VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE AND STATE UNIVERSITY - Key Persons
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- Distinguished Student Award - Adhesion Society ( 2013 )
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- Associate Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering
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- Program Director, National Science Foundation
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- Program Support Technician
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- Program Coordinator, Northern Virginia Center
Allison Jones is recognized as Outstanding Staff in Washington, DC metro area , article
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- Financial Services Coordinator / HR
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- Research Assistant Professor
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- Executive Assistant to the Department Head
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- Member of the Advisory Board
- Research Engineer With the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright Patterson AFB
- Research Engineer, U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory
Angela Scribben is a research engineer with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio. Angela received her BSME and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech in 2000 and 2003, respectively. In her role at AFRL she leads in-house research and development of propulsion integration concepts for future subsonic aircraft applications. She also leads contracted efforts to develop advanced subsonic inlets for embedded mobility configuration installation including analytical and experimental work. Her work also includes collaboration with NASA on dual-use high lift technologies for extremely short take-off and landing, and work to better understand serpentine inlet aerodynamics.
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- Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering
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- Dean, College of Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University
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- Member of the Advisory Board
- Vice President & General Manager ( Retired ), Nuclear Operations Group - Lynchburg, BWX Technologies Inc
B. Joel Burch has more than 38 years of experience in the nuclear industry, primarily in the safe and reliable operations of the nuclear fuel manufacturing facilities operated by BWXT. He worked in progressive senior leadership roles for the BWXT Nuclear Operation Group (BWXT NOG) Inc. manufacturing facilities primarily in Lynchburg, VA. and briefly in Erwin, TN prior to his retirement in 2022.
His most recent assignments included serving as the Vice President of the BWXT's Innovation Campus where he set the strategy, planning, and overall execution of the facility located in Lynchburg, VA.; and serving as the acting President of Nuclear Fuel Services in Erwin, TN.
For approximately 9 years, Burch served as the Vice President and General Manager for BWXT NOG in Lynchburg, VA. He was responsible for the operations of more than 2,200 technical and skilled employees in the manufacture of the highest quality naval nuclear reactors for submarine and aircraft carriers, as well as providing nuclear fuel components for U.S. and international research and test facilities. He helped establish the culture that resulted in continuous improvement and operational excellence consistent with the priorities of the business; safety and security, quality, schedule and cost. As part of the BWXT senior leadership team, he has extensive experience working closely with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Prior to his senior leadership roles, he worked in development and process design for several of the latest naval nuclear reactor designs.
Burch completed the executive program at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. He earned a Master of Science in industrial administration from Lynchburg College, and a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
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- Associate Professor
- Associate Professor, John R. Jones III Faculty Fellow
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- Interim Department Head and Professor
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- Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering
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- Program Support Technician
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- Associate Professor / Center for Injury Biomechanics
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- Program Support Technician
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- Co - Chair of the Advisory Board
- Member of the Advisory Board
Damien McCants graduated from Virginia Tech with a BS in Mechanical Engineering in 2003 and an MBA in 2014. He is the business development lead with DPR Construction in Reston, Virginia, working in their Advanced Technology Group. Damien has also held positions in project management and business development at M. A. Mortenson Company, Carrier Corporation, Johnson Controls and Critchfield Mechanical . He holds a LEED Accredited Professional Certification. He currently resides in Ashburn, Virginia with his wife, Krystal.
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- Founder
- Member of the Advisory Board
- President
- President and Chief Consultant at DeJuRo Consulting, LLC
- Senior Manager at NRC
Darrell J. Roberts is Founder, President and Chief Consultant at DeJuRo Consulting, LLC, which advises utility companies on operational safety and regulatory compliance issues at nuclear power plants. He is also currently Chief Operating Officer of Caracal, a minority-owned business that fills the supply and service needs of companies, government agencies and educational institutions in the U.S. and around the world. Mr. Roberts has also served on the Board of Directors for Caracal since 2020.
Prior to his current roles, Mr. Roberts retired from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in December 2022, where he worked for more than 33 years (including the last 15 in executive management) with an emphasis on safety, regulatory compliance and licensing. In his senior management roles, Mr. Roberts focused on leading people, leading change, and building coalitions with internal and external stakeholders. In his last role with the agency, as Deputy Executive Director for Operations - Reactor and Response Programs, Mr. Roberts oversaw six key agency offices (including the four regional headquarters in the Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago and Dallas metropolitan areas), with responsibility for more than 1300 NRC employees and a nearly $1B budget.
Mr. Roberts joined the NRC upon graduation from Va. Tech in 1989 and assumed a variety of roles of increasing responsibility, including serving as a resident inspector at two nuclear power plants in the Carolinas. He moved into his last position, Deputy Executive Director for Reactor Programs, in 2021, where oversaw the agency's licensing and oversight programs for 93 operating nuclear reactors located throughout the U.S., as well as the staff's reviews of new and advanced reactor designs that were either under construction or undergoing design certification.
In 2021, he also led the agency's return to the workplace following the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic. He additionally participated in international activities, including as a U.S. delegate to the International Atomic Energy Agency's Convention on Nuclear Safety and, most recently, as the NRC's lead representative for the IAEA's Commission on Safety Standards, which meets semiannually at IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria, to oversee the development of international nuclear safety standards, and includes representatives from dozens of countries with nuclear interests throughout the world.
As a highly respected senior manager at NRC, Mr. Roberts mentored dozens of fellow NRC staff and recruited prospective employees at various venues, including the annual National Society of Black Engineers conference and Virginia Tech's annual Engineering Expo. He has also participated in various STEM activities throughout his career.
Mr. Roberts earned a BS in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech in 1989 and his MS in technical management from Johns Hopkins University in 2006. His nuclear career spanned 36 years, beginning in 1986 as a co-op student at Dominion Energy's North Anna Power Station while still attending Virginia Tech as an undergraduate.
Mr. Roberts is a brother of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. having been inducted into Virginia Tech's Eta Lambda chapter in March 1987. In 2015, he founded the music blog, djrobblog.com, where he serves as owner, principal content creator, and chief editor. The blog has published more than 750 articles since its inception eight years ago.
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- Adhesive and Sealant Science Professor, Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics
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- Lead Program Support Technician
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- Dean, College of Engineering / University of Georgia
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- Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering
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- Member of the Advisory Board
- Program Director at Aerojet Rocketdyne
- Program Director, Engineering and Technology Programs, Aerojet Rocketdyne
Dr. John F. Sparks is a Program Director at Aerojet Rocketdyne and has program management responsibility for early development and advanced technology programs. Aerojet Rocketdyne is a world-recognized aerospace and defense leader providing propulsion and energetics to the space, missile defense, strategic, tactical missile and armaments areas in support of domestic and international markets. Dr. Sparks has Bachelor (1974), Masters (1976), and Ph.D (1981) degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech. In addition to his membership on the Mechanical Engineering Advisory Board, Dr. Sparks heads the College of Engineering Advisory Board Legislative Committee. Dr. Sparks is the College of Engineering Distinguished Alumnus for 2014.
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- Member of the Advisory Board
- Technology Executive
Dr. Uma Jayaram is a technology executive and entrepreneur with a distinguished career spanning enterprise, startups, and academia. Most recently, Dr. Jayaram was Managing Director and Principal Engineer at Intel, a Fortune 50 global technology company. She drove the growth and scaling of a global team of engineers and delivered cutting-edge immersive media solutions to the Winter Olympics, NFL, MLB, NBA, PGA Tour, and NCAA. Previously, Dr. Jayaram co-founded 3 companies: one in data interoperability solutions, one in enterprise design and process automation, and one in immersive media VR experiences for sports. She held COO and EVP roles in these companies. She sold her company VOKE to Intel in 2016. Early in her career, Dr. Jayaram was a Professor at Washington State University, where she led a vibrant teaching and research program.
Dr. Jayaram has been inducted as an ASME Fellow in recognition of her work and contributions in engineering. She has published over 60 peer reviewed articles and has been awarded numerous patents. She is a thought leader in digital transformation and emerging areas such as cloud, AI, VR, and design automation and has lectured internationally on these topics. She has received several prestigious awards including the Leadership Excellence in Technology award from the National Diversity Council, Lifetime Achievement award from ISAM, and Best teacher award from Washington State University.
Dr. Jayaram holds Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech. She has a BTech Honors degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India, where she was the first woman admitted to the Mechanical Engineering Department. Dr. Jayaram was inducted into the VT
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- Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering
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- Managing Director, Center for Tire Research
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- Member of the Advisory Board
- Partner
- Senior Partner and Development Manager, Microsoft Corporation
Hakeem Rahman is a Sr. Partner Development Manager for Microsoft Corporation. He is responsible for leading and driving business development and sales activities with Microsoft's strategic technology partners and customers within the Healthcare industry. He has also held various project management, maintenance, and reliability engineering roles in his previous experience at The Dow Chemical Company.
Hakeem earned his BS in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech in 2008 and an MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business in 2017. He grew up in Houston, TX and currently resides in Seattle, WA with his wife, Marcia.
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- VP of Sensors and Systems / NanoSonic Inc.
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- Professor and Director, ICTAS
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- Program Support Technician
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- Member of the Advisory Board
- Vice President of Engineering
- VP of Engineering & Technology, ARPAC Group
Howard Dittmer is Vice President of Engineering and Technology at ARPAC LLC, a leading manufacturer of end of line packaging machinery. Howard received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech. He also holds a MS in Software Engineering from DePaul University where he is currently a PhD student in Software Engineering. Prior to joining ARPAC Howard was Executive Vice President at Herbst LaZar Bell, a leading product development firm. In addition he has served in executive engineering roles at Fluid Management, Rockwell International and General Signal. He was a founding advisory board member for Northwestern University's Masters of Product Development program. He is currently a member of the ASME Industry Advisory Board.
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- Member of the Advisory Board
- Duke Energy 's Social Impact Strategy Leader
Irvine Sloan serves as Duke Energy's Social Impact Strategy Leader within the External Affairs and Communications organization. He is responsible for crafting Duke Energy's social impact, "S", component within their overall Environmental, Social, and Governance, ESG, strategy. He is at the forefront of Duke Energy's operational strategy related to environmental equity, environmental justice, workforce equity, just transition, economic equity, supplier diversity, impact investing, impact relations, and energy equity in alignment with jurisdictional priorities. This role requires he define technology platforms and data substantiated metrics to monitor and measure corporate citizenship, develop a balanced portfolio of programmatic offerings to bolster community engagement and socio-economic development efforts, and oversee the national-level ecosystem of stakeholder partnerships with nonprofits, NGOs, and civil rights organizations such as AARP, NAACP, and the National Urban League.
Irvine joined the company in 2020 and with more than 15 years of experience in the energy, industrial automation, and agricultural equipment industries and has served in a variety of account management and business leadership roles for domestic and international firms headquartered in Europe and Japan. Throughout his career, Irvine has successful demonstrated a knack for building strong relationships with corporations, including in the C-suite, local communities, and various stakeholder groups.
Irvine serves as the executive sponsor for Duke Energy's Latino's Energizing Diversity Raleigh Chapter, which is focused on positively impacting the career paths and enhancing the communities of its members. He also serves on the board of the American Association of Blacks in Energy and the Virginia Tech Mechanical Engineering Department.
Irvine received a Master of Science in Law degree from Northwestern University, a Master of Business Administration degree from Indiana University, a Master of Science in Agricultural Economics degree from Purdue University, a Master of Engineering degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech.
He grew up in Hampton, VA. He and his wife, Tara, and three daughters reside in Charlotte, NC.
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- Chairman and Director of the Center for Vehicle Systems & Safety
- Professor
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- Member of the Advisory Board
- Vice President, Electric Distribution ( Retired ) Dominion Energy
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- Director of Engineering Research, the Roux Institute
- Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering
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- Associate ProfessorAssistant Department Head for Graduate Programs / Department of Engineering Education
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- Nuclear and Mechanical Engineering
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- Manager, APPL and TURBO Lab
Dr. Barbish's publications can be found on Google Scholar.
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- Member of the Advisory Board
- Owner and Chief Engineer of Classic Engineering, LLC
John Blanton is Owner and Chief Engineer of Classic Engineering, LLC, a provider of technical education and consulting services in gas turbine technologies. In 2016 he completed 36 years with the General Electric Company, focused primarily on aero-thermal design technologies for industrial and aircraft gas turbines. Dr. Blanton received BS, MS, and PhD degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech, and was on the teaching faculty there for one and a half years. He also has been an adjunct faculty at Union College in Schenectady NY and at the University of Cincinnati. He is a Fellow of both ASME and AIAA, and is an active volunteer leader in both organizations at local, regional, and institute levels.
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- Co - Chair of the Advisory Board
- Member of the Advisory Board
John Heilmann joined the ME Advisory Board in 2010. He is a Virginia Tech alumnus, with both BS (1995) and MS degrees (1996) in Mechanical Engineering. John currently serves as the Director Engineering for the NVH Division of Parker Hannifin. Over his career, John has held positions in design engineering, engineering management, product management, business management and business development. John is a licensed professional engineer and holds an MBA from UNC-Chapel Hill. John resides in Cary, North Carolina.
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- Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, University of Washington
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- Consultant
- Member of the Advisory Board
- Faculty Fellow
- President ( Retired ), AEP ProServ
John Jones is currently a consultant to the electric power industry focusing on project and construction management.
Prior to consulting, he retired at the end of 2002 after 36 years as an executive with American Electric Power. At that time he held the corporate office of Senior Vice President and President of a subsidiary he created, AEP ProServ. His responsibilities included providing engineering, environmental, construction and maintenance services to AEP's 38,000 MW generation fleet plus providing those services on a competitive basis to external customers domestically and internationally. During his career, he was responsible for the project management, construction and start-up of approximately 15,000 MW's of coal, gas, wind and nuclear generation.
Jones holds a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech and Management Development Certificates from the University of Michigan and MIT's Sloan School of Management. He is a member of the VT College of Engineering's "Academy of Engineering Excellence".
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- Equipment and Facilities Specialist / Title / Title
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- Associate Professor
- Associate Professor, John R. Jones III Faculty Fellow
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- Professor of Practice, Director of Mechanical Engineering Capstone Senior Design Program
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- Member of the Advisory Board
- Manager, Active Safety & Automated Driving Performance Simulation Group, General Motors' Center for Autonomous Vehicle Development
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- Associate Department Head for Curriculum, Professor
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- Program Support Technician
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- Professor
- Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering
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- Vice President and Executive Director, Innovation Campus / Member, National Academy of Engineering
Research Interests
Turbulence and Turbulent Flow Analysis
Direct Numerical Simulations
Turbulent Aerosol Processes
Microphysical Models for Atmospheric Clouds
Turbulent Mixing and Combustion
Polymer Drag Reduction
Numerical Methods and Algorithms
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- Associate Professor of Practice
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- Staff Scientist / Los Alamos National Laboratory
Tuan graduated with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 2004 and a M.S. in Systems Engineering in 2011, both from Virginia Tech. He is currently a mechanical/systems engineer for Marconi Edison responsible for the design, integration, and testing of UAS payloads. During his career he has held engineering positions working on payload pods at Northrop Grumman, aircraft simulators at Rockwell Collins, and jet engine exhaust systems at General Electric Aviation.
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- Associate Professor of Practice, Nuclear Engineering Program ( Retired )
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- Member of the Advisory Board
- Pratt & Whitney 's Vice President
- Vice President, West Palm Beach Site and Development Operations, Pratt & Whitney
Mary Anne Cannon is Pratt & Whitney's vice president, West Palm Beach, Florida, Site and Development Operations. She is responsible for oversight and leadership of the West Palm Beach campus, inclusive of anticipated growth, and leads the Development Operations organization across all Pratt & Whitney sites, encompassing Engine Assembly, Instrumentation & Test Operations. For this organization she is responsible for meeting customer requirements in the areas of cost, quality, schedule and delivery, as well as developing organizational talent. Cannon was most recently vice president, Commercial Programs, including the PW4000, PW2000, PW6000, JT9D and JT8D engines, and was responsible for developing and managing the product line life-cycle strategies and ensuring customer requirements were met.
Cannon has 30 years of experience at Pratt & Whitney across the Engineering, Quality, Operations and Programs organizations. She served as Pratt & Whitney's vice president of Environment, Health and Safety (EH&S), where she was responsible for the continued development and administration of Pratt & Whitney's environment, health and safety programs, policies and practices worldwide as well as ensuring compliance with corporate, federal and state requirements. Prior to this role, Cannon was vice president, Quality & EH&S, responsible for quality assurance and product integrity and Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) continuous improvement activities.
Cannon started her career at Grumman Aerospace Corp and earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology in 1986. She joined Pratt & Whitney in 1989 at the West Palm Beach location.
Cannon is passionate about supporting women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) roles. She devotes her time to mentoring young women both in college and at Pratt & Whitney and has established a scholarship together with her husband at her alma mater to support women pursuing an engineering degree. When not at work, Cannon can be found at the gym pursuing her newest hobby, powerlifting, for which she competed in her first amateur competition and placed first in her category. She lives with her husband Dan, who recently retired from Pratt & Whitney after a 35-year career, and her son Joseph who is pursuing a degree in homeland security.
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- Member of the Advisory Board
- Director of the CVN
- Director, Nuclear Propulsion - Construction Engineering Newport News Shipbuilding
Michael J. Reilley is Director of the CVN21 Propulsion Engineering at Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries in Newport News, VA. He is responsible for design of the Propulsion Plant on the new Ford Class aircraft carriers.
He joined Newport News in 1984 as an associate engineer and has held a number of positions during his career including lead mechanical engineer, Manager, Virginia Class Submarine-Nuclear Construction Engineering and Manager, Propulsion Plant Construction Engineering for the Ford Class Aircraft Carrier and Director of the Nuclear Propulsion-Construction and Process Engineering.
Reilley earned a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from West Virginia in 1984 and a Master's in Engineering Management from George Washington University in 1992. He is a Licensed Engineer in the State of Virginia.
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- Program Support Technician
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- Member of the Advisory Board
- President and Founder, Des Champs Technologies Corporation
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- Associate Professor / Mathematics
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- Professor, Associate Department Head
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- Paul and Dorothea Torgersen Chair of Engineering and Dean Emeritus of the College of Engineering, Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering
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- Associate Department Head for Graduate Studies
- Director of Nuclear Engineering Program
- Professor
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- Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering
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- Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering
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- Professor & Director of Granata Biomechanics Lab
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- Professor, John R. Jones III Faculty Fellow
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- Professor & Director, Center for Tire Research Associate Department Head for Research
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- Associate Professor & Assoc. Dept. Head for Undergraduate Programs
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- Vice President for Research, University of Minnesota
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- Member of the Advisory Board
- Principal Engineer and Vice President Terranalysis, Inc
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- Professor
- Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering
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- Professor, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
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- Member of the Advisory Board
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- Professor and Director of VT Stability Wind Tunnel / Aerospace and Ocean
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- Member of the Advisory Board
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- Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering
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- Member of the Advisory Board
- Director, PLM OCS Cables Corning Optical Communication
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- Member of the Advisory Board
- Technical Fellow, United Technologies Research Center
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- Associate Professor / Materials Science and Engineering
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- Associate Professor
- Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
- Associate Professor, Nuclear Engineering Program