Sometimes life hands you little gems along the way. This past Monday was the Virginia Tech CAMEO Career Fair for engineering students and employers. What was basically going to be a one night stay in Blacksburg on the company dime seemed like a good excuse for Cherie and I to make a trip of it! Instead of heading down late Sunday and returning alone Monday evening we decided to head down early Sunday and take our time and see the sights. To make matters slightly more exciting we had packed the company truck up with career fair stuff Friday so Cherie and I stopped by the office Sunday morning and swapped vehicles hopping into the truck for our trip.
Natural Bridge
We decided that the main attraction on the way down would be the Natural Bridge. I had visited it once in college but somehow Cherie never made it to this natural wonder only an hour from Virginia Tech’s campus.
It was a cool and wet day by the time we arrived and despite it being a weekend the parking lot was fairly empty. We paid our entrance fee and began our self guided tour. Before we even made it to the natural arch we found two fascinating sights on the stairs on our way down. First was the cascading waterfall that follows along the stairs. Although not super picturesque it was pretty and is probably under appreciated in the shadow of the larger natural wonder nearby.
Also on the way down the stairs we found some very old, very strange looking, trees that apparently grow here. Some of these Arbor Vitae trees were more than 1600 years old when they died in the 1980’s, and they still look odd and fascinating! Cherie and I took several pictures of these trees just because of how different they appeared.
Then it was on to the main attraction. Once you’re in the valley you have the option of following along the stream on a path for about a mile. The first ⅓ of it or so is paved and takes you through the Natural Bridge. The bridge is much larger than pictures make it appear. The arch which is formed in the limestone these mountains are made of is 215 feet tall, 40 feet thick at the top, and crosses a 90 foot span at the top of the arch. Think about that, let it sink in. This arch is massive!
We took our time taking it in and taking pictures of course. The path goes through the arch so you have the opportunity to really experience its massiveness as you cross underneath it.
Past the arch the path continues. Eventually it passes a small Monacan Indian exhibit and a small cave which was used to make saltpeter, an ingredient in gunpowder, in the early 1800’s. If you go to the end of the one mile hike though you are treated to a 50 foot cascading waterfall and some very interesting rock layers crossing the stream at very unusual angles.
Virginia Tech
The primary purpose of this trip was to attend the career fair at Virginia Tech. But Cherie and I had arrived with enough time to see what was different since our last visit and also make sure to visit some old spots from our collegiate stomping ground. On the way into town we stopped at El Mariachi for lunch, then our tour began.
We entered the CRC first. I always check-in to see if TORC Technologies is still there, the autonomous vehicle company I worked with back on the Urban Challenge. To my surprise they have moved but are still kicking. The bigger surprise came as we continued on Research Center Drive toward Tech. Historically this connected Southgate Drive right by Lane Stadium. But to our surprise that road has been cut off and now leads you over to a roundabout that connects with the new entrance ramp system coming off of VA-460, replacing the light that used to be there. This was such a surprise. We knew they were getting rid of the light but I just imagined the new road would follow the old one. This new route, and roundabout, and roundabout connecting Southgate to Duck Pond Road, were all a huge surprise!
There didn’t appear to be too many more new building around campus compared to the last time I visited at least. However we were surprised to find a huge net visible from “The Cage” student parking lot on the road to Oak Lane. After looking into it more it apparently is a Drone Park. An enclosed space for students, faculty, and industry to come out and participate in recreational as well as developmental activities while working safely within a contained outdoor flying space. You can read more about it here and here, but I’m pleased to see this. It does not however fully replace real unenclosed flying space, but I’m assuming this is just one part of a bigger system of unmanned flying vehicle space management considering unmanned flying systems were so important when I was here.
We continued our campus and greater area tour. We checked out the Unmanned Systems Lab I used to work in on Plantation Road. It still appears to be in use, and the road over to it under 460 is now paved! We went through Foxridge Apartments where I lived for most of the years I was attending Tech. It was odd to see someone else living in the apartment I rented for 3 years. We also went out to Kentland Farm several miles away from campus. This was where we did our flights for my senior design project. It looks less used than when I was there, and the gate and gate access pad appeared to be disabled and left open. We turned around at the sign that said space beyond was for authorized persons only.
We stayed at the Inn at Virginia Tech. Our first time going into this facility, even though it was built while we were students, was a few years ago when Cherie’s friend Shannon graduated. This trip we got to stay at the hotel. It was very nice and the staff was top notch. Virginia Tech should be proud of the facility. I didn’t realize it until that night but the career fair was actually being held at The Inn at Virginia Tech, not the ballroom in Squires Student Center where it had been held for years!
Monday, Cherie and I setup the booth and my coworker joined us an hour later. He had arrived late Sunday so we let him sleep in. I have to say that the students really made me excited about the future. While a similar career fair a few years ago failed to inspire me (the students seemed to be focusing on derivative work and had almost no hands on experience) the students this year really impressed me. More students were doing dual engineering majors, or a minor in another form of engineering, than I had remembered in the past. Also many more seemed to be involved with various research projects on campus and were gaining real-world problem-solving skills. The campus also has several new maker spaces that are accessible to all students. Things like CNC mills and laser cutters/engravers are more easily accessible to students for personal projects. The projects these students were tackling in their free time were really neat and it was great to see that level of enthusiasm in the student body.
On the way out of town we made one more stop. We swung by the Volume Two bookstore off campus so we could get a few articles of VT and VT Alumni apparel. We also went to the parking garage at the end of the mall to see the other unmanned systems lab I worked in. It still appears not in use and Odin, our autonomous Ford Escape, is still parked there. I find it odd that 10 years after the competition that the vehicle still sits there. I know two of our three faculty leaders have left the university and I wonder if it is somehow forgotten. Just seems odd that the building management at the mall doesn’t mind it there. But it was neat to go back and see a remnant of the project I cut my engineering teeth on, and since then I’ve driven autonomous commercially available vehicles that inevitably were partially made possible our efforts back in the mid to late 2000’s!
On the drive home that night and the days following I just kept thinking back to those students and their enthusiasm and capability they have today. I’m excited for the not-too-distant future when those students hit the job market! Virginia Tech will continue to shape the world around it and I was reminded by that. My world was shaped in numerous ways by the university, most notably by providing a catalyst for myself and my co-pilot in the passenger seat to meet what seems like a lifetime ago!
