Ryan Nelson, two dozen students venture to Mendoza, Argentina to work on consulting projects at two local wineries. Part of the class assignment is to write daily journal entries, which the UVA Today News Blog will post as they come in. To see all the posts from Argentina, click here.

By Liza Hadley, Charlie Miller, Erik Wangerin

January 6, 2012 — Today started off with an inspirational speech on the bus ride to the wineries from Professor Bailey. As any avid golf player should know, the day that makes or breaks the Masters is “Moving Day,” the third day of the four-day tournament. Today was officially declared the “Moving Day” for our J-Term in Argentina Program. We were all up for the challenge with the motto “work hard, eat hard, play hard” (a common theme so far).

The first and most important of these was the hard work. Teams spent the morning presenting models and ideas to the clients to obtain crucial feedback. In the spirit of Moving Day, teams turned the inspiration into a concrete base for the hard push over the weekend.

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Commerce School, engineering, International, Student Life | Monday, January 9th | By: Dan @10:48 am | 1 Comment     

The dawn of 2012 brings to the University of Virginia a new January Term, an intensive two-week academic session that includes courses taught both on Grounds and internationally. One of the study-abroad options is “System Case Studies,” a joint offering of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the McIntire School of Commerce. Led by engineering professor Reid Bailey and commerce professor Ryan Nelson, two dozen students venture to Mendoza, Argentina to work on consulting projects at two local wineries. Part of the class assignment is to write daily journal entries, which the UVA Today News Blog will post as they come in. To see all the posts from Argentina, click here.

By Ian Major, Olivia Rousso and Nick Wieczorek

January, 5, 2012 — The day started with each group experiencing the opposite side of the Mendocino wine industry. Students’ tastes buds were put to work at 10 in the morning to detect the elegant notes and overtones of the premium wines served at each bodega.

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Commerce School, engineering, International, News, Student Life | Friday, January 6th | By: Dan @5:31 pm | 0 Comments     

The dawn of 2012 brings to the University of Virginia a new January Term, an intensive two-week academic session that includes courses taught both on Grounds and internationally. One of the study-abroad options is “System Case Studies,” a joint offering of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the McIntire School of Commerce. Led by engineering professor Reid Bailey and commerce professor Ryan Nelson, two dozen students venture to Mendoza, Argentina to work on consulting projects at two local wineries. Part of the class assignment is to write daily journal entries, which the UVA Today News Blog will post as they come in. To see all the posts from Argentina, click here.

By Mike Maunz, Doug Milvaney, Erin Webb

January 4, 2012 [UPDATED JAN. 6, 3:20 P.M.] — For today’s update from the land of empanadas and PDA (Argentina is a very friendly country!), the three of us will describe the projects that we will be working on throughout our stay in Mendoza. Day 2 at our client site has already brought about the realization that we have a lot of work to do in a limited amount of time.

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Commerce School, engineering, International, News, Student Life | Thursday, January 5th | By: Dan @4:08 pm | 3 Comments     

The dawn of 2012 brings to the University of Virginia a new January Term, an intensive two-week academic session that includes courses taught both on Grounds and internationally. One of the study-abroad options is “System Case Studies,” a joint offering of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the McIntire School of Commerce. Led by engineering professor Reid Bailey and commerce professor Ryan Nelson, two dozen students venture to Mendoza, Argentina to work on consulting projects at two local wineries. Part of the class assignment is to write daily journal entries, which the UVA Today News Blog will post as they come in. To see all the posts from Argentina, click here.

By Mary Wang, Preston Williams, Tommy Noonan

Jan. 3, 2012 [REVISED Jan. 6, 4:50 p.m.] — The group eagerly ate breakfast this morning in preparation for our first day at our Mendozan wineries. As we drove further away from the city and closer to the foothills of the snowcapped Andes Mountains, they seemed to rise straight out of the grapevines on the horizon. We were in Malbec country at last!

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Commerce School, engineering, International, Student Life | Wednesday, January 4th | By: Dan @10:37 am | 1 Comment