Sweet Briar College and Regional Leaders Celebrate Innovation at Engineers Week Banquet
Sweet Briar College brought together students, industry leaders, and the community to celebrate innovation, problem-solving, and engineering excellence.
'This event brings together engineering students and faculty, practicing engineers, and the greater central Virginia community to learn about engineering challenges and solutions.' — Dr. Jon Bender, director of the Margaret Jones Wyllie '45 Engineering
AMHERST, VA, UNITED STATES, February 28, 2025 / EINPresswire.com / -- In partnership with the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance, Sweet Briar College hosted its annual National Engineers Week Banquet on Feb. 20 to celebrate regional engineering.
Over 150 students, faculty, staff, and guests attended the event held in the Upchurch Field House. It included an evening of networking, discussion, and a keynote address by Jordan P. Evans, an aerospace engineer and project manager for NASA's Europa Clipper mission.
Evans's presentation included anecdotes from his career with NASA, a brief history of space travel, and a description of what it takes to lead a team at NASA, including how to assemble a team, take risks, and recover from failures or setbacks. He also shared what he considers the traits of a highly successful engineering team, including intellectual curiosity, exceptional two-way communication, leadership, diverse technical skills, and more.
'Humans are the core of engineering itself,' Evans said during his remarks. 'We all stand on the shoulders of those that came before us to accomplish these things.'
The Europa project, launched on Oct. 14, 2024, is the largest planetary spacecraft in NASA's history. It will explore Jupiter's ocean world, which is of the same name. Evans shared many details about this complex project, which will be active for several years. One challenge his team faced on the Europa project was a devastating hurricane around the launch date.
'It's an honor to be an explorer on behalf of the U.S. space agency. I hope my talk gives you a sense of the challenges this team had to overcome,' said Evans. 'And also provides a glimpse into how engineers make the impossible possible daily'
For first-year student Ayla Finnegan '28, Evans's thorough discussion of the various projects gave her insight into his career and motivated her to major in engineering.
'I loved how much detail he provided instead of just skimming over the difficulty of pulling a project like Europa together. I also thought it was amazing to see the issues he addressed that I wouldn't have imagined worrying about. They asked the right questions and figured it out, which is what engineering is,' she said. 'His presentation shows me that I'm allowed to ask questions and that I can find the answers. It's like, what questions can I come up with in the future that I might be able to answer?'
Local engineers, representatives from regional companies, students, faculty, and area residents were also in attendance. Students had the unique opportunity to connect with local employers, experts, and industry leaders. Local industry, government, and academia were invited to share engineering achievements from the past year and a half, showcasing projects such as a computer-programmed robotic arm. Support for this event also came from BWXT, Framatome, Innovate Lynchburg, and Randolph College.
'We are again pleased to host the Engineering Banquet at Sweet Briar College! This event brings together engineering students and faculty, practicing engineers, and the greater central Virginia community to learn about engineering challenges and solutions for the future that benefit everyone,' said Dr. Jon Bender, director of the Margaret Jones Wyllie '45 Engineering Program. 'Our students benefit through service by assisting in the preparation and during the event, through engagement with the broader engineering community in which they will enter, and through an inspirational talk featuring today's engineering challenges.'
Sweet Briar College is one of only two women's colleges in the U.S. that offer an ABET-accredited engineering degree program
Communications and Marketing
Sweet Briar College
4343816142 ext.
X
LinkedIn
Instagram
YouTube
TikTok
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
World's first images of the sun's south pole spark 'a new era of solar science'
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Just this once, it's OK to stare at the sun — provided you're looking at the European Space Agency's (ESA) newly released, history-making images of the solar south pole. Taken near the sun on March 23 and revealed to Earthlings Wednesday (June 11), the new images from ESA's Solar Orbiter show a view of our star that no human or spacecraft has ever recorded before. While Earth and the other planets orbit relatively in line with the sun's equator on an invisible plane called the ecliptic, Solar Orbiter spent the last several months tilting its orbit to 17 degrees below the solar equator — bringing our star's enigmatic south pole into view for the first time ever. "Today we reveal humankind's first-ever views of the Sun's pole," Carole Mundell, ESA's director of science, said in a statement. "These new unique views from our Solar Orbiter mission are the beginning of a new era of solar science." The new images capture the solar pole in a broad swath of visible and ultraviolet wavelengths, using three of Solar Orbiter's 10 onboard instruments. The result is a colorful confetti of solar data, including an unprecedented look at the perplexing tangles of the sun's magnetic field as it prepares to flip, and the high-velocity movements of specific chemical elements as they ride plumes of plasma that make up the solar wind — the constant stream of charged particles that governs space weather throughout our solar system. These data will help improve our understanding of the solar wind, space weather and the sun's roughly 11-year activity cycle for years to come, according to ESA. But of particular interest right now, as the sun spits out flares in overdrive during its period of peak activity (called solar maximum), are the magnetic measurements taken with Solar Orbiter's Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI) instrument. Related: NASA spacecraft snaps eerie image of eclipsed sun with an extra moon overhead. What's going on? PHI's maps of the solar magnetic field highlight an intriguing paradox: While most magnets have a distinct north and south pole, the sun's south pole is roiling with both north and south polarity magnetic fields (shown as blue and red patches in the corresponding images). According to ESA, this mess of magnetism is a temporary phenomenon that hints that the sun's magnetic field is about to flip, as it does once every 11 years or so. This magnetic reversal signifies the end of the high-activity solar maximum and begins a transition toward the relative calm of the next solar minimum. When the next minimum begins, approximately five to six years from now, the sun's poles should show only one type of magnetic polarity apiece as our star takes a break from launching violent space weather tantrums. RELATED STORIES —A mysterious, 100-year solar cycle may have just restarted — and it could mean decades of dangerous space weather —NASA's Parker Solar Probe spots powerful magnetic explosion aimed at the sun's surface —Ancient superpowered solar storm that hit Earth 14,000 years ago is the 'biggest ever identified' Solar Orbiter will have several more chances to test these predictions over the coming years. With a little help from the gravitational pull of Venus, Solar Orbiter will continue tilting its orbit further from the solar equator, reaching a tilt of 24 degrees in December 2026 and a whopping 33 degrees in June 2029. These ever-more-angular vantage points will expose the solar poles in even greater detail, improving our knowledge of our home star with every flyby. "This is just the first step of Solar Orbiter's 'stairway to heaven'," Daniel Müller, ESA's Solar Orbiter project scientist, said in the statement. "These data will transform our understanding of the Sun's magnetic field, the solar wind, and solar activity."
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Space rock from asteroid Bennu arrives at Chicago Field Museum for rare study
The Brief The Field Museum received a rare, pristine sample of asteroid Bennu from NASA — a "time capsule" from the early solar system, untouched for 4.6 billion years. Scientists will study the carbon- and nitrogen-rich rock for clues about the origins of life on Earth. Bennu is considered a potentially hazardous asteroid, with a small chance of striking Earth in 2182, but researchers say it's too fragile to cause global destruction. CHICAGO - A new arrival has landed at Chicago's Field Museum — and it came from 40 million miles away. What we know The Field is one of the few research institutions in the country to receive a piece of an asteroid recently returned to Earth by NASA. "Oh, this is super exciting," said Field Museum Curator of Meteoritics Philipp Heck, as he peered at a vial containing a tiny black pebble. Museum scientists said receiving the sample is like winning the space lottery. Just days ago, they took delivery of the tiny chunk of asteroid Bennu. "It's a time capsule from the early solar system," said Heck. "That means it hasn't changed since it formed 4.6 billion years ago." In 2020, a NASA spacecraft intercepted the ancient asteroid — about a third of a mile in diameter — and punched out tiny shards of rock. That material was later returned to Earth in a sealed capsule, which preserved its scientific value. Unlike meteorites that burn through Earth's atmosphere and are contaminated with microbes, this asteroid sample is pristine. "The asteroid sample contains organic chemicals. And also it's rich in carbon and nitrogen," said Field Museum Resident Graduate Student Yuke Zheng. "So these elements and compounds, they are very essential to the beginning of life." Over the next few weeks, researchers will use advanced equipment to identify those building blocks, which may have been ingredients in the origin of life on Earth. "Bennu is essentially a piece of the pantry that contains the ingredients that went into the soup from which later the planet and life formed," explained Heck. There's another reason scientists are keeping a close watch on Bennu. It's classified as a potentially hazardous object, with a 1-in-1,750 chance of striking Earth on Sept. 24, 2182. The good news, according to Heck, is that the rock isn't very strong. "This is very fragile. It's mechanically weak rock. So I think even if that rock would collide with Earth, it wouldn't be a global killer." What's next The Field Museum will return its piece of the asteroid to NASA in August. Because of its tiny size and rarity, the sliver will not be displayed to the public.
Digital Trends
4 hours ago
- Digital Trends
Webb Telescope gets the star treatment in new NASA documentary
The pages of Digital Trends are filled with breathtaking images of deep space captured by the James Webb Space Telescope, including the beautiful Cosmic Tornado, the gorgeous Ring Nebula, the incredible Carina Nebula, and a stunning spiral galaxy. The Webb telescope — the most powerful ever built — launched in 2021 and has been scanning the far reaches of space ever since. Besides beaming back amazing infrared imagery, the telescope is also helping scientists to learn more about the universe's first stars and galaxies, the formation of numerous stars and planetary systems, and the origins of life itself, by exploring distant places with unprecedented clarity. To celebrate the ongoing work of the Webb telescope, NASA has just released a documentary — Cosmic Dawn — that chronicles its more than two decades of development, highlighting the telescope's careful assembly, rigorous testing, and successful launch nearly five years ago. Cosmic Dawn has a runtime of 96 minutes and is free to watch on YouTube. We've embedded it at the top of this page. 'At NASA, we're thrilled to share the untold story of our James Webb Space Telescope in our new film Cosmic Dawn, celebrating not just the discoveries, but the extraordinary people who made it all happen, for the benefit of humanity,' said Rebecca Sirmons, head of NASA+. The documentary also offers viewers an inside look at the successes and setbacks experienced by the team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland — the birthplace of Webb. You'll also get to enjoy plenty of Webb's groundbreaking work, including remarkable images of the faint light of the first stars and galaxies that formed more than 13.5 billion years ago. The documentary also shares Webb's findings on black holes, planets in our solar system and far beyond, and plenty of other cosmic phenomena. 'Webb was a mission that was going to be spectacular whether that was good or bad — if it failed or was successful,' said video producer Sophia Roberts, who filmed some of the happenings prior to Webb's deployment. Roberts added: 'It was always going to make history.'
